Quote: I totally understand loyalty to a brand you like, and a sadness at having yourself or someone else choose to make a change. But an unwavering fanatical loyalty to a brand, in the face of the fact that it simply doesn't do what you need and that another brand would allow your photography to grow, is not helpful at all.
We are talking about a 20% difference in reach between 50-500 and 150-600. It's not even clear that the 150-600 produces a better image than cropping the 50-500 a bit more.
Originally posted by victormeldrew There is no way (without significant changes) that Pentax would be able to give the support I would need to earn my living with them and so I will inevitably move on. Sad, but necessary.
Yes we do have a number of users like yourself who bought in because Pentax was a quality product at a good price, but not because of any one product that appealed to you. So of course you understand the OP. There will always be people buying into Pentax as a stepping stone brand.
But using terms like "But an unwavering fanatical loyalty to a brand," are inflammatory and derogatory.
I know it really upsets guys like you off that a lot of other people can meet their photographic needs without switching brands, without buying even a fraction of what Pentax has to offer, but I am totally opposed to this concept that anyone who is capable of meeting their needs solely with Pentax gear is a brand fanatic.
You should apologize. Just because your needs are more complex, doesn't mean those with less complex needs are fanatics. But your attitude does mean you comment is rude and demeaning.
Quote: I totally understand loyalty to a brand you like, and a sadness at having yourself or someone else choose to make a change.
You mis-state the situation. My position is, the Pentax camera you own still does everything you bought it to do.
If you bought the wrong camera, that's on you.
If you don't like Pentax glass and expected other manufacturers to fill in the gaps, that's on you.
If you come on the Pentax forum and make a post that essentially blames Pentax for your bad judgement, that's on you.
The role of the Pentax forum is not to apologize to those who think they can benefit from better. You can go on with your "as a pro I need more" B.S. but we all know pros who flourish with Pentax, so even that is questionable. It sounds like whining "I can't be all I could be because Pentax is holding me back." What a pile.
You don't have to be a Pentax "fanatic" to see these inconsistencies in this approach.
I've owned Sigma, Panasonic, Mamiya and Minolta, Kodak, Samsung, Ricoh and many other companies' gear. In fact I'm willing to bet if we look at who's owned more camera company's gear, and define who's a brand fanatic and who isn't, you're more of a fanatic than I am.
And i certainly don't go on an Internet forum and announce.. "The camera y'all use isn't good enough for me, and you're a fanatic if it is good enough for you." Do all you people have Tourette's or some kind of personality disorder?
You really ought to take more responsibility for your bad purchasing decisions and not bother people who are happy with theirs, with good cause. It's not Pentax's fault if you don't know how to properly evaluate a camera system to see if it meets your current and future needs before you buy, and while we might feel sorry for you, there's nothing we can do to help you. Except maybe encourage you by saying "Do your homework next time, with enough diligence, you can get it right.."