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10-24-2016, 12:41 PM   #16
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For well-lit outdoor sports I find my Pentax gear does pretty well. I'd probably feel differently if I was shooting high school basketball but skiing, cycling, and trail running can be done well enough with our gear.

10-24-2016, 12:47 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by LaurenOE Quote
I think Sony is killing it.

By putting XAVC-S, and Slog, along with 4:2:2 HDMI out and 100Mbps, they are giving their dSLR shooters a camera that fits their entire eco-system.

If I was an Alpha shooter, I would rejoice!

The only issue - or benefit - is the Alpha/Minolta mount.

I will always be a Pentaxian, but it pains me to buy redundant gear.
I am getting ready to pick up an A7SII because I have to live in the Sony world.
I am dragging my feet to see if Pentax gives me video in the K3mIII.

IMHO to keep the APS-C line alive at Pentax they are going to have to do something with video to differentiate.
Deffo!

I'll be honest, if I was starting over the A99II would be where it's at. 12fps, 42mp, 4K video, 399 focus points with 79 cross type. It's a huge jump. Let's see how it reviews.

EDIT: Oh my life!!!!

10-24-2016, 12:58 PM - 1 Like   #18
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What does your client need? Can you supply that need with Pentax? That is what matters.

All going Pro means is that someone is paying you for your photography.

LaurenOE is working with a team where video is important. In that setting her Pentax is not competitive. But I am not too certain that Canon or Nikon would competitive either.

Others in this thread seem to be working more autonomously so the Pentax is more than capable.

If you move into a world where renting lenses becomes important, then you will certainly want to move into the Canon or Nikon brands.

If you are really interested in architectural photography than you will eventually need some way of tilting or shifting your view to keep more of the image in focus. You may need to go to large format, or to some type of camera that allows you to use tilt/shift lenses.

There are many, many, many ways to make money with photography. Once you begin to make the move into the pro world then your client's needs become your needs. If you cannot supply their needs with the tools you own, you better find new tools or they will find a new photographer. If you cannot afford those tools, or do not have the skill to produce competitive photographs with those tools, then you may want to recommend some one who can.

I think the bottom line here is this, the people who want to sell you new or different equipment are not your clients. So from my point of view, since they don't pay my bills, they do not get to chose the equipment I use. Their role is to supply the equipment and service I need. If they cannot do that I will find someone else who can.

Likewise, at the beginning of your career you must focus on two things. One, you must make money. Two, you must get clients. You will not have the first without the second. In the beginning you better be spending your time and money getting and satisfying clients who pay for your services, not worrying about your equipment. If you need some piece of equipment to satisfy a client's need, better to rent than buy, you should be able to expense it to the client. If you find your are renting that particular lens or accessory a lot, then buy it because you know it will eventually pay for itself.

Last edited by Pioneer; 10-24-2016 at 01:04 PM.
10-24-2016, 01:21 PM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by zzeitg Quote
Going Pro is serious decision...

Thanks, this photo made my day!/Robert

10-24-2016, 01:57 PM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdery Quote

For outdoors work, WR is invaluable and not found easily with CANIKON.
I agree with most of what you say except this.
Where Pentax sticks out is consumer grade lenses that have WR. Canikon lacks there. But since we are talking "pro" level gear, Canikon isnt lacking in WR there.
10-24-2016, 02:01 PM - 1 Like   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by John-TO Quote
I've been getting a few jobs shooting with my K-50. The images are processed then go online so the K-50 has been doing a pretty good job. Now that I want to upgrade my lenses from the kit lenses I keep getting told to SWITCH from Pentax, "They just don't have the ratings, quality, or variety of lenses that the pro 'Canon' and 'Nikon' systems have."

And, the pro shops DO NOT rent any Pentax gear so either own it or don't use it.

I'd love to hear from anyone shooting commercially with Pentax.
John
John, There are many things to consider:

I was a pro many moons ago shooting Minolta 35mm and Pentax MF. I got a lot of flack (in Hollywood) back when all the pros shot Nikon 35mm and Hasselblad MF. It was tiring deflecting and defending my equipment to the bias; it was almost as if I had to take better images for them to accept my work. When my 35mm system was stolen, I replaced it with Nikon and never had to deal with the nagging 3rd party doubters. IF this is a reality for you, then yes, but beware, itʻs not just the brand name.

There is also a huge bias toward certain models. If youʻre shooting a Nikon D810...."oh, youʻre not pro because you donʻt shoot with a D5". If youʻre shooting with a D4....."oh, business not so good that you canʻt upgrade to the D5?"

