[madbrain]

On saturday.

I hate to say it, but the current Pentax lineup is not up to par with the competition for 1080p HD video.
Please don't flame me, but

1) The new K01 is a bit of a joke.

Compared to the Canon T3i, the Pentax K-01 has no articulating LCD screen for video, and no viewfinder for stills, making it good at neither. It also can't accept a battery grip,in particular for AAs. A new T3i costs less than a new K-01, and I bought a used T3i.

2) even the much pricier Pentax K-5 still lacks an articulating LCD for video, making it impossible for me to swallow that price.

That said .. After reading for years about people snubbing Canon Rebel's as toy cameras in these foruns, I have to admit there is some truth to it. Compared to my Pentax K200d, the T3i body definitely is flimsy.

I know the T3i is not weather sealed, but I still can't believe it doesn't even come with a hotshoe cover, leaving contacts exposed at all times. What is Canon thinking saving 99 cents there, except hoping for a shortcircuit ?

So I'm not defecting. I will keep my Pentax for stills. Hoping Pentax will get its act together on video one day, before everyone else is doing 4K video hopefully.

In the meantime, if any other owners of both Pentax and Canon bodies lurk around here, are there any worthwhile lens adapters for Pentax to Canon, or Canon to Pentax ?

My two K-mount lenses are Sigma 10-20 and Pentax DA 18-250. Neither of them has an aperture ring... Any hope of using them on the T3i ? More interested in the Sigma in particular. Yes, I did ask this in Canon forums first, but got no help.

My two Canon lenses are 18-55 IS II and 55-250 IS II. I have less interest in using them on the Pentax body since I have the DA 18-250 which covers the same range in one lens. But still would like to know if there is any adapter that would work in case I buy any other Canon lens.

[Philoslothical]

As far as I know, you need an aperture ring to go Pentax lens to Canon body. You can't go Canon lens to Pentax body at all without chopping up the lens mount. The register distance is too short.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm mistaken on either point.

Why a T3i though? If you want a video camera, wouldn't you be better off with a dedicated video camera? I mean if you have a DSLR for stills, is the T3i really the best tool for the job (and for the price point) for video?

[luftfluss]

Congratulations on becoming a drone. But why post here? There is a non-Pentax forum.

Using a major brand does not mean a person is a "drone". Pentax did not fulfill a specific need of his, so he is using something that does.

"In the meantime, if any other owners of both Pentax and Canon bodies lurk around here, are there any worthwhile lens adapters for Pentax to Canon, or Canon to Pentax ?

My two K-mount lenses are Sigma 10-20 and Pentax DA 18-250. Neither of them has an aperture ring... Any hope of using them on the T3i ? More interested in the Sigma in particular. Yes, I did ask this in Canon forums first, but got no help."

Sounds like legitimate questions for a Pentax forum, especially since since we have users who shoot both Pentax and Canon.

[luftfluss]

Madbrain, you can get the hotshoe covers on Ebay. FWIW, I've gone long stretches without using hotshoe covers on my various Pentaxes with no ill effects.

This would work with your Pentax to Canon issue: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter with Dandelion AF Focus Confirmation Chip, Pentax K/PK to Canon EOS Camera adapter, fits Canon EOS 1d,1ds,Mark II, III, IV, 5D, MarK II, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Digital Rebel xt, xti but of course you have to use the lenses manually, and you are stuck using a wide open aperture. I've never heard of a converter that would let you adjust aperture if the lens lacks an aperture ring.

[madbrain]

As far as I know, you need an aperture ring to go Pentax lens to Canon body. You can't go Canon lens to Pentax body at all without chopping up the lens mount. The register distance is too short.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm mistaken on either point.

Why a T3i though? If you want a video camera, wouldn't you be better off with a dedicated video camera? I mean if you have a DSLR for stills, is the T3i really the best tool for the job (and for the price point) for video?

I do have an HD camcorder already (a 4 yr old Canon HG21 which is still nice). I was looking for a secondary HD video camera. I'm shooting from multiple viewpoints. Both are on tripods most of the time when I'm shooting, so the focus issues with video on the DSLR don't apply.

I tried a cheap (~200) JVC camcorder as a second camcorder, but the picture quality was not good enough, and lighting was awful. The T3i has much better picture quality. The ability to use various lenses is welcome versatility also.
I hate the fact that my HG21 uses Lion batteries also, which keep dying about every year. I really wanted a camera that takes rechargeable AAs like eneloops, and the T3i with a cheap aftermarket grip (on order from ebay) will do that.

[Philoslothical]

Thanks for the info. I can kinda see where you're coming from, even though video is not my thing. What about Sony? I think they're one of the few to offer continuous AF (to some degree). Were they otherwise not up to task?

[madbrain]

Madbrain, you can get the hotshoe covers on Ebay. FWIW, I've gone long stretches without using hotshoe covers on my various Pentaxes with no ill effects.

Yes I ordered one hotshoe cover. I don't think rain on the contacts would be good though. Still seems odd for that part to be missing. I thought the seller forgot since I bought one without a box. Then all the t3i pics I could find showed it uncovered. Odd.

