Hi,
My first 35mm camera was a rangefinder Yashica Lynx 5000, back in the late '70s. When my dad upgraded from his ME Super to a PZ-20 (after first flirting with a Mamiya...which was apparently too expensive for mom - he took it back and got the PZ-20). I enjoyed my ME Super very much. Photography was just another hobby.
Fast forward to 1996 when one of my workplaces went digital and I was thrown into digital photography. Digital cameras back then were pretty bad. Red objects, in particular, were rendered in many shades of red and purple. (To this day, I still cringe when I need to shoot red subjects!)
Fast forward to 2012 when I launched my own photography business, primarily shooting cars and trucks at dealer's car lots for their websites. I started with a used Nikon D60. That workplace eventually had Nikon D50 and they seemed to work pretty well. I have a good relationship with them so I knew if I had any problems, I could borrow the camera the D50 I use, for them.
A few thousand photos later, the D60 had to go back to Nikon for 6 weeks and a $250 repair bill, which was twice as long and twice as much as the local camera store said. That began the search for something newer and faster (a D60 has 3 AF points!). That lead to the current D5300.
Thankfully, the D5300 has been a complete success and confirmed every good thing I'd ever heard about Nikons. Before this week is over, my Shutter Count will surpass 187,000, in less than 4 years. Not bad for a shutter rated at 150k. Aside from the un-scientific Oleg Kikin website for camera life, it's not easy to guess how much longer I've really got. 200k is "not unusual" from what I've read so I need to find a replacement, soon!
I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder which, among several things, means my 57 year old hands will lose strength and shake more. Also, I have a longtime interest in astronomy. I've considered getting out of vehicle photography in favor of Real Estate Photography but I hear a lot of horror stories and car dealer website photography doesn't pay well enough to get the equipment I'd prefer to have, to get started in RE Photos. I did one shoot, a freebie for a realtor friend at church, to see how it went. It went well enough, especially the outdoor photos. I've picked up a few more car dealerships to shoot, so that put the RE Photos on hold. If I knew I could make a living as a landscape photographer, I'd ditch everything and do that. (I'm primary caretaker for my wife, who had a stroke, so I'm very limited with how far I can roam. There are 2-3 National Military Parks within a reasonable drive, plus some small lakes and other parks.
I tell you these apparently unrelated things so you know how I'm going "back to the future" with Pentax.
- I'm especially excited about the in-body stabilization. I'm not only hoping it's more effective than lens stabilization, like Nikon's "VR", but I'm looking forward to using "old glass". I still have both the Yashica and the ME Super w/Tokina 35-70, all manual of course.
- I'm looking forward to the AstroTracer function. I tried a few with the D5300 and some borrowed all-manual Nikkor lenses from a friend. His 35mm/f1.28 rocked my astro-world!
- Given that I'm shooting ~50k photos/year ("for now"), a camera with a high Shutter Count rating is important. It's my understanding that the K-3 ii is rated at 200k. I don't know what the K-1 (or K-1 ii) is rated for. Do you?
- As you can see on my business's Facebook page, I do love landscape-style work. The Pixel Shift looks really interesting! Something not offered by Nikon or Canon.
So, there it is. I'm back to the future with a full frame Pentax or the K-3 ii. I have only the "kit" 18-55mm lens that came with the Nikon so, no loss for other lenses. The D5300 will replace the rebuilt D60 as the backup camera. I might give the D60 to my nephews. The D5300 also has slightly better video (1080p@60fps, if needed).
I honestly don't want to spend much more than $1,600 for my next camera. I'm hoping to either find a nice, used, low Shutter Count K-1 or a new K-3 ii. I'm hoping Pentax will lower the price of new K-1's when the K-1 ii comes out next week. (Nikon usually lowers the price of older models when newer versions are released. Helps dealers get outdated stock sold.)
My only gripe with Pentax, as someone re-entering that platform from a really well known platform? Where do you find a Pentax dealer???? You would think their "Authorized Dealer List" would include along with just the name, the address, phone number and website for every Pentax dealer! I'm 1 hour north of Baltimore, Md. and 2 hours west of Philadelphia, Pa.. It appears the closest dealers are in NYC. Really? Nothing in the major cities of Maryland and Pennsylvania? (Okay, I didn't check Pittsburgh.)
I'm good with the lesser selection of lenses because I can get what I want, with a K-mount. I don't mind being the "lone wolf" with a bright red "PENTAX" camera strap - I have never seen another car lot website photographer use anything better than a point-and-shoot...and it shows. I have had great experiences with B&H in NYC. But when I see the awesome specs of Pentax DSLRs, I just have to wonder WHY aren't they shouting from the rooftops?
If you have any thoughts on Shutter Count/Life on the K-1 and K-3/K-3ii, please let me know.
If you're curious about what my work looks like (I have shot over 8,100 vehicles), I get no additional compensation from my current customers. Go to Thornton Automotive | Manchester, Dover York & Red Lion | New Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep & RAM | Used Car Dealer, scroll down to the row with the locations. Everything at the Chevy store and the York store are mine (unless they wanted to throw a few online until I get there.). Most of the vehicles are the Jeep store are mine. I just started shooting at the Dover store about 2 months ago. I do not shoot at the Manchester store (yet).
You can find some of my personal work on Facebook. Look for "Krepps Specialty Images".
Thanks for reading. I know it's a l-o-n-g story! |
