K5-II?

Good Morning

I am just beginning my journey of upgrading cameras and entering the world of SLR from a Bridge Camera. I do not have much experience with photography and am looking to expand and develop my interest.

Currently:

I currently have a Fuji HS20 which is approaching two years old and whilst I find it an excellent camera it is very lightweight and as I have 'larger' hands and fingers I find the zoom to be a little tricky at times, so am looking at upgrading to DSLR. Additionally my Fuji seems to be finding a new home with my mother more and more.....

The types of photography I do at the moment vary from holiday snaps which is mainly focused around mountain scenery walking in the Austrian Alps. On the flip side I currently run a shipping website for my hobby and would therefore be using the camera out at sea frequently.

One of the things I liked the look of with the HS20 was the really long zoom however I have not found myself using it as much as I originally thought.

Future:

My leaning towards the Pentax is due to it always being the preferred camera of my late father and the fact that it has acti-shake built into the frame something that really is needed when out on moving seas.

Lens wise I am very open to advice and thoughts, I am looking at at the longest circa 300mm lens. Having been reading around Nikon, Canon etc they mention a 1.6 multiplyer on the lens zoom is this some the Pentax has also as I have not found any info as yet.

Are there any negatives of having a body with anti-shake and also having a lens with it in also?

Apologies if I sound a numpty but I guess everyone has to start somewhere.

Thanks

Paul

There are reviews on here and at ePHOTOzine, as well as on many other sites. Pentax have many advantages, including fantastic colour reproduction and weatherproof bodies and lenses.

You don't have to jump in at the top end K-5/K-5 II/K-5IIs range as the less expensice K30 has weather sealing and is a rugged camera in itself. Just make sure you buy weather resistant lenses, bearing in mind you will be out at sea in presumably all weathers.

The place to start may well be the two WR kit lenses - 18-55mm WR and 50-200mm WR. There are kits available and a good place to start looking is www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk - SRS look after us all here very well indeed.

If you want to extend to 300mm the 55-300mm lens could be substituted for the 50-200mm WR, but the longer lens is not weather resistant. It is, howver, and excellent lens.

Hope that helps!

This sounds more like the crop factor rather than a teleconverter so yes, all Pentax cameras use a crop sensor which effectively acts as a 1.5 (Pentax/Nikon/Sony) or 1.6 multiplier (Canon) over a full frame camera.

Better explanation here

Welcome to the forum!

If you have a lens with image stabilisation and a camera with it in body you must choose one or the other. In lens means you see the picture freeze when it is stable, in body you don't.
In lens drains the camera battery if you leave it on! Only Sigma offer in lens stabilisation for Pentax fit, and they are dropping it again on their newer models, but still charging the same amount as for lenses with it.

Stabisiation will not counter the movement of a ship btw, it is more to counteract the movement of the photographer. I think you'd need a stabiliser rig to counteract a ships movement.
Having said that I have taken photos on board my son's Dutch barge under sail, and on a Hurtigruten ship in Norway in a storm and managed to get sharp photos. Quite a few missers too of course, but with practice you get better at it.

A friend specialises in nautical photography and shoots terrific photos from a RIB travelling at speed. No stabilisation in camera, lens or boat!