Pentax lens selection

Historicity wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Hi Pedro

do not know which compact you currently use but based on your sentence not sure a dslr is the way to go

i think you should look at mirrorless system in aps or micro 4/3. You will find great many options for a one transtandard lenses especially in the Olympus/ panasonic camp

Harold

Pedro's probably already made a purchase by now, but I'm curious about your thinking, Harold (in a truly curious and not a contentious way :-)). I moved from Olympus to Pentax when Olympus quit making DSLRs, but I thought that if Olympus ever surpassed the DSLR in image quality I might add one of their camera/lens combinations to my growing collection. My impression is that Olympus isn't there yet. In looking at the reviews of mirrorless cameras I've seen comments like "almost as good as the top DSLRs" or "as good as," but I've never encountered a "better than" comment.

Hi Lawrence

Thank you for your message. This is an interesting question though not easy to answer in a short message. Also keep in mind that a camera system recommendation should be given knowing the photographer  options in terms of : size and weight, budget, favorite subjects, frequency of travel and more

When you see in a review " better " or " as good as" it also depends on what it means. In other words , are we talking only on pure image quality , or are we including ease of use , value for the money, versatility in doing both stills and video just to name a few

Furthermore, the actually reviewers, at least the ones I recall, don't put mirrorless cameras head to head with DSLRs. But one encounters the stray comment that indicates that the mirrorless cameras aren't likely to surpass DSLRs any time soon.

Well I think this is changing. For instance the new Olympus Em1 mark II can compete with APS DSLRs in many ways.

Speaking of which in your post  you mentioned mirrorless versus DSLRs but first of all it depends on whether you are looking at 35mm or APS DSLRs

Also I do not know which compact Pedro had but if he had a 1/ 1.7 , or 2/3 sensor , it means he was using with a native 4/3 ratio. He may not like to be confined to a 3;2 only image ratio. Even if this does not get talked about in the reviews this is IMO a HUGE factor when deciding for a camera system

For instance, for people who shoot a LOT of verticals , the very narrow 3;2 ratio is not ideal in many ways

Also the OP mentions that he was looking at camera for travel. The Olympus OMD line  has a BIG advantage over the pentax APS DSLR in terms of size and weight

Here is a snap courtesy of camera size.com

I know this is not the zoom that Pedro said he want but with the 16-85mm the difference is size and weight is even more I think

Not to mention that Olympus has now a 4/12-100  which  would cover a larger focal length as Pedro seems to prefer .

I am quite certain  that with the 12-100 in an image captured in a 4;3 ratio the Olympus combination would do as well as the Pentax and maybe even better in the 200 to800 iso range.

In any case I think the IQ in these two options is close enough that it should not be the deciding factor between these two options

There is more to say but I do not want to post something too long

Hope it clarifies what I wrote in my previous post

H