[Canada_Rockies]

For those who insist on Canon - buy a Rebel with a kit lens. Add the $300 to the fee. Then use your Pentaxes anyway - you'll get better pictures because you know your equipment.

[VisualDarkness]

It is the portfolio that matters, confidence, showing a good portfolio and say yes I use my brilliant Pentax gear to produce the images

I think you nailed it there! It's all about how you say it, not the actual factual answer.

Would the same couples shot you down the photographers shooting with an ALPA or a Hasselblad on the basis that it's not a Canikon? Would they neglect your skills based on that you shoot with a 645Z? If they do it's not about the camera, it's about the seller not being able to convince them that he/she is the best one for the job.
"I got the perfect equipment for the job and I know how to make your story with all the emotions and memories be put in that special book. When you grow old together, as in love as ever, I want you to be able to look at the pictures and remember exactly how you felt this magical day of yours".

[Paul the Sunman]

I know there are a million and one threads about this and I am sure everyone is sick of reading them. I frankly never thought I would find myself here (and especially not today, because I just bought 4 more lenses today!) But I get home and my wife is livid(she is a wedding photographer). She states that she was turned down for another wedding because the customers didnt like the fact that she shot with Pentax. She has a portfolio and shows every customer how great the photos she takes are. But it is the 5th time in the last year that she has lost a job because the customer frowns on the fact that she isnt shooting Canon or Nikon. So she says tonight we are switching to one of the two, either a 6D or a D750. So here I am with lightroom open editing pictures of every piece of Pentax equipment I own and I am feeling very remorseful. I truly in my gut feel like I am making a bad choice, like I am getting a divorce with my beloved Pentax. I can honestly say I am VERY dissapointed with the lack of a Pentax FF camera and I have been waiting on pins and needles for 6 years. But THIS TIME i feel like it is really around the corner. I have asked the wife at least 6 times if she is REALLY sure she wants to do this. Each time she responds with a yes, but is there something I can say to convince her otherwise? I understand her frustration, but at the same time we have always been very proud Pentax shooters and also have been proud to be different than the norm. Part of me wants to be a mean husband and put my foot down and tell her this isnt happening (her income from weddings has only paid for 2 or 3 lenses) 75% of the equipment I own I have paid for out of my hard earned money. I am fairly sad right now and not sure what to think or feel about this.

The really cool thing to do would be to get a 645Z and blow the canikon prejudice out of the water. "What? You want me to shoot on a toy camera?"

Of course, it's a rather expensive way of showing people up.

[rburgoss]

There is a big difference between photo enthusiasts and professionals. Enthusiasts are more brand oriented while pros are business oriented. I am sure that if Fisher Price (toys for babies) came up with photo gear, it won't be long until many pros switch to it, for a single reason: RELIABILITY AND SUPPORT.

Old school enthusiasts and pros from the film age, always craved for the return of the full frame body, maybe because we always had in mind that a bigger negatve always got us better results. Of course Canikon digital users got them a while back, but others like us Pentax users are still waiting.

Here's where the big difference between pros and enthusiasts come to play. For enthusists the waiting is not as important and we have always found rational and even passionate reasons for "not needing" full frame, but for pros, the waiting has its limits to the point some are willing to switch systems just to keep business running, even knowing this will involve some big spending and of course, losses too trying to get rid of your well used Pentax stuff, at "starving sell prices".

I believe we all Pentax users were victims of the "Hoya administration" which dragged Pentax through several years of lethargy, bad marketing decisions and an even worse customer support.

Like others here, I do believe Pentax is back on solid grounds, even if it dissappeared as company and remains only as a brand under Ricoh. I also think "the lost years" will not be recovered, but in a few years, Pentax will be able to catch up and take its well deserved place and markets share it once had during the late 70's.

As of your wife...IMHO, she really wants FF system. With all due respect, she is now finding "reasons" in potential customers words to make the switch. TBH, I do believe that if this produces no results towards switching systems (at least for her), it won't be long untill some "bad results and unhappy customers" start showing up, caused because of quality problems blamed at the "low quality of Pentax's APS-C sensor".... I believe you get the idea.

In the meantime, tell your wife that the next time a potential customer (wedding) is ignorant enough to ask or demand the photographer uses certain brand of camera, she should answer the following.

