450d vs K-x

Which camera?

  • Canon 450D

    Votes: 34 70.8%

  • Pentax K-x

    Votes: 14 29.2%
  • Total voters
    48
mithrandir

mithrandir

Messages
740
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Yes
I still haven't decided on my first DSLR yet.

Which one of these cameras is best for a beginner, general photography, image quality, reliabilty.

I'm would also get a nifty fifty at a later stage, but not sure of the Pentax equivalent (quality & cost-wise).


Many thanks for comments
 
Ive owned a 450D and it was a great starter camera

Fairly light and most important of all....easy to use :)
Combined with an IS kit lens and a nifty fifty, youve got as great little starter system!
 
Go for the Canon....you then have access to a huge range of compatible lenses...
 
I own a canon, have not owned a pentax
Based on what I know i would go for the canon, the range of lenses in my view is better and you can upgrade bodies as you wish/can afford:p
It is a slippery slope into lens and gadget lust though - beware!!:lol:
 
There are fewer lenses available cheaply for the pentax, but the KX as a body beats the 450D a hundred times over.
 
My vote goes to Canon. Buy a canon and you have access to a great range of lenses, flashes and accessories.
 
Pentax :)

Well I would say that :)

It's my first DSLR and I'm enjoying the learning curve

I have the 18-55 DA L which as regards glass is identical to the 18-55 DA

I bought the D Xenon Samsung 50- 200 - nice lens

I bought the 40mm Ltd - now that is incredible - a pancake and very very sharp photos from it

And I have just bought the Tammy 18-55 F/3.5-6.3 to use as a 'holiday' lens having been caught out by having the wrong lens with me recently. For holiday use I can only take one lens on the body and the 40mm in my pocket .

I bought the Metz 48 AF-1 flash and am more than happy with it .
 
camerassassin said:
And I have just bought the Tammy 18-55 F/3.5-6.3 to use as a 'holiday' lens having been caught out by having the wrong lens with me recently. For holiday use I can only take one lens on the body and the 40mm in my pocket
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No you didn't .. you bought a Tamron 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 ;)


As for which camera, as I have said a few times on here .. ask on a mainly Canon/Nikon forum which make of camera to buy and you can pretty much guess the answer. Ask the same question on a Pentax forum and the answer is a different make and for the same reason.

The Pentax is a much better camera but there are less lenses available, take a look at my kit list (which has a very small selection of the current Pentax range) and if you think you will need anything more exotic in the future because you are expecting to go semi/pro then choose Canon.

Comparison
 
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The 450d is really a generation behind the K-x which was (I think) released after the 500d and before the 550d, so one of those may be a better comparison. That said the Canons are more expensive.

With Pentax there are loads of cheap old lenses that can be fun to play with, although with varying degrees of manual intervention required.

Canon has more in the way of current lenses and accessories.

My advice would be to go and play with both in a shop and pick the one that feels right. Both are very good, you can't really go wrong.
 
Just to throw another spanner in the works - the Pentax has inbuilt stabilisation in the camera :) and believe me it works.
 
SamuelHearn said:
There are fewer lenses available cheaply for the pentax, but the KX as a body beats the 450D a hundred times over.
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Actually there are more lenses available relatively cheaply for Pentax camera's than any other brand as the mount is backwards compatible with pretty much all previous PK, PKA, PKAF and with the addition of a T mount all M42 lenses and that without bringing the Tamron adaptall mount into things.

I've had Pentax's, solid, reliable and pretty much as weatherproof as camera's get with their weather sealing.

The only downside I found was weight, a KX will be heavier than the canon.

As a compromise I would recommend another canon, a little step up .. a 500D .. you can pick the body up new for as little as £469 add a 50mm F1.8 for £89 or get it with the 18-55 IS lens.
It's better than the 450D, and to my mind the KX apart from weather sealing.
 
SixToes said:
My advice would be to go and play with both in a shop and pick the one that feels right. Both are very good, you can't really go wrong.
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Really, that's the only way to do it. Best bit of advice given in this thread so far. :thumbs:
 
Indeed, go and hold them and see what feels best to you you, that's ultimately why I bought a 450D over a 60D.

The K-x is far better specified than the 450D though; greater ISO range, more fps, video mode, HDR mode. However, you're buying into a camera system so bear in mind the range of lenses and flashes, not to mention potential body upgrades as time goes by - Pentax's range isn't the largest.
 
As everyone says go fondle them and see which sits better in your hands, which set of controls seem most intuitive and which menu system you prefer. At the entry level I would say the cameras (apart from little foibles here and there) are all very capable and take great pictures!
 
camerassassin said:
Just to throw another spanner in the works - the Pentax has inbuilt stabilisation in the camera :) and believe me it works.
Click to expand...