But if you think your clients are not brand biased, then this is my suggestion in increasing price investment of a plan to support a pro career:

a) Get a second Pentax DSLR. Either as a back up for your K-50, or to make your K-50 the back up.
b) Next, seriously look at your lenses and how critical is artificial lighting (i.e. flash) for your type of photography.
c) You have to be high on the photographer pyramid where Canon, Nikon, etc, will loan you gear. Renting is not cheap, and there are places that rent Pentax gear: LensRentals.com - Rent Pentax > Lenses
d) If your K-50 was good enough to get you paid, your skills must be good enough. Rent or borrow a K3II (for sports and wildlife) or a K-1 (portraits, events, landscape, catalog, still life). IF it is not good enough for you, then I would rent a Nikon D500 or D4s/D5 to see the difference.

If this is going to be your income and you need best outcomes, then consider all of this an investment. Better to spend $2000 to make $25k per year or to spend $20k to make $60k per year? If youʻre in it for only one year, then go cheap. If youʻre in it for a lifetime, then go with quality.

Narrow down the lenses you need to get the job done and donʻt worry about all the other lenses youʻll never use. If you MUST have a brand new 600mm f/4 prime, and Pentaxʻs 560mm f/5.6 isnʻt good enough, then the decision is made for you.
10-24-2016, 02:16 PM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by John-TO Quote
I've been getting a few jobs shooting with my K-50. The images are processed then go online so the K-50 has been doing a pretty good job. Now that I want to upgrade my lenses from the kit lenses I keep getting told to SWITCH from Pentax, "They just don't have the ratings, quality, or variety of lenses that the pro 'Canon' and 'Nikon' systems have."

And, the pro shops DO NOT rent any Pentax gear so either own it or don't use it.

I'm not a "gear head' and suspect that lenses are available for what I need. Checking DXOMark though, it seems that it's not the array of lenses that's important, the challenge is to find lenses that have good ratings with your camera. With fewer lenses to choose from you get what you get because there may not be alternative choices—unlike with Canon and Nikon where you get many choices as well as many TP lenses to choose from. I'm not sure I want to go the "use legacy lenses" route as I want to take full benefit of the features of the modern cameras.

That said, I love the DXOMark rating of the K-1, and the price.

I'd love to hear from anyone shooting commercially with Pentax. Are the Canon and Nikon proponents just brand enthusiasts or do they have a point? As much as I love Pentax and especially the value, I cannot afford to choose the wrong system. Please weigh in.

Thanks,

John

Both BorrowLenses and LensRentals rent Pentax. If you get more than 50% of your income from photography, Pentax has a professional repair program IIRC. I've shot events with my K-30 and even K-x for pay without issue. As long as you're getting the shots the client wants, who cares what other photographers think of your gear?

When would I shoot something else? For architecture work I'd look around at tilt-shift lenses and large format cameras. For sports and wildlife I would look at Canikon. For studio work, I usually go for my PZ-1p because the 1/250 sync speed makes life easier. If I had to shoot underwater I'd consider something like the old Nikonos.

All niche uses aside, my Pentax works fine for paid assignments most of the time. My so-called 'legacy lenses' never receive complaints from clients and no one peers over my shoulder asking if I'm sure I have enough lenses (except maybe me, sometimes)

Edit: If I were expected to cover extensive amounts of video, I'd switch to Sony.


Last edited by lithedreamer; 10-24-2016 at 02:35 PM.
10-24-2016, 02:23 PM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by John-TO Quote
And, the pro shops DO NOT rent any Pentax gear so either own it or don't use it.
both LensRentals and BorrowlLenses rent Pentax equipment:

perhaps you meant to say that "local" pro shops don't rent Pentax gear? That is their loss apparently...

Michael
10-24-2016, 02:29 PM   #24
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If your doing video, Sony, Panasonic, and Fuji are the Top 3 when it comes to video.
If your just doing straight photography work, Pentax is still a great choice.
Since your doing landscape/architecture work, if you plan to go Full Frame, get the K-1. If anything, the K-3II with Pentax's 12-24mm lens or sigma's 10-20mm f3.5 lens will be good for the really wide photos.
10-24-2016, 03:12 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by lithedreamer Quote
Both BorrowLenses and LensRentals rent Pentax. If you get more than 50% of your income from photography, Pentax has a professional repair program IIRC. I've shot events with my K-30 and even K-x for pay without issue. As long as you're getting the shots the client wants, who cares what other photographers think of your gear?

.
And also cameralensrentals.com
10-24-2016, 05:06 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by John-TO Quote
I've been getting a few jobs shooting with my K-50. The images are processed then go online so the K-50 has been doing a pretty good job. Now that I want to upgrade my lenses from the kit lenses I keep getting told to SWITCH from Pentax, "They just don't have the ratings, quality, or variety of lenses that the pro 'Canon' and 'Nikon' systems have."

And, the pro shops DO NOT rent any Pentax gear so either own it or don't use it.

