[hadi]

i love pentax, and i'm not leaving them. but i would like another alternative for traveling, and/or general options as a backup. i use a pentax k1. 24-70 is a great lens but due to heavy weight, i'm looking for options.

type of photography i do:
1) weddings (occasionally. 2018 i'm gonna focus more on a city project)
2) portraits (headshots or environmental)
3) landscapes
4) astro photography
5) travel (street, portraits, landscape, and anything colorful)

things i like:
1) bokeh
2) fast speed
3) fast autofocus
4) great low light/low noise performance
5) weather proof/dust proof/splash proof/robust


what are my options there?
SONY: i was strongly considering a sony A7II as a general backup.
but their aps-c cameras seem to be getting greater reviews. their lenses are bloody expensive though. and even if rokinon, sigma, and other brands are focusing on sony, their lenses are still expensive. used market doesn't seem too good there yet.

FUJI: i'm not sure what to look for here. for one person that loves fuji colors, everyone else hates em. not a whole lot of used options that i can see.

OLYUMPUS: this seems really attractive to me. not sure which olympus. but tiny lenses. tiny bodies. waterproof. decent price. decently available used too.



anything else i should look at too?

[caliscouser]

Have you considered the KP? With the small grip it is pretty much the same size as the XT-2 or A7RIII. Same layout as the K-1 and options to share lenses.

[hadi]

Have you considered the KP? With the small grip it is pretty much the same size as the XT-2 or A7RIII. Same layout as the K-1 and options to share lenses.

it initially looked interested, yet reviews are far from kind on that camera. and people i trust, who loved/raved about the k3/k3II/k1 and other pentax gear are ripping on the KP.

[jpzk]

OLYUMPUS: this seems really attractive to me. not sure which olympus. but tiny lenses. tiny bodies. waterproof. decent price. decently available used too.

You've mentioned three different systems and it seems that you likely would go with Olympus, right?
I have a small (and limited) Fuji X system ... I really like it.
Best way around it : test them out in store?

[mnhoj]

Testing is a good idea.
If it's your first mirrorless an EVF i/o OVF and lack of proper AF-C may slow you down.
On the other side of the coin EVFs are very useful with zoom mag for manual focus and wysiwyg.
Mirrorless AF-S is fairly fast and very accurate.

I love Fuji aesthetics. The 16 and 56 are excellent and two of my fav ex-lenses. The xtrans files can take some getting used to.

Micro four thirds is very potent for the size. The system is pretty mature with two large competing manufacturers. I used to love carrying three bodies with three primes in the space of a D800 and 24-70. The 75mm 1.8 is wonderful. I like the PL25 too.

Sony for the ability to use legacy lenses very easily and effectively. I own and like the A7ii. The 28 F2 and 85 1.8 are nice and won't break the bank. The Techart Pro adapter is a lot of fun too. Slap a Voigtlander 40 1.4 and you have a nice tiny F1.4 with decent focus and stabilization.

[UncleVanya]

I'm a Pentax and Panasonic shooter. The Olympus menus are quite confusing and odd. The Panasonic ones feel a lot more like pentax. Size wise the very small bodies lack as many controls. My gx-1 and gx-7 are great little cameras. The 12-32 and 35-100 variable aperture lenses are small and slow but nicely sharp. The primes are quite good too.

[pinholecam]

I'd say go for the Sony A7II. (Ideally, A7 if you want small)

1. You get to use your Pentax lenses on it too.
2. FF (since you mentioned Shallow DOF look as a preference)
3. You can adapt many other lenses like small RF ones.
4. You can always still go with the apsc E-lenses if you want cheap lenses.

While m4/3 has caught up a lot since the days I used it, I don't really like the working distance if I want the same shallow DOF for isolation effect.
Yeah..yeah.. they do work with the faster, longer lenses and small subjects....
But the working distance (which is seldom mentioned) is not as easy.
Especially so once you move to half, 3/4 body and full body shots.

The 45/1.8 for example becomes a 90mm equivalent FL, so to cover a full body shot, you'd have to stand roughly twice that of what you do with a 50mm on FF, also losing out on the DOF as a result.
Not to mention that its sometimes not possible to stand any further.


If you keep to half body portraits and small objects, m4/3 is ok to get a shallow enough DOF "look" though.

[sqrrl]

I don't enjoy Olympus's menu's, but ergonomically my em-5 is similar to my Kp (which for stills at least is far better a camera then many people would have you believe - I use it daily, and having used most systems of the last couple of years it's very bloody good for an apsc camera)

I have Panny gx-1's, an Oly Em-5, A Kp, and a few other things - if you are really seriously into lens effects then larger formats show them up to a greater extent.

For things like landscape a larger format sensor is useful, same depth of field, and same low light.

If you don't like the Kp the K70 is also a great camera, though it's not as robust at the K3 series or even the Kp - you won't find a pentax apsc camera which out performs the Kp in terms of actually taking photographs, though the K3ii is pretty close and is a much heavier duty camera (extra cards, battery, stuff). It's a good balance for day to day professional usage.

M43 camera's are great in daylight, and I really like them - especially for form factor, but in low light they don't compare. Apsc cameras don't compare to full frame, full frame gets trumped by medium format, etc.

You want everything then pro level full frame is the way to go - Nikon D850, Canon 5mk4, Sony A7ii etc (those are advanced amateur, but they're decent bang for buck) - I'm not a huge fan cos they're big and they have big lenses, and basically each system works out to a similar weight, I don't like cameras which are that heavy.

If you really want to spend then the latest pentax, hasselblad, etc medium formats are the way to go.

