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Advice for cheap K5 replacement for wildlife

mattie
Posted 17/07/2016 - 17:16 Link
Hi all

I've been using an Olympus OM-D for a while, originally as a lightweight alternative to my DSLR gear but now more permanently because my K5 developed an AF fault that's sadly not economically repairable.

My wife and I are looking at an African trip late in the year, and I am considering a replacement Pentax DSLR body so I can go back to Pentax my wife and I can share our lenses. I also much prefer the Pentax viewfinder over a digital viewfinder, and I find the Pentax handling much better as well.

I'm not sure what body to consider, so would appreciate any advice others have to offer. My wife has a K30 which I've been really impressed by, but I've heard of a few longevity issues creeping in (not that my wife has had any mechanical problems with her camera). A key benefit of going for the K30 would be a common battery, although these drain quickly I'd just buy a job lot of replacements to bring. My concern would be that the K30 is a good few years old and there may be better options elsewhere.

If we started at a budget of around £300 to go to a stretch of £400, this would put used K5 and K3 into the picture, but maybe not K3ii. I note that John Lewis are selling the KS-1s off for £300, I've no idea what the newer cameras such as the KS1, K50 etc are like - my anticipation is improvements to pixel, processing etc but at a cost of robustness, handling and ergonomics (i've quite big hands so prefer the K5 over the K30).

I've only got one SDM lens but I've been toying with a 120-400 Sigma HSM for the trip (this is the reason for the reluctance to open the budget for the body up too much), we've got a 55-300 and an old Sigma APO 300mm f4, which are likely to be the key lenses for this trip. We're anticipating a few landscapes but mostly wildlife.

Any advice on candidates to consider, or what key the key points of differentiation between the cameras are perceived to be, would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Matt
johnriley
Posted 17/07/2016 - 17:30 Link
If you're going somewhere that the conditions are more extreme than the UK then maybe one of the higher spec models could be a good idea. A good used K-5 each would be relatively inexpensive? Alternatively the K-5 II or IIs would be a good buy. K-3 body is £549 at SRS, an excellent choice and more pixels. The K-S2 body is great, £399 at SRS. It's not as robust maybe as the K-5/K-3 body line, but even so very tempting at that price.

I see SRS also have a used K-5 body at £249.
Best regards, John
stu62
Posted 17/07/2016 - 19:15 Link
I would opt for the k3 any day over a k5 if you want she try cash converters online and see what they have
wvbarnes
Posted 17/07/2016 - 20:38 Link
K3, crops beautifully for wildlife
mattie
Posted 17/07/2016 - 21:35 Link
Ta all - I'll do some budgeting and see where we are.

I assume from comments that a flavour of the K5 or K3 would be better bets than cameras such as KS2 etc, so that's narrowed it down nicely.

Cheers!
jemx99
Posted 17/07/2016 - 21:49 Link
I think pretty much any of the 'recent' Pentax cameras would do the job - the best thing of course to do if possible is call in a dealers and look at and handle several models to see what you like.
NeilP
Posted 17/07/2016 - 21:54 Link
With the improved AF and better cropability on the DA*300mm I would say go for the K-3. Be worth any extra cash IMO

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