Originally posted by GabrielFFontes Hey guys...my comment has nothing to do with the infomercial.
I've been losing interested in Pentax for quite some time.
The one thing that is forcing me to stay with the company is that it's almost impossible to sell my stuff here in Brazil. They don't give us support, they don't sell here, therefore the used market is also small.
About my budget : I'm 17 years old, and i own many guitars, so all of that combined makes my budget not too high.
I do own many lenses that i wouldn't if i had another brand of camera, because i found them for cheap on the used market, but yet, the recent Pentax news have been bothering me.
Here's why :
DA 20-40 announced. Short range, not too fast, but okay, great metal construction. But for ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS? I'd rather have a cheap plastic 17-50 2.8.
This is just an example of what has been making it impossible for me to stay with the Pentax.
Lenses like Canon's $300 10-18 and their $400 85mm 1.8 are much more appealing to me. And they all have built-in focusing motors! Why can't Pentax use their technology (in-body SR and in-body motor) to make cheap lenses?
Hi Gabriel, you have a very nice spread of equipment and lenses to judge from your signature, as well as a fine collection of images on Flickr. I am envious. My strong suggestion would be to stay with what you have for the time being. Only move on when you are sure you have outgrown your gear and it can offer you nothing further. There are two things you could consider in the meantime.
First, set yourself some projects and follow them through. For example, if you'd like to become a very good landscape photographer, then give yourself one year to start out on that course. Learn about it, study the work of leading photographers, read books, join clubs and take lots and lots of shots with the equipment you already have. It is more than up to the task. At the end of the year, pause and assess your progress. Maybe landscape photography it wasn't for you after all - but even if so, you will be a better and more experienced photographer for it. That is my experience. If your chosen project was for you, of course, you may have discovered something wonderful. The projects could be on any subject; landscape is just an example.
Second, before buying any new gear, set out to discover your own personal style. This takes time and can come from many sources, not only photography, but it my experience it is key. It is key not only to your own satisfaction as a photographer but also to taking arresting photographs that no one else could have taken, because they embody your style and no one else's. I've some found essays on
Luminous Landscape helpful in this regard. They are by Alain Briot and are all about achieving your personal style. See
here and
here (for the first of four essays on the topic). There is another important reason for this too. Until someone has a better idea of their own personal style, they really don't know what photographic equipment will suit them best as a means of expressing it. In a sense, they are buying expensive things "blind".
I really would not worry too much about what Pentax is and is not doing. They are sparsely represented even here, too. Personally I'm lukewarm about them for the same reasons as you, but that is completely irrelevant to the task at hand. The task at hand is enjoying your photography, exploring new things and become a better photographer (however one might define that). Pentax equipment will serve for this task as well as any and better than a lot of others, and possibly for some years to come. The "WR" aspect of it in the wet climate here is a real plus. When your equipment is wearing out and you really have reached the end of the road with it, worry about Pentax then. Forget about Pentax for now and just enjoy your very fine collection of equipment.