[Driline]

I shot Pentax for over 30 years and recently switch to Canon. I sold my K-1 and K-3 and all my lenses.
Here is my take on Pentax vs Canon. I shoot almost exclusively wild birds and mostly owls now. K-3 and K-1 were fantastic cameras. Image quality superb. I really miss K-1, there is no better FF camera on the market then K-1 if you shoot landscapes, portraits, any kind of studio work and also great for wildlife as long as doesn't require blazing fast AF lock and tracking. I have tried K-1 with flagship Pentax 150-450mm lens and it just wasn't consistent enough to deliver. I tried my friend's older 1D Mark IV paired with older first generation Canon EF300mm f/2.8L USM lens (NON-IS..no image stabilization) and I was blown away. The image quality and autofocus blazing fast and dead on accurate with 10 FPS. This Canon combo allowed me to get shots that I couldn't achieve with K-1 or K-3.
I think that both K-1 and K-3 are capable to do great shots for wildlife and I made tons of good shots, but the weakness is lack of good NEW long fast prime lenses. I was hoping that Pentax would come out with new long prime HQ lens, but that was not the case.
It makes perfect sense for Pentax to focus on it's strength and that is landscape and portrait photography.
What I really miss that most modern Pentax bodies have is the image stabilization in the body and menus, controls and overall design. Pentax is the best.
Far as IQ and dynamic range, nothing beats K-1 period. Said that Canon 1D class bodies has pretty darn good IQ and dynamic range also.
It was really hard move for me to switch to Canon because I love Pentax gear, but at the same time I knew that if I want to get a shots like this posted bellow I need AF system to be able to handle one of the hardest subjects to track in flight like Short-eared owls which they fly like a giant moth.. very erratic, constantly changing speed , elevation and direction.
It really boils down what the photographer primary shoot and choose the gear to match it. For me personally AF speed, superb tracking and high FPS is a must, because otherwise I would miss many shots.
Some recent shots of Short-eared owl Canon 1D Mark IV and Canon 1D Mark III with Canon EF300mm f/2.8L USM NON-IS

This shot won "Editor's Choice" in NatureScapes.net 1D Mark IV


1D Mark IV


1D Mark III (10MB body)

So for under $2,500 on the used market you got a Canon 1D Mark 4 and 300mm 2.8 non IS lens with blazingly fast AF. Good price.

[cleaverx]

Canon 1D's price makes me say "that's nuts."

I paid $2400 US dollars for Canon 1D Mark IV and EF300mm f/2.8L USM NON-IS and I paid $680 for 1D Mark III in mint condition. I agree Norm, I could never afford new 1DX or 1DX2 or any new Canon fastest prime lens from 300mm up.

[normhead]

I paid $2400 US dollars for Canon 1D Mark IV and EF300mm f/2.8L USM NON-IS and I paid $680 for 1D Mark III in mint condition. I agree Norm, I could never afford new 1DX or 1DX2 or any new Canon fastest prime lens from 300mm up.

You're my kind of guy....
You find what you need at a price you can afford.

[cleaverx]

I regularly see guys carrying $20k in Canon gear. But they aren't great photographers. Just guys with really good jobs.

You nailed it Norm. I see this all the time. Dudes lugging $20,000 grand worth of Canon or Nikon brand new gear and taking awful shoots I see posted on Flickr. Many I known personally and they all have deep pockets.
I am a poor guy settling for used stuff

[Rondec]

I think the thing is that there is no one perfect camera. D5 or a 1Dx will auto focus circles around a D810, but start shooting landscape shots and they won't keep up very well. Move to a studio setting and they'll be fine, but obviously you don't really need 12 fps there either. The K-1 definitely leans more towards the landscape, portrait side of things as compared to the sports and wild life side of things (not to say you can't shoot those things with a K-1, but there are probably better tools out there).

[Driline]

I paid $2400 US dollars for Canon 1D Mark IV and EF300mm f/2.8L USM NON-IS and I paid $680 for 1D Mark III in mint condition. I agree Norm, I could never afford new 1DX or 1DX2 or any new Canon fastest prime lens from 300mm up.

Oh no.....the wheels are turning in my head even without the grease.

