Originally posted by alexeyga At this point in time i'm in a kind of dilemma as to should I continue investing in my current Pentax equipment, which isn't that large yet... Or switch the system before I'll have too much $$ invested in a system which cannot deliver...
That being said, i'm wondering if K20d is fast enough for any serious sport photography... Let's say I need to pull as many as possible fps at max resolution, in RAW format, at 1/800s... Where does K20 stands in this situation? Or perhaps it's successor...
Serious sports photography. Canon, maybe Nikon, but it highly depends on your lens length requirements.
I'm a former Pentax user.
Former Canon user.
Current Nikon user.
Trust me --- there is *no* perfect system. End of story. My opinions, having used extensively the K200D, K20D, Canon 40D and Nikon D700 and D90:
Pentax - Slow FPS, slower AF. Lacks a 70-200mm F/2.8, which is pretty much the standard in sports lenses (for most things). 60-250 could probably suit you there, but I'm unsure on how fast it focuses. Still, the 3.0 FPS is very limiting. Combine that with a slower-than-most AF-C and you're going to get a lot of throwaway photos.
Canon - Fast AF, fast FPS. Some glass is expensive. Controls aren't as great as the K20D; some things are fairly non-intuitive on the body. Great selection of 70-200 lenses, from F/4 and no IS to F/2.8 and IS. No flash commander (moot point for sports, but just FYI). Lots of lenses don't include a lens hood.
Nikon - Good controls, almost good as K20D. Fast FPS and AF speed - AF is generally considered slightly better than Canon's. Great high ISO performance. Glass selection is more limited than Canon. Their only "sports" zoom is the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, which is $1500 (same as Canon's best 70-200mm, but Canon also give you 3 cheaper choices, Nikon only has the single lens). Battery grips can boost the FPS of some cameras.
Very long Nikon glass is ridiculously expensive - 500mm / 600mm lenses cost about $2500 *more* than the Canon variants.
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My suggestion -- It depends.
First, you didn't mention sports. I'm going to go with the "basic" 70-200mm range guess here.
For more lens availability, Canon. They have 4 lenses in this range:
70-200mm f/4 (about $550)
70-200mm F/2.8 (about $1000)
70 - 200mm F/4 IS (about $1000 also )
70 -200mm F/2.8 IS (about $1500)
A canon 40D or 50D will push out about 6.3 FPS and do pretty good.
Or..
Pay a bit more for a Nikon D300 with their only 70-200mm , which is f/2.8 and VR, $1500. Native speed is 6PFS. Buy the battery grip and EL4(?) battery to push the D300 to 8FPS I believe.
D300 body is about 200-300 more than the 50D body, but has a more sophisticated AF system that performs a bit better than the XXD series from Canon.
Edit -- You'll also have to pay if you want to keep Nikon's custom editing software, around $125. Pentax and Canon give this to you for free.