thinking about upgrading to Pentax...your thoughts please?

[julip]

Hi Geoff,

My brain went "eeek!" when I read about your camera falling out of your bag! Really glad it was ok. Its great to hear from someone who uses Pentax, most people seem to be Cankon and look at me a bit strange! I know what you mean about not needing to upgrade for the shiny factor but because where I am coming from is so far from the newer cameras i am looking at they are all worth it as far as I can see at the moment.

I am still stuck between 50D, D90 and K7/K5 now and off to Park Cameras in deepest darkest Sussex to play!

Thanks you for reply, I will post about how I get on...this might turn out to be an expensive day!

Julia

[GeoffWessex]

Oh I'd love to visit Park Cameras... I lived in Sussex for my first 27 years, then Dorset for 27 years and the last four years in Canada.... my accent would be difficult to describe!
I tried to get something online from Park Cameras, using my UK bank account and for delivery in the UK, but they were having none of it because my home address is here. Ah well, Amazon got that business - about 1000 pounds worth.

[julip]

Hi,

my bank balance is still intact despite spending 3 hours in Park on Sunday! I am still all of a quandry because I found I really liked the Canon 60D but the K7 was lovely too. I just got a call from LCE in Portsmouth that they have a K5 in and would i like to come and play with it so I think a trip down south might be in order this weekend!

Its a shame you didnt go to Park Geoff, it was completely different to the other camera shops I have seen but I am sure there must be comparable shops in canada somewhere? I feel your pain for the online buying/address thing....I was a student for nearly a decade and having my card registered at my parents and me living somewhere else caused no end of grief! I'm glad you still managed to get your kit in the end!

Julia

[GeoffWessex]

I believe B&H Cameras in New York City is the real Santa's Grotto for photography fans on this side of the pond. My daughter, who lives in London, was the recipient of the camera (an Olympus e620) I eventually got from Amazon UK and a couple of months later she came over to New York before coming up to Canada. Having got the photography bug, she went in B&H and spent hours in there, missing out on several things she'd planned to do that day in the Big Apple.

[KeithT]

I'd love to visit B&H. It has tickled my imagination for years and still does every time I visit their website or browse their forums. I'm sure Yonge Street in 'Tronner' has some good camera stores, Geoff. Aden Cameras looks like it might be one of them. http://www.adencamera.com/

[GeoffWessex]

Thanks Keith .... that website certainly has (nearly) everything you could wish for, with all the big camera makes there - but the actual shops don't look as if they'd inspire confidence - like something out of the 1930s! It takes a lot to persuade me to go to Tronner, though.... certainly wouldn't drive and the train is expensive (even compared to the UK). I'll stick with the online stuff, or use my local camera shop to order stuff (even though it's taken them four weeks, so far, to get a Cokin filter for me!)

[HinFrance]

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

... and I'm really happy with my K10d. Oddly, it dropped out of my backpack today, about four feet onto tarmac..... not a single problem, or even a scratch. I think it may have been thanking me for my support!

I've got a K10D and a K20D. For me the two key things about Pentax cameras are:
1) tough as old boots - important for someone as clumsy as I am. Both my bodies have been dropped (several times in the case of the K10D, once onto concrete from the roof of a 4X4 with a heavy 28-300 lens on). They are physically strong and weatherproof - I use my K10D snowboarding without any issues at all.
2) loads of user features that you thought you would never need, but turn out to be very useful in the end - examples are multiple exposure, auto 5 shot bracketing for HDR (not even available on a 7D) and the intervalometer on the K20D

The focusing is slower with non HSM lenses than Cankons, but accurate (and micro adjustable lens by lens). I have never understood why anyone would want multipoint focusing as the first thing I do with every camera I have is switch it to centre spot, and I have never been troubled by waiting for a focus lock. BUT if you want to shoot sports a Pentax would be a less than ideal choice I believe.

I also like the fact that you can use every Pentax SLR lens ever made from M42s through to the current range. I particularly like my Chinon f1.7 50mm which cost me £12 on eBay. Pentax colour rendition is also very pleasing to my eye, but now we are firmly in the realms of personal taste.

And that, in the end is what it comes down to. Are you happy with the camera in your hands? There really are no duffers on the market any more. I'll guarantee that whatever choice you make will give you pleasure and reliable service. I'm sure, however, that Pentax (and Sony) offer much more bangs per buck that anything from Cankon.

[GeoffWessex]

OK - nothing to do with Pentax, but that Cokin filter I'd been waiting for....... now I'm told there's a delay because the factory in France has gone on strike! Is it really that bad in France?

[HinFrance]

No.

The weather's lovely, the food's great. And the wine is better. The shops and, yes, the petrol stations, are full.

They may be on strike, they may not be. Haven't got a clue.

[GeoffWessex]

Oh, a bit like Quebec then. Nice.