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Thinking of Switching to Pentax...
- Thread starter coraxphoto
- Start date
SirSeth
Veteran Member
Greetings and welcome back to photography.
I'm probably going to get burned for this, but I think things have changed enough in the past few years to seriously check out some non-DSLR options for portrait photography.
The E-M10/E-M5/E-M1 (depending on your budget) has better skin tones in JPG and RAW (imo), very fast single AF, touch screen, face detection, focus peaking, & HD video in a small package that leaves nothing to be desired compared to any 16mp DSLR. Combined with their pro lenses like the 12-40mm f2.8 and 40-150mm f2.8 and 75mm f1.8, it's pretty formidable competition.
Granted, it's would be a bit more expensive and there is nothing wrong with the K50--especially in yellow and green.
It's a very good value right now.
Cheers, Seth
I'm probably going to get burned for this, but I think things have changed enough in the past few years to seriously check out some non-DSLR options for portrait photography.
The E-M10/E-M5/E-M1 (depending on your budget) has better skin tones in JPG and RAW (imo), very fast single AF, touch screen, face detection, focus peaking, & HD video in a small package that leaves nothing to be desired compared to any 16mp DSLR. Combined with their pro lenses like the 12-40mm f2.8 and 40-150mm f2.8 and 75mm f1.8, it's pretty formidable competition.
Granted, it's would be a bit more expensive and there is nothing wrong with the K50--especially in yellow and green.
It's a very good value right now. Cheers, Seth
coraxphoto
Well-known member
I don't disagree, but the k3 is beyond the budget. I want a good body with a respectable kit lens, then buy a really nice prime in a couple months. Maybe a bit backwards than most folks, but I'd rather invest in nice, fast glass on the front end of switching. I've got a new baby and house renovations going on, so my budget is limited.
You mention a new baby - if you have any plans of bouncing an external flash using PTTL make sure the body you choose doesn't have the flash metering bug of the K5 cameras (I bought a K5 to shoot my first born and this "feature" drove me up the wall). Not sure if it carried over to the other models or not but I'd think a quick search would tell you. Some users were OK with manual or non-TTL auto modes, personally I wasn't. I mention this because if you're anything like me (or any new dad with a nice camera and a new baby) you'll be taking countless photos indoors, probably often in less than ideal lighting.
The K5 also had issues with artificial and low light AF - I think others have recommended which models to avoid that also have the same issue - take that advice!!!
I started with a K100D and back then it was by far the best entry level model as far as feature set for the price. Just make sure that if you know what you want to eventually grow into as money allows you'll be covered by your system of choice...
miles green
Veteran Member
The K3 autofocus will be better is extremely low light, and probably a bit faster in most situations. On paper the K50 may not be at the top, but it's certainly not at the bottom. In actual use, I don't notice a difference between the K3 and K50, though I'm sure there is. Once autofocus gets to a certain speed and accuracy, 20% faster and a bit more accurate is not as easily noticed unless you're really trying to feel it. When shooting a wedding, my mind is so intent on what I'm shooting, I don't even notice the autofocus and that's a good thing. Any camera that has this particular 16 MP sensor is going to give you some really good photos. They're right there with the best that can be produced by an asp-c sensor. The K50 is loaded with features. The K3 has even more (many that I never use).
My opinion on what is vital equipment to shooting weddings in order of importance: 1) Fast lenses - I don't want a zoom over 2.8 f-stop and a prime over 1.8. 2) Fast quiet motors in the lens. Trying to save money on screw-drive motors or noisy lenses is money down the drain in my opinion. As soon as you can afford a decent lens, you'll never use the other again. You might as well start out with something you can use for decades. 3) Camera body with with good high ISO capability. Unless you are going to FF, the K50 is a good as it gets right now.
Jack Simpson
Forum Pro
…. but, C_P, I would try sus out a store with Pentax kit and try out a K-50 / K5ii(s or not) and a K3 and an available lens, just to check out the skin tones and whatever else you fancy 
And, FWIW, Murphy's Camera is out of the question
But, Best Buy should be helpful CLICK HERE for BEST BUY , albeit only for the K30 and K5-ii or, if you're looking for a place to sell/trade your Sigma kit and purchase your Pentax kit, albeit USED, try KEH in Smyrna, Georgia and here's the Pentax page ….. just scroll down to the Megapixels you fancy and click away -- CLICK HERE for the PENTAX PAGE
Hope this helps
Cheers,
Jack
And, FWIW, Murphy's Camera is out of the question
But, Best Buy should be helpful CLICK HERE for BEST BUY , albeit only for the K30 and K5-ii or, if you're looking for a place to sell/trade your Sigma kit and purchase your Pentax kit, albeit USED, try KEH in Smyrna, Georgia and here's the Pentax page ….. just scroll down to the Megapixels you fancy and click away -- CLICK HERE for the PENTAX PAGE Hope this helps
Cheers,
Jack
Exactly, Raw files have to be adjusted and some of the adjustments are made in batch to every photo. It's not an issue and is in fact, a process that has to be done when you decide to shoot Raw, which every wedding photographer should be doing.
Petroglyph
Veteran Member
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The K50 will have smaller raw files. Is the SD14 a 10MP or 15MP foveon? With the SD2M (15MP foveon) it seems as though the raw files were about 45 megabytes and Tiffs 120 mbyte. The 14bit PEFS from the K5 series (24 mbyte) or K3 are about 36 megabytes. And the K50 files might even be smaller but someone else must verify that. Between ISO 250 & 1600 your Pentax raw files will have much lower chroma noise. I found foveon raws to require special NR software above ISO 400 and unusable for the most part by ISO 1600. I've probably taken about 10000 shots with the foveon sensor. Some were mighty good but the modern bayer sensor can do as well with care.
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