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07-28-2013, 08:23 AM - 1 Like   #1
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Benjamin Kanarek "I will no longer be using the Pentax system..."

Benjamin Kanarek, probably a few professional photographers who use PENTAX for professional work (and did it for top fashion mag), finally decided to get a FF, cause he can't wait for PENTAX any longer....

"UPDATE July 18, 2013. I finally decided on going with the Nikon D600 System. Will discuss more in depth when time allows. I will no longer be using the Pentax system for my professional applications and only for travel and leisure purposes. - See more at: http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/2013/07/28/nikon-d600-canon-6d-question/#sthash.gsREnoCS.dpuf"

Nikon D600 or Canon 6D Question | Benjamin Kanarek Blog

Sad. PENTAX could have him as a spoke person if they have a FF.


Last edited by Blue; 07-29-2013 at 05:57 AM. Reason: corrected spelling of Ben's name
07-28-2013, 08:31 AM   #2
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Many folk have already gone this route for the same or similar reasons, I myself use Canon and Nikon for work, but I use Pentax for my pleasure.
07-28-2013, 08:57 AM   #3
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For whatever reasons, Pentax never seemed to be a fan of his anyhow. I never saw them capitalize on his Pentax use, or take advantage of his abilities to use as advertisement. Maybe he wanted too much compensation...maybe they just didn't like him? Artists are not always the easiest people to deal with. As an artist myself (My drawings can be viewed over in the Pentax Lounge) I know that there is a lot of jealousy and criticism involved with your work. In the past, I've even had some of my best work removed by an over jealous Moderator...but hey, that's a whole 'nother story, and water under the bridge.

Seriously, I expected Ben to go FF ages ago. It's just the trend, although I doubt anyone will see much if any difference in his work. For FF fanatics, it is the Holy Grail, but for the rest of us, and we are the vast majority, it has little added benefit. As for Pentax, I imagine they will go FF at some point.....maybe soon, maybe not. I see plenty of Camera Companies doing extremely well with no FF.....take a look at the Bottom Line results for Fuji.....no FF but they are still selling cameras as fast as they can make them. There is more to a camera than being FF, and for some those "more than" qualifications are exactly what they desire. For me, my little X10/X20 are the most exciting cameras I have ever owned.....they fit most of my needs perfectly...and what they don't cover is covered nicely by my most excellent K5.

Good Luck Ben! No one knows better than you that it is "not about the camera". Your superb work will continue even if you switch to a disposable drugstore camera.......and my great artwork will continue even if I have to use Crayons!

Best Regards!

One of my more famous works....Don't even think about it...it is Copyrighted!

I call it "Fishing for Cows" ....it's not for sale either.
[IMG] [/IMG]

Eat your heart out Parallax!

(Mrs Rupert says I have too much free time that I waste.......she doesn't understand Artists either)
07-28-2013, 09:13 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by kerrowdown Quote
Many folk have already gone this route for the same or similar reasons, I myself use Canon and Nikon for work, but I use Pentax for my pleasure.
ironically, Ben is the one whom, I think, for me, show why equipment is not important, but photographer is.
Well, will see how Nikon D600 works for him...

07-28-2013, 09:51 AM - 1 Like   #5
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Ben expanded on his reasons over on the dp site. In reading through it, he was loosing 40% of his take due to focus issues. In the link that Lee posted, he alluded to Pentax that it would be nice to swap out his K5 for K5II for better focusing.What is great about Ben is his active posting of his work. Yes, it highlights his talent and work - and I guess that there was some issues as it was viewed as self advertising, but I have also read threads where he - just out of the blue, made a post - providing lighting advice to someone shooting their jewelry. How many times does that happen with other professional photographers of his talent? [zero, none, nada, goose egg, null set, void .... ]

I also remember that officially there was no real association between Ben and Pentax (if I remember correctly it somewhat dissolved quite a while ago), but he kept using his gear - that he had apparently purchased - and posting how he was using it and the results. That type of enthusiasm is impossible to artificially manufacturer - and as you can see here on the forum it is infectious. The type and level of activity shown by Ben is impossible to find, let alone generate. Most of the time what you get from a spokesperson is a cardboard figure holding he product saying - "I like it".

