[Silvertooth]

Hi All,

In the early- to mid-1980s I lived and worked in Weisbaden, Germany. I had the pleasure of working as a photographer with an organization based there in central Germany. Coming from America, where I was given much grief for using Pentax equipment to photograph professionally (until they saw the quality of Pentax glass), I was shocked to see several pros using Pentax, Olympus, and Minolta equipment. The locals told me that it seemed more an American thing to be worried about the name on the camera than the end results.

I was wondering if that is still the case? I am beginning to do some lite pro shooting again, and need a new system since Olympus seems to be going a direction I don't care for. How people use K-series dslrs professionally?

Aubrey

[Eagle_Friends]

Yup, it is still the case.

Good Old American self-aware materialism.

[wlachan]

Size matters, AFAICT.

How people use K-series dslrs professionally?

Aubrey

Depends on exactly what you want to shoot. Weddings and portraits, some light sports action, sure, the K series will do fine. But if you are wanting to do heavy sports action in low light, CaNikon will have the better glass to suit your needs. All depends on what you want really.

[chalion]

As stupid as it sounds, most American Photographers are lumped into 2 groups: People who use CaNikons, then the other 10% who don't.

From my perspective, it's all a marketing ploy, but it seems to be working.

[jpq]

i really dont understand why people avoid these smaller brands more than needed. i know Olympus and Pentax have more limited lens range but all comppanies have own gems in lenses. what are Pentax gems i dont know i dont use Pentax. I here i want learn more about Pentax... currently i use Nikon but i maybe change brand which one i dont know saddly some lenses are missing in Pentax range and some form Canon range,and some form Nikon range etc. i dont mention Olympus in last phrase becouse 4:3 is little wrong to me when we compare to 3:2.

[jpzk]

You'll be hard pressed to find ANY Canadian pro photographer(s) here in this country. ... EDITED: forgot to add: ..."using Pentax"

JP

P.S.: sorry pro photographers, I just saw my mistake!

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Last edited by jpzk; 10-13-2010 at 01:09 PM.

[RioRico]

I've mentioned that a couple years ago I took a (lousy) Carnival Lines cruise. The ship seemed to swarm with staff photographers trying to extract yet more money from paying passengers. And AFICT they all used... Olympus. Maybe Oly cut a deal with the line?

[Bobe416]

Hi JPQ - you wanted to know the Pentax gems - check out the FA and DA limited lenses - they are primes. You can read about them here in the Pentax Forums lens database. I think they are just as good if not better than the primes offered by the other brands.
Many of the DA* and FA* lenses are also excellent.
One of the wonderful things about a Pentax DSLR is the ability to use old lenses and also utilized the in body shake reduction.

[kittykat46]

I can't recall ever seeing a Paid photographer use a Pentax dSLR.
Back in the film camera days, yes, but not now.

Its a lot to do with market visibility, or lack of.
Most of the photographers I've had a chance to chat with don't know about Pentax, or even think Pentax isn't in the digital camera business...like..."Oh...I didn't know they still make cameras....".

[paperbag846]

I personally think a pro could use anything.

However if you need replacements and repairs in a pinch, Pentax might not be the brand for you. The biggest knock on Pentax would be their lackluster support system in North America. Otherwise, they are great for most purposes (I would agree not the greatest for "real" sports photography).

[Reportage]

if you are covering really big events, usually Canon and Nikon will have an ad hoc service centre on site. If you are accredited like Getty, Reuters... the facility is usually open for you and they do offer rental services. I often bring a Canon backup for my Pentax in such instances.

I am using pentax for sports photography because no other brand has weather sealed lenses that small on a weather sealed body plus the SR does help. Going pancake is expensive but the weight savings not to mention the small size means greater flexibility which is the direction i am going for.

[skyoftexas]

I personally think a pro could use anything.

However if you need replacements and repairs in a pinch, Pentax might not be the brand for you. The biggest knock on Pentax would be their lackluster support system in North America. Otherwise, they are great for most purposes (I would agree not the greatest for "real" sports photography).

I love the image quality from Pentax glass, and the friendly usability of its cameras, but lord help you if you need immediate support. Better plan on buying three cameras and enough lenses to cover any mishaps.

[philippe]

Isn't it strange that when it comes to professional status, they all refer to the ad hoc service, FF and a bunch of exotic glass?

I am working as a pro. photographer for about 30 years now, and perhaps 'felt' the need for this kind of service (and extra stuff) for about 5 times. In most of this cases I could find my way out of that temporarily trouble by using my imagination and technical/professional skills. I have to admit that, at the time, I was shooting Hasselblad, Linhof and Pentax LX.
Now I am working with a K20, just one, and only 4 limiteds (I have a family to feed and university to pay for) for about 2 years now, and only had 1 more or less serious problem with a DA 21 mm limited which was solved whit in 4 days by Pentax Europe in Germany (I live in Belgium).
I am shooting mostly on location and abroad, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, the south of France in high and sometimes unbearable temperatures, nasty dust and moister, like in steel plants, power plants, construction yards, epoxy work shops (very fine dust and aggressive fumes) and bronze foundry's (for sculptures).
This camera and lenses never let me down and I never had the need for some extra spear gear nor ad hoc service (yes, I am knocking wood every day).
I do not understand what the problem is, just take care for your gear and it will take care for you…

The results could be seen in the recent 5 books (out of 41) and the brochures that were published in the last 2 years. At the end of the month, book number 6 will come out, and do believe me, it looks very fine. We, the publisher, editor, author, designer, the pre press and I, have seen the printed proofs and we were all surprised by the very fine quality the K20 and the limiteds are delivering, even on 60 cm wide spreads!

Do I need Canikon? No! Do I need FF? No! Do I need MF? No!

The next most important thing to have, is a good and performant computer with the right 'stuff' on it and some trained skills to work whit it, this does it (almost) all.

Only, when it comes to the very highest and supreme quality demands, then I shoot 4"x5" sheet film on my Linhof, when well scanned, no digital camera system can beat that (yet).

[uchinakuri]

Do I need Canikon? No! Do I need FF? No! Do I need MF? No!

Very interesting post. May I ask if you've had any troubles with Pentax's flash system or shooting in low light?

I ask this because I heard that Pentax often gets criticism about being non-pro due to their unreliable flash system, no FF (for low light, I guess), as well as the lack of support.