Originally posted by geekkt I'm getting better, however, and there's a chance that down the road I may turn this into profit. Step one, acquire new camera. Step two.... Step three, profit, right?
My first thought is a Pentax K-30, maybe K-5 II, but I've been researching a bit as I want to know why all the portrait pros use Canon or Nikon. Is it just lens compatibility? Popularity of gear and following the crowd (thus resale)? I realize there's the full frame option but that's currently overkill for me, so if Pentax is coming out with one someday, it's not an immediate concern. Is there something else I'm missing?
If not, give me thoughts on what to upgrade to. Points that are important to me beyond the basics are:
1 IQ
2 dual scroll wheels
3 good mid-high ISO (my house has East/West windows and awful light)
4 top LCD is a major bonus - the viewfinder is impossible to read in high light
5 would love to be able to set temps in Kelvin
6 fast, accurate AF (but the K-r isn't horrible, IMO)
7 bonus points for a quieter shutter than the K-r, it's loud next to my father's K-7 and my kids hear me clicking
8 do any of them have the ability to spot meter off of the selected focus point?
9 a fairly beefy hand grip, if possible. Obviously this I can test by going into a store, but I shoot one handed with a baby on my left arm a lot. Between that and back button focusing, I've got quite the uncomfortable death grip on my camera - the grip is almost too narrow, if that makes any sense.
If there is a newer system on it's way and I should wait a few months, that could be considered too. Thoughts, suggestions? Thanks a ton!
Well this is a load off questions, and luckey you I feel for answering them.
The thing that makes pro's a pro is not only the gear, but mainly the skills. The question is never wich camera comes out off the bag (unless someone is paying more then $1000 for a portraitseries). The question is can that photographer make an interesting or even better amazing portrait in a convenient time. Wheater that is no more then 5 minutes or making all the works and spending several hours to make something beautifull for some presentation or publication. You don't find any pro with just one camera (mostly, but it can be done, running around with just one camera fitting a perfect portraitlens).
1 IQ is something that has to do with your ability to control your environment when making your portraits. If it comes to shooting portraits on Streets, congresses or whatever then yes you will benifit from a Full Frame sensor with a better performance under lower light conditions. The sensor that Pentax uses currently in K-5 (II(s), K-01, K-30 and K-50 is capable for delivering images to print large.
2 Dual scroll wheels: I know they do come in handy, but this is off no importance if you know your gear. I make lots off portraits with my K-01 and it has only one scroll wheal.
3 What is mid/high iso? I had a portrait in a magazine made with iso6400, so maybe some off the skills are coming from post processing. When it comes to your home, you can turn that into a nice studio area without braking it down. For a portrait you need a nice sweetspot with light and you can create that in your home. Sometimes it is just about having one spotlight at the right place.
4 Again, yes it is. But you have to learn that you know what your doing and don't need to read what the figures are telling you.
5 That is possible with Pentax and even better is to learn how to set your white balance in post processing or how to make a good preset in your camera. There are helpfull options availabel. Most pro's don't take the camera setting for granted, since they all will work on a portrait in photoshop.
6 For portrait you need accurate AF, but fast isn't needed always. But that also depends on your discription for a portrait. If your subject is running around then maybe make sure it is on the right spot for your image. The K-5 II is better for this then your K-r, but there are better systems for fast AF, but the question is what kind off portrait are we talking about.
7 The most silence in this respect are K-5 II, K-01 and Leica M.
8 This is a very much amateur question, where you started off to become a pro. Yes it can, but no you shouldn't. Go and learn to to controll your camera settings and you know that this wasn't the question that a pro should ask.
9 Put the baby down when it comes to making images.
Lenses:
You don't need them all, but they are all different and usefull when it comes to making portraits:
- one size fits all zoomlens: DA*50-135mm.f2.8
- short portraitlenses for singles or doubles: DA40mm, FA43mm, FA50mm or DA*55mm
- short portraitlenses for groupes: FA31mm, DA40mm, FA43mm (or large groupes with DA21mm, but that is limiting)
- portraitlenses: FA50mm, DA*55mm, DA70mm, FA77mm and FA*85mm