Members thoughts on new Pentax

[Brianbar]

With all the new DSLR releases from Canon, Nixon, Sony, Olympus and now possibly a new Pentax the K20D. What are your thoughts on this new Pentax. The K20D is said to have a 14-megapixel CMOS sensor instead of the K10D's 10.2-megapixel sensor, along with a 14-bit RAW A/D Processor and, a 3-inch live view LCD. There will be improved image stabilization inside the virtually unchanged camera body, a shake reduction system Pentax has traditionally approached by moving the CCD rather than shifting lens elements.

Brian

[two slow]

I like pentax cameras. I'm not sure how well their digitals are but as for film they were good. The big problem with them is the lack of lenses.

[Anke]

big problem with them is the lack of lenses.

Don't Pentax use the four-thirds system?

[midget]

pentax doesn't use 4-3rds. ^^^

[CincyShooter]

I like pentax more than sony thats for sure...

[gofer]

I have a K10D, a D80, a E410 and two 400D's and to be honest I sometimes wonder if it's the rest are playing catchup to Pentax.:confused: I for one will be very interested to see how the next offering from Pentax pans out.

[Anke]

pentax doesn't use 4-3rds. ^^^


Just thought they did, nothing concrete. I shall back out of this conversation slowly ;)

[snapmando]

I think the Sony A700 is quite a 2nd offering.

I would never but a Sony though......

[davidfig]

Well this should start a firestorm.

I like the Pentax for a few reasons also. I like the DOF preview which is part of the shutter button / power switch action. It makes sense. So there are things like that which I think are smart and innovative.

[M24]

When I was in Japan earlier this year, I worked with a native pro studio photog who had a Pentax DSLR with an adapter that allowed him to use Noink lenses. It was an interesting combo and he seemed really happy with it.

Funny thing was, he knew more about my XT/350D, as far as custom functions, than I did. I've never shot with a Pentax DSLR, but many years ago, I shot with a film-based Pentax and had no complaints.

When I was at the recent San Deigo Photo Expo, the biggest crowds were at the Canon and Nikon displays, followed by Pentax, and a few stragglers at the Sony display. I felt sorry for the poor old Minolta shooters... boo-hoo.. :D

[Blue S2]

I believe the Pentax bodies are weather sealed too! I've shot with Pentax film bodies and still own one. One of the biggest factors of a camera system though is the lens lineup. I personally feel Canon has a stronger lens variety than Pentax. We'll see!

[John_TX]

I'd be all over a Pentax K10d if it weren't for their rather small selection of glass. Price-wise, they seem to be pretty much inline with Canon on glass, maybe a fraction less, but count on picking up Sigma lenses for a Pentax system if Pentax doesn't have the lens your looking for. Specifically in the wide-angle zoom area, which by the reviews I've seen, exhibits lots of CA.

[agent.media]

"I would never but a Sony though......"

Don't let the name fool you. It's still a Konica Minolta.

[bagtagsell]

I was a big Pentax film fan. I think they are offering good features at a good price point on the k10d. It has weather sealing... Common canon can't you offer that?

[ANGUS]

I have a K10D, a D80, a E410 and two 400D's and to be honest I sometimes wonder if it's the rest are playing catchup to Pentax.:confused: I for one will be very interested to see how the next offering from Pentax pans out.

I (Along with serveral others) Asked this same thing in the Gear List thread...

Why do you keep so many different systems/brands?????

[agent.media]

Dedicated RAW button. Different metering zones. True Auto ISO.

They do seem to be ahead in terms of thinking.

[Anke]

Dedicated RAW button.

What's the point of that?

[carianoff]

What's the point of that?

Yeah i noticed that on the Pentax, I don't get it too? I can't imagine a scenario where a simple click would be that much better than the 5-10 seconds it would take me to do that in the menu.

[agent.media]

Yeah i noticed that on the Pentax, I don't get it too? I can't imagine a scenario where a simple click would be that much better than the 5-10 seconds it would take me to do that in the menu.

I think it would be very usefull.

Never for a studio shoot or anything as in those situations you always make sure you have enough space to shoot Dedicated RAW.

But i've been on holiday with my 40D, and thus only had a limited amount of CF space, and have seen a shot and thought, there is way too much dynamic range in this for just regular JPEG, and to be able to switch RAW on, shoot, then off again would be tops.

[John_TX]

Don't knock the dedicated RAW button, it beats the hell out of Canon's "Print" button! I'll take the RAW button any day over the "Print" button.

[Chandler.]

