Hi Larry, My point of view differs from Paul's. (Possibly, if photography were a part of my day job, I'd have a different view.)
In early 2010, I was considering getting a Nikon (D700) as a second body in addition to my K-7. The intent was to use it for low-light dance photography (tango, possibly blues). It would've been a different system, set of lenses, and everything else. The main argument that stopped me from that (besides the financial aspect) was just the fact that D700 was huge compared to K-7. For that reason, travelling with it (when I also have to carry dancing shoes a bunch of shirts, and I prefer not to check in anything) would be more complicated. So, I decided that I can pass on those shot opportunities when I cannot use the flash and it is too dark for K-7. Otherwise, I would've had two camera sets, each designated for different type of events. Yes, having cameras of the same system is convenient (you can have fewer spares [batteries, cards, ..], shared lenses, flash, etc.). But, I don't think I would have had a problem switching between systems. I didn't have much of a problem using D700 during those couple events when I had a chance to try it, and at one of them, I was using it concurrently with the K-7. These days, the logic of the cameras is similar in (almost?) all cameras, so that it is not too hard to switch. It similar to driving rental cars: even if Ford has the location of controls different from that in GM and Japanese/Korean cars, it is not a big problem to drive a Ford. Well, it might be different at the NASCAR level. :-) (And that's probably, comparable to what Paul meant by "being serious about photography") Just my 2c. Igor On Dec 3, 2011, at 4:50 PM, Larry Colen wrote: > As I've mentioned, my K-5 has been acting wonky. Unfortunately, it's > been intermittently so. Last Monday it was Tango Uniform long enough > that I thought it had gone from being intermittent, and hard to > diagnose, to simply broken, but after a couple of hours, it woke up > again. > > I've tried the customer contact forms in both the pentax and the > criscam websites. Thursday afternoon it crapped out on me and I tried > calling cris, the receptionist was going to send me an email from her > account, so I could reply with details. I never got that email. My > experience with the repair department has me anticipating that if/when > I send it in, I'll be without the K-5 for at least a month, if not > two. For the most part, I can get by with the K-x (having now sold > both my K20 and my K100) but there is the possibility that something > (like a paid gig) will come up where I'd need a second camera body. > > As it is, I have a bunch of Nikon mount glass sitting around, > gathering dust. I've considered that if I were to spend money I > don't have on another body, rather than getting a second K-5, getting > a D7000. > > Advantages of the K-5: > Less initial outlay. The bodies cost about the same, but I don't have > any modern (auto focus, VR etc.) glass. > No cognitive dissonance shifting between user interfaces. > All of my DSLRs would be able to use the same lenses. > Slightly better low light performance. > > Advantages of the D7000: > Able to use the Nikon glass that I already have like the > 105/2.5, 100/2.8, and if I get it modded the 1353.5 (what does it cost > to mod a pre ais lens to ais?) > Able to use Nikon Speedlights > Potential access to a whole new family of lenses that aren't available > in Pentax mount > > This isn't a question of shifting brands, this is the question of > whether to keep everything the same, or to buy a body that would allow > use of lenses and strobes that don't work with Pentax? What would you > do? > > Note, that what I'm really hoping for is an evil with an APS or 24x36 > sensor that with an adapter would work with K-mount, Nikon or even my > old Minolta glass. Let me rephrase that, I don't really care about the > size of the sensor, I want an EVIL with low light performance as good > as, or better than, my K-5. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
