Originally posted by jatrax For me (YMMV):
Strengths:
- Ergonomics. Go to a store pick up a camera from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and just hold it. If allowed walk around the store with it your hand, take some shots, locate the buttons with your fingers. Go home with the one that feels best. That has been Pentax and I have done that three different times.
- Weather resistance, construction. At least on the k-5 and k-3 series the impression when picking up the body is that it is better built than the competition
- Body size. It seems that in general Pentax focuses on keeping things as small as possible. That's a plus for me, maybe not everyone.
- Availability of a vast array of cheap vintage glass. Other brands have this as well I suppose. But it allowed me to experiment with lots of glass with little investment. Sadly (or maybe it is a good thing) those prices have gone up dramatically the last few years and the bargains are hard to find now.
- IBIS. So all those manual lenses are stabilized
- Astro-tracer and GPS. For what I do GPS is almost a requirement. Not everyone cares of course but if you need GPS Pentax has a good solution
- Overall cost of ownership. A Pentax kit (for me) has always priced out cheaper than the alternatives.
Weaknesses:
- Some might argue but the SDM motors on the DA* series particularly the 16-50 and 50-135 were not up to the billing of a * lens.
- Lack (until recently) of good modern lenses. The DA 18-135 and the DA 16-85 both show Pentax capable of delivering a good lens that works for most average shooters
- Lack of long fast glass. Not that I could afford it anyway but it is definitely a hole in the line up
- No upgrade path until the K-1 was announced. Obviously not an issue any more but it was seen as a major weakness for a long time
- Lack of third party support
- Lack of accessories like modern extension tubes and tele-converters. Though we do have a good TC now
I went and spent an hour with the K-3ii in store and have to say, it handles really nice. Used it on a few lenses. The noise from screw drive focus will take some getting used to, but not a con imo.
In terms of TC, you mentioned that there is a good one now. Which one is that and what have you used it on? I am looking at the Tamron 70-200 and if there is a good tc to go with it, I can get by like that for a while.
My used Canon stuff is proving hard to sell and not worth what I was hoping. So my budget is shrinking. Although I won't be able to completely buy all that I want I am fairly comfortable with the Pentax Lens line-up available. I hope they Market the K-1 enough increase some market share and bring back more 3rd party support.
Ideally I would love to see Tamron 150-600mm or the Sigma 150-600 contemporary show up with a Pentax mount. Great Value in glass for the fruggle photographer. (like me)