Best Pentax for Wildlife and Landscape?

[Ziffster]

I am tired of having to constantly fear the rain and having to protect the camera from even light drizzle and the brand which seems the most tolerant is Pentex unless willing to pay a bundle.

Based on the reviews, with Pentax each model seems to have unique strengths and weaknesses, making choosing the right model more complicated than simply deciding how much one wants to pay like the case with Nikon.

But that opens the question, for Wildlife (including birds) what would be the best suited APS-C frame?

As for Lens was thinking about the 50 to 300 as my main lens. With Nikon would have likely gone with the new Tamron 18 to 400, but alas it isn't available on the K mount.

Also do some low light shots (dusk) of landscapes and the like. Is their a reasonably priced weatherized lens with reasonable low light performance?

If I was willing to break the bank I likely would have gone with the Nikon D7500, but as on a budget the Pentax just seemed to offer so much more bang for the buck and only affordable weather resistant solution.

 

[robbo d]

Your precisely in the Pentax zone ......... weather sealed if that's important to you and value for money in the wildlife and landscape zone.

Don't expect quite Nikon style AF but:

The latest Kp and K70 versions together with the most recent 55-300 PLM motor lens and weather sealed to boot is their best fast focusing lens and body combo.

Single point AF is more than adequate.

The IQ is right up there and particularly so is the high iso.

As for wide angle, it depends if you want primes or zooms.

The 16-85 and 18-135 are both weather sealed, the former being more expensive and generally regarded as better quality but the 18-135 does its best work at the wide end edge to edge and looses quality at the long end

Your about to get everyones version of whats important to them......

Depends on your budget and if your going to buy new or willing to look for good used versions. Older K3/ k3ii are incredible bang for buck and the upper range apsc but the high iso not quite as good as K70 and Kp(especially)

The 55-300 is a good kit lens capable of great results and of course gives you equivalent 450mm.

The DA15mm is highly regarded as a wide prime but unsure that its WR

Happy hunting

 

[paulkienitz]

The old 55-300 is very sharp for the money but not good at autofocusing; the newer PLM version is much quicker at focusing but not sure if the optics are as good. Bear in mind that no zoom is ever going to be as thoroughly weather sealed as a prime, especially an internal focusing prime. With my DA* 300/4 I have no fear of taking my K-3 out on the deck of a boat and getting splashed with seawater, but I would be much more reluctant to try that with a zoom. Maybe if I just left the zoom at one position and didn't zoom it in or out unless it was dried off first.







--
"A good photograph is knowing where to stand." -- Ansel

 

[Historicity]

I am tired of having to constantly fear the rain and having to protect the camera from even light drizzle and the brand which seems the most tolerant is Pentex unless willing to pay a bundle.

Based on the reviews, with Pentax each model seems to have unique strengths and weaknesses, making choosing the right model more complicated than simply deciding how much one wants to pay like the case with Nikon.

But that opens the question, for Wildlife (including birds) what would be the best suited APS-C frame?

As for Lens was thinking about the 50 to 300 as my main lens. With Nikon would have likely gone with the new Tamron 18 to 400, but alas it isn't available on the K mount.

Also do some low light shots (dusk) of landscapes and the like. Is their a reasonably priced weatherized lens with reasonable low light performance?

If I was willing to break the bank I likely would have gone with the Nikon D7500, but as on a budget the Pentax just seemed to offer so much more bang for the buck and only affordable weather resistant solution.

Ziffster,

My interests are similar to yours. I want cameras and lenses suitable for hiking, and actually I've accumulated a number of them. The camera that you want is probably the K-70. It is weather-proofed but isn't built quite as ruggedly as the K3 and K3ii. But the K3 is no longer available new and the K3ii is a bit more expensive than the K-70.

