[fredralphfred]

I would think spending money to change gear rather than your technique to keep a college lecturer happy would be a sad situation. ☺

So would I. But I've met many professional teachers with similar hang-ups -- I'm reminded of the rpn (HP) vs. algebraic notation (usually TI) calculator fights freshmen math/engineering students encounter. When I first took a college calc. course, your professor essentially dictated the brand of calculator you used. I think that's still largely the case. Some teachers feel that differences like that are obstructions to teaching the "important things." Also, it greatly expands the scope of things they have to pay attention to in a field like photography. Essentially, it's more work. I don't agree that they shouldn't be flexible or adaptable, but some people aren't in certain areas. I've seen a lot of posters state that specific cameras were required for photography classes they took thirty to forty years ago, partially for this reason.

I agree that this may be the path of least resistance, but there is something more fundamental that the OP needs to realize. Any professor who preaches gear, gear, gear clearly knows less about photography than he should, and a wise student may question if it is worth learning from such a tutor. Now if it's other students preaching gear, gear, gear; yeah, that will happen. Ironically, if the OP brought in stunning images shot on his K-5, the other students in the class would probably rush out an buy Pentax gear, failing to comprehend that their Canon gear is just fine and it's the artist's skill, not the camera, that creates a great image. . . .

I'm not sure I could accuse the professor of preaching gear here. First, the OP said he was 56, right? He's shown some wisdom in seeking other opinions and is most likely not a push-over. It's entirely possible the professor hasn't looked at Pentax in 30 years and thinks the OP is making specific technical errors that would be more easily addressed if he thoroughly understood his equipment. Or maybe he's an "idiot savant" who takes gorgeous photographs but views anything other than Canon as the devil because learning it would be a distraction from his "art." Either this guy chose his college carefully or it's just the local community college. Either way he has an incentive to work with them. Canada, right? I'm guessing they have both private and state schools there, too, with the corresponding difference in cost. Alternatives may be expensive, or at least, more expensive than the investment in a used Canon kit.

[Nicolas06]

I guess I didn't make myself clear -- I thought he could keep his Pentax gear for "real" shooting and pick up a cheap, used Canon kit to use for school assignments to assuage his professor. Then, once he's done with college, he can decide what direction he needs to go.

Ahaha because you think a 5D + a few primes/zooms could not do "real" shooting ?

To me getting the old 5D is interresting because it open new horizons. Try a different brand see what there is to like or dislike of it and also try the "all mighty" FFs There sure quite a few things to be learned there.

If you are to be a pro and you want to make a choice, you could as well try a few system before you settle. Hopefull if you attend to photography courses, there should be many student with wide variety of gear so many opportunities to try different things. And I would expect the college to have some gear available to help the course like all the lighting gear for example...

What is funny finally is that I leaned computer science and I never had to buy a computer for it. I had one of course, even before but not a single time a teacher asked us to buy a computer.

There were all sort of computer available at the university and in engineering school, you could use them all day if you wanted and do your homework.

And nobody really taken care if the computer was a dell or an hp or whatever. What really counted is the hability of the students to understand the concept and create the program that actually worked.

[gmans]

You Tube

You Tube

[lesmore49]

Brian , I was curious about which photography school you're attending in Winnipeg ? Is it Red River College ? If it is you maybe interested to know and I might be wrong, but I believe they used to use Pentax K 1000 cameras as student cameras back in the film days.

As far as your lenses go and I'm quoting from your text, I have a couple and my view is as follows :

FA 1:1.4 50mm.....I have one. Good portrait lens. Sharp, nice bokeh. I generally use it between F 2 and F 2.8.

DFA Macro1:2.8 100mm WR...a friend has one, She's quite pleased with it and if you check the Popular Photography test, it's glowing.

DA 1:4(22) 16-45mm ED-AL...My first digital lens. Better than my 18-55 kit lens, but it does not compare to my Pentax 12-24, which I'm very happy with. Check the Pop Photography rating.

F Zoom 1:4-5.6 70-210mm- I do not have this lens, never used it, so cannot comment.

So you have two lenses that are fine. The 16-45 is ok, but I find I use mine rarely, now that I have a 12-24 and my 18-135. The 18-135 seems to get a kick now and then, but in my experience it's excellent, except for some minor lens creep, which doesn't affect it's performance...picture wise...and yes it's a consumer lens, not a 'pro' lens.

With your photography, what F stops, ISO do you use ? Do you use a tripod ?

What kind of photography are you considering to get into, once you graduate ? I ask this last question, as it may give forum members more of an idea when it comes to proving advice.

[monochrome]

The woman teaching digital and B&W at the local community college here says you may bring any digital ILC and a 50mm lens. You have to know how to operate the camera you bring.

When she teaches B&W she says students may bring any mechanical film camera that has a self-timer and a 50mm lens. You have to know how to operate the camera you bring.

She opens the digital class with a brief statement, including the line: "All cameras are good enough to earn an 'A' so get over it."