Don't knock the dedicated RAW button, it beats the hell out of Canon's "Print" button! I'll take the RAW button any day over the "Print" button.

And I'd take a dedicated MLU button over either!

[Tom W]

And I'd take a dedicated MLU button over either!

Indeed.

Not sure of the value of the dedicated RAW button either - I almost always shoot RAW.

[agent.media]

I almost always shoot RAW.

No doubt to the detriment to your hard drive space. :P

[carianoff]

I still dont get it, saving a few MB an image isnt worth the effort. Especially when you may capture a happy accident in jpg and now you don't have the full editing options. Maybe a toggle to sRAW I would consider so i at least had the option to edit the image to the best of my ability. Go hard or go home i say, man up and get some terabytes. :P

[Tom W]

No doubt to the detriment to your hard drive space. :P

You aren't kiddin. About 2 years ago, I suddenly realized that 40 gig was SMALL!! I bought a 250-gig as a second HD. My new computer has dual 320-gig drives, and I've got externals as well for archiving and storage. You can never have enough space.

BTW, did you see the size of those RAW images from the new 1Ds III? They're around 25-30 MB each!! That's hyuge!

[John_TX]

Sounds like some 1TB drives might finally be an option as they've recently come down a lot in price (~$279). Not too bad at all.

[agent.media]

Not only is there the issue of storing the files, but storing the backups of the files as well. Doom.

[CincyShooter]

Don't knock the dedicated RAW button, it beats the hell out of Canon's "Print" button! I'll take the RAW button any day over the "Print" button.


I was going to say the exact same thing!

[dekalbSTEEL]

Not only is there the issue of storing the files, but storing the backups of the files as well. Doom.


Depends on your keeper rate;)

[davidfig]

Yeah i noticed that on the Pentax, I don't get it too? I can't imagine a scenario where a simple click would be that much better than the 5-10 seconds it would take me to do that in the menu.

You are a wedding photographer are you? A Raw button for a single shot would have its uses.

[circa]

I really dig the idea of "pro features" (such as weather sealing) on a consumer camera.

[Innocence]

I really dig the idea of "pro features" (such as weather sealing) on a consumer camera.

I guess it's canon's way of product differentiation, whereas the other brands can afford to or need to come out with all guns blazing.

[Kadath]

What's a Pentax?

[cdifoto]

You don't see everyone flocking to Pentax do you? Shows how important weather seals on a prosumer body really is. Most photogs don't want to admit it, but they're fair weather shooters. Must be a penis thing.

Seriously though, folks, how many of you shoot out there in nasty weather? Not me. I go inside where it's warm...and/or dry. You gotta have a sealed lens and filter on the lens anyway to complete the system....and even then it's not 100%. Check out the sports sidelines. They STILL put plastic bags over their gear when it rains, snows, etc.

[NickSimcheck]

Weather sealing to me is like insurance, nice to have when an accident happens but otherwise useless.

[Keith R]

What's a Pentax?

It's money that the government takes off you every time you write something...

[Keith R]

You gotta have a sealed lens and filter on the lens anyway to complete the system...

Exactly - that's why I'm utterly unfazed by the weather "sealing" (or lack thereof) on the 40D: I use a 100-400mm, so having seals on the camera won't save that in a downpour...

[cdifoto]

I have a sealed lens, camera, and flash. I went out in inclement weather with it ONCE this year. The only reason for that was curiosity - to see how it'd fair. I'll not go shooting in that crap again. Why? Because I froze my tail off.

BTW I used an off-camera Sunpak 383 as well. How? A zip-lock baggie over it. ;) :)

[rockabilly808]

I hear a lot of people trash talking the sony camera, keep in mind the sony DSLR is more or less the DSLR minolta had in the works before they were bought out.

[lowcrust]

It's just that Sony is evil. I used to be a Sony follower for many years, in fact almost all electronics I bought in the last millennium bears the name of Sony. But years of abuse and proprietary formats made me less and less eager to support them with my hard earned money. Then the infiltration marketing, the NGO scandal, the root-kits and other horrendous DRM strategies sealed the deal for me. And they only get worse. No other corporation deserves the evil epithet as much as Sony. The only way they can get more evil would be to get Dick Cheney on the team.

[BikePilot]

I'm a fan of some sony's. I have a sony p&s that I bought several years ago. At the time it was quite a bit better for my uses than anything else in production and still holds its own ok. I don't know that I would spring for the current SLR, but it has some nice features. The high res screen sure is pretty and makes reviewing pics on the screen as you take them more effective.

