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what would you do?

Anonymous
Posted 24/11/2004 - 11:29 Link
Hi
I am making a serious jump to digital very soon and would liek your opinions....
I am 25, finished an HND in photography 2 yrs ago but as yet havent made much money form photography.I have always used Pentax equipment through the years. I at the moment have Z1*, MZ50, Sigma 70-300, pentax 28-70. All of which are a bit shabby.I recently sold a 15mm Pentax SMCA. I also have a Mamiya C330 if i want to use medium format. I now want to get into the busines alot more seriously and do some freelance work covering sports events and concerts. I havent really done any work since I finished my HND but now this interest is growing strongly again and I want to make some money from it all. To do this I want to get new digital equipment.
Basically I am not sure whether to stay with Pentax or move on elsewhere. I will have £1000 to spend after xmas and have been weighing up the options recently

I could go for the istDS... basically same camera as istD as far as i can see for allot less. This would cost £700 body only and i could go for new pentax 18-55 and still use my old stuff even if it is shabby and still hav money to play with but I have been reading dpreview and judgin by the istD sample images.. they dont compare well with the EOS300D
They seem soft in comparison.
So I could go for the EOS300D Black which jessops are sellign as a complete kit for £799 which includes black body, 18-55mm lens and battery grip.
I could add a 2gb CF card and have a whole setup (minus telephoto) for £1000. I would then have redundant pentax stuff which I doubt is sellable
Those cameras are both 6mp and would be very much prosumer models.
My other option which I am seriously considering is goign for an EOS20D
It will require more money as it sells for £1100 with lens but definately seems to blow the other options out of the water. I would then need to get CF cards and a telephoto so I would be looking at another £500 but im not sure whether it is worth it. Ok it has 2m more megapixels but is it really that different?
I could also got for nikon D70 but am put off by general Nikon prices for lens' etc.
If I do change from Pentax I will need to go for a new telephoto which I will try to get secondhand from jessops. in particular my interest lies with Sigma 70-200 2.8. anyone used these?

what would you do?
johnriley
Posted 24/11/2004 - 20:16 Link
As I understand it, the *istD delivers pictures straight from the camera which will appear softer than some and of lower saturation, but this is a good thing because they are not over-processed in camera and sharpen up very nicely in Photoshop. The finished pictures should be the equal of anything else.

You can go for Pentax and still use your existing lenses with a degree of conmpatibility which is very impressive.

However, if I was looking at alternatives I would be looking at Nikon and Fuji, not Canon.
Best regards, John
Anonymous
Posted 25/11/2004 - 02:10 Link
why not canon?
johnriley
Posted 25/11/2004 - 04:40 Link
If you buy Pentax you have access to several decades of interesting, useful and high quality lenses.

If you buy Nikon or Fuji you have access in almost the same way to all the Nikon lenses, which are also of highest quality.

If you buy Canon, they have changed the lens mount several times and the choice is more restricted, and although they do make some fine cameras and lenses I have never liked the design details. I also think cameras such as the 300D are rather more "platicky" than some others.

I would be happiest with an *istD or the Nikon 70D or the Fuji S2 or S3 Pro. The Pentax *istDS is unseen so far, but could be the camera that makes me plunge for a digital SLR.

So far I have been upgrading digital SLR-style cameras, relatively low cost and pretty good for the purposes I have wanted them for.
Best regards, John
Anonymous
Posted 25/11/2004 - 19:16 Link
regards the sigma 70-200 2.8. I love mine. A lot of cash but you really appreciate the 2.8 when the light drops and you still want 1/250.

Jayson
Anonymous
Posted 26/11/2004 - 01:03 Link
I have to agree with john about nikon over canon, particularly if your into second hand gear a/f canon are dearer and harder to find, all these 6mp cameras give similar results and most can be set to give minimum in-camera tweeking, nows the time to change if thats what you want to do what you have to decide is wether the investment youve made in pentax equipement outweighs all your future perchases if you change to nikon or canon.

mc
Anonymous
Posted 26/11/2004 - 10:37 Link
I was at Jessops last night and had a look at the D70 and I must say I was very impressed. A very solid proffessional peice of gear and a great 18-70 DX lens that came with it. I wont be going with the 300d ( too plasticky)
I may still go for the 20D but I would like to get a hands on experience first and even then it is rather expensive and I am askign myself is it worth the extra money as will the extra features (2mp, 8000th/sec 5fps ) be usable to me and matter that much?
So.... I have to go meet a fella in jessops who is goign to show me his own istD. I will probably decide after this. that will leave istDs vs D70 and already I am thinkign D70. From reviews it would seem the D70 is more manual/customisable and thereofre professional for the relatively the same money
I could get a d70 with lens for £800-850
hmmmmmmmm
kyber
Posted 29/11/2004 - 11:53 Link
It strikes me as just a little odd that you are focusing on building up a range of equipment when you have not as yet made much money from photography. Are you sure that you have focused on the right area? What type of photography do you feel best qualified at? Where are you intending to focus (no pun intended)? Have you tried to get any work as an photographers assistant (possibly offering your services free of charge for a while)?

If you really do not want to go the Pentax route, then the Nikon D70 is almost certainly a better bet than the 300D/|Rebel. Canon launched their new entry-level DSLR before Nikon so had some first mover advantage but Nikon had the opportunity to learn from Canon's mistakes. In most comparisons, the Nikon simply comes off better having avoided/addressed many niggling problems the 300D has.

Above that level, well that is a whole different ball game....

Stuart
Anonymous
Posted 29/11/2004 - 16:14 Link
well I have done only really persoanl photography in the past and not anything comercially productive.
I have always doen stuff like landscape and art etc
I have doen work covering concerts in the past for newspapers and that wher ei made money before. I am now in a situation where I see allot fo big names in concert as I help to construct and take down shows so I hope to build up work of those. Also My main idea is to do motorsports and alternative sport work and to build a decnent portfolio. I would like to cover youth motorcross and adult and supermoto and have a website of catalgued images for riders/parents to choose prints from.
I live in northenr Ireland and have wrapped on every door there is in the industry here and never got far so I have to try and make my own way. This has been my intial ideas. I have some goos stock but would like more decent stuff before approaching any editors. I just want to get my work out there for now, even if I dont charge to start. I think my images are worth it
I will show you exampels after dinner
Anonymous
Posted 02/12/2004 - 10:03 Link
well
I order a D70+18-70mm DX, SB600 Flash and 1gb card a few days ago.
just about to go out and collect it
George Lazarette
Posted 02/12/2004 - 17:32 Link
Sad, really. If this chap had a need for anti-shake lenses (perhaps because he wanted to photograph sports), then a shift to Canon might have made sense.

As it is, he will lose money on his Pentax gear, having bought kit that offers nothing that Pentax doesn't.
Anonymous
Posted 08/12/2004 - 17:39 Link
I am more happy with te wealt of options Nikon offers me
As I said I needed whole new kit anyway and for my next purchase which will be a telephoto lens I will be getting the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 VR.. the VR stands for Vibration Reduction

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