[Alizarine]

Welcome to the forum, RaZZ3R!

Kodak went down, and nobody expected it to happen, not back in early 2000's when they released the first full-frame DSLR. Like somebody earlier said, no company is future-proof... maybe, future-resistant?

Anyway, I have to say that the K-5 and K-30 are now at their best price points - both absolutely amazing cameras. While they may not be as inexpensive as the K-x and K-r, the extra money you'll shell out for them is going to be worth it. Like you, I'm on the upgrade path- but not looking at Canikon. Not because I want to stay loyal to Pentax, but because my current glass is doing what I want them to do for me.

It's great that you know what kind of photography you'd be mostly doing in the future. And although the lens selection is a little limited for Pentax, especially in the extreme ends - well, it's not like one will buy a great lens every time a new one comes out right? The Sigma 8-16 will fit almost everything into an APS-C frame. The Samyang 10mm also. The DA 12-24 is a good option also. For the long end, there are lots of options from the third-party makers, some may be discontinued and available only second-hand, but again, it's not like you're going to buy a 100-300/250-600 every other year, right? So keep cool with the gear-buying decisions, and let your needswallet decide

If you do want to shoot lots of moving stuff, Canon's AF will certainly please you. But here's the thing: even if you go Pentax now, you can always shift later. Think about the time you're losing in the present thinking about what gear to buy in the future and not having the one you can shoot with now... so if you have the dough for the K-5, and if it's still your dream cam, get it while you can

Anyway the DA 560 will prove itself once it's out, I believe.

[PPPPPP42]

Ah, now that is an important topic. I have mine on 3 separate hard drives but am increasingly uneasy about that arrangement. What archival format has the best stability and longevity?

Add to that putting a second copy of all your finished best work on USB flash drives in a small fireproof safe and I would feel totally comfortable with it.
Funny thing I am more concerned with my 35mm negatives getting wrecked somehow, I don't have a digital shots that couldn't live without. Maybe I just shoot better with a film camera in my hands.

EDIT: Don't worry about films future, there will always be a few good color films around in 35mm, and companies like Ilford have insured that B&W for home development will stay forever.

[Docrwm]

Right now I convert all my Raw files in DNG and keep a copy in JPEG for easy access when need it be, but I'm thinking of making a copy in TIFF format also

Format is fine, but where and how are they stored? That's even more critical.

[Docrwm]

Add to that putting a second copy of all your finished best work on USB flash drives in a small fireproof safe and I would feel totally comfortable with it.
Funny thing I am more concerned with my 35mm negatives getting wrecked somehow, I don't have a digital shots that couldn't live without. Maybe I just shoot better with a film camera in my hands.

Funny, I just bought a solid state hard drive 128gb and am trying it out in a Aluratek external vertical mount to see how that goes.

[RaZZ3R]

Format is fine, but where and how are they stored? That's even more critical.

HDD are the cheapest option by far but you will depend on future of S-ATA and it's backward compatibility, from the 90" you had to change from P-ATA to S-ATA, who know what kind of connectors there will be in the next 10-20 years, right now Tunderbolt is on the rise. At least you won't have to worry about you backups to much if you can buy 1TB cheap and make 2-3-4 copies, just don't keep them in one place

And format does matter because if you can't read you pictures then what good does it do to have backup of a backup of a backup of a backup of a backup when the OS and other software doesn't understat what you have on those backups. My hopes are that DNG will survive the n-th iteration of Windows/Mac OS/Linux and editing software.

[Franky2step]

Welcome aboard! Glad you decided to join after so long.

If you are planning to do much photography involving moving targets - football, motocross, etc.- then I would say the Canon system. It's sad but the current AF system on the Pentax cameras isn't up to intense use in Continuous mode. If that is not likely for you then the Pentax system can offer you some real advantages IMHO. I have been very happy with my gear, and my ability to use old MF lenses, for Macro, night, and astro work. The limits in the Pentax system appear for me primarily in trying to shoot sport.

as a former owner/user of the Canon 5DMKII, the auto focus is as bad as the K5, only the larger viewfinder with manual focus is better, particularly with the Eg-S screen

[Docrwm]

HDD are the cheapest option by far but you will depend on future of S-ATA and it's backward compatibility, from the 90" you had to change from P-ATA to S-ATA, who know what kind of connectors there will be in the next 10-20 years, right now Tunderbolt is on the rise. At least you won't have to worry about you backups to much if you can buy 1TB cheap and make 2-3-4 copies, just don't keep them in one place

And format does matter because if you can't read you pictures then what good does it do to have backup of a backup of a backup of a backup of a backup when the OS and other software doesn't understat what you have on those backups. My hopes are that DNG will survive the n-th iteration of Windows/Mac OS/Linux and editing software.