So, assuming the K-70 is acceptable to you, you have a number of weather-proofed lenses that are very good. The 18-135 has been the workhorse for a lot of people. I've used it a lot and like it. The 16-85 is considered a step up from the 18-135, but frankly I don't notice a significant difference in the sort of shooting I do.

The most recent zoom I've purchased that is weather-proofed is the FA28-105. It was designed for the full-frame K1 but I read that it is very good on the APS/C cameras as well; so I got one and am very happy with it.

Since I hike, I haven't done much birding. If I see something interesting I may try for it, but I haven't had much luck. I do have the 50-300, just not the latest PLM version. Three versions of the 50-300 have been built, the first isn't weather resistant. The second, the one I have is weather resistant. The third is both weather resistant and has a pulse motor in it that speeds the focusing process; so perhaps that one would be your best choice for inexpensive birding.

Based upon what I read in your note, I would recommend the K-70 camera, the 18-135mm and the 50-300mm lenses. All are weather-proofed.

Lawrence

 

[Polacofede]

I am tired of having to constantly fear the rain and having to protect the camera from even light drizzle and the brand which seems the most tolerant is Pentex unless willing to pay a bundle.

Based on the reviews, with Pentax each model seems to have unique strengths and weaknesses, making choosing the right model more complicated than simply deciding how much one wants to pay like the case with Nikon.

But that opens the question, for Wildlife (including birds) what would be the best suited APS-C frame?

As for Lens was thinking about the 50 to 300 as my main lens.

I had the hd da 55-300 wr ( non plm ) and it was sharp, nice colors and contrast, slow af and noisy but seemed like a tank. Then i sold that and the da 18-55 and got the sigma 18-300 (i wanted an all in one), it focuses fast and silently but it seems more fragile and colors and contrast doesn't seem to match the pentax ones also is not wr and has vignetting, so it's a practical lens for walkarounds when going on vacations but today i would go instead for a pentax 16-85 which is wr and seems great for that kind of things (eg landscapes, nature, portraits). Then i would get a different lens for wildlife / birds.

About the body aps-c I would recommend a K3II which i own. Built like a tank, great ergonomics, more af points and faster than K70. Full of features and i love the astrotracer!!! and is a great tool for night landscapes with astros on it. The only advantage i see in the K70 is the tilting screen. So definitely i would get the K3II again in a heartbeat.

BIF are not a strong point for pentax if you require very fast tracking for instance a bird flying towards you, tracking in afc is not the best but you can develop some personal tricks to achieve decent results. AFS is great and has no issues at dim lights and you get the benefits of the in body stabilization.

For any other kind of nature shots and lanscape i think pentax will not let you down. And under certain conditions you might even be able to use Pixelshift which can provide awesome results.

Maybe i'm wrong but, I don't think you will find something at +400mm priced as budget for Pentax. However maybe the DA 55-300 ED PLM WR RE is fine for you and at a reasonable price.

I also own the sigma 50-500 OS HSM which i use as a general purpose lens and birding, i'm really happy with it. I got it used from ebay at 870usd. And a DA* 60-250 which at f5 is amazingly sharp so it goes well for close subjects and bigger targets.

With Nikon would have likely gone with the new Tamron 18 to 400, but alas it isn't available on the K mount.

Also do some low light shots (dusk) of landscapes and the like. Is their a reasonably priced weatherized lens with reasonable low light performance?

If I was willing to break the bank I likely would have gone with the Nikon D7500, but as on a budget the Pentax just seemed to offer so much more bang for the buck and only affordable weather resistant solution.

 

[Ziffster]

The K3ii and K70 are not that different in price. The K3ii body can be had for $800, while the K70 is $560. Both are less then the Nikon D7200.

That said, I was leaning toward the K70 as from what I have read the focusing speed with the new 50 to 300 is much improved over the K3ii.

 

[Polacofede]

The K3ii and K70 are not that different in price. The K3ii body can be had for $800, while the K70 is $560. Both are less then the Nikon D7200.

