[pingflood]

For the record, the 1D isn't full frame -- the 1Ds is. Seems like the 1D is far more popular in field work though, it has a 1.3x crop but thanks to the low MP count (10) it has stellar high ISO output.

[Samsungian]

Now once K-7 price drops below $700 by April 2010 then you could get a pair of K-7 for about half the cost of 5D MarkII. Today two K-7 versus 5D MarkII means I'd buy the Canon, if I had to buy another camera.

Being a savy consumer, I know both will shed their launch prices. But, Pentax is King of dropping their initial camera prices once all the dedicated Pentaxians bought theirs. Their inflated launch prices are a *Special* Thank You for their dedicated K Mount owners. Did that once myself, paid full price, & that won't happen again. Having a dslr inhand is empowering for me inthat I can buy when I "need" to instead of paying twice as much more for just a few months of use beforehand.

To be fair, though, you could put a spare K-7 in your luggage in case of in-field failure. Most of the working photojournalists I've ever met or read about or seen in photo-geek interviews have at least two bodies with them. For the price of a couple of "pro full frame cameras", you could have TWO spares.

And when you haunt the Canon and Nikon forums, it turns out there are lots of pros who don't seem to get the service you're talking about, even though they're 'pro service members'. If you're someone they see as an advertising source, a revenue generator, the local sales rep will front you a body and a new lens when you drop yours down the mountainside. If you're a stringer for Newsweek, good luck getting any better service than I get...

[Samsungian]

you could just visit their CPS site, see if you qualify as "Pro" and then decide what level of service you want to buy:

EOS (SLR) Camera Systems - EOS Digital SLR Cameras - EOS 35mm SLR Cameras - Lenses - Flashes - Canon USA Consumer Products


Seems easy enough to me to determine CPS facts from CPS internet myths as canon offers a handy link to get this info which I provided above.

And when you haunt the Canon and Nikon forums, it turns out there are lots of pros who don't seem to get the service you're talking about, even though they're 'pro service members'. If you're someone they see as an advertising source, a revenue generator, the local sales rep will front you a body and a new lens when you drop yours down the mountainside. If you're a stringer for Newsweek, good luck getting any better service than I get...

[alohadave]

True, but when you've been persuaded that said 5lbs of equipment will make you a better photographer... I dunno. The cult of full frame has infiltrated everything. If I had a dime for every time I've read "If you really want to get serious about photography, you've GOT to buy a full frame camera" - well, I'd have *all* of the LTDs.

Don't fall into the habit of thinking that working professionals are idiots. Not everyone is rabidly obsessed with full-frame vs APS-C. They are concerned with getting the job done.

Photojournalism is a broad term, and some people need the heavy duty gear, others don't.

[CWyatt]

The way I see it, your statements are at odds here. If "The Shot" matters more than "The Image Quality", then what's left to recommend full frame (to a photojournalist, that is)? APS-C bodies are lighter and less bulky.

I didn't say image quality didn't matter at all. It just matters less than the content. But if you're required to shoot in bad light, the full frame would help get shots and help improve IQ.

[hillerby]

AlohaDave has it right! When I was a Combat Photographer (mostly photojournalism) in Vietnam, we carried about 75 lbs of crap and it was all necessary for us to live and do our job.
I worked w/guys from UPI, AP. Reuters, all of em' and they carried what they needed to get the job done. THE most important thing for a pj is BE THERE! Then, you make do with what you've got!

[BrendanPK]

I think one issue for why more do not, is probably based on Pro level repair facilities / turn around... If you are on assignment, how long to get busted gear fixed and back in the field.

Canon and Nikon have Pro Repair...

Well your local pentaxian-journalist here. I have been using almost 100% K-mount gear for almost 9 years as a photojournalist working for many newspapers, both daily and weekly along with magazines and other reports.
I am now starting to do video for the web with the K7! Still getting the swing of these video things, but it's coming along. It’s been years since I shot video seriously.

