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

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

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. On 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.

Opinions? Advice? Help!

If I were you, I would get the K-1 and keep the Sony. Buy just one lens for now, either the 24-70 or the 15-30 depending on how wide you want to shoot landscapes. You might consider the 28-105 instead, which is a lot lighter, cheaper and yet optically excellent. Your Sigma 35, 43 Limited and Tamron 70-200 will all work really well on the K-1. And you can build a small system around the Sony (the K-1 is big and heavy).

Pentax is for the bold iconoclasts.  You have to have the stomach for it. Great gear, but you'll get zero respect from anyone.

So was Sony in 2009/10, and up to the current A series.  But no more.  Sony is thoroughly mainstream, now, and rich in variety.  As a Nervous Nellie you can bounce around within the Sony ecosystem with plenty of choices up and down the scale of size and resolution, with excellent video thrown in.

I am all in with Pentax now, and extremely happy.  Formerly I was with Sony, and I love Sony----think they are wonderful.  Lots of great innovation, good prices, what's not to like.

K1 for dirty work. Sony for soft work. Don't forget the zeis lenses are expensive .

"Long-term longevity"? Like that 30 year-old Pentax A 50mm? Have a Sony lens that old? 

Point being, bodies come and go. You can use old Pentax lenses on Sony. Their old glass is fantastic.

And close shop? if you really worry about that I'd suggest you definitely sell and get a Sony if that relieves your anxiety. The Sony that's comparable to the K-1ii is the A7Rii, and you will of course have to worry whether the successor will be superior to the current one, and the K-1ii. And of course the A7rii is more expensive than the K-1ii. But again, if it worries you why fret? You'll get good pictures with either one.

I agree. Sony is the safe choice, they hold the cards on sensors. But wow ergonomics and the shear joy of using your equipment have to count for something........in my case a lot as long as the quality is there. I'd be much more adamant if I had a FF lightweight ultrawide now, but ultimately it depends on your stomach for risk I suppose.

Larry

tex wrote:

Pentax is for the bold iconoclasts. You have to have the stomach for it. Great gear, but you'll get zero respect from anyone.

So was Sony in 2009/10, and up to the current A series. But no more. Sony is thoroughly mainstream, now, and rich in variety. As a Nervous Nellie you can bounce around within the Sony ecosystem with plenty of choices up and down the scale of size and resolution, with excellent video thrown in.

I am all in with Pentax now, and extremely happy. Formerly I was with Sony, and I love Sony----think they are wonderful. Lots of great innovation, good prices, what's not to like.

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

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.

this statement does not jive with you being without a nice camera for over a year, as you have a nice camera with a a6500

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

you have a good package with your current system.

On the other hand Why are you buying a camera based an annoucement?  you should buy a camera to solve a problem such as my old body is broken.

On the other hand, I primarily shoot low light candids/ street photography/ landscapes so I always loved Pentax for that.

if you want landscapes then you will want the pentax cam. both bodies pentax and sony should be about as good for the others.

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.

why do care what your lenses are worth? why don't you care what your photos are worth. you need proper lenses to get good photos, sure you can sell them later, but the priority for shooting with gear is to get the equipment you need for your attempts.

Opinions? Advice? Help!

see above,  I would not get into the pentax q system, as that seems to have stopped, but pentax seems to stick around with its gear.

I would keep your current cam for street and add that second body.

You had a K-30, why not just get a used K-5 or K-3(II)? Or Go with the K-3II and utilize the pixel shift to give you super good landscapes if you photograph static scenes. I personally would not like a two system setup, but that's just me.

Your K30 can be fixed.

There is info online and I have even seen replacement Japanese aperture solenoids available for a proper permanent fix.

Pentaxforums have a whole thread or threads dedicated to the problem.

SMCTakumar wrote:

You had a K-30, why not just get a used K-5 or K-3(II)? Or Go with the K-3II and utilize the pixel shift to give you super good landscapes if you photograph static scenes. I personally would not like a two system setup, but that's just me.

Considered this, but I rented a K-1 back in 2016 and really enjoyed shooting FF; my 43 limited was a revelation at the true focal length!

I had been buying up FF lenses for a few years expecting to switch to the Pentax FF when it appeared, then my K-30 stopped working and I hesitated buying another Pentax body for awhile.

Oh I missed that, the K-1 is worth just for the 43. Yeah so what are you waiting for, just get the K-1

I think you are right.

The K-1 with my existing FF lenses and the Sony with the Sigma 30 1.4.

Then it's just a matter of the 24-70 vs the 15-30 or maybe the 28-105+15-30

I love the 24mm focal length for landscapes and general purpose outdoor shots; the 16-45 at 16mm F8 was my most used focal length by far on crop sensor, but that lens and a couple of others were stolen a few years ago when I put my bag down for a moment.

Is the 24-70 2.8 any good? I've heard mixed things...

The 15-30 2.8 seems to have a better reputation, but it is definitely a different animal than the 24-70.

You seem to love Pentax, the feel, the iq etc...

Me too

If Pentax were to close shop - and I dont for one minute think Ricoh will - the Pentax gear wont become worthless - it may even go up in price!

cheers

Brett

tex wrote:

Pentax is for the bold iconoclasts. You have to have the stomach for it. Great gear, but you'll get zero respect from anyone.

Actually, you'll get respect from all the people that matters - because they'll respect you for who you are, not for the gear you're using.

I agree with the idea, though, for a different reason: the people that doesn't matter will do their best to make your life miserable. Pitiful things, attacking you for making a choice different than theirs.

Alex

yiangelo wrote:

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.

Opinions? Advice? Help!

Do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

No one can reliably predict if a certain brand will stay in business in the long term. Pentax is constantly 'predicted' to go away yet they don't; OTOH... remember Samsung? They retired from the camera market just as their users celebrated the NX-1.

Alex

Alex Sarbu wrote:

yiangelo wrote:

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.

Opinions? Advice? Help!

Do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

No one can reliably predict if a certain brand will stay in business in the long term. Pentax is constantly 'predicted' to go away yet they don't; OTOH... remember Samsung? They retired from the camera market just as their users celebrated the NX-1.

Alex

Samsung is a bad example for many reasons, that said if one brand could disappear now from the camera market, it's Pentax..

Pentax is by far the less active brand on the market and since the K-1 launch they're pretty much in a stasis state. They're not dead yet, maybe they won't die anytime soon but that's something to keep in mind; Pentax is a fragile brand with small investments and support, so if you want to shoot Pentax make sure what you want is already here.

And for the glass becoming cheap after Pentax closing shop I doubt that, sure some price drops will happens but look at good 4/3 lenses, like the f/2 zooms, they're still quite expensive.

Even though I sold my K-1 I I kept my K-3 II and apsc lenses, and I will keep them for a long time even if Pentax leave the market tomorrow.