On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 6:32 PM, Jens <[email protected]> wrote:
> When I wanted somthing better than my first slr
> [...]
> the guy in the shop really had no difficulties in convincing me to buy the MX
> (still got one).
> This happened in 1981. I have been using Pentax cameras ever since.
>
> But if this happended today, I don't know what would happen.
> The guy in the shop would probably tell me to get a Canon, Nikon or Sony,
> like almost everybody else...
>
> How would you convince a beginner to get a Pentax?
>
> What would you buy, if you were a beginner?
Because I really qualify as a beginner in photography, I wanted to
contribute my view on the topic, especially since I've recently went
through such a decision. Although I must note that most of my reasons
were already covered by other posters.
To give you some context: I've bought my first camera, a "bridge"
or "super-zoom" as they're called, a FujiFilm FinePix S5200 / S5600,
around 2005 after being recommended by friend-of-a-friend, which I've
used (around 15k casual snapshots) until this spring (2013). However
later in 2006 I pondered on buying a Pentax K100D / K110D but decided
against (mainly due to costs).
Since last autumn (2012) (after I've played a little bit with a
Nikon D3100) I decided it was about time to get a new camera, a DSLR
this time, and maybe get a new hobby -- photography. (I've checked
the first item off the list, but not so sure about the second.) :)
So how my decision process went?
(A) Brands: in late 2012 only Canon, Nikon and Pentax were making
DSLR's (or at least available in my country). I've excluded Canon
"just because", thus it was Nikon or Pentax.
(B) Price limit: the upper limit was D5100 / D3200 for Nikon, and
K-30 (and later K-50) for Pentax, although the lower the better.
(Didn't even bother to look for Canon.)
(C) Features: because even with my Fuji S5600 I've shot mainly in
manual mode (JPEG's with non-auto white-balance, but sometimes RAW),
and I've never used any other features except the 3-shot burst (as a
poor-man's image stabilization), it all boiled down to:
* good manual support (i.e. easy access to speed, aperture and ISO);
* good RAW support (i.e. usable from software running on Linux);
* the more "customization" is available the better;
* support for AA batteries; (very important;)
Clear winner Pentax. Two dials for a smaller price, DNG which
promissed to be more "open" than NEF.
(D) Lenses: all I knew about lenses was this: Nikon had two
"flavors" with stabilization (more expensive) and without (cheaper);
Pentax had stabilization in body and allegedly a larger pool of used
lenses.
Clear winner Pentax.
(E) What I choose to ignore (i.e. "don't care" category):
* live-view; (I was tired of composing via an LCD like on my Fuji;)
* video capabilities; (i.e. use each tool for what it was designed;)
* HDR, filters, and other in-camera processing; (I have a
computer for that;)
* built-in flash; (I don't use it that much;)
* battery capacity; (anyway you'll need two of those, or even
better standard AA batteries;)
* image quality; (although I've stared at RAW crops between
various cameras, for minutes on DPReview and other sites, I still
didn't notice anything definitive, thus I've concluded it's all the
same;)
Final winner --- obviously since I'm on this list :) --- Pentax
K-30 (the K-50 wasn't out yet) with 18-55 and 50-200 kit lenses,
mainly due to smaller price and more features.
Looking in retrospective, some features I now know are important:
* viewfinder coverage, size, and brightness; (except for coverage
I still don't see a difference between K-30 and D3100;)
* the two custom modes on the K-30 which I now use exclusively;
(I get my fingers in a twist on D3100;)
* weather sealing, which I've used once in the rain and I liked
the mood of the photos;
* support for AA batteries; (I re-list it again because it's quite
important to me;)
Some serious drawbacks which I now start to feel:
* Pentax bodies, lens and accessory availability in my country
which is quite poor (only two on-line stores have it, and no
brick-and-mortar store that I know of);
* second-hand lens availability, which again doesn't live up to
the expectations (again especially in my country); (and on the
subject second hand Pentax market;)
* (although a small nuisance for me) lack of on-line "tutorials /
tips-and-tricks" for Pentax hardware; I mean the same Internet
visibility as Nikon has through people like Thom Hogan, Ken Rockwell,
etc. (Although I must mention Dale Cotton with his Daystar Visions
site which makes a wonderful Pentax (and general photography)
introductory material.)
Overall I still think I made a good choice especially in terms of
cost / quality / features trade offs. But there are some important
drawbacks.
Hope it helps,
Ciprian.
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