Why is the K30 cheaper ?

Your using the K5 yet your recommending the K30 ? Can I ask if there is a reason for this ?
I am able to buy lenses as I go along, being £600+ a month better off from now on. Would this make a difference in your decision between the K5 and K30 ?

The k-30 is newer than the k-5 by approx two years which in slr technology is approx ten years in real life.

The k-30 has faster af than the old k-5 and works better in low light.

If I didn't have a k-5 already I would be investing in two k-30 rather than a new k-5 mk iis I am already converse with using the k-5 so I can literally jump straight into work with the k-5 iis

Do you have £600 a month to spend on lenses or live on???

When's your first wedding? Is it march time??

With the money you got already too I would go the following route which you should be able to afford on a monthly budget if you shop around. If its tight before your first wedding leave the 50-135 out for now and hire it on the day, after the fa 77mm this is pentax best portrait lens.

K-5 mk ii x 2
Grips x 2 original or Chinese copies, essential for batteries lasting all day, I get around 1500 shots from two batteries
Da* 16-50 2.8
Da* 50-135 2.8
Da 50mm 1.8
Da 35mm 2.4
Metz 58 flashes x 2
Mini rc bracket x2
Ttl of camera flash cable from 7 day shop x 4
4 x San disk 16 gig 45 mb/s memory cards
6 x batteries, two for each body and grip and two spare

Then you can keep your kx for when a body goes down and one will go down at some point trust me

If you can work flash manually on e fly then the youngnou 560mkii are excellent and a lot cheaper than the Metz...

I've just bought a K30 and although I'm not a pentax expert I'm going to make some comments (maybe I'm not qualified, but Hey! this is the internetz).

The thing I've noticed on day one with the K30 is that there are not enough buttons. I expect a top end camera to make it really easy to change all the settings. My Olympus E-1 (which was their top pro camera sometime in the 1300 century) has direct access to pretty much everything. ISO/exposure mode/focus point etc.


My point being that although I'm very impressed with the performance of the K30, if I was going to be doing weddings - which are after all the ultimate in no second chance photography - I'd have a good think about the ease of changing settings. I don't know the K5 but I'd expect it, as a pro level body, to have immediate access to everything.

There is more to a camera than performance. The user interface matters.

That's a realistic list Gary. Could save a few quid by:

choosing K-30s as opposed to K5s
replacing the 16-50 with the Tamron equivalent.
Leave out the 50mm

To that I'd add a macro lens, or a close up filter. And another couple of memory cards. Not to mention Insurance

K30 isn't top end - that's already been said in this thread
what buttons is it missing that are so important ?

Green button ..check
ae/af lock ... check
two control wheels .. check
live view button ..check
exposure compensation ..check
iso button..check


errr what you looking for exactly ?

cabstar, the £600+ a month isnt to live on, we are £600+ better off a month. Im not going to spend it all on lenses. We have other things like new kitchen flooring, new conservatory doors as ours are breaking down ect.... but im going to be spending a fair bit when I can on lenses.

The £600+ a month is what we are better off now, ive not included the earnings from the weddings

Oh and as blythman says public liability insurance and get some proper contracts drawn up for your clients to cover yourself for every eventuality.

Oh and of course a decent speed computer with Lightroom or aperture depending on your computing choice.

Wedding photography is not something that can be done on the cheap and I cannot stress this enough.

When is your first booking?

What Pentaxophile said...

If the K-30 had been around at the time I got my K-5 with a similar price difference between the two, it would have been extremely difficult to justify getting the K-5.

Then again, I'm on a budget. I certainly don't have £600 to spare a month. I'm lucky to save £100 most months.

Ive already done some weddings, my first one for next year is February. I have a HP pavilion G6 with Pentium 2.2 GHz - 6 GB Ram, I have photoshop and lightroom 3.