There are times where you have to stop and ask Pentax what their thought processes actually are. It also goes across a lot of areas (some technical, some marketing, some support, some advertising, some ....). I know that there is no answer - just a rhetorical question. Its their company, they bought it - lot, stock and barrel.

Anyway, Ben needs to go to the equipment that will support his talent, in terms of supporting his customer's expectations. Pleasing his customers is his only priority.

He did say that he will continue to use his Pentax gear for personal and travel. So maybe he will continue to drop by from time to time.

07-28-2013, 01:12 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by LFLee Quote
Sad. PENTAX could have him as a spoke person if they have a FF.
Or if they bought his equipment for him, as they used to.
07-28-2013, 01:47 PM - 1 Like   #7
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This is certainly a hit to Pentax, but they will survive without yet another name using their gear. Hell, they survive with people thinking they went out of business years ago.

However, they aren't a company for professionals and I sympathize with Ben. Not to mention, Pentax should have goodwilled him at least a test K-5II to see if he could better things.

07-28-2013, 02:03 PM   #8
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Interesting, as he was saying he's going to medium format.

He gets great results either way so it's good to choose what one feels comfortable with.
07-28-2013, 03:59 PM   #9
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I don't believe his story regarding his 40% failure rate. How long would any person being paid well for international magazine shoots put up with that scenario?

It looks more like he had a falling out with Pentax and we are now seeing his revenge PR campaign as a result.
07-28-2013, 04:53 PM - 1 Like   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by bossa Quote
his 40% failure rate
Yes, a 40% focus failure rate in studio lighting and conditions struck me as rather strange, particularly since he had apparently been using Pentax gear for years without any issues and getting great results.

I have no difficulty understanding why a pro might move to Nikon or Canon systems, but the way he is framing his transition is a bit weak.
07-28-2013, 05:09 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by LFLee Quote
finally decided to get a FF, cause he can't wait for PENTAX any longer....
Wait, I dont think thats quite true. Its not that "he couldnt wait", its that he had specific problems that Pentax didn't address. I think his main complaints were flashes and AF, not the "i need full frame" argument. I dont think his photos will even benefit from the bigger sensor, not with the style of photography he seems to do.
Of course, being a professional and buying a new system, he might as well get a top notch camera, which tend to also be full frame - especially since in APS-C, the K-5 is pretty much among the best cameras you can get in terms of IQ. So when he upgraded for better flash systems and AF and customer support, he decided to go all the way and also get FF.
07-28-2013, 06:36 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by bossa Quote
I don't believe his story regarding his 40% failure rate. How long would any person being paid well for international magazine shoots put up with that scenario?