I didn't say it didn't matter just that it is less of a concern. There are ways to read old formats but if the storage media are not readable the format does not matter in the least.

[dbriemann]

Store your pictures as any type of RAW + jpeg on external hdds. The file format doesn't matter. You will always be able to open old formats.. at least with Linux. Storage media: hdds are cheap, usb will be around for a long time and even if it dies there will be adapters and/or you will be able to transfer all data with the help of an old pc.
The more interesting question is where to store the data.. If you are really serious 2 different locations(not the same house ) are necessary to protect against fire/water/etc. damage.
Another important way of backup is and will be online storage.

[psychdoc]

ARE YOU LESSENING PENTAX ... GIVE US MORE LENSES, MORE OPTION AND A GOD DAMN FULL FRAME DSLR ALLREADY

I did a double-take when I saw this sentence.
You dont own a pentax currently and you are screaming at Pentax and doing a 'shout-out' for FF already? Wow!

[isb.deep]

A very interesting and informative lunchtime read, this thread. I notice the OP mentioned G2 as his current camera, so was wondering if the newly announced Panasonic GH3 can be considered as an option ? It has weathersealing, a pretty good EVF and would be compatible with the 4/3 lenses that went with the G2. And since there is time till spring, maybe the reviews will be out by then about the claimed "Fastest AF". As far as the survivability/futureproof-ness of the companies, enough has been mentioned already and I certainly subscribe the line of thought posted by Richard earlier. Like it has been said many time before, the best camera is the one you have with you when you need it.

[boriscleto]

I did a double-take when I saw this sentence.
You dont own a pentax currently and you are screaming at Pentax and doing a 'shout-out' for FF already? Wow!

I might have to adjust Godwin's Law of PentaxForums...

[Rondec]

A very interesting and informative lunchtime read, this thread. I notice the OP mentioned G2 as his current camera, so was wondering if the newly announced Panasonic GH3 can be considered as an option ? It has weathersealing, a pretty good EVF and would be compatible with the 4/3 lenses that went with the G2. And since there is time till spring, maybe the reviews will be out by then about the claimed "Fastest AF". As far as the survivability/futureproof-ness of the companies, enough has been mentioned already and I certainly subscribe the line of thought posted by Richard earlier. Like it has been said many time before, the best camera is the one you have with you when you need it.

I think he mentioned the OM-D as his four thirds option, but didn't like it so much due to not quite so good sensor as compared to APS-C and full frame. As to "fastest AF" I think that maybe for certain lenses and AF-S, but probably not so good with AF-C.

[jogiba]

[TER-OR]

I'm going to put together a NAS (Network-attached-storage) with a couple nice Red series HDDs, then I will have backups full-time attached not to the computer but the network. I'm still debating whether to operate the drives as clones for security or separate for space. I'm leaning toward security. Now, to put together the roughly $500 this will cost...

[jatrax]

I'm going to put together a NAS (Network-attached-storage) with a couple nice Red series HDDs,

I built my first NAS with an old computer and FreeNAS software. Worked well for a long time. When time came to build a larger one I got a copy of Windows Home Server to try. TBH I figured I would mess with it and then go back to FreeNAS. It has been one of the best investments I've made in computer stuff. Just runs and never gives me any trouble. Approaching 10 months of 24/7 uptime. Not only a good solid NAS (well really a server) but it also handles automatic backups from all of the PC's and laptops in the house. Which actually work, as my wife's hard drive crashed and I was able to completely restore it in a couple of hours, not counting time to drive to BB and back for a new drive.

I have 5 500gb drives in RAID 5 as the main storage, with the OS on a pair of mirrored 250mb drives. Primary backup is a 2tb internal drive with a 2tb external drive as secondary backup.