synodontis
Member
yes the 18-135 seems to be appreciated by most for what it does at the price, is my choice for first lens
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K70, KP or hold 'em for a newbie??
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synodontis
Member
Doug, thanks for the comments. Have also read alot about that PLM lens, seems like a great piece from everyone that is using it.
I'm located in Greely - your backyard !!
Phil A Martin
Veteran Member
We don't know that yet, it could have significantly higher IQ but also a considerably higher price, which I think is certain.
DougOB
Senior Member
Quite close, I am in the Hunt Club area, and so is Flektogon!
If you are interested in actually holding both the K-70 & KP then send me a PM. The ergonomics can be the deciding factor. We can figure out how to do it with social distancing.
Doug
The K-70 is good but the KP is your best choice for a high quality, long-life camera.
Hold on the purchase just until the next good deal - probably Black Friday - or until a good used body (i.e. low shutter count and long dealer warranty) becomes available.
Also, leave the 300 zoom for a future purchase - save for the PLM version - and try to get a good deal on the KP + 18-135 WR. The latter is a great all-purpose zoom with good centre sharpness.
Cropping the centre half of the frame (e.g. for a distant wildlife subject) taken at 135 mm still gives a 6 MP image (3000x2000), comparable to 270mm focal length - good for screen viewing or a 10 inch print.
I don’t usually do wildlife but, although this was from the K-70, this cropped hand-held snap might roughly illustrate the idea:
Juvenile Black-headed Gull. K-70 & DA 18-135 WR. Image cropped, half height and half width. Image produced in PaintShop Pro.
Philip
Hold on the purchase just until the next good deal - probably Black Friday - or until a good used body (i.e. low shutter count and long dealer warranty) becomes available.
Also, leave the 300 zoom for a future purchase - save for the PLM version - and try to get a good deal on the KP + 18-135 WR. The latter is a great all-purpose zoom with good centre sharpness.
Cropping the centre half of the frame (e.g. for a distant wildlife subject) taken at 135 mm still gives a 6 MP image (3000x2000), comparable to 270mm focal length - good for screen viewing or a 10 inch print.
I don’t usually do wildlife but, although this was from the K-70, this cropped hand-held snap might roughly illustrate the idea:
Juvenile Black-headed Gull. K-70 & DA 18-135 WR. Image cropped, half height and half width. Image produced in PaintShop Pro.
Philip
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Notenkraker
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Wait for the new flagship. Probable the K3 III. Price about 1200 dollar.
Henk Koehorst, Netherlands
Henk Koehorst, Netherlands
DougOB
Senior Member
It will be higher than that I think. Also that is in USD, the OP is looking for CAD1500 including lens, that would be ~USD1150 total.
Doug
Phil A Martin
Veteran Member
Exactly. He'd be better off spending less on a K70 bosy and more buying some quality lenses instead and maybe a decent dedicated flash.
PocketPixels
Active member
KP all the way. The KP has no aperture quality issues. (to be fair, those issues are quite rare on the K70, but they do happen and it is terrible). The upcoming Pentax Flagship might change the game at the top of the market, but it's unlikely to make too big a dent in the price of a KP. Importantly, nothing Pentax releases next month will make the KP a worse camera. Psychologically, sure, it can feel disappointing to no longer have the latest and greatest, but the KP is already great.
KP goes for about $800 (US) without lens. You can get a Pentax DA 18–55mm kit lens for a SONG on eBay or at any used camera shop, if that's really what you want. The newer 18–50mm kit lenses have weather-sealing and quiet focus, but optically you can't go wrong.
A 300mm lens worth having is going to be a bit pricey, though. The lovely DA★ series includes some tremendously good telephoto lenses, but they aren't cheap.
You'll love Pentax. They include so many thoughtful touches in each piece of gear, makes them a pleasure to use.
KP goes for about $800 (US) without lens. You can get a Pentax DA 18–55mm kit lens for a SONG on eBay or at any used camera shop, if that's really what you want. The newer 18–50mm kit lenses have weather-sealing and quiet focus, but optically you can't go wrong.
A 300mm lens worth having is going to be a bit pricey, though. The lovely DA★ series includes some tremendously good telephoto lenses, but they aren't cheap.
You'll love Pentax. They include so many thoughtful touches in each piece of gear, makes them a pleasure to use.
flektogon
Veteran Member
Doug, currently KP can be bought for $899 (plus HST of course), which is still a very attractive price. Regarding the lens(es), definitely this camera deserves at least a couple of primes, which with a little bit of patience can be bought for a very good price on Amazon.ca. Just recently I saw there HD DA 35/2.8 Macro Ltd., for something like $360! And they pretty often offer DA15, DA21 and DA70 for around $400. But the best option is still DA 20-40 (currently for $730, and never saw it cheaper). So yes, you would end-up easily spending 2k, but what is the alternative? A different brand, like Nikon Z50 with two kit lenses? Or Canon EOS M6 Mark II with Ef-M 18-150mm (currently for $1500)? Maybe. But those are not Pentax, are they
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Regards,
Peter
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unhappymeal
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I know you mean well, but do you realize how tiny the used Pentax market is, especially in Canada? I ended up getting my KP new at a fire sale price because the used market for any modern Pentax equipment is non-existent here. It took me ~6 months of searching the Canadian classifieds, Pentax Forums, Fred Miranda and Reddit every day to find a used DA* 300mm f/4.