It looks more like he had a falling out with Pentax and we are now seeing his revenge PR campaign as a result.
Here are a few extracts from one of Ben's thread over at dp.
QuoteQuote:
Because I don't like having 30-40 percent of my images not able to focus where I point my camera. I had enough! I was literally suffering from Pre-Production Blur Neurosis, where before every shoot I wasn't sure which images that I really would have loved to present to the magazine would be out of focus and my retoucher would have to comp another head on to the body because, when I focussed on the eye of the model the feet would be sharper than the face. I would literally go in to a minor depression before each shoot, not feeling secure that I would get the kind of results I wanted. In most cases Pentax did the editing for us by alleviating around 40 percent of the images due to them being unacceptably blurred and just not sharp enough...
QuoteQuote:
Most of my stuff is shot in studio, indoor location and on occasion outdoors with flash. I.e. generally at optimum aperture, i.e. 5.6-11.0. I don't need an ultra fast 1.2 or faster prime. Also, I know what the output of those lenses produce. For all intent and purpose, they being the 50 & 85 are brutally sharp and focus perfectly.
QuoteQuote:
I was able to recuperate about another 20% (to a reasonably acceptable level) of my images by using hard sharpening to about 0.3 to 0.5 pixels at 240% and the AF was never consistent so on some shoots I would have more sharp images depending on conditions than others. It was never reliable. I would go to every shoot with knots in my stomach not knowing what the outcome would be. Thus I shot a lot more images just to be sure I would have a better hit rate.
QuoteQuote:
But, do I really have to excuse myself to you? I have been a Pro for around 30 years and know how to use a camera. I was so deeply ensconced in my Pentax kit, that I was hoping to hold on for their newer and hopefully improved renditions. But alas about 10 days ago in looking at my ELLE shoot and after my retouch artist said, and I quote "how come so many of your images are blurred on the face? I don't mind as it makes my job easier..." that was it and my producer said, "...enough is enough, you have to get rid of the system and change to one that is reliable. Either the Canon or Nikon. Just as long as it works the way it is suppose to.
I don't pretend to know anything about fashion photography - although the results are present on the eye. I am just reading what he posted and taking it at face value.

07-28-2013, 08:40 PM   #13
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Yes I read the entire thread over at DPR and I hold to my comment that no internationally renowned fashion photographer would suffer 30-40% of their shots being OOF and risk losing high profile clients. That's just BS.

People on these forums are saying that the K-5II has much greater focus accuracy than the K-5 and many are also saying that their lenses need no AF Fine Tuning either. His complaint was related to the K-5 and that Pentax never 'fixed' the focus issue - a gross misrepresentation when you consider the improved focusing system of the K-5II. I get the feeling he wanted a freebie K-5II and they wouldn't come to the party.
07-28-2013, 09:11 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by bossa Quote
Yes I read the entire thread over at DPR and I hold to my comment that no internationally renowned fashion photographer would suffer 30-40% of their shots being OOF and risk losing high profile clients. That's just BS.

People on these forums are saying that the K-5II has much greater focus accuracy than the K-5 and many are also saying that their lenses need no AF Fine Tuning either. His complaint was related to the K-5 and that Pentax never 'fixed' the focus issue - a gross misrepresentation when you consider the improved focusing system of the K-5II. I get the feeling he wanted a freebie K-5II and they wouldn't come to the party.
:

I also think his story is unbelievable and full of rubbish.
If nothing else, it shows a serious lack of basic knowledge needed to be a professional fashion photographer, and in use of an APS-C camera for the job. Those "miss rates" he mentioned, even if true, are easily explainable. However, it disturbs common sense that a professional photographer shouldn't know better his/her odds with a certain camera, AF system, and sensor size ... from the very beginning of the game!

So in this case, it's all ridiculous and he's venting.

PS. I believe he wanted to get a 645D from Pentax once, but something happened and it never materialised. I think it was during Hoya's time. I also believe 645D would give him far less "blurred shots" and a megapixel perfection with image look to kill for. Obviously he didn't want to invest into an MF system by himself, but now got himself the cheapest FF he could get.

Considering he already has a relatively cheap Pentax system (in the last decade Pentax was a synonym for cheap), and that even an APS-C Nikon system would cost him more, and most likely wanted a freebie 645D, we can understand the guy a bit more — a bit of a cheapskate, now throwing cheap punches too.

Last edited by Uluru; 07-28-2013 at 09:32 PM.
07-28-2013, 09:35 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Uluru Quote
:
Considering he already has a relatively cheap Pentax system (in the last decade Pentax was a synonym for cheap), and that even an APS-C Nikon system would cost him more, and most likely wanted a freebie 645D, we can understand the guy a bit more — a cheapskate, now throwing cheap punches too.
Hm... I am no fashion photographer or pro, but his client includes many high profile magazines, so I believe he can afford a MF 645D or a FF easily if he wanted.

But at the same time, he said he is shooting mostly >f5.6 in a controlled environment, I don't know why he is getting 40% OOF shots....
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