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10-18-2017, 04:58 AM   #16
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Time has come for me to replace my K-r, it no longer focuses with screw drive lenses and the control wheel no longer works. The obvious replacement would be the K-70, and that is probably the direction I will take, but I am concerned about the lack of new third party lens offerings. Pentax lenses seem to be little better than third party offerings, and cost a lot more. And once Tamron and Sigma give up completely on Pentax, any price limits on Pentax lenses are off, and they can charge anything they like. It may become similar to razon sales strategies, offer a good body at a good price, then make up the profit on lenses.

10-18-2017, 05:09 AM   #17
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To me the K3ii is the most camera for the money in the APSC Pentax lineup. I have a K3 and now rarely use my other cameras. I have a K50 and find the K3 to be at least one stop better in ISO performance and the 14 bit files allow more highlight and shadow detail. The camera buttons are positioned in a much more usable way on the K3. You also get 2 sd card slots so a card failure won't cause you to lose a great shot. You also have the option for a battery grip that will give you even longer battery life. I shot weddings and the camera will be on 6 hours without going to sleep very often and I can shoot 700 plus photos before the grip battery dies. And you also get 2 stops better low light focusing (the weakness of the K50 that caused me to upgrade) and the 86k metering system is much more accurate when shooting multi segment metering. Don't get me wrong I love my K50 and K30 and have had no issues with either. That being said, comparing them to the K3 is like comparing a Fiat to Jaguar. Need I say more.
10-18-2017, 05:45 AM   #18
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I understand your frustration. I also have a K50 that is starting to act up. I also use a k3. My take is this. On both cameras you get a build quality and features that only come at much greater cost with other brands. I will have the K50 repaired when the time comes. The reports I have read say no problems after the repair. My granddaughter uses a Nikon of the same price range as the K50. In my opinion the K50 is far and away a better camera with features miles ahead. I may be bias but go handle a comparably priced Nikon and see for yourself. I think you'll find much greater value in Pentax. Good luck.
10-18-2017, 05:50 AM   #19
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As other said, I would try first to repair it myself. The repair is way more easy than replacing a phone screen. It's just removing some screws, replace or repair a piece, and screw everything back together... Not much to lose since the camera isn't working anyway.

If you're in the UK, there's a guy in France who is very good at the repair. It's kind of the european version of the California guy we have in North America. I've no idea how easy or cheap it is to send things back and forth to France from the UK, but this could be an option. I don't know if you can read french, but this guy also made an excellent tutorial on how to repair the aperture failure: Repair options for black prictures. You can contact him by PM to take arrangement for the repair.


Last edited by CarlJF; 10-18-2017 at 05:56 AM.
10-18-2017, 06:22 AM - 1 Like   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by hawaza Quote
Hi guys,

Looking for some advice / suggestions. Just as I was about to look into getting a good tele lens my K-50 has met it's end due to the well documented aperture block issue. The £200 to fix it seams ridiculous given the cameras worth and the fact it could happen again even after the fix. I've had to bring my K-r out of retirement but the images I'm getting just don't compare to those from the K-50 and the whole saga has left me feeling rather annoyed with Pentax. This raises the following questions:

Do I stick with Pentax or move to another brand?
If I stick with Pentax which camera do I go for?

Additional info related to aid in question answering. I'm not wed to pentax as I don't have much in the way of quality lenses, I use the K-50's18-55mm kit lens and the 100mm f2.8 macro day to day. I have the FA 75-300mm to cover the tele range but very rarely use it as the quality is poor and an M 50mm f1.7 which gets almost zero use. I like wildlife photography (mainly birds) and was looking to get something far superior to the 75-300 so I could indulge this more. I am price constrained so if I stayed pentax it would be between the ~£600 K-70 (if I know it doesn't have the same aperture block issue) or the ~£800 K-3 ii. The KP is too expensive unless it gets a decent price drop.

Any advice on this is greatly appreciated as I keep flip flopping and can't decide.
You’ll love any other brand until something goes sideways with what you are using, and then the love affair will be over and there you’ll be. On another forum someplace pouring your heart out about how disappointed you are with that brand of camera.
10-18-2017, 06:26 AM   #21
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Based on the feedback so far i think i'll be sticking with Pentax The untimely demise of anything can shake your faith in the brand which is really whats happened here. Until that point i was happy with things. I think i just needed the reassurance to stick with the brand The reasons i went with it in the first place are still valid, solid build and image quality at a good price.

In my mind now it i's a toss up between getting a K-70 or a K-3ii. I will most probably sell the K-r and end up trying to fix the k-50 myself (if it doesn't appear too tricky) - if successful i'll have it as my backup camera, if not i'll flog it off to recover some of the costs. Either way I've lost the confidence in it to run it as my main camera. As Alex645 said its an emotional thing and the niggling worry of another failure would always be present.

QuoteQuote:
what camera body is better suited, in your opinion for wild life photography?
I still need to look at more detail into the cameras but each has its pro's and con's. I enjoy wildlife photography but the camera is and will be used for general purpose photography. The superior AF, battery life and durability on the K-3ii would be a big benefit, but then so would the articulating rear screen, the built in flash and the improved live view of the K-70. Then there are things like GPS and WiFi which are both useful neither has both.
10-18-2017, 06:33 AM   #22
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Some thoughts ...

