[photoman1]

thanks all for replying

im a 14 year old student who does not have much $$$
love the pentax b/c i can buy k-mount film lenses for almost nothing

i just can't buy a new camera every generation

;-)

[Ex Finn.]

thanks all for replying

im a 14 year old student who does not have much $$$
love the pentax b/c i can buy k-mount film lenses for almost nothing

i just can't buy a new camera every generation

;-)

If you have a "good eye" and your images are good, maybe you can ask your parents to help you get one.

[Zandroido]

If i were you i would buy K-5 without any thoughts. If you love to shoot a lot of videos then K-30 but for everything else k-5 i better.

[123jippo]

Get K5, its great camera!

[interested_observer]

Hi,
right now i have a k100d super and a k20d

the k20d seems a little bit slow to me

my budget is reasonable

k30 or k-5 or whatever else you think

lenses;
sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 macro
80-200mm
70-210mm macro
28mm 3.5
50mm 1.7

pentax af360fgz flash

im trying to hold out until a pentax ff

what would you do?

thanks all for replying

im a 14 year old student who does not have much $$$
love the pentax b/c i can buy k-mount film lenses for almost nothing

i just can't buy a new camera every generation

;-)

Good Evening,

I returned to photography after essentially a 30+ year absence, as a hobby, primarily because the "film" was free - also something of an instant gratification in terms of post processing. In the end, each new camera generation is essentially a new type of "film" you are buying into. The hobby is about taking pictures, not really about collecting or chasing gear. You can go broke quite easily. There are folks out there quite satisfied with *ist bodies, and producing terrific images. The body and lens is nothing but a tool. With film bodies, Pentax would keep a body in production for 10+ years. Now we gripe that they have not updated the line every year or 18 months.

The question is why do you need to upgrade. What is your old gear preventing you from accomplishing? I don't quite understand the remark - "the k20d seems a little bit slow to me". Part of being a photographer is the challenge. It is also about working around the "limitations" to get the image you want. Essentially, problem solving. Photography is also about compromise. Unless you trundle around with a wheelbarrow full of gear, you will probably not have the most optimal lens with you for a particular shot. There will always be a "feature or function" that would come in handy on the body. So, how do you work around these limitations? That is the challenge.

I have our youngest son still in college - both went to school on the "pop scholarship". Funds are always tight. You save your nickels, dimes and quarters, and then need to make intelligent buying decisions. You can only spend your funds once (to a degree). I purchase at the end of the model run (cuts my price in half - for the most part). Also, I only purchase for specific reasons - that will make a large difference. I work during the day, so my photography is at night - thus the ambient low light and dynamic range, for 'scapes (land and city). I could have easily stayed with the K20. My camera fund just happened to coincide (match) the price of the K5 in January (Samy's had a 1 day sale at $750), so I ordered, and put the K20 up on the marketplace (cutting my acquisition costs in half again). I do not anticipate on updating for quite a while - a long while.....

newmikey has some good advice.

Hope that helps, some.....

[Richard Spencer]

Hi,
newmikey and interested_observer have given you very sound advice.

If I was you, I would save my money and use the K20d until I knew it inside out. It really is a fantastic camera and certainly not slow. I have just sold mine and bought a K5, but the K20d did over 65,000 shots and earned money for me. If the K5 had not been invented I would still be using one and very happy.

I will make a suggestion that you can try.

Set your camera to aperture priority. Also set front edial to adjust exposure compensation and rear edial to adjust aperture. Finally set OK button to ISO. You can now adjust all the major controls with your right hand whilst the camera is up to your eye and all the important information is in the viewfinder.
You can set/alter ISO by pressing OK button with thumb and turning front edial.
you can adjust aperture by turning rear edial.
you can adjust shutter speed with front edial and get an instant readout showing how much this adjustment alters exposure compensation.
if you need a high shutter speed set a high ISO and wide aperture
if you need a slow shutter speed set a lower ISO and smaller aperture.

Remember, there are loads of ways to set a camera. However, if you stick to aperture priority and use it to set your camera for the particular type of shot you need, you will find that you and your camera will be as fast as greased lightening and the quality of your images will start to amaze you.

Then, when you really know how to make the camera produce super images it is time to upgrade.

Good luck and have lots of fun. Richard.

[photoman1]

thanks Richard Spencer and interested_observer, I do appreciate the time that you put into this

I have no problem with my K20D with outdoor landscapes with a tripod.

Richard Spencer, most of the time I shoot in Av or M and I use the light meter regularly which to my understanding is better on the K-5. If it is just a snapshot, I use P. I also usually keep the ISO on the K20D between 200-400.

