[hadi]

So I acknowledge that i am privileged enough to be have a big lot of Pentax gear that i've accumulated over the years, and as happy as I am with Pentax, I am now experimenting with Sony.

Part of the reason to look at Sony was for its 135mm lens options that are wider than F2 and autofocus, but also the eye AF option.

essentially I was looking at Sony as a toy/backup to my K1.

I picked up the A7RII after looking at the A7II, the A7RII and A7III. I am loving the megapixels count on the A7RII. yet one major thing that is making me get irritated with Sony (no, its not the menu, as you'd expect me and many others to say), but its the limited dynamic range on the A7RII compared to the K1. The details my K1 captuers in the shadow is incredible. Moreover, the color information captured in RAW on the K1 is HUGE! As per the Detailed comparison, which claims that A7RII has better colors, but Dynamic Range 14.6vs13.9 to Pentax
Pentax K-1 vs Sony A7R II Detailed Comparison



for those who have switched over completely or partly to other brands, what have you seen as a draw back from your main system and a secondary system?

[roberrl]

I have not used any alternatives DSLRs much, in fact only a Sony where the menus didn't work for me. My wife has had a series of Panasonic P'n'S cameras which have been excellent holiday workhorses.
However the most recent one has a lot of automaticness like faceAF and a touch screen. Neither of us could get on with it. The camera always seemed to pick on something which was not the subject we were looking for and we often changed things by touching the screen accidentally. Eventually we turned off most of the "advanced" features as they were more of a hindrance than a help.

[hadi]

I have not used any alternatives DSLRs much, in fact only a Sony where the menus didn't work for me. My wife has had a series of Panasonic P'n'S cameras which have been excellent holiday workhorses.
However the most recent one has a lot of automaticness like faceAF and a touch screen. Neither of us could get on with it. The camera always seemed to pick on something which was not the subject we were looking for and we often changed things by touching the screen accidentally. Eventually we turned off most of the "advanced" features as they were more of a hindrance than a help.

I'm glad you mentioned that. Though i dont have any autofocus lenses on my Sony as of yet, that is what my fear is.
technically speaking, the autofocus on my Pentax K1 is kind of 'slow/stupid/sluggish/unreliable'...however, since i ONLY have it to focus dab in the middle, and then i preposition to where I want the pic, it makes me wonder what the sony would do with an autofocus lens.

in a wedding situation, if I'm focusing on the bride, but Uncle Bob extends his hand with a cellphone in it, the camera most likely will focus on the hand, and not the couple. Where as my Pentax wont have that situation, unless specifically focus on Uncle Bob.

[ffking]

The Northrups (as in Tony & Chelsea on YouTube) switched to Sony, and while they are very happy with their choice in terms of competence, they described the experience of using Sony as "joyless" . I think in the end it depends what matters to you most

[texandrews]

So I acknowledge that i am privileged enough to be have a big lot of Pentax gear that i've accumulated over the years, and as happy as I am with Pentax, I am now experimenting with Sony.

Part of the reason to look at Sony was for its 135mm lens options that are wider than F2 and autofocus, but also the eye AF option.

essentially I was looking at Sony as a toy/backup to my K1.

I picked up the A7RII after looking at the A7II, the A7RII and A7III. I am loving the megapixels count on the A7RII. yet one major thing that is making me get irritated with Sony (no, its not the menu, as you'd expect me and many others to say), but its the limited dynamic range on the A7RII compared to the K1. The details my K1 captuers in the shadow is incredible. Moreover, the color information captured in RAW on the K1 is HUGE! As per the Detailed comparison, which claims that A7RII has better colors, but Dynamic Range 14.6vs13.9 to Pentax
Pentax K-1 vs Sony A7R II Detailed Comparison



for those who have switched over completely or partly to other brands, what have you seen as a draw back from your main system and a secondary system?

Well, I moved from Sony to Pentax. I loved my Sony cameras, didn't have a lot of agita about the menus. For a while I had both systems, but it's just a lot easier to be in one system for me----and with Pentax more than other systems the vertical integration and adaptability is fantastic. So, very happy to be in this one system and see that as a big plus for Pentax.

[StiffLegged]

The Northrups (as in Tony & Chelsea on YouTube) switched to Sony, and while they are very happy with their choice in terms of competence, they described the experience of using Sony as "joyless" . I think in the end it depends what matters to you most

I found the experience of watching their channel was similar, so I don't watch it any more. So pleased that 0.7 stop dynamic range difference is working out for you.

