Hi all,
thank you very much for the nice answers to my previous mail! It is a
really special feeling to know that I have done something worthwhile,
and I am deeply moved that you all appreciate my work to such an
extent. I took no offense to the one or two mails that spoke about "the
results count", "Canon is a gadget maker", don't worry. I actually
expected more resistance... :-)
What can I say? It was not an easy decision, and I have been
contemplating it for over a year now. I have thought about it long and
hard, and have had several (heated) discussions with PDML members Arnold
Stark and Knut Kampe. But in the end even Arnold's strongest and solid
arguments could not overpower my will to move on.
The real turn came when I recently decided that I want to try
photographing birds and animals (nothing exotic, creatures in our garden
or in the zoo). The only lens that I was able to afford was a
second-hand 400/5.6, and it had to be AF. I have never seen a used FA*
400/5.6, so I look at eBay for a Canon. Well, in the last 6 weeks there
have been 8 of them for sale, and I got mine at a wonderful price.
Adding a body and a flash was a breeze, so I was all set. Let's say it
like this: My only Pentax experience with longer lenses was a day-trip
with Arnold where I got to use his K 400/5.6 and M42->K 500/4.5. Those
photos were a disaster! Manual aperture were manual focus too much for
me!!! Using the EOS 30 with the 400/5,6 USM is much more convenient. I
can dial in exp. comp. via the thumb dial in the back, flash exp. comp
on the flash, AF is very fast, and can see well even through the small
AF-type viewfinder. Program shift is very convenient via the
index-finger dial, and the eye-control AF "gimmick" work wonderfully for
me!
So, where are those that say that better technology does not lead to
better photos? Yes, each photo made with the greatest USM, IS, etc.
lens can be made also without. But the chances of doing that are almost
non-existent!
So, the main factors are:
- Canon has a more complete AF system
- Canon delivers new products and technologies faster
- it is far easier and more cost-effective to buy (second-hand) Canon
gear (for example, I will soon be able to buy a like-new second-hand D60
for about $800)
- one has certain security that one can never outgrow the Canon system
- counting from 1986 until now, Canon actually has better system
compatibility than Pentax, and there is NO INDICATION that will have to
change their mount any time soon (Pentax is moving towards a mount
change [at least simplification]. The *ist does NOT work properly with
K and M lenses, and it is NOT an entry-level camera --- it has the best
AF system of ANY Pentax camera!)
Now, where is Pentax? I feel that they have slowly but surely abandoned
the market segment in which I am -- serious amateur. If we ignore the
brilliant FA* 200-600/5.6, they don't have much for sports or wild-life
professionals either. They seem to be concentrating in the segment of
*ist and below. I have nothing against that, but I wish Pentax would
come out and say if my assumption is correct, or they are simply lacking
the money/people/resources to develop things faster.
In the end, it is all very simple. I feel that very few serious
amateurs and professionals use Pentax gear, and therefore the few
serious Pentax items do not sell very well. This then leads to Pentax
not investing very much in development of such items, and more serious
amateurs and professionals switch to other brands. It's a vicious
circle, and I am the real loser.
So I switched... But like I said, I'll keep an LX, FE-1, two bright
screens, a 17/4 fish, A20/2.8, A24/2.8, K30/2.8, A50/1.7, and A100/2.8
Macro. Sad as it may be, soon after my current eBay auctions are over,
I will also sell the superA, MZ-5n, battery pack Fg, M24-35/3.5 and FA
24-90/3.5-4.5.
Once again, thanks for all your positive remarks and nice comments to my
previous mail.
Cheers,
Boz
--
_\\|//_ Imagination is more important than knowledge...
0(` O-O ')0 A. Einstein
===ooO=(_)=Ooo=======================================================
Bojidar D. Dimitrov author and editor, Pentax K-Mount web page
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kmp.BDimitrov.de/
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