My recommendation to him would be if he can wait until Black Friday, see what Amazon does with the KP. It was on for $700 CAD earlier this year, so they might do another sale to clear out the remaining inventory. If nothing happens on Black Friday, then they have the K70 + 18-55 on for $800 CAD and that'll leave him with $500 to grab a few primes or the 55-300mm PLM.
unhappymeal
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The Z50 + two lens kit is a ridiculous bargain right now. Nikon is running a promotion where if you buy any Z mount camera, you get $260 off the FTZ. It will put you over your budget (~$1,800 after taxes), but if you are not wedded to Pentax, this is a spectacular bargain.
Both of the Nikkor Z kit lenses are extremely compact, have about 5 stops worth of optical stabilization are sharper than just about every Pentax entry-level zoom. The Nikkor Z DX 16-50 VR is so good that the Z7 guys buy it for using the body in DX crop mode.
The issue you will have is that the Nikkor Z roadmap has only one DX lens, though there are some f/2.4 - 2.8 pancake primes coming that will pair nicely with the Z50. Oh, the Z50 also weather sealed (except for the pop-up flash) if that's a concern for you.
Both of the Nikkor Z kit lenses are extremely compact, have about 5 stops worth of optical stabilization are sharper than just about every Pentax entry-level zoom. The Nikkor Z DX 16-50 VR is so good that the Z7 guys buy it for using the body in DX crop mode.
The issue you will have is that the Nikkor Z roadmap has only one DX lens, though there are some f/2.4 - 2.8 pancake primes coming that will pair nicely with the Z50. Oh, the Z50 also weather sealed (except for the pop-up flash) if that's a concern for you.
DougOB
Senior Member
While the DA Ltds are the perfect match for the KP I would not recommend that as a starting point, particularly if the budget is limited (or rather a budget that is not unlimited, or a budget not for Limiteds, or... ;-))
Nope. The OP indicated a preference for IBIS and WR which draws people towards Pentax. I will leave to other to compare other brands.So yes, you would end-up easily spending 2k, but what is the alternative? A different brand, like Nikon Z50 with two kit lenses? Or Canon EOS M6 Mark II with Ef-M 18-150mm (currently for $1500)? Maybe. But those are not Pentax, are they
Doug
I don't understand anybody buying from Amazon, for example, all the official Pentax dealers in the UK had the best Black-Friday through to Xmas deals and they have a 2 year warranty.
In any case I'd rather give my money to a photo shop and they look after you as well... a personal service.
I hate that Amazon company :-x
Yeah Ok but many people prefer DSLRs and like an optical viewfinder. When you jump out of internet forums into the world it may surprise you, my friend didn't want a MILC and bought a Nikon DSLR only a few months ago.
Nikon is trying to get people into their MILC system with those offers. It certainly isn't a money saving exercise in the long run. Sony did the same thing.
Phil A Martin
Veteran Member
No I don't live in Canada but as everyone is fretting so much about potential faults, for peace of mind I thought it would be wise to buy a new one under guarantee. Although I suspect the faults are exaggerated anyway.
Then surely this makes my recommendation to buy new even more relevant?
unhappymeal
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...he said he was contemplating the Z50 two lens kit... As for the real world, outside of birding, I see mirrorless cameras everywhere. I cannot take two steps in Toronto without tripping over a Sony body in the wild.
unhappymeal
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That would be useful if your local photo shops carried Pentax. The nearest photoshop to me with a Pentax body in stock is over 200 km away.
unhappymeal
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My sincere apologies, I misread your post. I fully agree with you and would advise the original poster to go with a new body.
None of them do, I'm talking about buying online. No shop on the island of Ireland has Pentax. The closest shop Wex is a chain, I can order it online and collect it from the shop but that is just the same as getting it delivered. However I can request to trial Pentax stock, they bring it over (from England) and send it back if I don't buy it but I wouldn't put them through the hassle.
The staff are excellent and go out of their way for you no matter how little you spend. Their used gear is excellent and comes with a 1 year guarantee...
The other UK Pentax dealers are also excellent, and all business conducted online but you can phone them too and they will try their best to get you good copies of lenses etc.
I'm just explaining why you should buy from online camera shops and not generic monster corporations PLUS they always do better deals. The staff are all photographers with photography degrees etc. too so I want to keep them in a job they enjoy.
And you get 2x the warranty period (2 years here). I got a replacement K-30 back in 2014 for free despite of being out of warranty over 2 years old... Try and get that kind of service with you know who.
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