Originally posted by roberts_camera Thanks for all of the input! I've considered selling what I have, it just sounds difficult because I would be able to probably buy the Sony body and maybe just two lenses or so, if that. And I could keep my current body and just buy Sony gear in addition, but that's kinda hard to justify as a student. I have an internship this summer and a co-op in the fall so I'll be making decent money, but it's still hard to make multiple big purchases. Sounds like I'll look a bit more into the KP!
I think you're wise to look into the KP.
Different bodies and systems are all well and good, but what matters most is the glass. If you're fortunate enough to find a few lenses that you really like, that's
gold dust. Treasure those lenses, and use the system they were designed for. When all's said and done, most camera bodies (however many bells and whistles they offer) do much the same things, with some advantages and disadvantages over their competitors. What you can do with one body, you can more-or-less achieve with any other, excepting certain specialist applications. But there's individual character in lenses that won't be easily replicated by picking something of the same or similar focal length from another manufacturer. I'm not bowled over by every single Pentax lens I own, but I've grown to love several of them, and that's one of many reasons that I wouldn't want to switch.
On a related note, I maintain two systems side by side... Pentax K-mount (all APS-C gear), and Sony A-mount - the latter, because I bought a Hasselblad HV (re-bodied / re-badged Sony A99) a few years ago, just for the fun of it. I've had to kit myself out with a number of A-mount lenses so that I can cover the same applications that are important to me with my Pentax gear. I have no regrets buying the HV or the lenses for it, but it's an awfully expensive luxury that has no
logical justification. I certainly wouldn't recommend that others invest in two entirely different systems if just one of those could cover all of their photographic needs (and that's usually the case). It's far better to commit to just one system...