Hi all,
After a really long post that managed to get lost on submit and forcing me to log back in again ( :-/ ), trying again. I could definitely use some advice here, even better from those of you who have had other pentaxes and some solid experience shooting in the conditions i'll mention.
I used to take a fair amount of 35mm pics, but definitely novice-amateur, and jumped into the digital world with a Canon A10 some time back, then a series of P&S and superzooms. I've done a lot of adventure type travel, so the shockproof/waterproof pocket camera will always be around for me, but I've missed a lot of could have been/should have been great shots due to lower lighting, or not enough detail kept in the image on cropping and lightening.
I'm a bit ocd on my hobbies, and really prefer if spending some real $, to buy it once, then keep it a while, vs buyers remorse with a savings of only a few hundred. I looked at the 4/3 cameras and Sony Alphas/Nex*, ruled out the Canon T1-3s, and was leaning towards a D5100 when I came across the K7. Considering some of the places/locales I manage to find myself in, I *really* liked the weathersealing aspect, as well as always preferring metal over (most) plastics for durability, and that led me to looking at the K5. While I'm ok with buying a used lens from a reputable manufacturer, I'd prefer to buy the camera new or refurbished, and expect to be keeping it for 3 years, possibly more, before 'upgrade-itis' hits.
The range of intended shooting is a lot of outdoors in daylight as well as lower lighting/ambient lighting for nature and wildlife, and some portraits. Right or wrong, because of the pictures I have fouled up, I was paying a lot of attention to lower noise at higher ISOs, and didn't see much (significant) differences between the K20D vs D7, while the K5 was a very nice improvement over the D7 in that area. I don't care too much about FPS, anything > 3FPS I consider a bonus, at least right now. I'd prefer to have HD video, but that won't be the cameras primary role.
I thought i had found a steal on the K5 for $1100 with 18/55 from AJ Richards, but then of course, the whole grey market/upsell scam/'shipping insurance' stories came out, which has complicated things. Realistically, I had been planning on spending no more than $1200, but I have no desire to buy a non Pentax warrantied unit, and would spend the extra $20-$40 or so for a valid pentax USA extended warrantee in this case. (Hoping of course to never need it, but the mirror flop issue has me at least aware of the possibility, and for the $..worth it for peace of mind at the very least).
So, this brings me to a dilemma - I've seen lots of K5s around $1k-$1100 but all from questionable vendors. The best pricing I've found from what I believe are *not* grey-market are from BH, Adorama, and Beach, around $1200 for the body only...
I had planned on picking up the K5 and 18/55, then buying a used manual or low-end telephoto (say $100 for a used Sigma 70/300 or Tamron 80/200) to at least give me my nature zoom fix for the time being, and then adding in a 1.8f 50mm for portraits/natural light indoors, and upgrading to a DA 55-300 or similar in 6 months or so. I figure the pair of lenses (18/55 + telephoto) would meet my immediate needs, even if not perfectly, get me acquainted with the camera, and also help me 'feel out' if the DA 55-300 would be my next lens, or if I wanted to look at more primes, etc. This is no doubt going to be a learning experience, so I'm sure even a used lowed end lens will out-shoot me for a bit.
if instead, I'm paying $1200 for the base only...I'm going to be hitting some self and wife-imposed limits here. Realistically, I've got to set a max at $1500 - I can add on 'bag gear' shortly enough, and can likely pick up a lens for a few hundred within a few months, but the $1200 for the body alone basically takes away my 'core lens,' and leaves me wondering which way to go.
I did check out pricing on a refurbed K7 and K20d, which comes in around $850 and $650 respectively, with 18/55, but for the price of the K7, the 5100 is a more capable camera, higher ISO included, with the downside there being I really prefer the weather-sealing and metal chassis. The wife is also excited about getting into a new 'hobby' together, but I can guarantee she'll be more likely to remain in auto modes for some time, so reasonable AF response/focus times and results would be a high requirement.
So, what would you do here, if your intentions were including low light/ambient, portraits/ambient indoor lighting, and a lot of nature/wildlife shots?
$650 refurb k20d with 18-55 + $600 or so on lenses
$850 refurb K7 with 18-55 + 400 on lenses
$1200 K5 base only + $300 in used lenses or a single new lens
I'd *like* to swing the K5. I *think* I'd be quite happy for a while with a lens capable of taking decent portrait/reasonable light shots and a used manual telephoto for now, even if not the best quality, then adding in a prime 50mm and better telephoto within 4-6 months, but can't swing the K5 base plus the lenses I'd prefer to start with.
Thoughts? What would you do?