But herin lies an issue... In body stabilisation is never anywhere near as good as in lens stabilisation, especially at long focal lengths, and with the Kx you are stuck with the in camera system. Just another consideration!
 
odd jim said:
But herin lies an issue... In body stabilisation is never anywhere near as good as in lens stabilisation, especially at long focal lengths, and with the Kx you are stuck with the in camera system. Just another consideration!
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yes but the third party sigma OS lenses and Tamron VC lenses are still available...actually I don't know about Tamron as I think they only include VC on Canon and Nikon bodies.
 
My freind has a Pentax K-x and it is great, the pictures from the kit lens are brilliant!

But I personally would go for a Canon, as there are a wider range of lenses available :)
 
Whenever Canon or Nikon v another brand comes up the argument for the big two often includes there being more lenses and accessories. That may or may not be true and as one poster has pointed out there are possibly more lens options with the Pentax but people don't seem to accept that. I think it's such a shame that the likes of this Pentax therefore suffer in comparison.

Maybe it's best to make a list of pros and cons and maybe consider that some Canon accessories although available may never be wanted whilst good build quality, ergonomics, in body IS and weather sealing might just be of real world practical benefit.
 
I often wonder how many people that own a DSLR actually go out and buy all these fancy lenses and accessories that are available. Probably 70% of them buy a DSLR with kit lens, memory card, a bag and maybe a superzoom or cheap consumer 55-300mm and that's it.

Infact I would hazard a guess a lot of members on here only have two or three lenses at the most .. even though they went with Canon or Nikon for that much larger range available.


Anyway, I personally think the OP should go and try the things and make up his own mind.
 
odd jim said:
But herin lies an issue... In body stabilisation is never anywhere near as good as in lens stabilisation, especially at long focal lengths, and with the Kx you are stuck with the in camera system. Just another consideration!
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can you prove that, i find with my 500mm on my pentax and my 500mm on my nikon there about the same.
the only advantage of built in the lenses is you can see it working(but there are reports about it causing horrible bokah and soft images)
also there are lenses for pentax that have is built in.
 
well if you go by this thread you will never get a camera.
Everyones suggetion is subjective and personal.

the only way to buy is got to the shops

Handle all the cameras
Buy the one that
Feels most comfortable in YOUR hands
That fits YOUR budget
That has the most intuitive control layot and menu system for YOU

Remember all the cameras can take good pictures. YOU make them great
 
woof woof said:
Maybe it's best to make a list of pros and cons and maybe consider that some Canon accessories although available may never be wanted whilst good build quality, ergonomics, in body IS and weather sealing might just be of real world practical benefit.
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I don't think the K-x has better build compared to equivalent Canons - it's about the same. Ergonomically it's different, whether better or worse will depend on the individual users preference. It's not weather sealed (the K-7 is though). It does have in-body IS.

mithrandir - Like I said before, go and play with both and then make up your own mind! :)
 
Yes, lack of weather sealing is a shame, I've yet to see a Pentax that didn't look and feel better built than the Canon alternative.
 
scottthehat said:
can you prove that, i find with my 500mm on my pentax and my 500mm on my nikon there about the same.
the only advantage of built in the lenses is you can see it working(but there are reports about it causing horrible bokah and soft images)
also there are lenses for pentax that have is built in.
Click to expand...

No I cant prove it beyond any doubt whilst sat here, its simply based on my experiences using my own kit and a friends Sony kit. The in body system is a jack of all trades. Yes its nice having every lens stabilised to some degree, but I do believe that in lens stabilisation has its advantages, three of which are obvious;

- each lens IS system is tailored and tuned to that particular lens. The system in the Canon 17-55 IS is very different to that of the 55-250 IS or 100-400 IS. The IS in the latter lenses are tuned to telephoto work, and the systems work very differently due to the different demands depending on the focal ranges.

- the image through the in lens system is stabilized through the viewfinder, this can be invaluable at very long focal ranges.

- the in lens systems can make larger corrections due to the fact the lens elements (plural) move, its far more flexible than having a single plane moving (sensor).

Theoretically (and by the laws of physics) in lens stabilisation is still the better option. However, I'm sure there will be a day when in body stabilisation is as good but I dont think we are there yet...
 
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Thanks again for some useful info guys.

I've previously handled both units although with the K-X there were no working batteries so I was not able to play around. Both felt nice to handle with the 450d being slightly lighter. I'd be comfortable handling either.
I just can't get along with Sony Alphas though.