This would work with your Pentax to Canon issue: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter with Dandelion AF Focus Confirmation Chip, Pentax K/PK to Canon EOS Camera adapter, fits Canon EOS 1d,1ds,Mark II, III, IV, 5D, MarK II, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Digital Rebel xt, xti but of course you have to use the lenses manually, and you are stuck using a wide open aperture. I've never heard of a converter that would let you adjust aperture if the lens lacks an aperture ring.

The camera should still be able to do auto-exposure with shutterspeed only, right ?
Manual focus is a pain still but I will learn to live with it.

[joe.penn]

Manual Focus is the choice of video professionals around the world - I have even heard that to work for a company that produces video production pieces you have to know how to capture with manual focus or they won't hire you - I only know of this because I have a video crew that travels with me; in no way am I a video guy myself...

[madbrain]

Thanks for the info. I can kinda see where you're coming from, even though video is not my thing. What about Sony? I think they're one of the few to offer continuous AF (to some degree). Were they otherwise not up to task?

I have to admit that I did not investigate Sony, perhaps I should have. Continuous AF wasn't really part of the requirements, though.
The specs for the A57 look nice, but the camera is not yet released. A65 specs are very good too, but pricier.

[rawr]

lacks an articulating LCD for video, making it impossible for me to swallow that price

The Canon 5D2, 5D3 or Nikon D800 don't have one either. You may be over-rating it's importance.

Anyway, I thought the expert consensus was that Panasonic GH2 > everything else DSLR for video, including the junior Canon's.

[UnknownVT]

As it interests me - goggled: Video dSLR or camcorder?

came across this article:

Four Reasons You Should Buy a Camcorder - CamcorderInfo.com

may seem like a biased source -
but the article is pretty good.

Less bias perhaps:
dSLR Video (Steve's Digicams)

and an older article:
Video DSLRs vs Camcorders (Luminous Landscapes)

Is sensor heating still an issue for recording longer video clips on dSLRs?

Edit to Add -
I guess heat may still be an issue:
The truth about overheating DSLRs

[madbrain]

rawr,

The Canon 5D2, 5D3 or Nikon D800 don't have one either. You may be over-rating it's importance.

Anyway, I thought the expert consensus was that Panasonic GH2 > everything else DSLR for video, including the junior Canon's.

Actually, no, I'm not overrating its importance, it would be a pain to shoot what I am shooting now without an articulating LCD.
Right now I'm using the camera very high up on a tripod, higher than me, and shooting downwards. It's overlooking the keys on my piano. Without the articulating LCD, I would have to add an extra chair just so I could look onto the screen to compose. With it, I am able to simply look at the articulating LCD and adjust the tripod head while standing up. Then I can just start the recording, sit at the piano, and play.
I am sure there will be other situations where the articulating LCD will come in handy.

Edit: just looked at the Panasonic GH2 - I see that it's a touch screen unit - eek. I hate small touch screens with a passion.

[Tom Woj]

I would absolutely aggree that the Pentax line up of DSLR's is no match for Canon gear for shooting video. I own a k-r but I've been on video shoot's with my friend who uses a 550d (t2i) and it is much better.

For stills though, it's a different story. In my opinion the K-r is much better than the rebel series for photography. The canon rebel bodies feel a bit flimsy, and from what I've seen ISO performance is lacking compared to Pentax. Plus, the hi-speed burst mode is just brilliant. I was out today shooting a short mountain biking documentary, and my friend seemed rather suprised when I showed him some of the burst shots in sequence ...

Oh, and a super-hi-tech piece of kit you should get is ... an elastic band! Use one to mark focus points for tracking, and get a slack one to get smoother focus, it really does work.

[madbrain]

Tom,

For stills though, it's a different story. In my opinion the K-r is much better than the rebel series for photography. The canon rebel bodies feel a bit flimsy, and from what I've seen ISO performance is lacking compared to Pentax.

My current Pentax is a K200d. ISO is only up to 1600 . There is a fair amount of noise at 1600.
The T3i goes up to ISO 6400 . I have not done any picture quality comparisons yet. For my indoor use, shooting at night, the T3i is typically selecting ISO 1600 in auto mode, and the video looks pretty good.
Stills at ISO 3200 on the T3i look decent, though not stellar.
I understand the newer Pentax bodies have much better ISO performance than the K200d.

Plus, the hi-speed burst mode is just brilliant. I was out today shooting a short mountain biking documentary, and my friend seemed rather suprised when I showed him some of the burst shots in sequence ...

Burst mode is something my K200d really sucks at - 2.8fps for 4 frames only, and then 1.1fps until the card is full.
Looks like the T3i does 3.7fps continuous. This is not a feature I use very often, though.

Oh, and a super-hi-tech piece of kit you should get is ... an elastic band! Use one to mark focus points for tracking, and get a slack one to get smoother focus, it really does work.

Not really following you there.

[kenafein]

My friend produces some stunning video with his t2i. Are you able to use the magic lantern firmware on a t3i? It ads a ton of features. Check it out.