[Albert Siegel]

It's funny how things change but stay the same. Some of you may remember me and some perhaps even know me. I'm a photojournalist who sometimes works in other areas of photography. Currently living and working in Japan.

I was a dedicated Pentax user till about September or November. I sold off some of my gear before then with the idea of holding on to a basic prime kit but ended up selling it all to fund other things. I've been using only Canon from that time since that's what was the best solution for my work. I don't particularly like the Canon system. The bodies are not my taste when it comes to layout and handling. The Canon wide zooms are poor at best. All the gear is too large and heavy when I need to take two bodies with four lenses and other stuff in a backpack. (1D IIN, 60D, 16-35/2.8II, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8 IS II, 2x TC, flash, ect..)

On the other hand the IQ from the normal and long lenses are nothing short of stunning. I actually have a TC that works well. The AF is spot on with the 1 series. Much more impressive for sports than any other camera I've used other than a high-end Nikon. Then again, it was a $5,000 camera... it better be good.

There are pros and cons, but despite all the pros... I really miss my Pentax system I would love to be able to dump all the Canon gear and go back to an all Pentax setup, but there are some major issues that prevent this.

Tethering, true tethering, is a must have for me. I do not know why Pentax will no longer support this. I miss the old layout. The K10D/K20D layout was near perfect. The main concern I have with the K5/K7 is the placement of the AF and green buttons and the lack of a SR switch. I guess I just need to learn to adapt to the changes.

There is not much of a reason for this post other than to share my thoughts. I really love Pentax and would love to come back, but I'm not sure if I can. I guess if I ever leave photojournalism and go only for commercial photography, I might be able to work around the tethering thing by using an EyeFi card and perhaps changing the function of the green button. I'm just not looking forward to selling and buying gear again!

What about any of you? Have you made the switch only to switchback? Have you bought a second system and then sold it in favor of Pentax? Am I mad to consider what I'm considering? Am I just suffering from a bad case of LBA?

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Last edited by Albert Siegel; 06-06-2011 at 07:58 PM.

[jstevewhite]

What about any of you? Have you made the switch only to switchback? Have you bought a second system and then sold it in favor of Pentax? Am I mad to consider what I'm considering? Am I just suffering from a bad case of LBA?

I used to shoot Canon film cameras for some of the same reasons you cite. I had an ME super and a couple of primes ( 50mm 1.4 and M200 f4, IRRC) and just loved the "Pentax Colors". They came the closest, IMO, to the Zeiss and Leitz images. But Pentax gear wasn't as common, and the range of accessories weren't available used. There were Canon lenses by DROVES available used, but you had to HUNT for Pentax glass. I will say, however, that the T90 might have been the greatest manual focus camera ever made.

Now that I don't have to pay my bills with a camera, though, I chose to switch to the system that I always admired, and I've not regretted it one bit. Again, though, if I had to pay my bills with the camera, and I were shooting on assignment, I'd probably end up switching to CaNikon out of necessity for many of the same reasons - none, I might add, related to image quality or my preference

[Ash]

Albert, you have presented some very real issues from a pro perspective, many of these I have thought about myself. Ultimately, it's the tool (and the company) that will best do and support your job that will be most suited to you; and for many Pentax is just not up to it.

Nevertheless, for many Pentax does offer an enthusiast capability without the 'professional' price tag. Pentax is capable of doing more with its flagship models, and I hope it does work out its niggles, and repair turnaround times, to regain more customer confidence. What I am sure of though is that it will not reach the stature or sheer R&D strength of the big two any time soon. And that's OK.

I'm not about to give up on Pentax myself, but I can see some cause for pros wanting to switch, and Pentax so far with the K-5 hasn't given enough reason for financially-able C&N pros to want to switch/switch back to Pentax.

[Digitalis]

One of the reasons why I use Canon and Nikon for my professional work, and Pentax and Leica for personal portfolios - though I will occasionally use my Nikon D3s for portfolio work because of it's high FPS,good High ISO and the AF-S 400mm f/2.8G ED VR I use for wildlife and sports coverage (I wish pentax would came out with a lens like that). Though for sports I often have the Nikon D3s with the 400mm f/2.8 and my Pentax K7 with my sigma 100-300mm f/4 APO EX DG on the sidelines and that lens is very versatile, I have gotten some excellent images with that sigma 100-300mm f/4 lens. Though the one thing the sigma lens cannot do is perform well with the use of 2X teleconverters like the 400mm f/2.8 nikkor can.

