[JayR]

Sadly, after learning photography 20 years ago with a manual focus K-mount Ricoh, a later replacement with the Pentax K30 and eventually going digital with the K7, its looking like I'll soon be buying into Canon, primarily for FF and their amazing shift lenses.

I do a little bit of commercial photography including architectural work on top of my day job as an architect, and have felt very limited by the lens line up in recent times, the Sigma 10-20 just wont cut it enough especially with taller building shots - only so much in the way of pixels you can lose with software perspective correction.

Ive liked using Pentax, particularly as the lenses are a bit smaller and a bit cheaper, but have found a few irritating things like the SDM death of the 16-50 (thankfully now fine with upgraded motor) the autofocus of the K7 being a bit average sometimes, limited modern lens range and/or rental options, and the less than ideal noise of the K7 sensor -
I'm probably going to end up selling my lenses as I dont see the point of running with two systems with incompatible mounts... Not looking forward to the cost of L lenses though!
Was looking into the Sony A7r with an adaptor so I could still use my Pentax lens AND get the Canon shift, but the adapter for Pentax isnt Autofocus (no good for the times when my left hand is holding a reflector in a model shoot!).

I'll miss the FA31 and 77, and the 50-135/2.8 particularly, even the 18-250 was a great holiday lens. Almost couldve considered using the Samyang 24mm TS if Pentax had a full frame, otherwise it or the old Pentax 28 Shift just arent wide enough!
So its looking like I'll be getting the Canon 6D, the 24 TSE, the 24-105 for a walk around and then the 17 TSE and some primes...
If only the Autofocus of the Sony A7 thing worked or there was an easy way of using pentax and canon lenses interchangeably.

[K(s)evin]

See 'ya!

[JayR]

Well I was hoping for perhaps some insights or ideas I hadnt considered for being able to stick with Pentax in some way (ala the Sony A7 with multiple adaptors etc) rather than just adios!

[GateCityRadio]

I use the sony A7 and adapters. I've kept my FA Limiteds and I use them pretty often on my A7. I still use pentax for 35mm and medium format film though and I have my fingers crossed that a FF DSLR will eventually come out.

[jatrax]

Well I was hoping for perhaps some insights or ideas I hadnt considered for being able to stick with Pentax in some way (ala the Sony A7 with multiple adaptors etc) rather than just adios!

Not sure what that would be. If you want TS then Canon has some really nice ones. And Pentax doesn't.

Sorry to see you go but brand loyalty by itself is silly. Go where you need to be to get the gear you need.

[rod_grant]

JayR, if you go, we'll be sorry to see it.
On the other hand if Pentax doesn't have the gear you need, what else can you do?


I did find this very old thread: I haven't looked at the links but you may find something to interest you.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/1627-tilt-shift-pentax.html

[Digitalis]

I'll soon be buying into Canon, primarily for FF and their amazing shift lenses.

goodbye, have fun.

[GateCityRadio]

The great thing about the Sony is that you get their great zeiss and G lenses, but you can still use Pentax LTD/* lenses and/or Canon TS lenses with an adapter.

[jcdoss]

I've also seen tilt adapters for e-mount, but I don't remember if they were for PK.

[LensBeginner]

...the first piece of advice that is given to any newbie asking for insight on the Italian "Pentaxiani" forum is: "Buy a Canikon!"
...then, if one is persistent enough to endure 5-10 posts of abuse, he is treated in a serious way...
Not that you're a newbie, of course!

To each his own, and whatever fits your needs/floats your boat.
Pentax has an old-ish tilt shift lens, and recently one has been manufactured by Samyang if I'm not mistaken (too early/sleepy/lazy to check now... ).

Hope you find what you seek either way, but I'd be bracing myself for a bootload of noise if I were to choose canon.
Then again, if you plan to shoot on a tripod at ISO100 that would make no difference, so no issue there.

Edit: now that I'm not so sleepy anymore, I see that the OP had already considered those two lenses! :-P

[DSims]

I do a little bit of commercial photography including architectural work on top of my day job as an architect, and have felt very limited by the lens line up in recent times, the Sigma 10-20 just wont cut it enough especially with taller building shots - only so much in the way of pixels you can lose with software perspective correction.

The Sigma 10-20 (both versions) and Tamron 10-24 stink (from a perfectionist standpoint), so don't give us that cr@p. You need to go with the Sigma 8-16 or primes. You'd be better off with the Q 08, quite frankly.

