Good Afternoon.
I'm a brand-new member (joined this morning). I joined because I'm considering getting a K-1 and figured this forum is a great way to learn more about this camera. Everything I read about it so far makes me think it's perfect for me. However, there is a problem: I've been a Canon shooter since the late 70s, upgraded cameras and added lenses (some really nice ones) over the years. I'm pretty heavily invested in Canon, so to speak. Whenever I upgraded cameras, I never even looked at other brands because it just made no sense, what with me already having all these great Canon lenses, right?
My current camera is the Canon 7D. While outdated, it's still a great camera. But when hauling it (and several lenses) on vacation became too cumbersome, I added a Sony bridge camera as well as the tiny RX100m4, the two became my travel gear.
However, after almost 40 years of shooting, I've decided I want a FF camera, if only to see what I've been missing all these years. I want to get one soon, before retirement, as I may not be able to afford it when retired.
I was looking at the 6D, but it's too outdated. There are rumors of a 6Dm2 sometime this year, so that could be one option. I always dreamed of owning a 5D, but never could afford it, until now. I was about to order the 5Dm4 but, given its huge price, decided to do something I haven't done before: research FF cameras, any brand, to make sure I'm getting the best camera for my money and needs. I've never spent $3,500 on a camera before. Well, I've never spent $3,500 on anything smaller than a car, so I wanted to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my buck.
I looked at Nikon, but none struck me as being better than the 5Dm4. Since owning two Sonys, I also checked Sony FFs. There's one in the same price-range and the good thing about Sony would be that I could use my Canon lenses (with adapter), so that's on my short list for now, though I'm not sure I really want to go the adapter-route.
Long story short, throughout my search, research, reading reviews, watching video clips on YouTube, etc., the one camera that also kept popping up was the Pentax K-1. Always heard Pentax made great cameras, but I thought Pentax was out of business, probably because I never see them in camera stores.
The K-1 sounds almost perfect for me. It has almost everything I want. The only downside, it's not considered a great sports camera (I enjoy shooting Indy and NASCAR races), but I decided to keep my 7D which is great for that. I'm not much of a videographer, so learning that the K-1 isn't the best for videos is of no concern to me. If I do need video, I'll bring my Sony or use my iPhone. :)
My favorite subjects to photograph are landscape, wildlife, macros, and pets. While I don't really like shooting people, my family often expects me to be the photographer at events. From all I've read, the K-1 should be able to handle all of these things very well. So should I switch brands and start over with Pentax? I am torn because the financial-planner part of my brain says NO. But then I look at the price tag and realize that for the price of a 5Dm4, I could buy the K-1 and a good lens to go with it (trying to forget that I may want to add more lenses later, which is what my financial-planner in me doesn't like).
So if anyone in this forum reads this and can relate or has made the switch from another system to Pentax, please share your thoughts. If you've switched from Canon FF to Pentax, are you totally happy with your decision? Finally, if I do get the K-1, what would be the best all-around lens(es) (I'm a pixel-peeper) I should get for my purposes, considering it'll likely be my only K-1 lens(es) for a long time. Total price not to exceed $3,500. :) Thank you all!
