Originally posted by MD Optofonik I'm wondering how these older DSLRs are holding up today. I'm especially curious about how their IQ stands up.
My one and only DSLR (K-30) was purchased July 2012. I'm a hobbyist, shutter count is about 22,000 and I have had zero problems. Would it be nice to have 1-2 stops lower noise, with say a K-70, yes, of course, but compared to a Super Program (my most recent SLR, which stills works BTW in spite of its age), I have so many opportunities to take images that are impossible with film, I'm not complaining. Other than better (almost impossible to be worse) AF.C, a newer, better body isn't going to improve my photography. I'm not saying I won't buy another DSLR, but with K-50 firmware (so I could use the 55-300 PLM if I had one), there is no compelling reason to replace my K-30.
Maybe I'm part of the problem for camera manufacturers, unless I make a quantum leap in spending on my photography hobby, to get serious glass like the DFA * 70-200 f2.8 or DFA 150-450, there is not much to be gained by upgrading my body. I'm at the point where all the low hanging fruit in terms of lenses to add to my bag is taken care of, so even my lens buying is drying up. Do I buy a DA 21 or FA 43 or a rectilinear ultra-wide wider than the DA 15, to make a difference in less than 5% of the pictures I take? Do I, at a minimum, double the amount of time I spend taking photos by setting aside time to practice photography, in order to make buying a new lens worthwhile? (besides, I can always spend more time using what I already have) Without children in our household, taking candid portraits is an unwelcome activity and landscape and wildlife photos are limited to travelling in my free time. Unfortunately, when my time is free, the travel part isn't, so photography is becoming a hobby that I indulge in less and less. I have so many pictures of my wife's flowers, even she can't be bothered to look at them. There is a real possibility that if you run the same poll ten years from now, I will still be using my K-30.