I'm quite happy with what I have, though if anybody has a pentax medium format camera for the price of taking it off their hands I'd bite, even hasselblad, I'm not fussy

[surfar]

5) weather proof/dust proof/splash proof/robust

Forget $$$$$ony...not sealed enough or built strong enough.

This narrows the options a lot.

The Olympus menus are a pain so a choice of...Fuji Xpro2 or XT2....Panasonic G80/85 or the GH4/5 or G9

Apsc beats M43 everyday

[Kozlok]

A K70, with the DA15/21/40 is a pretty trim setup. Add the DA70 for portraits. You could substitute the 43/77 and have them for the K1 as well for a very small mass penalty.

[btnapa]

anything else i should look at too?

Running a dual system is costly. You have to have two sets of lenses, bodies, accessories, etc.

My overall take is that Pentax shines in stills but is trailing most others in video. If my focus was mostly stills, I would get the KP with the 20-40 Limited zoom and have a world class image making due with the K1. The problem with any of the systems, including Pentax, is the minute you go to zooms and serious primes (Pentax Limited primes somewhat excepted) you lose the compactness factor.

Here are some of my experiences with other systems. Last year I shot with a duo of Sony A6000 cameras which I borrowed from my friends. It was for a video project and the Sony delivered. I like their eye tracking focusing system and the compactness of the body. With the pancake zoom it is compact. However, the minute you add some serious glass to it is not compact anymore. BTW, I used my Pentax primes for close ups and interviews on the Sony. When it came to purchasing for myself, I wanted 4K video so I added a used Panasonic GX8 and a 12-35 f2.8 lens. The video is fantastic. The stills are surprisingly good at low ISO. However, the minute you go beyond ISO 400, it is no match for my K1 and possibly KP. The only thing that would make me add an entire new system would be for video not stills.

For me the Pentax weakness is in its flash system. I found that out on a recent wedding shoot. If weddings were the focus and the bread-n-butter for me, I would look at another system. For every other still work I do (portraits, still life, landscapes, studio), K1 with Pentax glass deliver world class results.

I hope my little rant helps you in some way.

[MikeW]

Running a dual system is costly. You have to have two sets of lenses, bodies, accessories, etc.

My overall take is that Pentax shines in stills but is trailing most others in video. If my focus was mostly stills, I would get the KP with the 20-40 Limited zoom and have a world class image making due with the K1. The problem with any of the systems, including Pentax, is the minute you go to zooms and serious primes (Pentax Limited primes somewhat excepted) you lose the compactness factor.

Here are some of my experiences with other systems. Last year I shot with a duo of Sony A6000 cameras which I borrowed from my friends. It was for a video project and the Sony delivered. I like their eye tracking focusing system and the compactness of the body. With the pancake zoom it is compact. However, the minute you add some serious glass to it is not compact anymore. BTW, I used my Pentax primes for close ups and interviews on the Sony. When it came to purchasing for myself, I wanted 4K video so I added a used Panasonic GX8 and a 12-35 f2.8 lens. The video is fantastic. The stills are surprisingly good at low ISO. However, the minute you go beyond ISO 400, it is no match for my K1 and possibly KP. The only thing that would make me add an entire new system would be for video not stills.

For me the Pentax weakness is in its flash system. I found that out on a recent wedding shoot. If weddings were the focus and the bread-n-butter for me, I would look at another system. For every other still work I do (portraits, still life, landscapes, studio), K1 with Pentax glass deliver world class results.

I hope my little rant helps you in some way.

I've thought about M4/3 a lot and I've come to about the same conclusion. A small Pentax body is really not that much bigger or heavier than the M4/3's I've looked at. My 20~40 is a very, very nice lens when paired with my K5. Add in the even smaller 70 Ltd or 15 Ltd and my most used focal lengths are covered. The combination might be even better with a KP. I do know that size and weight have become increasingly aversive to me as I travel. Perhaps the OP will find you as persuasive as I do.

[Fogel70]

Running a dual system is costly. You have to have two sets of lenses, bodies, accessories, etc.

Not necessarily.

If you get two systems for the exact same use and need double of every lens and accessory, then yes it will be expensive.
But you can also get two system to handle two different purposes and then it can save you money

I run dual system, where my main system is Pentax APS-C DSLR and my secondary system is Sony FF mirrorless.
The FF system is mainly for use with vintage lenses, but I also realized that I could get many modern lenses for FF much cheaper on Sony mirrorless than if I would upgrade to K1.

I got a used Sony A7 and a new FE 28/2 that together cost much less than half price of FA 31/1.8 Ltd, as it is priced at almost USD 2000 in Sweden.
Finding a used K1 or FA Ltd is impossible so a new K1 would cost 4 times as much as I payed for the used A7. So instead of paying over USD 4000 for K1 + FA31, I found a used A7 and a new FE 28 for less than 1/4 of cost of the Pentax gear.

I do not like large and heavy lenses which Pentax FF seems to be all about right now, so Sony FF with all those compact Zeiiss prime lenses make it an attractive system IMO.

[btnapa]

Not necessarily.

I see your point on the A7 and a primes. However, you must remember that K1 and a limited 31 compete with the A7RII or A7RIII and Sony pro glass for image quality. A7 is not in the same league as the K1. When you do the math with comparable body lens combo, then Pentax K1 is the winner by far.

My point on the dual system for me was that the second system makes sense if it serves different function which is the point you made. For me the Panasonic gives me 4K video that Pentax cannot. Remember, I said that I only bought only one Panasonic zoom lens. When I need longer lenses, I can use some of my Pentax glass with an adapter on the Panasonic.

[Ronald Oakes]

My suggestion and take on your question ? In a Nut shell.....get an Olympus EM-1 for about $500 new and never look back !