[Allison]

Congrats! Very nice! I may be with you at the end of the year!

Lauren, the best things come to those who wait. You have to understand, this is a test. Those who resist the temptation will eventually (maybe...hopefully) get to Pentax heaven.

[LaurenOE]

Lauren, the best things come to those who wait. You have to understand, this is a test. Those who resist the temptation will eventually (maybe...hopefully) get to Pentax heaven.

I hope so. I will never get out of Pentax as I have too much Pentax gear.
However, the Nikon D800E or D7100 has some awesome specifications that are getting harder and harder to ignore.

Now that I use Lightroom, and have found some great online locations for full service printing and framing, my poster size printing has experienced a renaissance.

I am getting close to doing a gallery show now that the price is becoming reasonable again. The last time I did large format printing was when I was doing 35mm film and 645 work.

For me then, the middle ground that is below the 645D and above K5IIs is being filled by Nikon, and it keeps me up at night.

I won't be able to ignore it much longer.

[monochrome]

For me then, the middle ground that is below the 645D and above K5IIs is being filled by Nikon, and it keeps me up at night. I won't be able to ignore it much longer.

Lauren: Just do what you have to do and don't look back. None of this is forever anyway. Hell, if you can really do Gallery work with it lease the Nikon and turn it in when the Pentax gets here.

[RonHendriks1966]

I hope so. I will never get out of Pentax as I have too much Pentax gear.
However, the Nikon D800E or D7100 has some awesome specifications that are getting harder and harder to ignore.

Now that I use Lightroom, and have found some great online locations for full service printing and framing, my poster size printing has experienced a renaissance.

I am getting close to doing a gallery show now that the price is becoming reasonable again. The last time I did large format printing was when I was doing 35mm film and 645 work.

For me then, the middle ground that is below the 645D and above K5IIs is being filled by Nikon, and it keeps me up at night.

I won't be able to ignore it much longer.

What size printing do you do?

[LaurenOE]

What size printing do you do?

http://www.zazzle.com/228276891868677565

http://www.zazzle.com/forbinvisual+gifts

That is my artwork.

48"x32" and I am running out of resolution after slight cropping.

[Ash]

The D7100 wouldn't do enough for you Lauren, but the D800E will. Either go straight to the 645D, or switch to the D800. If 16Mp just won't do for you, there's no choice is there?


Ash.

[LaurenOE]

The D7100 wouldn't do enough for you Lauren, but the D800E will. Either go straight to the 645D, or switch to the D800. If 16Mp just won't do for you, there's no choice is there?


Ash.

Yep. Exactly. I want to go bigger and the D800E seems to be the sweet spot.
Sure, I have 645 lenses, but I just can't justify the 645D just to stay with Pentax.

The hole between the K5IIs and 645D should have something in it already, and is the basis for much of my frustration.

[RonHendriks1966]

That is my artwork.

48"x32" and I am running out of resolution after slight cropping.

That is on the limits for the 16mp sensor.

[LaurenOE]

That is on the limits for the 16mp sensor.

Exactly.

[Allison]

http://www.zazzle.com/228276891868677565

Forbinvisual T-Shirts, Forbinvisual Gifts, Art, Posters, and more

That is my artwork.

48"x32" and I am running out of resolution after slight cropping.

Yeah, you are cutting it close. My largest work is usually 20x30 for weddings. I worried sometimes with the k5, but with the added sharpness of the IIs, I will hit that easily. But 48 has got to be the the top end of what you could do without stitching frames. Of course we are all expecting the new flagship aps-c to be 24mp and that will hopefully be announced for year end. Personally, I think they will hold off on a full frame announcement until Q1 of 2014, but I have no inside knowledge or anything. It is just a hunch. My first weddings of the 2014 season are in May, so I am okay with the wait.

If you need to have the extra mp, buy the 800e now and sell when Pentax is announced. You know you will get a good price for a used 800 or 800e.

Btw, who are you printing with? I have 3 printers that I use right now, I'd love to compare notes.

[LaurenOE]

Yeah, you are cutting it close. My largest work is usually 20x30 for weddings. I worried sometimes with the k5, but with the added sharpness of the IIs, I will hit that easily. But 48 has got to be the the top end of what you could do without stitching frames. Of course we are all expecting the new flagship aps-c to be 24mp and that will hopefully be announced for year end. Personally, I think they will hold off on a full frame announcement until Q1 of 2014, but I have no inside knowledge or anything. It is just a hunch. My first weddings of the 2014 season are in May, so I am okay with the wait.

