Bit of a Dilemma

Good Afternoon

Am hoping I have put this in the right place.

Currently I have a K5-IIs which is a great camera and has helped me get the bug for photography and move off auto and am taking better pictures all the time (so am told by my local camera club).

With the news of the K3-II being released I am/was tempted to upgrade later this year. However I am getting into aviation photography and would love to do some wildlife photography so have had for a while on my shopping list the Sigma 150-500mm.

Unfortunately following a conversation today with Sigma I understand that all their 50(150)-500mm are discontinued and once stock sells out then its gone. The new 600mm will not be made for the Pentax mount and nor will you be able to request them to change the mount on an individual basis to the Pentax mount. I know Pentax have just released their own 450mm lens but at £2000 it is well out of my price range at the moment.

My Dilemma is with the news that 3rd party lens manufacturers are moving away from the Pentax mount do I stay or jump ship to Nikon now before I build up a collection of lenses (Currently 18-135, 55-300, 35mm, 50mm). I personally like Pentax and just laugh off the remarks at the local camera club where if it is not Canon then it is not a camera!, hence no point in asking advice there.

Would love peoples thoughts and feelings about where Pentax is going etc.

Many thanks

Paul

Jump!
Regarding Sigma and Tamron et al, they are not going to support Pentax K mount any time soon, and you can either stump up £2000 for a boat anchor, or buy the DA*300 with the HD convertor, or...
Jump!
Branded something to 400's are no cheaper than the Pentax but you can get a something to 600, lens from Tamron and Sigma for half the price, so for the third time...
Jump!

Addendum: People who need autofocus to take pictures will tell you that Canon and Nikon have better focusing for Airshows and Birds in flight etc, so perhaps you'd be better off with one of those systems? (Psst Don't tell John Riley I told you that!)

If you really want a Sigma lens for your Pentax, then buy used now!

If you really want a Sigma lens for your Pentax, then buy now!

Tamron have done the same, to be honest. I don't think Pentax itself is going anywhere any time soon but it might be a while before Sigma and Tamron start supporting the K mount again, if at all. Are there no legacy lenses in K mount that would suit your needs, or is AF essential? I use a 40-80mm legacy lens for my wildlife/nature stuff which is equivalent to 60-120mm, but if you could find a good 200-300mm legacy lens the crop factor will do the rest for you. Alternatively you could just pick that lens up, it's at Wex Photographic just now on discount and you might be able to do a payment plan if you don't have the money to put down but are worried about it going out of stock.

Personally I would stay with the K5iis, been reading about the differences stated by PU users and love the low light abilities and decent high ISO usage of the iis.

Airshow wise, I've done many with just a 100 - 300 F4 and crop slightly as required, there's quite often Sigma lenses off either 50/150 - 500 or the 100 - 300 that come available on this forum and I wouldn't let the discussion with Sigma put you off Pentax.

You can pick up a good condition used Sigma 150-500 from SRI for under 500 with a year's guarantee....
That would be my choice in your shoes...try that then decide if you still need to change your camera.
you could sell the lens for same money on ebay if you decide to jump ship....
Nothing ventured nothing gained. ....

New lenses (150-500) are still available- grab one while you can

Can't remember which site it was now but i did see a discussion with Sigma and they alluded to the fact they were basically only supporting Canon, Nikon, Sony and M4/3 in the future. The remaining brands sold so few camera bodies there was simply no way they could make back their R&D money. So Pentax will be in the same boat as Fuji and Samsung. At least Pentax still have a huge amount of secondhand and legacy stuff available.
I think this only really hurts where the Pentax lens range is weak to non existent, ie at the long end. Or at the very wide end.
Doesn't bother me as i can only afford the cheap secondhand stuff.

Dare i say i bought a cheap Canon 7D body and Sigma 150-500 for airshows.

Thanks for the comments guys, the problem with getting one at the moment is a lack of funds. It is going to be Sept / Oct before I would have the money needed to grab one as other demands on finances before then. Obviously if some are around then great, although I think the second-hand market will increase in price as they become rarer.

Yes I spoke with Sigma UK today and they are also stopping support for Sony. (My father has one - insurance replacement from an old Konica, hence I asked about that also). The gentleman I spoke with said that basically they are supporting only Canon & Nikon in the future along with their own Sigma mount.

Maybe times are tough for Sigma along with everybody else, so choice suffers.

The Pentax 150-450mm seems to me to be the lens you may need, so why not wait a few months for its price to ease and see where you are then.

Alternatively, snap up a Pentax fit lens while you can. I don't see the point in wasting money changing systems, because it will only bring up new and different problems from the ones you may perceive now.

I didn't realise they were giving up on Sony and micro 4/3 as well. They didn't mention that in the article. Guess its not a surprise. Canon and Nikon have something like 85% of the market between them. Even Sony only have a puny market share. So you can understand why Sigma want to pull the plug. The Pentax market share is something ridiculously small but that could be read as 'Exclusive'. Where as Nikon and Canon are just common.

"Where as Nikon and Canon are just common"
Yep! Common!