My contract has been written up (Ive put a copy below) Ive starred out info as I dont want to be seen as advertising LOL

******* ***** - Photography

Terms and conditions of the contract

1) This contract is between Suz**** **** , 19 **** St. B*** *** **(hereinafter known as the Photographer) and the Clients of (address) ..................................................................(hereinafter known as the Couple).

2) It is mutually agreed that the following terms of agreement form an integral part of this contract and that no variation or modification of this contract shall be effective unless agreed by both parties in writing.

3) This contract for wedding or civil partnership ceremony photography services is effective from the date it is signed by the Photographer and the Couple.

4) The Photographer agrees to be in attendance on the date shown and to provide the Couple with the photographic package as indicated below:

Date of wedding:

Package booked:

Price:

5) The Photographer agrees that the above price will not be subject to any subsequent rises within the Suz**** **** - Photography pricing structure.

6) The Couple agree to pay a £** non-refundable booking fee.

7) The Couple agree to pay the full balance of the photography package purchased upon arrival of the wedding date shown above.

The Photographer agrees that every effort will be made to provide the highest quality photographic services in the prevailing conditions.

9) In the unlikely event of total or part photographic failure, death, injury or illness, accident or other unforeseen event beyond the Photographer’s control, the Photographer’s liability shall be limited to a full refund of all monies
paid and the Photographer shall not be responsible for other consequential damages, emotional or otherwise.

10) The Photographer retains the copyright of all images taken and may use images for advertising or promotional purposes at their discretion unless specifically requested not to do so by the Clients.



Important Notice:
All parties please note that by signing this document you are entering into a legally binding contract. This contract does not affect your statutory rights.



Declaration


We the undersigned have read the above contract and agree to comply with the terms and conditions therein.

Client 1 signature ......................................................................
Please print name here:
Date:

Client 2 signature ........................................................................
Please print name here:
Date:


Suzanne *****
......................................................................
Print name:
Date:

Mark, I dont have £600+ a month just to spend on camera gear. Dont think I have explained myself very well. We have been on a budget for a while (unemployed, have a disabled child in a wheelchair so unable to work myself) now (the past month) my partner has just become self employed as a DJ. We have secured a residency in a local pub as well as all their functions. I am setting up doing wedding photography and then we get the fantastic news that we will also be a further £600+ a month better off as well.

We have scrimped and struggled for the past year but financially we were surviving ( as in we werent getting in debt but werent having nice things in life). I dont have debts ( dont buy anything unless I can afford cash) so my partner has said that I can build up my lenses out of the extra money we will get a month. Thats not to say that I will spend £600 a month as it isnt always practical but it means if i see something I want I should be able to afford it.

Yeah, sorry, I reread your post and edited mine accordingly, evidently not fast enough though. See new version.

Not too dissimilar to myself. Though I have full time job (on a salary that's not exactly fantastic) my wife is disabled and unable to work. Hence the budgetary constraints. I've built my current collection of camera gear up over 2 years.

Now I'm considering a second camera body in the near future because I've had the rare opportunity of a considerable amount of overtime at work, which has provided a handy one-off cash injection.

On your contract you need to cover yourself for unhelpful family members who refuse to comply with your requests making photography impossible.

Is the hp the g6 laptop? If yes you also need to invest in an ips screened monitor around 23 inch, this enables accurate colour rendition, particularly if you are providing just cd/DVD for e couple to print themselves, you don't want to have to reprint their prints because of poor colour tones.

As I understand from your posts the weddings you have done so far have been for free and for friends, paying customers are more demanding and not as forgiving.

God luck with your new venture it's hard work but very rewarding

Make sure you get professional indemnity insurance too. To put it simply public liability is to cover you for accidents (e.g. someone trips over your camera bag and breaks their leg, a tripod falls onto a kids head etc.) whereas professional indemnity is to cover failing to do the job for whatever reason (memory card fails, illness, forget to do an agreed shot etc.)

Yes most photography insurance cover has indemnity built in...