There's nothing wrong with thinking about changing brands or adding another system into your collection. You only have three lenses, yes? If so then you are not too deeply invested into the K-mount system. Some people have 20+ lenses ranging from cheap kit lenses from the film era to FA Limiteds. When some of these people switch they try to rebuild equivalent systems for the new mount.

Switching implies you will sell your current gear for something else. Considering you only have three lenses you might as well keep what you have in case you ever go deeper into K-mount one day. You could also potentially adapt what you have onto the new system.

If you do decide to move on to another system then think about which system is trending toward the future of photography gear. Are we headed toward small mirrorless systems? Do you think optical viewfinders will have a firm place in our future? Where is all the good tech being developed? I'm a u4/3 fan boy and I have been building up a system of lenses that compliment my bulky K-mount gear.

Otherwise, stay with Pentax 100%. There is certainly nothing wrong with the K-70, KP, or K-1 except that we may not always have the cash on hand to buy what we want.

10-18-2017, 06:35 AM   #23
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I'd probably get a K70. Looks like a significant bump in high iso performance to me compared to the K3 generation cameras. I would figure out how to get the aperture block repaired. It is still a really good camera and certainly it can't hurt to mess around with it and try to fix it -- it isn't useful at all at this point except for lenses with aperture rings used in manual mode so why not try it? It would be a nice back up camera for down the road.
10-18-2017, 06:59 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by Wasp Quote
That 100mm macro is wonderful. If you change brands it is going to cost a pretty penny to get something like it. As a consolotion you should get good money for it when selling. Apart from that there seems to be little that holds you back[/url]
Tokina sold the 100mm macro for Nikon and Canon. But no WR version...
10-18-2017, 07:47 AM   #25
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I hesitate to say this. But if wildlife on a budget is your goal, I'd take a long hard look at the lenses available for each brand. I'd pay particular attention to Sigma's & Tamron's latest lenses that are not available in Pentax mount. The older Sigma's are readily found used for Pentax, but they aren't quite as long, and they aren't quite as well respected. Here's a round up of some telephoto zoom lenses you might use to research this further. The best super telephoto zoom lenses 2016 | TechRadar

I personally find myself heavily invested in Pentax and it is cheaper for me to spend money on a premium lens than to switch systems. The DFA 150-450 appears to be extrodinary... But beyond your budget.
10-18-2017, 07:51 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by hawaza Quote
Hi guys,

Looking for some advice / suggestions. Just as I was about to look into getting a good tele lens my K-50 has met it's end due to the well documented aperture block issue. The £200 to fix it seams ridiculous given the cameras worth and the fact it could happen again even after the fix.
One of my K-50 bodies was starting to develop the aperture motor issue. I didn't want to spend money on any current Pentax bodies, so I decided to try & fix it myself.

There are some aperture motor replacements floating around the Internet for as cheap as $10 USA, but I decided to get the proven OEM white one from a previous camera for $40 USA from eBay. Yeah. It's pricier, but it will probably outlast the camera's shutter life. It took me about 3 hours & a slightly burned finger to do the fix. I spent about $60 USA overall in getting the replacement motor & tools. I've already shot about 4,000 photos since. No issues at all.

The K-3II might get a further drop in price once the replacement comes out. Who knows when that will be. Could be sometime next year or not. I'm waiting for that replacement camera myself.
10-18-2017, 08:12 AM   #27
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It would appear that Ricoh at least in the US and a few other countries is willing to cover this repair outside of warranty. Therefore you have nothing to lose by contacting Ricoh first and seeing what they have to say. Even if the repair fails again after two or so years you would still have gotten that much time of use.
10-18-2017, 08:15 AM - 1 Like   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by hawaza Quote
... Do I stick with Pentax or move to another brand? ... I like wildlife photography (mainly birds) and was looking to get something far superior to the 75-300 so I could indulge this more. I am price constrained ...
Birds often need a lot of magnification. Consider a Nikon body with one of the newish 600mm zooms from Sigma or Tamron. That's probably the most cost effective way to photograph birds, but it's still relatively expensive for a hobby lens that might not get much use.

Those 600mm lenses are unfortunately not made for Pentax k-mount.

If you stick with Pentax, the 55-300 is a sharp lens for the price, but the focus is IMO slow and noisy for birds. I've had good luck with my Sigma 50-500; a secondhand copy of that or the 150-500 might fit into your budget.
10-18-2017, 12:55 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by hawaza Quote
If i stick with Pentax the K-70 is where i was leaning as image quality is meant to be similar, provided I can be sure its not using the same aperture block as the K-30/K-50 and the build quality is good.
It doesn't have the same failure rate, it seems, but it might still be worth investing in a 3-5 year third party warranty if you want to be sure your investment is protected.

As for the image quality, the gap between the K-70 and the K-50 will feel bigger than the gap between the K-50 and the K-r. It may just blow you away

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10-18-2017, 01:43 PM   #30
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You can get a reasonable used K3 or K3 II for about £400 < £500 - I had the K3 (2nd hand) and got a K3 II (2nd hand) for the Astrotracer - shame it doesn't have a pop up flash but it's a great camera. The 100mm Macro is always in the bag with my K1 and the Tamron 90mm in the bag with the K3 II. Perhaps I'll get another 100mm :-)
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