I think the k10d is quite a deal. Its build quality/feel is very good, just a shade off the 40d, but much less expensive. I like weather sealing a lot, but I take my cameras hiking, skiing on motorcycle trips and the like. I wish there were more sealed lenses available though. I think only the DA* for pentax and the L series for canon are weather sealed.

have fun, in the end its the eye behind the camera that will make the difference in the shot;)

[rockabilly808]

have fun, in the end its the eye behind the camera that will make the difference in the shot;)
true that

and i guess thats true, canon wouldn't put weather sealing on their XXD and XXXD lines as it would step on the toes of the 1D series.

[tototo]

I was seriously considering a 40d...but I do a lot of out-door stuff(camping and motorcycling) and the weather sealing on the K20D is a deal maker for me.
Heck I may even save some money and try out the K200d....it is sealed also.
I have nothing to lose as most big stores have a 2 week satisfaction guarantee and if it gives comparable IQ I will keep it.
Gives me more money to spend on glass.
Truely a buyers market....you gotta love it!

Just have to wait a bit longer 'till they start shiping.

[John_TX]

Have you looked at glass yet? I'm waffling too! I love the all weather sealing of the Pentax as well.

Just curious how their glass ranges & price compares to decent Canon lenses.

[agent.media]

I was seriously considering a 40d...but I do a lot of out-door stuff(camping and motorcycling) and the weather sealing on the K20D is a deal maker for me.
Heck I may even save some money and try out the K200d....it is sealed also.
I have nothing to lose as most big stores have a 2 week satisfaction guarantee and if it gives comparable IQ I will keep it.
Gives me more money to spend on glass.
Truely a buyers market....you gotta love it!

Just have to wait a bit longer 'till they start shiping.

Before you jump the gun.... how many weather sealed lenses do they make?

[lowcrust]

Anybody else notice how fast and accurate the Pentax cameras are with even the basic kit lens? That really impressed me together with built quality.

[tototo]

Before you jump the gun.... how many weather sealed lenses do they make?

Half the investment protected is better than none.
As long is it is not a stabilized lense the is no electronics to protect and that is what is most unforgiving I would think...I could be wrong as I don't have much experience here.

[Lonnie]

True Auto ISO.

There is a review of the K20D in this months Pop Photography and they don't even mention this feature in a 4 page spread. :(

Auto-iso sounds like a pretty big deal to me.

[John_TX]

There is a review of the K20D in this months Pop Photography and they don't even mention this feature in a 4 page spread. :(

Auto-iso sounds like a pretty big deal to me.

I assume this would let you set a specific shutter speed and/or aperture and the camera, based on its metering, would set the needed ISO speed to get the shot? Or does it just work in a different way?

[Lonnie]

I believe that is it John. There is a TAv mode where you set aperture and shutter speed, the camera selects the correct ISO for the exposure. It sounds like a wonderful mode to me.

[John_TX]

In practice though, I'm not really sure how useful it would be.
I usually like to limit how high I bump up the ISO for certain types of shooting, especially when I don't want a lot of noticeable noise. I think that regardless of what mode you shoot in, you've got to be able to set parameters.

However, if the Auto-ISO functionality allowed you to set a range, that would be pretty sweet. E.g. tell it you don't want it going above 800.

[lowcrust]

/\ In that case just don't use such an aggressive shutterspeed that the ISO will be up in the higher regions.

[rw71]

I finally made it to the local camera store. I was looking at the xt / xti / 40D. Being a newb and asking for advice, the salesman pulled out the k200. I hadn't done any research on it and can't find much about it. I did like the size. Slightly bigger than the xti / d60. Weather proofing. Built in IS. They had the kit and pro quality(star) lenses in stock along with Tamron (18-50 2.8). To make matters worse, a new xti 17-85 kit and a 40D kit with 17-85, battery, grip, and bag for less than the original 17-85 kit. I'm even more confused know on what to get. Still no xsi's. I'm off to try and learn a little about Pentax cameras and lens options/reviews...

[Arpe]

There are 4 weather-sealed lenses for Pentax currently I think. 16-50/2.8, 50-135/2.8, 200/2.8, 300/?. More coming. All DA* lenses are sealed.

The RAW button is configurable, not sure how, something like - if you;re in RAW it'll change to jpeg + RAW, if in jpeg it'll change to RAW or something, I think there's several options to choose from.

[chris_arnet]

Is it pentax that has the new live veiw coming out that doesnt have veiwfinder blackout and has full time AF without mirror flip? I forget who it is...