As for why not many, well partially it is availability of gear. I have to mail-order almost 100% of my gear. No local shop really stocks anything pentax anymore. And yes I am about the only guy out there using the beloved k-mount (at least in the Baltimore-DC region) I am known by many for being the lone-silver lens on the sidelines (FA* 300mm F2.8) but occasionally I still get "I didn't know they made those," or... "Wow, they are still around"

As for Pro-service... Pentax is coming along with PPS, as I have gotten a repair done in under a week (I did pay out the teeth for overnight shipping both ways though) I just started using their "loaner" program too, very fast if needed. They 2-day shipped me a body and lens, only problem is that they do not have anything really long and fast, or even the new 60-250 F4! WTF right? Like I said it’s coming along, but it does have room for improvement. At least the staff in PPS is friendly!

Why pentax, it’s what I grew-up on and have always loved. Granted I do have to use something else like Friday for the AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC soccer (football) match I am barrowing a friends 400 F2.8 (c@non) and using it on my rebel xti body (he is using his Mark II's and the rebel I got a long time ago for free) I need it because its end-zone only shooting and a 300 just don't always cut it. However I am remoting a K20 and a K10 behind the goals and will still use my K7 and another K20 w/ a 300 and 50-135 on them


Links to some of the latest work (not all is online)
Explore Baltimore County: Historic Senator Theatre sold at auction to Baltimore City
YouTube - Senator Auction 7/22/09
Explore Baltimore County: Junior League of Baltimore to cut ribbon on new home
Friends of The Senator Theatre
»The Catholic Review Online | Catholic newspaper, Archdiocese of Baltimore, world and national Archdiocese news, CNS
Explore Baltimore County: Towson Times 2009 Lacrosse Player of the Year
Towson University to Host 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship - Official Web Site of Towson University Athletics - TowsonTigers.com
Explore Baltimore County: Towson Times 2009 Lacrosse Players of the Year
Explore Baltimore County: County's 911 center getting $14 million upgrade

[pingflood]

you could just visit their CPS site, see if you qualify as "Pro" and then decide what level of service you want to buy:

EOS (SLR) Camera Systems - EOS Digital SLR Cameras - EOS 35mm SLR Cameras - Lenses - Flashes - Canon USA Consumer Products


Seems easy enough to me to determine CPS facts from CPS internet myths as canon offers a handy link to get this info which I provided above.

Try talking to some pros using Canon and see what they have to say. Trust me, you'll get the real story much better than you would relying on Canon's marketing materials.

edit: I should note that I did receive absolutely outstanding service when I sent a camera in long out of warranty (3 hours turnaround or so and free of charge on a 4 year old body), but I have talked to more than a few CPS members who were very displeased.

[Samsungian]

Are you in the "free" CPS program, the $100 a year CPS program, or the $500 a year CPS program?


All the choices look good to me. The $500 program looks fantastic, with free round trip shipping and all. Just curious what level CPS you use ? Are your buddies that complain about CPS dropping $500 a year or are they in the "free" program? There seems to be a big difference in service and features between:

free, $100, & $500.

Try talking to some pros using Canon and see what they have to say. Trust me, you'll get the real story much better than you would relying on Canon's marketing materials.

edit: I should note that I did receive absolutely outstanding service when I sent a camera in long out of warranty (3 hours turnaround or so and free of charge on a 4 year old body), but I have talked to more than a few CPS members who were very displeased.

[pingflood]

Are you in the "free" CPS program, the $100 a year CPS program, or the $500 a year CPS program?


All the choices look good to me. The $500 program looks fantastic, with free round trip shipping and all. Just curious what level CPS you use ? Are your buddies that complain about CPS dropping $500 a year or are they in the "free" program? There seems to be a big difference in service and features between:

free, $100, & $500.

No, the irony is that I am not even a CPS member. But when my 1Ds2 had a shutter issue they turned it around in hours for me, making sure I would have it back in time for an overseas trip.