[shardulm]

in a wedding situation, if I'm focusing on the bride, but Uncle Bob extends his hand with a cellphone in it, the camera most likely will focus on the hand, and not the couple. Where as my Pentax wont have that situation, unless specifically focus on Uncle Bob.

This... exactly this...

and then I start wondering what people are doing with so many focus points in their cameras when you really need one that does it fast and accurate. I am almost always using the Center Point or the one at the 3rd 99% of the times. yeah never Auto and never let the camera decide what to get in focus.

What am I missing? How do people really put to use 100 focus points to get good pictures when most of the times just one good cross type is enough. What am I doing wrong here? I find it way easier to get something in focus using center point and recompose than anything else.....
Really curious to know how having a zillion focus points is better than a handful of meaningful cross types. I really need to unlearn the technique that I am currently using cos they may be obsolete.

[ffking]

So pleased that 0.7 stop dynamic range difference is working out for you.

Sorry, did I say anything about that?

[Gerbermiester]

I had my eyes on a Sony A7 II when they were still new on the market. When I took a look at my local camera shop, I realized that the EVF was not something I was willing to accept and the build of the body did not inspire the confidence I felt in my K-5, which was the camera I was using at the time. I hear the new bodies and viewfinders are much better, but haven't been tempted since moving to the K-1. I can say however, that when I was in Japan, the Canon EOS R that I got to play with at BIC camera really impressed me.

I had a similar experience with the dynamic range between the K-5 and the K-1. Although there's only a half stop difference in DR between the two cameras, I've been able to push the K-1 files around much more in photoshop before they start to fall apart.

[ZombieArmy]

God I hate Sony menus. I really appreciate my Sony P&S but man is it annoying to use sometimes. I don't think I could ever really swap to them for a full time system.

[Gerbermiester]

All menu systems are bad if you're not used to them, really.
Just a week ago I was helping a friend of mine who's just getting into photography set up back button auto-focus on his Canon 5d MII. that took me a good 20 minutes, lol. Not my proudest moment.
But even then, I had a tougher time with the Olympus menus on my wife's OMD-EM5 than I ever did with the Sony A230 I'd used. But, there certainly does seem to be a lot of online disdain for Sony's menu system. But, hey, most camera reviews that I've come across state that they dislike the Pentax menus system, which I've always considered to be straightforward.

[garywakeling]

I found the experience of watching their channel was similar, so I don't watch it any more. So pleased that 0.7 stop dynamic range difference is working out for you.

Priceless comment on Tony

[hadi]

All menu systems are bad if you're not used to them, really.
Just a week ago I was helping a friend of mine who's just getting into photography set up back button auto-focus on his Canon 5d MII. that took me a good 20 minutes, lol. Not my proudest moment.
But even then, I had a tougher time with the Olympus menus on my wife's OMD-EM5 than I ever did with the Sony A230 I'd used. But, there certainly does seem to be a lot of online disdain for Sony's menu system. But, hey, most camera reviews that I've come across state that they dislike the Pentax menus system, which I've always considered to be straightforward.

Exactly this!
I always disregard the issues people have with menu because it's always in comparison to something they are used to. It's like the following:

"Learning Cantonese is difficult because I speak English!" Or learning any new language is inherently bad because you speak another.

Everything becomes easy with practice

[bkpix]

I agree with the comment about joy. My Canon gear is very competent, but Pentax is much more fun.

[LSR]

All menu systems are bad if you're not used to them, really.
Just a week ago I was helping a friend of mine who's just getting into photography set up back button auto-focus on his Canon 5d MII. that took me a good 20 minutes, lol. Not my proudest moment.
But even then, I had a tougher time with the Olympus menus on my wife's OMD-EM5 than I ever did with the Sony A230 I'd used. But, there certainly does seem to be a lot of online disdain for Sony's menu system. But, hey, most camera reviews that I've come across state that they dislike the Pentax menus system, which I've always considered to be straightforward.

Such a good point. A friend of mine, a long time Sony user, tried my Pentax and stated that the menus made no sense at all. Personally, I find the Pentax menu to be straightforward and full of common sense. I guess opinions on the topic are almost always influenced by what we are used to seeing when we use our cameras.