Ive liked using Pentax, particularly as the lenses are a bit smaller and a bit cheaper, but have found a few irritating things like the SDM death of the 16-50 (thankfully now fine with upgraded motor) the autofocus of the K7 being a bit average sometimes, limited modern lens range and/or rental options, and the less than ideal noise of the K7 sensor -

You're kidding about this too, right?? Don't answer that - you can't complain about noise until you've upgraded to the K-x or beyond. How ironic that this would prompt you to switch to Canon - the noise king! You'll have to select your body carefully, because they still have a lot of noisy sensors in their lineup. The K-7 can be a great camera, but hanging on to one while complaining about AF or noise is a joke.

Also, try Capture One for its keystone adjustments. While I agree that optical adjustments (i.e. getting it right in camera) is generally better, I find it awfully hard to believe you haven't at least tried a K-3 with a Sigma 8-16 and various software first. And I suppose you're doing enough shots that you need digital, but my first inclination for proper TS is a 4x5 film camera, where it's inherent in the design. New ones aren't even that expensive (e.g. an $800 model last I checked).

Furthermore, outside of the TS lenses, UWA is a Canon weakness, not a strength. Likewise with their macros. They have that very interesting MP-E 65mm 1-5x "ultra-macro," but all their other macros seem inferior to the competition. I shot with a Canon 5D II and 16-35/2.8 L (version 1, I believe) on the Universal backlot a few years ago. I was surprised to find my K200D and DA15 took better photos! Hmm, I only spent $600 on that combo - why can't this $4K+ outfit match it?! Not to mention what my FA31, DA*50-135, FA77, and K200/2.5 gave me! I admit I must have been a little brainwashed by the Canon image (rather than their images) before this experience. I still respect Canon, but you either get their best glass or forget it! I think both Sony and Nikon also beat them at the wide end. Certainly the Sony Zeiss 16-35/2.8 is better than the Canon. It only took me a few shots to figure that out. And I think the Nikon 14-24 beats the Canon UWA prime!


Now, after all that, perhaps you still have some good reasons to switch to a Canon system. They do have a more versatile lens system, after all. But TS seems almost like a kludge on a DSLR. Perhaps it's better when the entire camera is designed for TS, not just the lens. In any case, some of what you said above sounds more like excuses than reality.

[JayR]

You're kidding about this too, right?? Don't answer that - you can't complain about noise until you've upgraded to the K-x or beyond. How ironic that this would prompt you to switch to Canon - the noise king! You'll have to select your body carefully, because they still have a lot of noisy sensors in their lineup. The K-7 can be a great camera, but hanging on to one while complaining about AF or noise is a joke.

Also, try Capture One for its keystone adjustments. While I agree that optical adjustments (i.e. getting it right in camera) is generally better, I find it awfully hard to believe you haven't at least tried a K-3 with a Sigma 8-16 and various software first. And I suppose you're doing enough shots that you need digital, but my first inclination for proper TS is a 4x5 film camera, where it's inherent in the design. New ones aren't even that expensive (e.g. an $800 model last I checked).

Actually had been considering the 6D which has a much better low light and noise capability than the 5d3, otherwise yeah I wouldnt be so blase about jumping ship. Sadly, I havent had a chance to try the Sigma 8-16 on a K3 - no stores locally had both a K3 AND the 8-16 in K mount to even test them...

The software thing really just doesnt cut it for perspective control beyond anything minor, just too many pixels lost, squeezed or bloated out for images to be usable let alone acceptable for clients. Its pretty much the combo of wide angle full frame and quality shift lenses.

If money werent so much an issue I'd probably keep running the Pentax stuff for 'fun' (I prefer the size and feel) and use the canon for more commercial applications... Though in all likelyhood I think the sales of the Ltd and DA* lenses will go someway to buying new lenses on the new system.

[Rondec]

If all you need is a tilt shift, then you certainly could look at the Samyang 24mm tilt shift. The K7 is a pretty old camera and certainly either the K5 or the K3 would perform better. These cameras do provide a sensor shift options as well that can produce some nice results.

I hope you find what you need wherever you go. Good luck!

[i_trax]

bye bye...
I sometimes have to use Canon FF at work , hate it!
sorry, good luck with your choice
still love the Q, Q-s1 and MX-1, why would anybody go FF anyway???
well, one of my good friends just came back from Tanzania, he was doing some filming and timelapse at Kilimanjaro , he had Canon d60 cropped DSLR with him, he recon FF DSLR would produce much smoother time laps, perhaps, I do not do much timelapse, will need to investigate.....

[ramseybuckeye]

There are TS lenses for Pentax, they are not cheap either.

Midwest Photo Exchange Schneider PC TS Super Angulon 50mm 2.8 Pentax

Midwest Photo Exchange Schneider PC TS Makro Symmar 90mm 4.0 Pentax