"...so you are a brand oriented person and of course, want the best of the best for your wedding.... right? Out of curiosity, what brand of kitchenware is you catherer using? Have you made sure your wedding cake will be prepared using the best (to you knowledge) beater and baked using the best brand of oven? How about the music for the reception... Dj stuff or live band? Could you tell me what brand of audio system or the brand of the musical instruments? How about who is celebrating the wedding: justice of peace, notary public or clergy? I presume you also checked their academic background.....

I can bet you my brand new K3 the if your wife answers this to such customer... she will be interrupted by the customer and most likely get the job.

[DavidSKAF3]

What about aircraft? Do you choose your flight based on whether the plane will be a Douglas or DeHavilland?

[j2photos]

It looks like ive won the battle for now, she saw all the gear piled up on the kitchen counter and was like, "we have that many lenses?" I proceeded to tell her that selling everything we have would only pay for the body and 1, maybe 2 lenses on another system. She didnt like being limited like that. (also we really prefer primes to zooms) I asked her to wait one more year and if it doesnt get better, use the money she is making from her sessions/weddings and buy her another system of her choosing. The income she brings in with photography has always been play money, we are not financially dependant on it in any way. I do a lot of sports/action photography in which I get paid to do, the burst mode and focus speeds of the FF Canon bodies I have played with is far slower than my K-3. So I explained that while she might gain a few more weddings a year I would most likely miss shots that I would normally get and possibly lose money on my end. She seemed okay with it. So for now I think I get to keep my stuff, although she may wake up in the morning and have other thoughts, LOL

A few of the lenses are going up for sale anyway, because there is a FA 20 1:2.8 for sale in the market that I am dying to have.

[ZoeB]

Obviously, income is important, but it seems that clients who care more about the brand of your camera than the quality of your work may not be clients you'd like to work with at all.

[LensBeginner]

People can be just plain genuinely stoopind at times...

[VisualDarkness]

You both seem knowledgeable and driven so I bet you can brainstorm some nice solutions to the problem, it might just boil down to finding the right answer to the question she get asked. Do it the politician way, use rhetoric skills to answer the question you wish to be asked instead of the one you were actually asked.
Brand -> Skill -> images -> Memories for life

[januko]

The really cool thing to do would be to get a 645Z and blow the canikon prejudice out of the water. "What? You want me to shoot on a toy camera?"

Of course, it's a rather expensive way of showing people up.

Amen to that!

[Rondec]

I really think your wife just needs to have a canned line for those situations. Telling the client that Pentax is an unusual brand, but that colors and results you have found to be phenomenal and out pace those of Canon/Nikon cameras. You could even pull some crappy photos off of the interwebs shot with Canon and Nikon cameras to demonstrate the difference...

[micromacro]

I asked her to wait one more year and if it doesnt get better, use the money she is making from her sessions/weddings and buy her another system of her choosing.

I think it would be the best in your situation. It's her job, so she needs to invest in her gear for her job separately. It's good to have another system back up, but she needs freedom to decide what she needs. It would be enough with FF to have 2 set lenses for the beginning to cover weddings, imo. Then she can expand from that if needed.
My biggest concern with Pentax lenses for weddings would be the noise. Even DA lenses are loud compare to Canon. Also, with the lenses I have (one DA and a few F) I noticed that they are slow AF. It's quite uncomfortable, because K-5IIs is way faster than my Canon SL1 in burst mode, but AF is a pain! So, I have to admit that it's easy for me to get an action with slower Canon than with very fast Pentax. Only because of lenses. What a shame really.

So the point is, expand with different systems instead of selling Pentax. There is no perfect system as I learned , so use the advantages of both. Or three, or.... whatever your budget lets you.

[beachgardener]

2 x K3's and a nice set of limited primes would be a nice set up. I know that or something similar is what I am working toward.

[clackers]

As an IT contractor, I'm often implementing inferior systems to the ones I'd choose myself, but hey, that's what the people paying me want.

You can shoot Canikon on a Saturday, Pentax for yourself the rest of the week.

To the gentleman who was unhappy with the burst rate of a Canon FF for action, try the 1D rather than the 5D.

[ZoeB]

I guess I could understand if it was just the fact that Pentax doesn't have FF (yet, I hope!), but comparing the situation to my line of work, my clients shouldn't (and don't) care what word processing program and computer I'm using-- the important thing is that I give them readable files, and that the quality of my translation is good. Neither of which are determined by whether or not I'm using Pages or Word.