The CPS members I do know have complained about slow/poor service quite frequently. And getting loaners/samples isn't always quick or easy. The general consensus is that it was better before they retooled the program recently.

[k100d]

Granted I do have to use something else like Friday for the AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC soccer (football) match

jealous

[mel]

jealous

yeah no kidding.

[tarsus]

I am a newspaper reporter and photojournalist who uses Pentax, a K10D and more recently switched to the K2000 for ISO 3200. The Tamron 18-250 is my carry around lens. This allows me to, hopefully, never miss a shot, see example below of a truck fire. If I am going out on a predetermined low light shoot, I use a prime, but still carry the 18-250 just in case. For those who argue about high ISO at "100 precent straight out of the camera," note that you will NEVER sell a picture that will be printed at 100 percent. You will be lucky to get a four column picture in a paper, about 7 inches across, at which point high ISO disappears as an issue. As for "straight out of the camera," ALL published pictures have some level of post processing. I pack a Fuji F50 as a backup. Don't snicker, the second picture below was shot 7 years ago with 3 megapixel point and shoot with no manual controls other than ev and won a California Newspaper Publishers Association award for Spot News Photography. The pictures: Saw smoke rising from the freeway, grabbed my K10D and headed out. Could not get closer than a distant overpass, so thank god for the 18-250. The guy in the cabin fire picture lost everything and I got very lucky that he turned his head at exactly the right moment. This shot was a grab your camera and go to the woods call. The red face is not an exposure error. The guy was burned trying to rescue his belongings. Both shots made the front page of the paper at about the size you see.

[Urkeldaedalus]

I do! Although not as much as I used to.

Until February, when I was laid off due to budget cuts, I worked as a reporter and photographer for one of the larger daily newspapers in Iowa. My impression from being around other photogs (from multiple papers) at the time was that almost 100 percent use Canon. I think this is both because Canon has a good services program and that they wine and dine the photo staffs at these papers, give them 5D Mark IIs to try out to see if they like them, stuff like that. Their typical setups that they would take out in the field at my papers would be two cameras, one with a 16-35 and another with the 70-200. I believe they mostly used Canon 5Ds, though at the end Canon 5D Mark IIs had started arriving, and I think they used the 1.3X crop camera for a lot of their sports.

I think press photogs also like full frame because it gives them the wide angle perspective that they loved to use from film. This makes sense, as so much of photo work actually involves placing someone in a scene, so it helps to have the wide angle view.

I used Pentax while at the paper because I was not considered a part of their photo staff, so they wouldn't give me any of their good stuff , and I refused to use a point and shoot (a bad point and shoot at that, until they eventually updated to Canon G10s at the end) when I knew I could do better with my K10D/K20D. So really it was just stubborness on my part, and I imagine it's that way with other PJs who use Pentax as well.

From my experience using the K-7 for freelance, I think it would be an excellent photojournalism camera, a really large step up from the K20D in this particular type of shooting. It'd be nice if Pentax would come out with a full frame, but I don't think that'd win the heart of directors of photography for newspapers anyway

Here are some of my pictures (psst, I used prime lenses for four of these shots):

[stewart_photo]

I think one issue for why more do not, is probably based on Pro level repair facilities / turn around... If you are on assignment, how long to get busted gear fixed and back in the field.

Canon and Nikon have Pro Repair...

Employed photojournalists, using equipment supplied by a newspaper or magazine, rarely expect or depend on quick repair turnaround. Their employers often maintain a sufficient supply of redundant equipment (providing all the time needed to get items repaired) and quick turnaround obviously isn't going to happen in truly remote locations. Renting is seldom an option either since most companies (including camera manufacturers) just won't ship to remote locations (overseas, etc).

Independant photojournalists (and those working for smaller publishers) purchase their own equipment, so quality budget equipment could easily appeal to them. Newspaper and magazine photographers almost never require images larger then 6-10 megapixels (depending on the size of the media with some extra for cropping), so virtually all recent Pentax gear would be sufficient for the task.

stewart