[*Claire*]

I have been using bridge cameras for a few years, most recently the Nikon P950 but its time to take a step forward.
I have been going back and forth about what DSLR to get and meet someone with a K-70 and added it to my short list, just need to make a scary step of purchasing.
I did try to hire one but couldn't find a service, anyone aware of one in the UK?

[BarryE]

I have been using bridge cameras for a few years, most recently the Nikon P950 but its time to take a step forward.
I have been going back and forth about what DSLR to get and meet someone with a K-70 and added it to my short list, just need to make a scary step of purchasing.
I did try to hire one but couldn't find a service, anyone aware of one in the UK?

Welcome aboard, Claire from wet and soggy, Hampshire. Guess you've got the same less than exciting weather ...

SRS used to offer a hire service, which it seems they've suspended. I think they were the only ones I knew about. It might be worth asking. Doug there is generally very responsive. I don't have a K-70 ...

[longbo]

Hi from an equally wet and soggy St Neots. I've not attempted a hire from SRS, but I've bought from them numerous times and I can confirm that Doug's very helpful. Give it a go.

Best of luck!

[*Claire*]

Thanks for the tip.

[35mmfilmfan]

Welcome too from Norfolk - less rainfall here, as the East wind drives it horizontally !! Never tried K70 - K3 works fine for me. Good luck anyway - I'm sure you'll not regret it. No-one has yet asked, BTW, the kind of subject matter you prefer - care to give us a brief outline ? That way, when (or if) you ask for lens advice, we'll have an idea of what to suggest.

[ChristianRock]

Since you mentioned having a P950, which is not a cheap bridge camera, and one which has a LOT of reach, I have to ask... did you buy the P950 because you shoot nature such as birds and other far away subjects?

I would say that for birding with Pentax you would probably need a setup such as a K-3 III (for the best autofocus) and a D FA 150-450mm lens, which is quite a large beast that would also require a tripod.

Or are you planning on doing more casual photography, keeping the P950 for when you need the reach?

[*Claire*]

I do a mixture of photography, mostly nature based (landscape, some animals/birds, astro and macro) but the P950 struggles in low light, sunrise and bluebells was super frustrating as i missed some beautiful potential shots because the camera was struggling.
I will likely keep the P950 for a while while i make friends with my next camera, but is been a great tool not never use auto and use RAW images.

[Cerebum]

Hi from a dry but blustery Lancaster. SRS is pretty much the best source for Pentax in the UK. Wex and MBP have stuff too.. Any questions, just ask

[wadge22]

I would say that for birding with Pentax you would probably need a setup such as a K-3 III (for the best autofocus) and a D FA 150-450mm lens

That may be (about) the best setup from Pentax, but I don't think you need that stuff to shoot birds. The 55-300 PLM makes a whole lot of people very happy, and others have tons of fun with older manual focus lenses like A400/5.6. There are many perfectly cromulent ways to get into wildlife shooting without spending US$4000+.

That said, if budget and supertelephoto are two of your top requirements, Pentax wouldn't be the obvious first choice.
Hope you find a good camera system that suits you, OP. Welcome to the forum.

[kypfer]

Nothing against any of the other retailers mentioned, but I've had good service from Bristol Cameras over the last few years and they do have some nice in-house "bundles" (case, card, spare battery etc.) on occasion to sweeten the deal.
The K-70 is a good all-'round camera.
The fully articulated screen can help a lot for nature studies "in the wild", the low light performance is probably all you'll ever really need and if your panning capabilities are reasonable it can do a fairly good job with keeping up with a moving subject
I know a couple of "locals" who use a Nikon bridge camera to great effect … they're no slouch in good light, so it might be worthwhile retaining the Nikon for those long-distance shots, initially at least, rather than lashing out on a new camera and a hulk of heavy lens all in one go … you will notice the weight difference, indeed it's a reason used by some to justify not changing from their Nikon to a full DSLR system

[ChristianRock]

I do a mixture of photography, mostly nature based (landscape, some animals/birds, astro and macro) but the P950 struggles in low light, sunrise and bluebells was super frustrating as i missed some beautiful potential shots because the camera was struggling.
I will likely keep the P950 for a while while i make friends with my next camera, but is been a great tool not never use auto and use RAW images.

Ok, you are more like the typical Pentax user than I thought

Pentax offers great value but to cover all 4 of your targets (landscape, animals/birds, astro and macro) you will have to invest a bit, regardless of what you end up getting (I would think that with other brands the cost would be much higher).

A K-70 is a good start, with the DA 16-85mm it would give you a general use lens which would also be good for landscapes (there's the cheaper DA 18-135mm as well that has longer reach, but you would have to decide if 18mm (28mm-FF equivalent) is enough for you, since you have 24mm-FF equivalent with the P950.

For animals and birds the DA 55-300mm PLM that was mentioned, would be a very good starter, having the advantage of being able to use much higher ISOs in the K-70 compared to the P950 will really make a difference.

For astro, a not-expensive way to get very good results would be to add a Samyang or Rokionon (same manufacturer) 16mm f2 lens. It's discontinued but still available new at B&H Photo under the Rokinon brand. Plus the Pentax O-GPS1, which in tandem with the camera's IBIS is able to rotate the sensor to follow stars, allowing for longer exposures without star trails. This alone is a very good reason to go with the Pentax system.

Finally, for Macro there's quite a few options, some quite affordable. One lens that never disappoints in terms of results is the D FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro, which is available new but also very reasonably priced in the used market. The D FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro is also highly rated, while some prefer the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro, also a fantastic lens from what I can see (it's on my future list). My macro lens of choice is the DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited, but I realize it's not for everyone as the minimum focusing distance is really close the the subjects when used near its highest magnification.

Let us know what you decide!

[mlines]

SRS say on their website that the hire service is suspended although I am not sure why any more. At first it was "Covid protection" (I phoned and asked because I wanted a lens) but 18 months in we now know how to protect against surface transfer and, indeed, the transfer period in the postal service would sort that out anyway.

I hired my K-70 from SRS in order to see what they would like. At the end of the hire I said I wanted to purchase one and they simply said keep the hire one and sold it to me at a discount. I think it had something like 1500 shutter operations on it. It might be worth phoning them and seeing if you could hire despite what the website says

[MossyRocks]

astro

If you want to get more into astro you would be hard pressed to do better than pentax when starting out. With a K-70 I would suggest getting the O-GPS1 or when it comes out the O-GPS2 add on. The will enable limited sky tracking ability and even though I say limited I have reliably managed 20s of good tracking along the celestial equator with a 400mm lens and can get some pretty good images even using an older body like my K-3 (2013 vintage).

[*Claire*]

Thanks for all the replies. I will look into hire, but the impatient part of me is whispering 'just buy it on the deal you found, if you don't gel you can sell it'.

I think my mother was hoping I would get a Canon so she could borrow lens, but I have tried her Canon and the menus seem backwards and oddly ordered!

[niels hansen]

Dont buy K 70, you risk Aperture Block Failure