Originally posted by Sailor Thanks for the responses. I'm not particularly interested in changing systems; it's just a hobby, and my Pentax gear serves me well most of the time. However, as I consider the K-7, I want to benchmark its capabilities with those of competitors as well as with those of my K20D in order to judge what price point for the K-7 represents a good value for my needs.
Thanks again.
Jer
I don't think you'll be disappointed with the performance of the K7, but of course, my tests at work are a subjective thing. I just point them all at a wall and trigger them and see what kind of focusing speed I get. The K7 is definitely quicker on it's feet than the K20D or K200D, but again, this is just by feel.
The camera doesn't always make the image, remember. I can't tell you there aren't tons of sports photographers and wildlife photographers using Canon for a reason, but the importance of a camera's automated systems is far too overrated. They certainly make it easier, but capturing a moment is just as much a test of the photographer as it is of the equipment. I've captured many things in motion, in focus, with my Spotmatic body. You learn to work around your equipment to get the best results. If all you do as a photographer is point your camera at something and blindly fire off shots in hope of getting a good one, you're relying on your camera, not your skills.
Not that this is an excuse for Pentax to have slower AF, of course. Faster would be better, I just don't think it's the world-ending issue people make it out to be. Every photographer using ANY system, be they Canon, Nikon, Pentax or others, have to work around the limitations of their systems. The grass isn't that much greener on the other side.