Originally posted by Art Vandelay II
Skimming the DP Review forums got me thinking about that question again today. It made me curious as to what you could get instead one $3000 body. I quickly put this kit together:
Pentax K20D: $970
Pentax DA 17-70mm f/4 SDM: $450
Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited: $265
Pentax DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited: $460
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG HSM: $750
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC: $480
Sigma 1.4x EX DG Teleconverter: $180
Pentax AF 360FGZ Flash: $170
One 8 Gig SD Card: $70
Total: $3,070
Outside of the extremely wealthy what kind of a person would pay $3000 for a camera body that may or may not produce noticeably better results instead of getting the entire kit I just listed? I have to think that is a very, very low number of people. I personally think that could be a very good reason for Pentax to hold off on full frame for the time being unless they can unleash as sub $2000 body.
This is kind of the boat I was in with Canon, then Sony. I had my old Maxxum film gear, but when I went digital, the Maxxum line of gear was in transition to Sony and there wasn't any digital "Maxxum" I could afford. I bought a small Canon kit, with the idea I would expand and upgrade it. But when I went to upgrade to a Canon 20D or 30D, I was shocked at how much it cost. Lenses were much the same. Buy the time I bought the three or four lenses I needed, it would have cost the same as an Alpha, and I could use my existing Maxxum gear. So that's what I did, convinced that Sony would eventually introduce a higher end model, with better low-light performance. And Sony did, but I worked out the math and realized that I could, for the price of an A700+premium kit lens that was for sale, buy new:
1) Pentax K10D and D-BG2
2) Pentax SMCP DA* 16-50(even more premium than the Sony)
3) AF360FGZ
So I decided to switch to Pentax. I just couldn't afford anything more than the most basic gear from the other companies, and I wanted something more. So I switched to Pentax, ended up with GX-1S, then K100D, sold the GX-1S and upgraded to K10D, I've added an *ist DS and while I haven't mentioned it here(Who cares?), I've added another K10D(found it on a clearance sale!). Since I started using Pentax equipment, I've never found the equipment making me wish I had kept my Canon or Sony and I've no overwhelming desire to switch to Nikon or Olympus, so I'm happy. The gear I have does what I need in a way that works for me and offered in my opinion the best value for the money. It's not that Canon or Sony are "junk"(or Nikon or Olympus for that matter), it's just that I felt that I got a lot more value with Pentax. I still feel that way and I expect that will continue.