Originally posted by MD Optofonik Thanks for your earlier advice, respect due. I'm leaning heavily in that direction. Spotted a new K5 for $728.00 delivered; $179.00 more than the K30.
Been browsing the respective "post your pics" threads and while many images from the K5 and K30 are equally impressive, some of the K5IIs pics are almost surreal in their clarity and detail. Perhaps the K30 would be a better compliment to an eventual K5IIs. I am, of course, taking into consideration that at least a few images posted on the K5IIs thread are from "ringers", as are some of the early posts on the K5 thread (early adopting professionals with more experience and better equipped post processing workstations will have the IQ advantage).
if you are wrong or make a mistake you can better admit it and get over with it, nobody is perfect.
The K30 is the exception though, it has many of the advance features, it's very comprable with the K5.
It has the same viewfinder and almost as good controlls, as bonus it has better AF system and better jpeg's
K5 is very slightly better with RAW, these are 14bit instead of the standard 12bit and it has a bigger buffer i believe and quiter shutter?
As for the K5IIs, i know that many are running away with it and with what you want to do with it it might be beneficial.
Just understand fully what the up and down sides are and if you aren't willing to invest some work in processing your photos i can;t advice the camera.
It's a bit like buying a very expensive printer with special head for more colours and in the end you buy cheap inkt and paper and don't use any colour profiles to get the colours correct.
In the end the different between K5, K5mkII, K30, k-01 and K5mkIIs are very small in the end result if you put some effort into that.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/207505-pentax-k-5-iis-vs-k-5-ii-take-two.html
With the K30 or K5 you've a camera that will serve you for surely 5 years and longer, by that time we have already seen 3 new generation of bodies go by. And you will want to be upgrading not because of the IQ but because of the new abilities of the camera.
"Even" with your Km you can make stunning photos, there is trully nothing wrong with that camera to be honest.