Nervous nellie...go with Pentax K-1 or move to Sony FF?

yiangelo wrote:

Hello all,

Long time Pentaxian here...late 80's then *ist DS and onward.

My Pentax K-30 bit the big one (aperture lever issue) and I've been without a "nice" camera for over a year. I have the following lenses:

Pentax 43 1.9 Limited

Sigma 35 1.4 Art

Tamron 70-200 2.8

Sigma 17-50 2.8

Pentax 50 1.7 (A)

Pentax 10-17

Consider how much of your current lens selection would be usable with a full frame camera.

A couple of months ago, I took a leap of faith and purchased the Sony A6500, the Sony 18-105 F4 PZ, and the Sigma 30 1.4 for E-mount.

Now with the announcement of the Pentax K-1 Mark II and the Sony A7III I'm unsure of my next step.

Consider why you need full frame: what is lacking with your APS-C stuff at present?

the one hand, I really like the quick AF and very easy manual focusing of my old Pentax lenses with manual aperture (using an Pentax adapter), the small size of the A6500 body and the image quality. I also have some aspirations to shoot video but I'm no Martin Scorsese.

On the other hand, I primarily shoot low light candids/ street photography/ landscapes so I always loved Pentax for that. My choice is either sell all above lenses and go full on Sony FF with the A7III or A7RIII...OR sell the K-mount crop sensor lenses and the Sony 18-105 (absolutely hate the slow power zoom) and buy a K-1 Mark II with a 24-70 2.8 or the 15-30 2.8 and keep the A6500 with the 30 1.4 for a lightweight street/ Scorsese kit?

I love the ergonomics, image quality, and feel of Pentax cameras but the only thing that makes me consider selling everything and going all-in to Sony FF is the question of long-term longevity and the seemingly uncertain future for smaller companies in the photography business. I'd hate to get stuck with a bunch of expensive lenses that would become worthless if Pentax were to close shop.

Good glass will never be worthless. It will outlast whatever body you are using it on and will still have a residual value.

Opinions? Advice? Help!

If you do decide you need full frame, try each camera in your hand. If one or the other really feels good to you, go with it. If neither stand out consider of you need to wait for another iteration.