[geomez]

*ist DS > K100D > K-5IIs > K-3


First upgrade was for SR. Second was for half a decade of advancements (speed, ISO, megapixels, ergonomics, WR, GPS, etc). Last one was for focus peaking, which I find invaluable to macro photography.

[stevebrot]

Last one was for focus peaking, which I find invaluable to macro photography.

I haven't tried the focus peaking for macro, though it sounds like a winner.


Steve

[formercanuck]

I upgraded from P&S to DSLR because I couldn't take decent shots in succession (kids sports) or zoom in/out / focus quickly
I upgraded from K-x to K-30 because my K-x took a nasty fall - still takes pictures, but LCD is gone, as are all dial modes except sports and video.

[magkelly]

As the title saids I was just wondering with mainly DSLR bodies when & why do you upgrade?
Is it when new model comes out? win lotto? or is the older body getting too old? ie start playing up ? Or are you a person that has to have the latest & greatest item?
Also when you up grade what do you do with the old body keep for back up sell give away or just put on display or in the cupboard?
Thanks

90% of the time I upgrade because one of my cameras finally succumbs to the abuse I put it though and dies. That's why I got my K-30, though I will admit the thought of acquiring one was in my head long before the first K-x died. I actually inherited a second K-x from one of my teachers recently but chose to give that to my one niece rather than keep it because I like using the K-30, it's WR and AF points too much to want to go backwards.

Towards the end of my ownership of the first K-x I was actually finding it a bit difficult to use because of eye issues. The K-30 has been a big improvement for me from that. As it turned out the K-30 was a necessary upgrade for me really. The K-x was fine when my eyes weren't so bad, but lately I really need the AF points. Having them takes a lot of strain off my eyes when I am working.

If a camera survives me using it till I do upgrade it usually goes to one of the kids or to a kid at my local community college who is taking the photography course. Like most people who went through a long bout of LBA I ended up with a lot of film bodies I didn't need. I've given quite a few of those to kids in that program, though lately not as many simply because I'm no longer buying MF lenses. They're also not teaching film photography skills as much anymore. There is one semester a year where they do offer it but the rest of the year it's digital only now.

My nieces and two of their friends are learning photography from me, at least the part that doesn't require developing. We go to the only lab left in town for that. They have most of my good "extra" film bodies at this point. The few that I don't want them to mess around with my 2 black and silver SPII's, my 2 black KX's, my GAF (Chinon CS clone/Sears) , those are kept for use strictly by me. At this point I've given away most of what I wanted to give away. What's left either is my personal cameras, the kid's cameras, or cameras that need to be fixed.

The digital cameras that have died on me I've literally made into bookends. I glued the *ist DL and the K-x bodies to bases that I made and I use them to hold up a small collection of traditional paper photography books I still have. Most of my photography related books are digital now but the few that I have that are not have some nice looking bookends supporting them, laugh. That's the one thing I don't like about digital bodies. It costs more to fix them than it's worth. You can't just spend $100, get them CLA'd and keep on using them. I've managed to jokingly find an alternative use for mine but I'm sure not everyone can be bothered and that's an awful lot of old cameras going to the landfills...

[wildman]

DL --> K-20D for better cropping--> K5 for better ISO performance.

[noelpolar]

I've just ordered a K3 to become my primary body (have a K5II)....for a couple of reasons. Over the last 12 months or so I've bought quite a few nice lenses..... so I can focus channeling some money into a body now. I dropped my K5II on a OS holiday last year and experienced the pain of a faulty camera with a couple of weeks in China to go. So a second body for me now. Also I hope to have a 2 camera stratergy longer term that sees a APSc camera (K3) for longer lens use and a FF for my medium to shorter use. If a Pentax FF arrives I'll eventually replace my K5II with it.

[Alizarine]

I upgraded from the K-x to the K-5 IIs because I needed a faster and more accurate generation of AF, as well as general operation performance. It was much needed for company events, where bosses and VIPs can't be convinced to stay long for "1-2-3-smile!" moments and you have to nail good ones fast.

[geomez]

I've just ordered a K3 to become my primary body (have a K5II)....for a couple of reasons. Over the last 12 months or so I've bought quite a few nice lenses..... so I can focus channeling some money into a body now. I dropped my K5II on a OS holiday last year and experienced the pain of a faulty camera with a couple of weeks in China to go. So a second body for me now. Also I hope to have a 2 camera stratergy longer term that sees a APSc camera (K3) for longer lens use and a FF for my medium to shorter use. If a Pentax FF arrives I'll eventually replace my K5II with it.

Just for clarification, what does "OS" mean?

[robert52]

Just for clarification, what does "OS" mean?

OS = Over Seas

[Nicolas06]

I upgraded for one main reason from K5 to K3: Autofcus.

The K5 off centre focus point are too big for me. This mean that if I shoot f:2.8 with my 50-135 and put the focus on the eyes on the K5 it will often misfocus enough to have a failed shoot. AF was not that good in dim light neither.

With the K3 this do not longer occurs. Focus is really better with the K3 on all lenses and in all conditions.

There also the far supperior sharpness (no low pass filter + 24MP) that's good and allow to get very good 1:3 or 1:3 panos in one shoot. Focus peaking is a nice to have and that was missing on K5 familly (not K30-K50...).

To upgrade past the K3 is possible, but there is less and less to ask for honestly. A far smaller body with same features as K3 would be interresting. Much better high iso performance would be interresting too. Both together would be a deal for sure. Imagine a very small body with DA21 or FA77... !

In terms of AF, sharpness, features in general, I don't care, really. Ah maybe the day we can have a very nice EVF that show the real exposure and focus peaking for manual foccusing.

[Kerrowdown]

Why do you upgrade?

