[Hey Elwood]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question. I currently have a K20d with a da 50-135 lens. I've got a wedding to photograph in October and need to make a decision. I'm thinking about picking up a companion to my 50-135 lens for my k20 but I'm thinking I might want to start saving for a new camera as well. I'm thinking about picking up a k-7 but I'm hearing fantasitic things about the Canon 7d. I'm thinking it might be time to switch systems but I wanted to get everyone's thinking about k-7 before I make any decisions.

[noahpurdy]

What would be the purpose for you to switch systems? What do you have to gain besides quenching a gear lust?

[Hey Elwood]

What would be the purpose for you to switch systems? What do you have to gain besides quenching a gear lust?

There are a few reasons why I'm concidering switching. 1. There is a wider selection of lens for Canon. 2. I've noticed the exposure is much better with Canon. 3. Pentax has not produced a full frame camera yet. 4. Pentax flash units always seem to underexpose photos so I find myself having to a lot of post work.

These are just a few reasons.

[noahpurdy]

There are a few reasons why I'm concidering switching. 1. There is a wider selection of lens for Canon. 2. I've noticed the exposure is much better with Canon. 3. Pentax has not produced a full frame camera yet. 4. Pentax flash units always seem to underexpose photos so I find myself having to a lot of post work.

These are just a few reasons.

3 is moot, especially so since you are planning on buying a crop frame sensor.

The rest are legitimate reasons in your experience. It doesn't seem you have too much invested in Pentax and it seems like you already might be sold on the switch. My only advice would be to save the extra money and get a 5d Mk II instead of the 7D, as it's very pricey for an APS-C camera.

[starbase218]

2. I've noticed the exposure is much better with Canon.

Pentax has improved a lot in that area. I just got a K-7 to replace my K100D Super. The K-7 has a new 77 segment metering system. I find metering is much improved over the K100D Super (which uses the 16 segment system).

[regor]

One thing to keep in mind, the 7D requires top quality glass otherwise the sensor will out resolve the lens. Are you planning on buying only L glass ? That can get rather expensive.

[starbase218]

3. Pentax has not produced a full frame camera yet.

I considered this myself before buying a K-7. It's true that Pentax has no fullframe upgrade path. But I mainly use APS-C lenses. So, even if Pentax would have a fullframe body, I would have to replace my glass as well as my camera anyway. So to me at least, the advantage is nullified.

[Wheatfield]

The 7D certainly brings a lot more refinement to the table, but there is some costs as well.
I'm thinking more size and weight, but I suspect there will be a dollar price to pay as well.
The 7D seems to have better noise control, though I don't know if this is at the expense of resolution or not. Certainly the 7D is better than the K7 at higher ISO.

Are there more lenses available from Canon that you are likely to buy compared to Pentax or is this blueskying on your part?
While it's nice that Canon has an 800/5.6 for example, if it isn't something you are ever going to buy, it doesn't really matter if one company has it and the other doesn't.
I've noticed the exposure is much improved with the K7, while I haven't used a dedicated flash yet, The K7 exposure is certainly on par with the Canon.
When you say "full frame" I presume you mean 135 format.
Full frame isn't especially accurate as a descriptive.
There is as good a chance as any that Pentax will skip 135 format entirely in favour of digital medium format. This would be more in keeping with their historic philosophy of treating medium format as the pro market and the miniature formats as amateur.
So, if you think that 135 is the Holy Grail of photography, Pentax may well not be the camera for you, as they may have set their sights somewhat higher.

[Hey Elwood]

One thing to keep in mind, the 7D requires top not glass otherwise the sensor will out resolve the lens. Are you planning on buying only L glass ?

I have a da* 50-135 2.8 lens I'm thinking about purchasing a Tamaron 17-55 2.8 lens as a companion but I don't want to invest the money if it's a better idea to start moving toward Canon. I'm trying to figure out what will work best for the future. I also have to do a wedding in October so I want to make sure I have the gear that will help me do the best job I can. Since I'm doing a wedding I need things like speed. I know that Pentax is slow as shown in this video.

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngUcQUchHEU&feature=related[/YT]

[starbase218]

I think it's true that overall, Canon focuses faster than Pentax. I handled an EOS 550D at the shop where I got the K-7, and it was pretty fast, albeit using a USM (SDM) lens.

[kytra]

The 7D true advantage over the K7 is in the AF speed and high ISO. But unless the wedding is done in a sporty manner and in very low light, a K7 should cover it perfectly. In order to get a nice 24-70 USM f2.8 Canon lens consider spending twice you will get for the 50-135. If you add the 1700 USD canon body you are looking at a quite nice hole in your pocket.

If you upgrade to a K7+a 17-50 Tammy or Sigma you would have to pay 900+500=1400 USD whilst selling the K20 with lets say 600 USD - so a 800 USD net investment for upgrade.

If you switch you are looking at 3100 for the Canon+lens minus 1300 for selling the pentax gear. That means 1800 USD net investment for the Canon

If this 1000 USD difference compensate a slightly better AF speed and high iso capability, it is for you to decide.

[jct us101]

If you're just going to want to wait for a full frame camera, then Pentax is not for you, they have never expressed any intentions to make one. If that's what you want, then go with the Canon, and you can use all the EF and EF-s lenses that they've made. Of course with Pentax you could use any Pentax lens ever made, with any mount, but it's your choice.

[Arpe]

If I was purchasing today from scratch I would get a 7D for what I do. However I do a lot of sport. Canon have the focus tracking and lens selection to match.

If I was purchasing for anything else I'd really have to think long and hard about the K-7, 7d and Nikon D300.

The problem for Pentax's focus speed it seems to me is the lens, not the camera. If you have a look at dpreview's raw noise comparison they only differ past ISO1600.

I did a wedding recently, reluctantly, with my K-7. I would struggle to find fault for that purpose.

[Rondec]

I agree with noah. The only way I would look at the 7D is if video is critical to you. Otherwise, I think the 5D is a much better offering. I think both of them autofocus Pentax cameras -- at least with the right lens in place. The K7 is a step up from the K20 with regard to auto focus -- in particular with regard to continuous auto focus, but it still isn't great. Still, for weddings, it is more than adequate.

[PentaxPoke]

I am a longtime Pentax enthusiast, but I must admit, the only advantages that the K-7 has over the 7D in my opinion, is size, weight, and cost. I owned a K-7 and I have a 7D now. The advantages of the 7D over the K-7 include:

1) Significantly faster AF in low light (Elwood's link above shows that pretty clearly, and it is my experience as well.) This is useful in many more applications than simply sports. You don't see the difference as much in bright light, but in dim light, the outdated SAFOX shows its limitations.
2) Significantly better tracking AF
3) Much better high-ISO noise control without loss of detail
4) Much faster FPS
5) Better control of exposure for video, and full HD.
6) Access to a much wider range of in-production lenses.
7) No SDM! All EOS cameras use lens motors, so there is no moving mechanical connection whatsoever between the lens and the camera. In all but the cheapest lenses, the EOS lens drive motors are true ring-type ultrasonic, and have been since 1987.
8) Better flash exposure.
9) Ability to rent pretty much whatever you want from a variety of sources to try it out.