I'm not a "gear head' and suspect that lenses are available for what I need. Checking DXOMark though, it seems that it's not the array of lenses that's important, the challenge is to find lenses that have good ratings with your camera. With fewer lenses to choose from you get what you get because there may not be alternative choices—unlike with Canon and Nikon where you get many choices as well as many TP lenses to choose from. I'm not sure I want to go the "use legacy lenses" route as I want to take full benefit of the features of the modern cameras.
What type of work are you currently shooting and where do you want to go. If your future is in sports photography the yes, Canon and Nikon are better options. Are you going to get into HD or 4K video? Then Sony and Canon (or Panasonic) are where you need to look. For portrait or wedding work, Pentax is fine. For architectural and landscape Ricoh is probably the best and with the up coming new glass, I expect Ricoh to truly be the best option for this type of work.

For the money, you can't beat the K-1. Spend your money on some good glass. The D-FA* 70-200mm is an optically an excellent lens. Spend your money on a Photoshop/Lightroom/Capture One workshop. From an image quality standpoint, the K-1 out performs anything Canon makes. Even up to ISO 800 the K-1 is giving you better RAW files than the Canon 5DIII at ISO 100. Learn processing. Develop a style. Don't worry too much about the camera brand. The K-1 is more than capable of professional work. The K-3 is more than capable of professional work. There are plenty of professionals out there using APS-C systems.

Cristina Otero | Flickr Pentax
Roberto Duran | Flickr Pentax
Monika Próba | Flickr $300 camera and kit lens.
Tony Lillo | Flickr Fuji X-T2

If the people who are telling you that you need Canon and Nikon are showing better work than what is linked above, then listen to them. IF their own work isn't that good, then don't listen to them.
10-24-2016, 05:06 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by John-TO Quote
I've been getting a few jobs shooting with my K-50. The images are processed then go online so the K-50 has been doing a pretty good job. Now that I want to upgrade my lenses from the kit lenses I keep getting told to SWITCH from Pentax, "They just don't have the ratings, quality, or variety of lenses that the pro 'Canon' and 'Nikon' systems have."

And, the pro shops DO NOT rent any Pentax gear so either own it or don't use it.

I'm not a "gear head' and suspect that lenses are available for what I need. Checking DXOMark though, it seems that it's not the array of lenses that's important, the challenge is to find lenses that have good ratings with your camera. With fewer lenses to choose from you get what you get because there may not be alternative choices—unlike with Canon and Nikon where you get many choices as well as many TP lenses to choose from. I'm not sure I want to go the "use legacy lenses" route as I want to take full benefit of the features of the modern cameras.
What type of work are you currently shooting and where do you want to go. If your future is in sports photography the yes, Canon and Nikon are better options. Are you going to get into HD or 4K video? Then Sony and Canon (or Panasonic) are where you need to look. For portrait or wedding work, Pentax is fine. For architectural and landscape Ricoh is probably the best and with the up coming new glass, I expect Ricoh to truly be the best option for this type of work.

For the money, you can't beat the K-1. Spend your money on some good glass. The D-FA* 70-200mm is an optically an excellent lens. Spend your money on a Photoshop/Lightroom/Capture One workshop. From an image quality standpoint, the K-1 out performs anything Canon makes. Even up to ISO 800 the K-1 is giving you better RAW files than the Canon 5DIII at ISO 100. Learn processing. Develop a style. Don't worry too much about the camera brand. The K-1 is more than capable of professional work. The K-3 is more than capable of professional work. There are plenty of professionals out there using APS-C systems.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aravis121/with/28013338620/ Pentax
Cristina Otero | Flickr Pentax
Roberto Duran | Flickr Pentax
Monika Próba | Flickr $300 camera and kit lens.
Tony Lillo | Flickr Fuji X-T2

If the people who are telling you that you need Canon and Nikon are showing better work than what is linked above, then listen to them. IF their own work isn't that good, then don't listen to them.

Last edited by Winder; 10-24-2016 at 05:12 PM.
10-24-2016, 08:10 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by Winder Quote
Spend your money on a Photoshop/Lightroom/Capture One workshop
This is a very important point !!! Pro results need a lot of processing, a lot ! And as many other ask, the kind of shoot you are doing is the key factor here, Canikon is better in sport and action-packed photography. But Pentax is doing really really good in still, studio, portrait, landscape, product so I don't worry much about those kinds. K1 is rated among the top 3 in DXO's ranking (behind Sony A7R II and Nikon D810) so that's also a good defense for Pentax system, you can upgrade to K1 if you need and you are good to go
10-24-2016, 08:53 PM   #29
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Try this site if you need to rent some Pentax stuff:

Lensrentals.com

They do offer more Canikon stuff but there is enough Pentax K mount gear to get most everything done. They may send stuff north of the border too.

Regards,
10-24-2016, 10:48 PM - 1 Like   #30
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I shoot weddings with all Pentax bodies. I don't work alone. My solution was to outfit my second primary shooter and both second shooters with Pentax gear. The main thing that matters is the satisfaction of your clients. With you shooting landscape and portraits the K1 will be very hard to beat. Keep in mind the most important element of photography is the person behind the camera not the name on the front of the camera.
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