Cos Pentax brought out FF... oh not yet then... no upgrade here then.

[Trawlerman]

I upgraded recently because my K10 had a shutter count of 90,000 and I could not be certain how much longer it would last. I am currently starting a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Photography at the local college so I need a camera that I can rely on and on that will keep up with results that my peers will be producing.

My K10 is still a great camera but it doesn't perform quite as well as the latest cameras. My K10 was bought new by me in 2007 so I think i've had moneys worth from it. I also took advantage of a little bit of money that I had and upgraded to some better lenses than the old kit lenses that were originally supplied with the K10.

[severalsnakes]

I'm really enjoying reading these reasons and justifications for upgrading. The world we (or, at least, I) live in is constantly drooling over the next new thing, even though the old thing is perfectly good and works just as well, or nearly. These disposable electronics are really intriguing. My husband and his friends are forever shopping smartphones, watching videos and consuming speculation like gospel. It's silly fun at best and infuriatingly wasteful at worst.

My only digital camera for a long time was a Fuji FinePix J20. It was suitable for my casual needs. I had my Pentax ZX-L film SLR with a Promaster 28-105 on it that was my constant companion for years prior. When I decided that I wanted to get more into photography as a hobby, the J20 was not satisfying me, so I went back to the ZX-L. I quickly realized that film processing was not an affordable expense for an art school student working at a pet store, so I got a Fuji superzoom, the s3300. It was awesome and it REALLY got me excited about the hobby. I didn't learn a lot with it, but it sparked a fiery passion for picture-taking. The s3300 had a pathetic "manual" feature and I was forever trying to do things that it would not accommodate, in regard to aperture and shutter settings. I admit I did not use the s3300 to it's full potential and I could have used it for MUCH longer than I did. I regret selling it. Alas! A little over a year with the s3300, I bought myself the K-30, my second SLR, my FIRST DSLR and this is a camera that I have learned a lot on.

I don't see myself upgrading until this thing breaks down. The way I use the camera is 100% casual, as a hobby, and I almost exclusively use the M setting. Since the K-30 I've been one of those people obsessed with buying old glass and that's where I get my satisfaction; using the old lenses in manual mode and "the basics" of photography. For that reason, I have no need for all the bells and whistles of focus zones or metering what-have-yous, not even auto focus "speed" matters to me, because I don't have a single lens that isn't manual. (I sold the Promaster 28-105 since I never used it!) I'm watching these new gadgets roll in, and I admit I did buy the MX-1 to have a nice point-and-shoot (the camera on my cell phone is a joke), but for what the K-30 does for me, there's no reason to upgrade. I can't afford to keep up with the curve, anyway. :-)

When the K-30 does break down, I will buy the latest, greatest K-mount, whatever it may be. If nothing else, my experience with the K-30 has proven to me that the hobby is a pleasure, and I won't regret the cost of a new body.

[Kerrowdown]

When the K-30 does break down

Just for the record... CBA does not require equipment failure to upgrade.

[Nicolas06]

I'm really enjoying reading these reasons and justifications for upgrading. The world we (or, at least, I) live in is constantly drooling over the next new thing, even though the old thing is perfectly good and works just as well, or nearly. These disposable electronics are really intriguing. My husband and his friends are forever shopping smartphones, watching videos and consuming speculation like gospel. It's silly fun at best and infuriatingly wasteful at worst.

My only digital camera for a long time was a Fuji FinePix J20. It was suitable for my casual needs. I had my Pentax ZX-L film SLR with a Promaster 28-105 on it that was my constant companion for years prior. When I decided that I wanted to get more into photography as a hobby, the J20 was not satisfying me, so I went back to the ZX-L. I quickly realized that film processing was not an affordable expense for an art school student working at a pet store, so I got a Fuji superzoom, the s3300. It was awesome and it REALLY got me excited about the hobby. I didn't learn a lot with it, but it sparked a fiery passion for picture-taking. The s3300 had a pathetic "manual" feature and I was forever trying to do things that it would not accommodate, in regard to aperture and shutter settings. I admit I did not use the s3300 to it's full potential and I could have used it for MUCH longer than I did. I regret selling it. Alas! A little over a year with the s3300, I bought myself the K-30, my second SLR, my FIRST DSLR and this is a camera that I have learned a lot on.

I don't see myself upgrading until this thing breaks down. The way I use the camera is 100% casual, as a hobby, and I almost exclusively use the M setting. Since the K-30 I've been one of those people obsessed with buying old glass and that's where I get my satisfaction; using the old lenses in manual mode and "the basics" of photography. For that reason, I have no need for all the bells and whistles of focus zones or metering what-have-yous, not even auto focus "speed" matters to me, because I don't have a single lens that isn't manual. (I sold the Promaster 28-105 since I never used it!) I'm watching these new gadgets roll in, and I admit I did buy the MX-1 to have a nice point-and-shoot (the camera on my cell phone is a joke), but for what the K-30 does for me, there's no reason to upgrade. I can't afford to keep up with the curve, anyway. :-)

When the K-30 does break down, I will buy the latest, greatest K-mount, whatever it may be. If nothing else, my experience with the K-30 has proven to me that the hobby is a pleasure, and I won't regret the cost of a new body.

It is more a mater of character and if you are really after the topic or not. Some spend lot of on clothes, other on camera, phone, musical instruments, sport gear, cars... Some spend their money on alcool, tobaco...

You can spend a lot in any area or all. As long as you can afford it, there no real problem for me

Was is the most important anyway is that you enjoy it this way ! You should only consider to change if there any need/desire!

---------- Post added 08-24-14 at 10:42 PM ----------

Just for the record... CBA does not require equipment failure to upgrade.

Sure... Do not spend too much time trying to see how an FF view finder look for example