Honestly, this is one thread that surprised me quite a bit. I use a Pentax DSLR (K-7) and cameras from other manufacturers, because they fill different needs. I know the (in production) lens choices are limited on Pentax compared to other brands but the fine Pentax lenses are superb.
- AF speed is an issue, I agree. I find even on the K-7, the AF-C mode does not keep track of moving subjects well, that is why my sports photography camera is a Canon.
- The advantages of FF are well understood, so I do wish I could add one to my set, although the price is high. I did an estimate for a D3 and the lenses I need, and it is upwards of 10K USD. If Pentax has a lower-resolution camera (maybe 6 megapixels) for ultra high-ISO, I would buy that instead and would not need to get lenses for yet another system.
- The Pentax K-7 is the cheapest camera of its kind, so I disagree we have to pay more. One thing that lead me to Pentax in the beginning was value and that remains true today. The K200D and K20D are the lowest priced weather-sealed cameras. The K-7 is the lowest price camera with a 100% viewfinder. I'm in Canada through, so maybe this is not true elsewhere. Some DA* lenses are the cheapest weather-sealed lenses among their competitors.
- The built-in stabilization of the K-7 and K20D may not be as good as Sony's but it helps beat the low-light performance of all cameras except the D3 (and possible D3s) because it can stabilize a F/1.4 lens while only the D3/D3s have enough of a high-ISO advantage to beat that.
- The K20D is the most efficient camera I have every used. I review cameras at neocamera.com, so not only do I own several, I tried almost all of them. A simple example is the self-timer which both does mirror-lockup and turns of stabilization which are needed for ultra-sharp low-light photography. Many more button-presses are needed in other systems. The separate bracket and drive mode controls allow incredible flexibility, including shooting an entire bracket with a single button press with mirror-lockup and delay between each shot. There are a slew of these subtile points.
The bottom line is I think that the Pentax offerings are in great shape. They do not cover every situation but what they do is done exceptionally well. For sports, other systems are better due to AF speed, I agree. For wildlife, Pentax lacks some super-telephoto lenses, yes, but Sigma does cover some of that partially.
- Itai
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