At the beginning, it was price/performance. In 1984 we had a baby, and our Mamiya-Sekor SLR died in a fall. I went shopping, and quickly narrowed the choices to the Nikon N2000 and Pentax Super Program. The latter was =much= better put together, and I bought it.
Then I got another one. And some lenses. Then a PZ-1... and a PZ-1p... and more lenses... and an istD... and more lenses... and a K10D... and still another lens or two. I really like the way my Pentax cameras handle. I like the lenses. In the K10D, I love the shake reduction. Better low-light performance would be nice, but I can wait. It is =certainly= not worth the bother of selling off my current system and buying another. Photographically, my limits are wetware, not firmware or hardware. So, I have no reason at all to switch systems. Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW --- On Fri, 1/15/10, Igor Roshchin <s...@komkon.org> wrote: > From: Igor Roshchin <s...@komkon.org> > Subject: Why Pentax? > To: PDML@pdml.net > Date: Friday, January 15, 2010, 12:36 PM > > In view of various comments from people about K-7 and K-x, > I've been > thinking, - why am I shooting with Pentax? > This is a summary of my thoughts - I'd like to hear what > others think > about this. > > In the past few weeks I realized that compared to other > brand DSLR's > Pentax DSLRs (even the "flagman" K-7) has serious > problems. > In crude terms: > 1. The AF sucks. > 2. The low-light performance sucks. > > 3. The P-TTL performance is inconsistent (I don't know how > I-TTL/E-TTL etc. are in that regard - any comments?) > > So, I was re-thinking my use of Pentax. > I started with ZX-5n back in 1997. The reason I chose it > over Nikon > was that I didn't like ergonomics of N70/F70, and couldn't > afford N90. > ZX-5n had incredible ergonomics, especially after coming > from an > all-manual SLR (Kiev-19) where I could set everything > blind-folded; > ZX-5n had all-analog knobs and buttons. > Despite lack of continuous AF that is found in Nikon > models, > I enjoyed my ZX-5n greatly. > > When the time came to buy a DSLR, I thought if I should > switch to > a Nikon, but decided to get *ist DS. And I've been rather > happy with it > for over 4.5 years by now. > Yes, the low-light performance has been bothering me a lot, > and > while until recently I didn't suffer much from the > shortcomings of the > AF, - I just learned to work around it. > > In the last 2-3 years, I started taking photos at dance > events, > and that's where quick and accurate AF matters, and low > light > performance and an accurate flash are important. > So, why am I still using Pentax, and buying new bodies and > lenses? > > While thinking about it, I recalled a very old joke about > two worms. > A son and his father are seating in a pile of bull sh.. > manure, and > talking: > -- Daddy, is it nice to live in that grove across the > field? > -- Yes, son. > -- Daddy, is there plenty of food over there? > -- Yes, son. > -- Then why, daddy, we live in this pile of bull sh..? > -- Because that's our Motherland. > ... > > > I still like Pentax. > I don't like at all the consumer line of Canons (Rebels > etc.). > I seem to like mid-line of Nikon's circa 2005-2008 but have > almost > no idea about their more recent (and higher) models. > I've been looking at Panasonics that are highly regarded by > some > PDMLers, but I am not sure if they have that good AF and > low-light > performance. > > As for Pentax, I am currently evaluating if I should > exchange the K-7 > for a K-x for a better low-light performance. > > I just got a K-x that I will try "in action" during the > weekend. > My first impression of a K-x is that functionality- and > layout-wise, > it is very reminiscent of the DS. But I was rather > disappointed by the > lack of the small top status display. > I don't mind the versitality of the AA's (I use them for > the flash > anyway). > K-x is lighter, but compared to K-7 the feel a bit > plasticy; > more so than that for DS. > I like that the choice of the AF mode, ISO and exponometry > mode > in the K-7 is done by physical switches, not via the menu. > > > I would be glad to hear what others have to say about these > thoughts. > > Igor > > PS. The obvious short response "BS" is not accepted. ;-) > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link > directly above and follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