[Ratmagiclady]

I was more loyal than Canon could have asked. They can talk to me with the words 'Digital Back FN' or maybe a 5d in FD mount.

(Sorry, forgot to dust myself off before I said that. )

[jstevewhite]

I was more loyal than Canon could have asked. They can talk to me with the words 'Digital Back FN' or maybe a 5d in FD mount.

Oooh, I would have KILLED for a digital back for my T-90. I would still consider it if one were presented. I still pick it up and just love it and the beat-up old 85 1.8 that still lives on it. Greatest manual focus camera I ever owned.

[Ratmagiclady]

Oooh, I would have KILLED for a digital back for my T-90. I would still consider it if one were presented. I still pick it up and just love it and the beat-up old 85 1.8 that still lives on it. Greatest manual focus camera I ever owned.

Yep. Though I guess I'm just an F-1N gal. Same lens, though, SSC, of course.


(And I do of course love this Pentax stuff, but sometimes I just do feel like a stranger in a strange land down here, and there's nothing like really-familiar tools when you don't feel grounded in any other way. (Apart from the usual 'They don't make em like they used to' gripes, a few of my old Canons, I'd know *mine* from identical models just by feel. Probably into the next lifetime. I get attached. ) But I'm getting along.

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Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 05-07-2011 at 12:29 AM.

[jstevewhite]

Yep. Though I guess I'm just an F-1N gal. Same lens, though, SSC, of course.

I've still got an EF, too. The F-1N was a beast, and I loved it, but.... the cumulative spot metering on the T-90 was a B&W zone shooter's dream.

[Ratmagiclady]

I've still got an EF, too. The F-1N was a beast, and I loved it, but.... the cumulative spot metering on the T-90 was a B&W zone shooter's dream.

So indeed. And real TTL flash, but by the time they came up with *that* I could do it in my head. Twenty years later, of course, not so quick in the ol' cerebrum. Of course, decades later, my pal here's got gigawhatzits of computer power and I *still* don't have real TTL, but I can plug my trusty ol 285 in. * My* old 285, too, I wrote things on it before I got that Siouxsie Sioux look together. And a few little stories involve the retina-frying power of this device, indeed.

This was of course before Canonians were putting on such airs as they do now. No, then, we were always the poor cousins, always just escaping imminent doom by the skins of our teeth and thanking the Goddess of mercy the brand was named for. Everyone else would be talking lines of resolution and we'd be like, 'Did you F'n *see* that? Nearly took my head off, that did!' (You can see how I fell in with this crowd. )

[jstevewhite]

This was of course before Canonians were putting on such airs as they do now. No, then, we were always the poor cousins, always just escaping imminent doom by the skins of our teeth and thanking the Goddess of mercy the brand was named for. Everyone else would be talking lines of resolution and we'd be like, 'Did you F'n *see* that? Nearly took my head off, that did!' (You can see how I fell in with this crowd. )

LOL! I remember the snobbishness of the Nikon crowd ("Yes, but it's not a Nikon"), and the way Olympus users sneered ("Mine measures the actual light from the FILM PLANE. What does yours do?"). And I remember, originally, thinking the A-1 was some kind of camera, only realizing when I got an F-1n just what a piece of crap that A-1 was. LOL. Then the T90... hehehe.

I was always the techno-geeky kind, and when I was working in a pro camera shop I loved all the lines. The Rokkor and Zuiko and Takumar and SSC and Nikkor - all of them were beautiful, wondrous machines of brass-n-glass. The Hasselblad-Zeiss, Leitz, Mamiya, Bronica (there's a blast from the past), Pentax 6x7 and then the 645(I fell in love with that one!). The Linhof, Horseman - hell, the old Graphic View I had for a while!

I do love digital photography, but I also miss the romance of those beautiful machines. Only the LTD line comes close - and I have sadly few of those. I keep looking at the lovely old lenses on eekbay and thinking "I could use that!" - but the ones I want cost more than the LTD, and that just wouldn't make any doggone sense.

I still love them all. I get similar feelings when I hold a D3s as I did when I picked up an F4 for the first time. The D1smkII - same thing. I think we get into the brand wars when we start talking about why we chose our brand. I chose Pentax (this time) because I always loved the color rendition - more than any Canon lens but my trusty 85 1.8 - of their primes, and the in-body shake reduction. But when I say that to a CaNikon user, they get all in a huff and start talking about how much better their Optically Stabilized lenses are or their autofocus - which misses the point entirely. I love the Canon and Nikon brands, as well - for different things. *shrug*