Brand Switching

I've been here since 2009 and I've lost count of the people I've seen join who said that they've come to Pentax after using other brands. Do they return to their Original brand? I don't know, but I don't think there's any particular trend.

I think some people are chasing rainbows. Jule's for example and others switch for real world reasons, Gary Cabstar for example.

Apart from compacts and phonecams, there's only one non-Pentax 'serious' cam I've seriously contemplated buying and that's a Sony A7. And that's not to leave Pentax, far from it in fact, but rather to take advantage of Full Frame and Focus Peaking with all my collection of Pentax and other K mount manual focus lenses of which I've got loads now ( way over 30 ).

You are right about people coming over to Pentax from other brands. What I'm not seeing is people going from Pentax to a.n.other and then coming back to Pentax.

Possibly because 90% leave due to going full frame and Pentax have nothing to come back to in that respect.

I would leave Pentax or supplement Pentax for some kind of specialism. For example for serious sports. Maybe that Canon macro lens. Or the outstanding Nikon FX 14-24 for landscape. But there would have to be some commercial purpose for me to do that and that is unlikely.

For all round shooting then I still find Pentax the best choice. Fuji are doing interesting things and offering similar advantages to Pentax. I know a few who have gone Fuji and won't come back. But I think Pentax K remains the best value system, hopefully that will continue.

I am not happy with Pentax for my compact alternative to the dslr. Now the Q has packed up and the retailer and Pentax unhelpful then I will most likely now switch brands for my go everywhere option as I only reward good service with loyalty and I won't throw good money after bad.

I've been running two systems since coming to Geneva last year. The reduction in my photographic activity since leaving the tropics (due to time, inclination and subject matter - they're interrelated) made me question the need to maintain (and transport) a relatively heavy, valuable and extensive SLR system. I had a Fuji X100 to complement my Pentax system in Sri Lanka which I liked a lot for its portability and IQ, but was sometimes frustrated by the inability to change focal lengths. I wasn't keen on the Fuji bodies available so ended up getting a (Panasonic) GX7 with some excellent Olympus primes. It’s highly portable and has very good IQ - it doesn't quite match the K5 or X100, but is pretty damned close and the other benefits easily outweigh the slender IQ gap (excuse the mixed metaphor). Ergonomically it feels as good as my K5 - and a lot better than the X100 did.

I have sold off several Pentax lenses, but still have far too many sitting in a Peli case mostly unused (note to self must sell Peli case too, as I don't need it now I've left the tropics). Before putting up the rest for sale I am waiting a. for s/h lens prices to rise (fingers crossed); b. to see if a FF Pentax is released (though tbh, given my position explained above, I doubt my current activity would justify buying one - I'm still curious though so am leaving myself with options). Longer term I will probably hang on to my K5, manual lenses, Tamron 17-50 (the s/h price of these is just ridiculous compared to the quality they're capable of) and possibly the DA*50-135 (though this will depend on how good the Panasonic 35-100 turns out to be when I eventually get my hands on one).

I have been very happy with my Pentax gear, and have found their ergonomics in particular to be top notch (including the tiny Q). But in the end they failed to produce a high-end compact system camera that was remotely compact and that resulted in my shifting my attention to MFT.

I've hung in with Pentax, since changing from Olympus about 5 years ago, but I may be just about to jump ship, depending on reviews of the A7s. The K3 has been a bit of a disappointment for me, it's just not the upgrade from the K5 I was expecting, at least not for what I want a camera to do. I really like the ergonomics of Pentax cameras, and the great selection of lenses available, from ancient primes to newer lenses. The main thing that has kept me with Pentax, however, is in-body stabilisation (which my Olympus had, but the sensor wasn't good enough). The ability to stabilise old primes is a real plus point for me. However, there's things I want to do which both my K5 and K3 are just not capable of. The big disappointment for me is that the K3 has proved to be worse in low-light/high ISO than both my GR (which I'll definitely be keeping), and the K5.

Unless a FF Pentax with a sensible amount of megapixels (24 or preferably even less) comes out this year, I'm going to look elsewhere. It's largely inertia, expense, and the large amount of lenses I have that has stopped me changing systems already. If I do, I think it'll be a permanent move; I'm not one for chopping and changing.

[sigh]

And there was me heading to SRS tomorrow to pick up a K-3.

I guess if I'm really disappointed, it's about a £300 gamble if I sell the K-3 within a few months.

Given the expense of changing systems completely (say, D7100, 50-500, UWA and short zoom, plus at least one powerful flash), it's probably a gamble worth taking.

Presumably, AG, it's the noise in the night skies and clouds that is unacceptable for you?

Edit - disregard the question, seen your swap request. From what you say, I'll stick with plan A, and get the K-3. I only have 1/4" of perspex to shoot through when I take pics from the air

Yes I remember the thread when the k-3 was announced and I think even then a couple of members jumped to full frame. It's a huge gap in the Pentax line up. Consumers like to upgrade and whilst the yearning for a Pentax ff continues then more Pentax shooters will go with other brands ff models.

as for the expense of changing systems I replaced all my kit and gained an extra lens the 85mm which I didn't have before for a net cost of £100. I didn't buy the latest and greatest but then my Pentax kit was quiet old tech the da* zooms for example are very old tech now.

Rather than list my kit here you can see it on my flick stream

Chris, as long as you don't want the K3 to perform extreme feats (which I do, unfortunately) then it's a fantastic camera. I'm sure you'll be happy with it, in good light the amount of detail you can get is amazing for an APS-C sensor. It just doesn't do what I want it to. In retrospect, I should have probably bought a FF camera instead, or just waited longer for the elusive FF Pentax.

Thanks for putting my mind at rest

...back to packing up the bits for part-ex then

Stop the chatter and just get on with it ... I'm relying on your review to give me a real reason to buy a K-3.

Otherwise it's either a 5D MKIII or a 1D MKIV and you wouldn't want to be responsible for that I'm sure.

The highlighted part concerns me though.

Definitely not - I have a mate that used to be a pro tog with Canon gear (1D and 5D something or other), he photographed dance events for a living.

He was always moaning about, guess what...

... AF speed and accuracy

Those oaps doing a waltz are challenging for even the best equipment though so I can understand his concerns.

Yes, and they weren't OAPs doing waltz either. It was much younger, fitter, couples dancing Modern Jive and Latin American. In dodgy lighting.