Am I crazy? I've been so indecisive on what camera I want. In the last year I've had a Canon T2i, Olympus OM-D, and now the Pentax K-5 II. I know the camera doesn't make good pictures, it's the photographer. There are so many things about each of them that I've loved. Sorry I sound like a record player!
On the Canon T2i I loved video mode, but I didn't like the high ISO picture quality that much. I had to keep at ISO 800 for clean images. I think I was able to get good stuff out of it though.
I really love the OM-D because of it's size. The picture quality is very good for its sensor, and IBIS helps me take pictures at slower shutter speeds to help ISO stay low. Video is good when there isn't a lot of movement.
Now I have the Pentax K-5 II, and I don't know what to think. I also have the OM-D, and thought I would sell the OM-D right away. I feel like they both complement each other very well. Both are similar in regards to a weather sealed body, and IBIS or as Pentax calls it SR. As a university student I can't afford to keep both, and don't know which one to keep. I've been taking pictures, and I'm VERY impressed with Pentax. I was very impressed with the high ISO pictures. ISO 3200 seems very usable to me, and I pixel peep (terrible habit). Now I'm impressed with DR. I took a picture, and it was mostly black. I opened it with photoshop, and played with the settings. I raised the shadow bar all the way to 100, and the image had very little noise. I was so shocked, and was like HOW COULD THIS BE? I then tried the same thing with the OM-D, but I saw a lot of noise, so there isn't a lot of shadow recovery I could do. Now I'm very undecided on what camera to keep. What I really don't like about the K-5 II is the video mode. I'm not that big on video, but like to have control on the settings. I don't mind the frame rate, but I wish I was able to control ISO, aperture, shutter speed during video. The exposure also changes all the time. The white balance also hasn't been accurate, or at least not to what I like or am used to. Pentax lenses also seem expensive compared to the others. It's the same for Olympus.
I was sure I would sell the K-5 II because of the video, but image quality is making me doubt. I thought about other brands, but after seeing Pentax's DR I'm not sure. I know Nikon has very good DR also, but I don't like their menu, or button placements. Nikon lenses also seem cheaper compared to the other brands. I thought about going back to Canon because it has so so of both worlds, but I'd miss body stabilization. I'm not serious about video, and mostly do it hand held. So that leaves me with just the Pentax K-30.
I have questions about video. Can you control the settings during video? I've read the reviews comparing the K-30 with the Pentax K-5, but I want other opinions. Has anyone used both? Has anyone downgraded to the K-30? How do they compare? I know the Pentax doesn't have a mic input though. I also thought if I trade the Pentax K-5 II for the K-30 I'd have a little extra for a super wide lens. Would you trade?
Last edited by memo90061; 02-22-2013 at 12:33 AM.