Interested_Observer, I know that it is not all about the camera, the photographer also has to have a photographer's mind. The composition of a shot is in some ways more important than the camera. I also usually post-process mostly in RAW using Adobe Lightroom 4. In terms of product cycle updates and cost, that is why I bought Pentax. I do have a Canon T2i/550D with the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm kit lenses. I also have a PK-EF adapter to use my Pentax manual lenses on the Canon. I have ML on the Canon which helps with video and LV manual focusing. However, video is not that important in the grand scheme of things. I do greatly appreciate the in-body SR.

When I bought the K100D, I bought the the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and the 55-200mm f/4-5.6 and saw that I was ready for some better glass. My thinking used to be that the IQ is all in the glass and not the body. Now, I am starting to see dramatic leaps in DR and low-light/high ISO performance. I have no problem with the 14.6 MP of the K20D or the 16.3 MP of the K-5. The dark seems to come alive in photographs at nighttime with fast glass, high ISO and still a decent shutter speed (such as 1/60 sec.). With the K20D, I find myself not really being able to shoot useable pictures above ISO 800.

I will be going to PhotoPlus here in NY next week to check out the K-5 (and everything else).

---

Last edited by photoman1; 10-19-2012 at 12:51 PM.

[8540tomg]

Went from the K10, which is still a pretty good camera, to the K5. No contest, the K5 is better in every way especially at higher ISOs. As a bonus it can be had for a far better price now.

Tom G

[fatdaddy]

photoman1 knows his stuff. very impressive thinking for a 14 year old boy.

I am in the same boat. I really like my K20 with high quality, inexpensive, old M lenses. Manual focusing has been a bit of a challenge for this fatdaddy, but the addition of a different focusing screen has been helpful.

So, a few questions for this learned group of advisors,

1) Do we feel proud or do we feel awkward because we are the only few with a Pentax at the club meeting? How do you reconcile these feelings in your mind?
2) For the daddies like me, working hard to save up for the kiddies' college tuition, and the enthusiasts like me, with a K20 and M lenses, who like to shoot landscapes, is the purchase of a used K5 a worthwhile and gratifying next step?
3) Should I avoid going to next week's NY show so that I get the buying bug out of my mind, or should I go and then spend like a kid in a candy store at B&H?
4) How do you respond to the wife who says "stop spending money on photography" because she doesn't appreciate the satisfaction of the hobby?
5) Why do we remain committed to Pentax at a time when they get purchased like trading cards every few years?

[newmikey]

1) Do we feel proud or do we feel awkward because we are the only few with a Pentax at the club meeting? How do you reconcile these feelings in your mind?

Neither. Why would the brand matter at all? My K-5 suits me fine but I'd be equally happy with a Canon, Nikon, Sony or what-have-you. Being "one of the only few" can mean many things but to me it neither causes me inferiority- nor superiority-feelings. It is just a tool, my tool.

2) For the daddies like me, working hard to save up for the kiddies' college tuition, and the enthusiasts like me, with a K20 and M lenses, who like to shoot landscapes, is the purchase of a used K5 a worthwhile and gratifying next step?

Simple answer: no. By the time the kiddies grow up a bit and you start shooting sportsgames, exhibitions, schoolplays etc.: absolutely!

3) Should I avoid going to next week's NY show so that I get the buying bug out of my mind, or should I go and then spend like a kid in a candy store at B&H?

Avoid

4) How do you respond to the wife who says "stop spending money on photography" because she doesn't appreciate the satisfaction of the hobby?

Would you prefer I spend the money in the pub, on model trains or on some other hobby? Let's set a fair yearly budget that equals what others (or you) spend on their hobby and I'll stick to it.

5) Why do we remain committed to Pentax at a time when they get purchased like trading cards every few years?

"We" don't, at least I am not in any way committed to Pentax. I purchased the K-5 for the same reason I did the K20D (or the K100D-Super before it): they were cameras with exactly the right price/performance ration for me, no more, no less. The K-5 is an awesome camera, I would have bought it regardless of the name badge.

[Richard Spencer]

Newmikey, you have answered the questions perfectly, and echoed my feelings exactly.
So :-
+1

[theEight]

Oh...the versatile K-5 is worth every penny.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1H_92DyEgXiY4fvW6wYLnNMTjNZETYmyPJy0li...eat=directlink

I just started to experiment with the video capabilities after discovering that a old 50mm manual lens works wonders - especially the manual focusing during video since autofocusing is not possible once recording starts.
Pic in the link above was shot hand held at dusk.

[zekewhipper]

Is the K-5 a worthwhile upgrade from the K20D if you are wanting noticable improvements in indoors ambient light photography with:

A) metering accuracy
B) white balance accuracy (custom & presets)
C) dynamic-range

I love my K20D, but it is definately an outdoors camera. When I compare the metering, WB, and dynamic range of the K20D versus my Olympus E-520 DSLR or my Nikon P7100 p&s, it is definately not as good.