That said, I was leaning toward the K70 as from what I have read the focusing speed with the new 50 to 300 is much improved over the K3ii.

To be honest i don't remember to have ever read such a thing.

K3II

• SAFOX XI 27-Point AF, 25 Cross Sensors

K70

• SAFOX X 11-Point AF with 9 Cross Sensors

I think i video, and maybe live view, the K70 has an advantage. Maybe someone can clarify this.

Anyway, if you prefer K70, is perfectly fine.

--
thanks for all the fish!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/polacofede

 

[Historicity]

The K3ii and K70 are not that different in price. The K3ii body can be had for $800, while the K70 is $560. Both are less then the Nikon D7200.

That said, I was leaning toward the K70 as from what I have read the focusing speed with the new 50 to 300 is much improved over the K3ii.

To be honest i don't remember to have ever read such a thing.

K3II

• SAFOX XI 27-Point AF, 25 Cross Sensors

K70

• SAFOX X 11-Point AF with 9 Cross Sensors

I think i video, and maybe live view, the K70 has an advantage. Maybe someone can clarify this.

Anyway, if you prefer K70, is perfectly fine.

 

[agukha]

If I had one Pentax APS-C to buy now, I would take the KP, the "high" iso seems a good step from my K3ii (better than a D500 and not that far from a K1)

I'm waiting for the successor of the K3ii... with some of the better qualities of the KP, probably slightly better AF too, but for just now, I'd choose the KP.

I like the 55-300 PLM, much faster than the previous one, and I have pretty portraits with it, maybe the z tracking on fast moving subjects is still not as good as other brand (on my K3ii) ok

 

[agukha]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

Loading…

www.pentaxforums.com

 

[Polacofede]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[Historicity]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[haui]

Here are a few samples from the K-70 (for the birds the new 55-300 (thats a bit short for birds do best add the 1.4X converter) and for landscape the 12-24)













(the last image was with the DA*300)

--
http://panamainpictures.com/
http://www.ptybirds.com/
http://nature-images.org/
http://cool2visit.com/

Save

 

[Polacofede]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[Polacofede]

Here are a few samples from the K-70 (for the birds the new 55-300 (thats a bit short for birds do best add the 1.4X converter) and for landscape the 12-24)













(the last image was with the DA*300)

--
http://panamainpictures.com/
http://www.ptybirds.com/
http://nature-images.org/
http://cool2visit.com/

Save

Save

great ones!

--
thanks for all the fish!

Federico Jakimowicz

Explore Federico Jakimowicz’s 2,468 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Sactojim]

Here are a few samples from the K-70 (for the birds the new 55-300 (thats a bit short for birds do best add the 1.4X converter) and for landscape the 12-24)













(the last image was with the DA*300)

--
http://panamainpictures.com/
http://www.ptybirds.com/
http://nature-images.org/
http://cool2visit.com/

Save

Save

VERY well done! Congratulations on getting these beauties.

 

[Ziffster]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[Historicity]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[Polacofede]

Here is an article on high iso test of the KP :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/high-iso-performance.html

To me, there are several points that the kp does not check when thinking in landscapes and wildlife that the k3ii does. I do agree about the iso performance, but can be improved a bit in pp or trying to use a bit lower iso, k3ii does not have a bad iso performance at all.

 

[Ziffster]

Thanks all!

Decided on the K70 paired with the new 50-300 and 35/2.4.

Was a tough choice between it and the K3ii, but came down to two things... the primary lens used will be the 50-300 which is suppose to be better supported (speed of AF) by the K70, and the twist/tilt screen offers the advantage of allowing non eye level shooting (which I have found handy with my current camera).

It is a shame that they don't offer a weather resistant prime or reasonably priced bright wide zoom.

I just realized that this setup and ends up not being that different from what I shot with 40 years ago when I had a Spotmatic F, 55/2.0, and 85-210/4.5. It will be like being a teenager again... lol