[lithedreamer]

She opens the digital class with a brief statement, including the line: "All cameras are good enough to earn an 'A' so get over it."

I never realised how lucky I am in my photography class. No gear snobs, and the professor thinks my Pentax gear is really cool.

[Digitalis]

She opens the digital class with a brief statement, including the line: "All cameras are good enough to earn an 'A' so get over it."

She gets my tick of approval.

[Mallee Boy]

Just an observation reading through this thread from the start.

Other than a shot each from Digitalis and Rupert it is heavy on words and very light on photos.

I invite the OP to post a few of his shots so as we can offer some advice.

[jddwoods]

Fun to watch those...and very informative too. How many hundreds of times have we heard "it's not the camera"...yet here we are once again talking about cameras and gear.

I'm not in the same league as most here, don't need to be.....I shoot squirrels and any squirrel shot is a good shot!

Right Otis?


Makes life simple!

Regards!

Just curious what camera and lens did you use for this shot?

[kenspo]

DXO and real world use are almost never the same.

[normhead]

DXO and real world use are almost never the same.

DxO used to have a comment on their website saying that their test images were taken in light equivalent to a single lightbulb in a basement. I couldn't find it last time I looked, but I used to say their test facility was in their mom's basement. Needless to say, you can learn a lot about a system testing in those conditions, but, you can also learn a lot about reciprocity testing in those situations. Almost all my shooting is done in daylight, their test results are almost useless to me. That's why their results so heavily favour FF cameras.

The two factors in reducing noise are pixel size and light intensity. The more intensity the less noise. If you only shoot with a good amount of light intensity, their measurements are meaningless, because the factor in low light information that is irrelevant, and heavily favours sensors with larger wells.

[Rupert]

Other than a shot each from Digitalis and Rupert it is heavy on words and very light on photos.

I can post more......squirrels galore if anyone makes a request?

Here is Mrs Rupert a few years ago when she took a week long photography course.


What did she learn? Honestly, not a damn thing......but she was using a Panasonic...that could have been the problem?

It was worth taking though.....I convinced her it was not her lack of skills it was the camera......and talked her into buying a Fuji X10...and when that didn't help her...an X20...neither one helped her, but I sure love them!

If you have a Mrs Rupert with plenty of cash, I'm all for trying other brands or new lenses....why not!

Regards!

[micromacro]

There was lots of good advice in this thread. However, I think you, guys, miss the issue.
OP has difficult time to stay loyal to Pentax because he thinks that other systems produce better results. I see the only way for him to compare- literally to find the way to step out the loyalty and compare. Not to abandon Pentax, but try different systems on his own. Nothing teaches better than own experience.
He can borrow the camera in class/after class with his memory card, he can test cameras in stores with own memory card, he can buy used camera to play. No matter how great post will be here, he has to do own homework.

[EssJayEff]

"High quality images" is a very subjective phrase. I've made what I consider to be high quality images with a pinhole camera. No matter what tools you use, make images that are true to you, that push past your boundaries to explore new areas, and that differentiate your vision from that of others. Checkout the Trashcam Project: photographs made by garbage collectors who fabricated a camera from a dumpster. They made some very compelling images.

[Digitalis]

OP has difficult time to stay loyal to Pentax because he thinks that other systems produce better results.

As a user of multiple systems myself : Canon,Nikon,Pentax, Leica - if you equip them with normal lenses, they will produce essentially the same result*

What really matters is what you do with the equipment you have. Compared to Pentax: It is easier to get new equipment if you shoot Nikon or Canon, as camera stores are more likely to have their lenses and accessories in stock. Brand loyalty in commercial photography is pretty pointless IMO, you have to use what will get the job done: and there are some specialized lenses that some manufacturers have that others do not - The Canon 24mm T/S-E and 17mm T/S-E , But Nikon have better super telephoto lenses and superior tracking AF systems to use them with etc,etc, so on and so forth.

For the most part I get clients that ask for a very specific kind of image where only a particular lens or camera will be able to give me the result that will have the qualities that will satisfy the client**. But those kind of requests are pretty uncommon, I have used my Pentax APS-C and Leica RF cameras among Canon and Nikon cameras for commercial work and my clients were none the wiser. Amusingly, there have been some instances where a Client blindly chose the images from the Leica or Pentax cameras rather than the more mainstream Canon or Nikon cameras. I suspect the culprits for this phenomenon is that both Leica and Pentax produce lenses that have interesting rendering characteristics than the offerings from Canon or Nikon.



Pentax K5IIs - Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 ART @18mm f/1.8 ISO 80 1/640th

*Except for the Leica S2 and 645Z, Canon and Nikon Full frame DSLRs don't hold a candle to those two cameras.
** my personal preferences have no place here, Some lenses produce very particular "looks" the output from the Pentax FA*85mm f/1.4 is superior to the Canon EF85mm f/1.2L, which is different again from the Leica APO-Elmar-S 180mm f/3.5.