I've read a load of reviews and the K-x menu systems looks a little bland and dare I say primitive.

Currys/PC World seem to have a good offer with the double lens kit for the K-x and the 450d at £100-£150 less for a second hand/refurb model.

I read the K-x can overheat and automatically shutdown due to the AA batteries which is a concern.

:thinking:
 
mithrandir said:
I read the K-x can overheat and automatically shutdown due to the AA batteries which is a concern.
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Could you point me to that article?
Not saying you are wrong but I use the 2 main Pentax forums a lot, there are loads of K-x users on them and I have never seen overheating mentioned once due to the use of AA batteries.

I have however seen it mentioned in regard to people using video in very warm places for a long period of time which can cause shutdown (protecting itself) due to the sensor overheating.

Pretty disgusting not having a working set of batteries though.
 
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Mike.P said:
Could you point me to that article?
Not saying you are wrong but I use the 2 main Pentax forums a lot, there are loads of K-x users on them and I have never seen overheating mentioned once.
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Photography Monthly Magazine, and I think it was mainly movies more than pics (if at all).
 
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odd jim said:
No I cant prove it beyond any doubt whilst sat here, its simply based on my experiences using my own kit and a friends Sony kit. The in body system is a jack of all trades. Yes its nice having every lens stabilised to some degree, but I do believe that in lens stabilisation has its advantages, three of which are obvious;

- each lens IS system is tailored and tuned to that particular lens. The system in the Canon 17-55 IS is very different to that of the 55-250 IS or 100-400 IS. The IS in the latter lenses are tuned to telephoto work, and the systems work very differently due to the different demands depending on the focal ranges.

- the image through the in lens system is stabilized through the viewfinder, this can be invaluable at very long focal ranges.

- the in lens systems can make larger corrections due to the fact the lens elements (plural) move, its far more flexible than having a single plane moving (sensor).

Theoretically (and by the laws of physics) in lens stabilisation is still the better option. However, I'm sure there will be a day when in body stabilisation is as good but I dont think we are there yet...
Click to expand...

I think you are right and it does seem to be an accepted fact that lens stabilization has the edge, however in-body stabilization is still very good and I don't think that for most people it is a fundemental issue when choosing a camera. It's true that the lens stabilization is tailored to each specific lens but body stabilization does take account of the focal length, too. In fact, when using a legacy lens with the Olympus system you have to manually dial in the focal length being used.
 
Mike.P said:
I often wonder how many people that own a DSLR actually go out and buy all these fancy lenses and accessories that are available. Probably 70% of them buy a DSLR with kit lens, memory card, a bag and maybe a superzoom or cheap consumer 55-300mm and that's it.

Infact I would hazard a guess a lot of members on here only have two or three lenses at the most .. even though they went with Canon or Nikon for that much larger range available.


.
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I think this is very true. For most people, every brand is very well served with choice of lenses. In fact, Pentax seem to be particularly strong on primes. Olympus have a smaller range than most but it is primes that are the main weakness. The zoom ranges are actually very well covered with three distinct performance classes, most of which have the edge on similar classes from the competition. Without doubt both Olympus and Pentax produce some excellent cameras and lenses and deserve a much bigger market share, but it is a fact of life that most people feel more assured buying into either Nikon or Canon as these are the two undisputed market leaders. I still think the main thing is to get a camera which feels right in your hands.
 
mithrandir said:
Thanks again for some useful info guys.

I've previously handled both units although with the K-X there were no working batteries so I was not able to play around. Both felt nice to handle with the 450d being slightly lighter. I'd be comfortable handling either.
I just can't get along with Sony Alphas though.

I've read a load of reviews and the K-x menu systems looks a little bland and dare I say primitive.

Currys/PC World seem to have a good offer with the double lens kit for the K-x and the 450d at £100-£150 less for a second hand/refurb model.

I read the K-x can overheat and automatically shutdown due to the AA batteries which is a concern.

:thinking:
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No working batteries - it takes AA cells! Outrageous that a shop couldn't find some. If you can, go to a different shop.

From what I've read it seems like most DSLRs that do video can have overheating issues whilst recording. It won't be a problem with the 450d though - it doesn't have video! ;)
 
SixToes said:
No working batteries - it takes AA cells! Outrageous that a shop couldn't find some. If you can, go to a different shop.

From what I've read it seems like most DSLRs that do video can have overheating issues whilst recording. It won't be a problem with the 450d though - it doesn't have video! ;)
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lol. True, don't think I'll need the video option tbh.

It seems the D3000 is reduced to £275 (new) on the bay.

more choices
 
lol. scrub the above. The D3000 has now sold out and I read it was the non VR version.
 
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