So for the best of both worlds I could dump all my long lenses for Pentax and use that money to purchase a used Canon 1D Mark IV along with say a brand spanking new Canon EF 70-200 2.8L USM all for under $2,500. And keep the wide and portrait lenses for the K-3. Oh the possibilities

[normhead]

Oh no.....the wheels are turning in my head even without the grease.

So for the best of both worlds I could dump all my long lenses for Pentax and use that money to purchase a used Canon 1D Mark IV along with say a brand spanking new Canon EF 70-200 2.8L USM all for under $2,500. And keep the wide and portrait lenses for the K-3. Oh the possibilities

That all works out until the thing that happens to me all the time. I come with the K-3 looking for action , and the need for magnification, but I get a co-operative subject. I switch to the K-1 and get better IQ and DR than you can with any action type camera. ANd in the end those are the images I treasure.

That happens when I take the K-3 off the Tammy 300 2.8 and 1.7 because I'm too tight, and put the K-1 on. Two different systems takes that away from you if you have different brand lenses for landscape and action.

The way to get top action, is to buy an action camera, most of which don't go over 20 MP. But, with an integrated system, you have the opportunity to go for a high DR high resolution image if the opportunity presents itself.

Although with no Canon product in the same league as a K-1, using their full frames, they have one that surpasses a K-5. It's a conundrum.

[Driline]

That all works out until the thing that happens to me all the time.

Yea, Im just talking out loud. I will stick with what I have. For the few times I shoot action it's just not really worth it. Lugging around two camera systems does not seem ideal

[cleaverx]

So for the best of both worlds I could dump all my long lenses for Pentax and use that money to purchase a used Canon 1D Mark IV along with say a brand spanking new Canon EF 70-200 2.8L USM all for under $2,500. And keep the wide and portrait lenses for the K-3. Oh the possibilities

I wish I could keep all my Pentax gear, but I needed the funds to by my Canon gear. If I would have to pick one camera from Pentax that can do it all except crazy fast AF and tracking then K-1 is the camera to go. You are covered for almost any situation. The cropping capabilities of K-1 is insane. There is so much detail, colors and dynamic range. K-1 with 150-450mm is a awesome combo or if you need more sharpness then Tamron 300mm f/2.8 is a superb lens and razor sharp if you can find one...not easy.
Then there is tons of good glass for Pentax shooting landscapes. My favorite landscape lens was manual focus 28MM f/3.5 ..crazy sharp and it would produce mind boggling photos with K-1.
It really depends what you shoot primary.

[jddwoods]

You nailed it Norm. I see this all the time. Dudes lugging $20,000 grand worth of Canon or Nikon brand new gear and taking awful shoots I see posted on Flickr. Many I known personally and they all have deep pockets.
I am a poor guy settling for used stuff

I now keep an eye out at thrift stores. Many times someone donates an old Pentax film SLR to a charity without realizing while the camera is basically worthless, the lens on it could be a gold mine for someone like me with a digital body. I have gotten an M50 f1.7 and an FA50 f1.7, both great lenses in like new condition for peanuts ($100 for the FA and $10 USD for the M) Sometimes I can get more satisfaction out of an oldie but a goodie at a bargain price that paying full price for a new lens.

[pete-tarmigan]

By the way Tess and I submitted work to the Toronto Star contests as part of our "We're bored let's think of something to do" program. , and had 20% of our submitted photos published. , 4 out of 20.

For non-Canadian readers of this forum, the Toronto Star has the largest paid daily circulation of any newspaper in Canada (the country's population is a little larger than that of California).

[MarkJerling]

You're my kind of guy....
You find what you need at a price you can afford.

Ha! I always find what I need at a price I can't afford.
And then comes compromise.

[cleaverx]

Here is a good example why I miss K-1. This shot was taken in fairly thick fog (you would never guess looking at the photo). It was taken with 30+ year old manual focus SMC 500mm f/4.5 lens.
When I downloaded pictures from this set to my computer I almost delete them all. They looked awful with the thick fog. I was able to brings out the detail which seemed almost impossible. There is no way I would be able to
pull this off with my Canon 1D Mark IV camera.
This is where K-1 rules IQ and Dynamic range, color saturation is unreal.
Top picture ..owl in the fog.
Bottom picture shows amount detail on owl's face and body. When clicking on the image when showing on Flickr, yo can see tiny snow flakes on the owl's face and body. Shot with K-1 and SMC 500mm f/4.5.