Originally posted by Tom Lusk "Would many of you here would pay the exact same price as a Nikon D300 if the Pentax matched it ounce for ounce on performance?"
I would have, but had to buy a D300 as Pentax has continued to place their emphasis on fashion/landscape photography, and don't seem to have the will or the $$$ to provide anything else.
Life is too short to be continually waiting and hoping they'd get their act together.
As an old film Nikon user, F-401s and all the gear from the late 90's I had form, even so was a hard choice to move. The Pentax K10D was a fine camera, I have thousands of keeper images and had some great lenses including the FA31 L 1.8, and the DA* 50-135 2.8 but...
Low light focusing and speed of focus in general, price of HSM lenses because of demand and lack of accessories such as a ring flash frustrated me.
My penchant for low light macros, wild life and bird shots mixed with candids at functions under less than adequate ambient lighting etc, showed up the main weakness in what was an otherwise excellent camera. Sorry to see it go, but I sold it all and my complaint about the shortage and cost of lenses helped the sale, as I did not lose much in the process.
I now have a D300 and it is a lot to learn, the K10D was more intuitive, but the D300 offers more user control and presets, I have a lot to learn for sure. I have resolved the low light focusing, the fast focus I needed and while I miss the in camera SR, am learning to increase the shutter speed and ISO to compensate.
I have replaced some of my favourite lenses, the Sigma 10-20 EX, Tamron 18-250 Di and Tamron 90 Di Macro 2.8 and added a Sigma EX 30mm 1.4 in place of the FA31 (Not as good for sure but is 1/3 the price). Interesting note, the Tamron 18-250 Di I now have for the Nikon is internal HSM!!, that surprised me as the same lens for the Pentax was not, nor was the DA 18-250 rebadged Tamron. The great new Tamron 17-50 Di II 2.8, Sigma 10-20 EX and 30mm EX also are HSM internal focus motor design.
In place of the Sigma 50-500 Bigma, I have a Nikkor 80-400 VR ED, which is proving to be a fantastic lens, not HSM but way faster than the Pentax focus, and quiet on the Nikon. Nikon lenses are not cheap either, but there are alternatives and I am not hung up on a name.
Added to the mix, an SB-800 Flash and a Sigma EM-140 iTTL Ring Flash for the Tamron 90 Di II.
So all in all, while a traumatic change for sure, I feel comfortable with the lens group selected, and the entire changeover cost me $485 between the sale and purchase of the new gear.
In summary? Why? many personal reasons, my son is a Nikon user and has some neat lenses I can borrow, and the annoying and niggling issues that I could not resolve. I miss the Pentax group, some fine people here whom I regret leaving, but definitely my respect for Pentax and the Pentaxians will remain in force, and I enjoy dropping in to browse.
Phil