I like being able to use older glass in general. The two most used lenses used with K20D are 50mm SMC-A Macro and a 105mm 2.5 Vivitar Series 1 Macro. I find the shake reduction body is very nice feature to have for hand held macro flower shots.
When I added the D700 I also got a modern nikon lens, 14-24mm 2.8 and one vibration reduction lens to see what VR was about, 70-300 4.5-5.6 VRII.
I suppose things could be simplier had I remained one brand loyal. But the lure of old style full size viewfinders found on full frame cameras and the ability to use alot of various old glass I was aware of was too great a temptation. Plus some of the savings were substantial. My like new 85mm 1.4 Nikon ran me $628 earlier this year. Compare that with Pentax and it would appear I saved $500.
Pentax is the most adaptable system. Nikon second most adaptable as 32 years of usable lenses offers many opportunities due to sheer volume they made. And as Canon launched Eos in 1987, theres a 22 year catalogue of glass available from them.
Life is more complicated for me, in owning and using 3 brands: Pentax , Nikon, Canon. Atleast with Nikon I get calls locally from my favorite used shop to consider, handle, & shoot exotic nikon glass when they get it in for resale. Nikon made alot of really cool pro glass so its around and remains affordable. I got my Ex++300mm 2.8 AiS from them. Complete in trunk, key, manual for under $1,000 with tax. Both its dedicated teleconverters I bought brand new, 1.4x $135, 2x $220.
I don't know where my system will be in 5 years. I'd like to not further complicate things by adding a 4th brand, but then again Pansonic GH1 has some appealing aspects to me...
Congrats on being the first forum member who bought the first Pentax Dslr. That one dslr really turned things around for Pentax, & helped clear their old glass inventory. By the time I bought my first Dslr, a K Mount Samsung GX-1S which is identical clone of Pentax DS2 in 2006 their back catalogue of glass disappeared, my local dealers couldn't tell how things were with Pentax as supply disruptions were common and I couldn't order items like 200mm 2.8 FA even though the catalogue said I could. The production lines were outsourced from Japan to VietNam creating more problems in placing orders. So there was some craziness for me in trying to persue Pentax as my only brand, seeing insane prices for older lenses, seeing items roadmapped, then removed from roadmap later. I held in there till Spring of 2008 when I added Canon 5D and glass, then 2009 with D700 and some glass. I added K20D when it got down to about 1/2 of its issue price. No regrets doing so, its an exceptional camera. But I know how the game works. Wait 8 months pay about 1/2 of issue. That savings is well worth delaying any new pentax dslr purchase. Having Gear inhand insulates me for having to buy the next neat thing upon issue, at issue, priced at a premium compared to where I know they are willing to sell them at a few months down the road.
I'm pretty certain I won't buy any camera from the three the rest of 2009. I'm intrigued by HD Dslrs, but then again I could easily wait till 2010, or 2011 before I buy a Dslr camera specifically for HD. Then again there are aspects the Panasonic GH1 has I find very appealing. So its best for me to wait and watch all the cool videos people are shooting with their K-7, 5D MarkII, & GH1 to decide which mount would best serve my needs using a feature I've never owned.
Originally posted by Wheatfield You make an excellent point. I was a pretty early adopter to Pentax DSLR. I bought an *istD 20 minutes after it became available to me at my local pusher, and have only shot a few rolls of film since.
Prior to my DSLR, I shot 35mm film with a fleet of 3 LXen. I owned two AF lenses, a 28-70 f/4 that came with an MZ-5 camera when my father passed and an FA77/1.8 that I actually didn't like very much.
Since aquiring my first DSLR, I have pretty much replaced every focal length that I used on 35mm with an equivalent angle of view AF lens for my DLSRs, and I have come to love my 77.
I guess my point, if I have one, is that it is all well and good to be able to shoot older glass, but at some point there is a tendency to buy glass that takes full advantage of the abilities of the camera body.
Last edited by Samsungian; 07-04-2009 at 05:51 AM.