If you need to have the extra mp, buy the 800e now and sell when Pentax is announced. You know you will get a good price for a used 800 or 800e.

Btw, who are you printing with? I have 3 printers that I use right now, I'd love to compare notes.

Zazzle seems to have broken the barrier for me. Granted, their output is not museum quality, but for ease of uploading and shipping to your door they are pretty hard to beat.

My plan is to have a show, and then sell upscale prints/frames to those that want them - and for everything else - send them to my Zazzle storefront which doesn't have the highest resolution images, but has all the little "gifts" through their store. I then get two channels of distribution. Those that want cheap product, and those that want truly art prints. Regardless, you have to have work to show, and Zazzle gives me a cheaper option to put "inventory" on a wall.

Florida is a unique market, in that our homes here are usually built as single story homes with large living spaces to deal with the heat and air-conditioning.

Large wall -art tends to be in demand and with Zazzle I can hit price points that work.

It's been a long time since I did this kind of work, and it appears that times are right to re-enter.

Gallery space is relatively cheap in Orlando, but you still have to print/frame enough prints for a show.

I think I can do a month long show for something like $5000

[Tesla]

If you need to have the extra mp, buy the 800e now and sell when Pentax is announced.

Good idea, but might be hard to give up if Pentax doesn't match the specs and I have a feeling it will be more like the D600.

[scratchpaddy]

Lauren, have you ever given Sigma a look? The SD1M only has a 16mp APS-C sensor, but because it doesn't use a Bayer array, it prints more like a 30mp camera.

You seem to like slow and contemplative photography, and that's what it's good for. If you just want to try the sensor, Sigma has three fixed-lens compacts with 18mm, 30mm, and 50mm lenses, each less than $1,000. I've got the 30mm one, and it's like medium-format in the pocket. I'm not sure I want full-frame anymore. For landscapes, I don't see the point if you can get this kind of resolution in an APS-C.

Like you, I'm going wait and see where Pentax is going at the end of the year, but the Sigma's sensor has really spoiled me. No matter what happens, though, the K-5 IIs will stick around for action and low-light. I'll always keep it or something like it with a skeleton crew of stellar lenses.

[LaurenOE]

Good idea, but might be hard to give up if Pentax doesn't match the specs and I have a feeling it will be more like the D600.

I hope not. I hope it's more D800E.

Lauren, have you ever given Sigma a look? The SD1M only has a 16mp APS-C sensor, but because it doesn't use a Bayer array, it prints more like a 30mp camera.

You seem to like slow and contemplative photography, and that's what it's good for.
If you just want to try the sensor, Sigma has three fixed-lens compacts with 18mm, 30mm, and 50mm lenses, each less than $1,000.
I've got the 30mm one, and it's like medium-format in the pocket. I'm not sure I want full-frame anymore. For landscapes, I don't see the point if you can get this kind of resolution in an APS-C.

Like you, I'm going wait and see where Pentax is going at the end of the year, but the Sigma's sensor has really spoiled me. No matter what happens, though, the K-5 IIs will stick around for action and low-light. I'll always keep it or something like it with a skeleton crew of stellar lenses.

I thought about Sigma once, as they appear to have a hybrid K mount that has some compatibility but I'm not sure anymore.

I dabbled in Nikon a few years back - and liked it somewhat so Nikon is the closest to Pentax as opposed to Canon.

The specs of the D800E are so sweet that it begs me to make the switch.

In the coming months will be the make it or break it for me.

I will never get rid of my Pentax gear, as I have too much of it. However, if I go the D800E route, Pentax will loose a serious customer in me (and my husband).
I will still buy Pentax, but anything of high value will be geared towards future Nikon purchases.
My Pentax purchases and workflow will be in stasis as I gear up and familiarize with new Nikon methods and workflow.

Sure I may pick up a Pentax body here and there, but Pentax will have slipped away from being my main-line camera and be relegated to "collecting" or when prices come down enough to splurge on a nostalgic brand that I once loved so dearly.

If I leave, Pentax will loose a customer that was below their 645D line and above their K5IIs line which will be sad, as that is precisely the space Pentax needs to be competing in.

[rawr]

I'd probably only do a similar switch to D800 range Nikon FF if it was something I could claim [the financing of] as a business expense for tax purposes, like most pros do. But for me, as an amateur, the $$'s going out would not be offset by any balancing amount of $$ coming in from the tools, so that would give me pause.