Hi everyone,
thank you for your valuable feedback which helped in balancing my personal issue with Pentax JPEG. Last night I spent some time in the KP section and discovered that I am not the only one hesitating between KP & Fuji because of the JPEG/LR conundrum. I guess deep inside I know that KP is probably the better, longer-lasting and more reliable camera Vs the XT10/20. Reading your replies I also realized my gripe with LR is mostly due to the fact that I didn't really use the software properly, however JPEG shooting is and will still be a major part of my shots because simplicity, because of one less step from a hobby point of view.
I also discovered last night that the KP deal on Amazon canada doesn't apply for EU orders, which challenges my choices since KP here in EU is almost twice the price (999 EUR amz.fr Vs 560 EUR on amz.ca) and I am not spending that much on a camera right now.
Regarding your suggestions about LR, I really wish to thank you for those as they have challenged the way I thought about PP. I probably should have bought and read a LR book back when I started, this would have helped me setup a workflow which would have reduced the perceived weight/annoyance I currently have with PP...
BigMackCam & Jatrax: It is true that I could use scripting/presets to automatically import and process the files, I hadn't really looked into that!
Kozlok : That is very true and is really my goal with the next chapter in my photography. However sometimes, because of kids or poor AF, you end up with 20-30 pictures to sort out rather than the One. This is independent of raw/jpg obviously but I guess inconsciously I assimilated this experience with raw for some reason...
Adam : Thanks for specifying the JPEG improvements, very useful! Sometimes I forget that the sensor and chips in the K01 are 6-7-8 years old...! Has the in-camera processing speed improved in the new generations? Stuff like lens correction, auto shadow/highlights, image filters, HDR? These can add quite a few seconds to in-camera jpeg processing on the K01.
Surfar : Thank you for your input, I'm glad to hear from someone who had a similar approach! I agree about not selling everything but keeping all these lenses would be overkill for me, especially in my endeavour to streamline and work on 1 or 2 focals at most. Plus losing automatics on X mount would probably frustate me, in that case I could as well get old M lenses for cheap and sell the FA/DAs...
What X lenses do you have? The 35 and 10-24 look like they would make a perfect pair to work on composition... On Pentax I'd be looking at the 15 and FA43 which lay dormant in a drawer (or perhaps the 20-40 + FA 50 1.7? )
I checked the XE series, they seem nice result-wise but the body is so small and are not really cheaper than XT. They are however easily found 2nd hand in my price range. I don't really care for video or 24mpx but I'd like to ask how do you feel about losing IBIS when using the Fuji? This is really the main stumbling point for me with Fuji.
Stevebrot : Thanks, really need to get back to LR I guess... I know about the studio shot, it is artificially technical however I do find it useful to evaluate sensors. There is no way indeed I can try these cameras in store!
What you write is obviously true, no way but to try them out I guess. Seeing as Fujis have good resale value I could probably grab a 2014-2015 model used along with a 23 or 35mm, play with it for some time and sell it back at no loss a few months later. The same can't be said about KP as I wrote above.
DrawsACircle : Hehe that video is actually the one that instilled doubts and made me post this thread! I love his picture style. Peeking mode looks very useful and having 3 wheels is very interesting. He says it's much cheaper in Sweden, I wish he would share the links!
clackers : I know JPEG won't improve my photos as I've already been shooting JPEG these last few years, I guess what I meant is that I didn't find K01 JPEGs rewarding enough to do my lenses justice and that put me off taking the camera out.
All in all the KP is nice but it seems I will either have to go 2nd hand (though unlike the Fujis almost no 2nd hand KP are available here) or find someone in Canada to get it for me and send it over. Last option if I want to stay with Pentax would be K70 but again I feel it's very expensive over here for an entry level, around 650 EUR with currently no 2nd hand offers. It does fit my budget but I would probably feel frustrated paying that much for it, especially after owning the K7.
So I think my choice might have to do with whatever comes up first on ebay and the local craigslist. The good thing is that I'm pretty sure both KP and XT-10/20 are outstanding bodies, each for their own reasons, so whichever I get I'm sure to notice a qualitative jump in handling, AF, shooting options, ISOs and IQ-whether JPG or Raw-from my old 2012 K01 and 2011 X10.
So in the meantime what's a good way to learn about Lightroom? Any books or courses to recommend? Any Linux alternatives after all these years? I stopped using Windows a while back since apart from games and Adobe stuff 97% of what I do on my desktop can be done freely and privately in Linux...
Lastly if any of you see good deals on EU KPs do let me know!
Thanks everyone.