Almost decided on a body, bit more help needed!

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Luke_

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So im so close to deciding which body to buy, I have narrowed it down to two choices.

The Samsung GX-20 or the Sony Alpha A380.

Now I was 99% committed to the samsung, as I have a few old pentax lenses, but I was struggling to find a decent selection of new lenses available for Pentax fit, they all seem to be sony/nikon/canon.

So my question is, Is this really a concern or am I just looking in the wrong place? Some people have told me pentax is a dying brand and support will be dropping for them shortly.

I don't want to start a lens collection and kit collection that will have to be replaced, so am I better off with the sony?

I prefer the GX-20's features and the fact that I can use my old lenses, I just don't want to be buying into a brand that will be loosing support from lens manufactures.

I may just have not been looking in the right places, but I couldnt find anywhere near the same choice of lens for a Pentax/Samsung that I can compared to a sony.

If you were me, what camera would you go for?

Shooting landscapes, low light and the odd travel pics and portraits.

My current pentax lens collection would give me 6 lenses from the day I purchased the camera, but with the sony I could only afford a kit lens and one other.

Please help me! If pentax support will remain and decent lenses are still going to be made, then im happy with the choice of the GX-20. I can replace the body two years down the line with a newer pentax camera if I need to (aslong as they are sitll in production).

I want to go with the Samsung, but I dont want to be buying a collection that will have to be replaced. So please try and help me :)

Many thanks.
 
I don't know how relevant it is, but Jessops have stopped stocking Samsung and Pentax cameras and Pentax-fit lenses, they cleared out all their remaining stocks a few months back...
 
Same with the other local camera shops near me, that's why I am concerned.
 
Although a Sony user myself I would consider the GX20 a better body for my needs than the A380 - however, my needs & yours probably aren't the same.
have you considered an A700 (~£550 body only)?

I think that there is some concern as to the long term independant survival of Pentax & also Olympus as the camera market becomes more & more electronics dominated.
this is a very recent article from somebody who up until recently probably would have been classed as a Pentax fanboi http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/07/really-no-more-hope-with-pentax.html

Sony are now the clear #3 DSLR maker by a good head & shoulders from Oly/panasonic & penatx/Samsung with Tokina supposedly intending to restart lens production in Minolta AF/Sony Alpha mount as market share has reached the point that it's viable for them.
 
Yea, think I better steer clear tbh.

So now the question is, will Sony support be around forever, or would it be better starting off with Canon/Nikon.

I am very impressed with Nikon, but Sony are offering such great deals currently, it seems stupid not to get one! But do you think they will be developing more high end bodies and lenses, or should I stay on the safe side and shoot Nikon/Cannon?
 
If you go the Nikon / Canon route your choice of used lenses etc will be much better.
 
Something like a d60? Then I could build a lens collection for nikon and change body later?
 
there would be more people who use nikon/canon that can offer help if you go for one of them, but its best to buy what feels right to you, go and try a few different ones!
 
I can get a cannon 500d, three lenses, two tripods and a 8gb card for 629, seems like a good price to me?

Good choice?
 
You may want to re-visit your requirements rather than going by price...you said in your other thread that you wanted a video facility.
 
I prefer nikon lenses, so I'm tepmted to buy a d5000 and some decent lenses then upgrade my body in 18 months time, as I prefer the nikon bodys to cannon, but the 500d would give me a better camera than the d5000, but the lenses I get for my d5000 I could use on my next nikon, so think ill settle with the d5000 and then just change bodys next year, wise choice?
 
Im confused... Why are you looking to upgrade body already. Whilst I agree that it is good to invest in a highly supported system should you wish to upgrade further down the line but it's also important to find a camera that suits your needs now. It sounds like your looking into buying your first DSLR so you may find whatever you pick suits your needs for the forseeable future.
 
I perfer Nikon as a brand over Canon.

So I was thinking I can get a D5000 to learn and get to grips with a DSLR, as well as build up a decent lens collection. Then in 18 months to two years time when I come to upgrade the body, I can go for Nikon again and use the same lenses.

Or wait a month and get a D90 kit.
 
Right. Think im almost there.

Three cameras to choose from, all around the same price range.

I can either get a D5000 new, with a kitlens and accessories, advantages, new camera, new tech. Disadvantages, not proper RAW files, only compressed, no AF motor.

So then I can either get a second hand D200 or a new D90. I think the D200 is built better, but the D90 offers me a slightly better quality image and a slightly higher MP for large format prints.

Im leaning towards the d200 or the D90. D200 would be cheaper now, better build than the D90, but give me lower quality images. And vice versa, sacrifice price and build quality to get a better quality image with the D90.
 
Bump, anyone have a view on this?
 
Luke_ said:
Im leaning towards the d200 or the D90. D200 would be cheaper now, better build than the D90, but give me lower quality images. And vice versa, sacrifice price and build quality to get a better quality image with the D90.
Click to expand...

Four things for you to consider...:rules:

  • The D200 does not deliver poor image quality in relation to the D90
  • The D90 is not going to fall apart in your hands in comparison to the D200
  • The D90 will comfortably allow the ability to shoot at higer ISO's
  • More megapixels does not make a better picture; in the same regard less megapixels does not make a poor picture
Hope this helps.

:)
 
Just been into town.

It seems pentax are not discountinued or even stopping manufacture, they just have changed their ordering process and suppliers must order 10k at a time if they want to stock their models.

Lens manufacture and body manufacture will continue.

The d90 was very nice, they didn't have any d200s though.

They sony a380 was also nice and cheap!

More things to consider!!!
 
Luke_ said:
Just been into town.

It seems pentax are not discountinued or even stopping manufacture, they just have changed their ordering process and suppliers must order 10k at a time if they want to stock their models.

Lens manufacture and body manufacture will continue.

The d90 was very nice, they didn't have any d200s though.

They sony a380 was also nice and cheap!

More things to consider!!!
Click to expand...

Thay wouldn't have, it's an old model. Try holding the D300 for an indication of what it would be like.
 
You mention large format prints? are you not jumping slightly ahead of yourself here, the d60 or a d5000 are brilliant cameras to learn on just due to the software e.g. the visual representation of what happens when you change the appeture, dont discount these just due to not having a motor as you can also learn alot from having to manual focus :)
 
Definitely think lenses first. I got back into photography last year (1st time since the 80's) and bought a 2nd hand D40 + kit lens, which at first took plenty of getting used to.

After a few months I then bought a couple of lenses (18-200 OS & 10-20) to expand with. A little later I started to realise the D40 was holding me back (and limiting my choice of lenses), so I sold it (for not much less than I paid for it), moving onto a second hand D200 which was a whole different ball game! It was almost like starting over again, but the D40 had shown me lots to help me get accustomed to the D200.

Now, after buying 2 more lenses I'm very happy with the D200 and feel pretty confident with it. So without spending a fortune on bodies I've learnt plenty, as well as being able to choose the right lenses (and still with a few on my wishlist ;))

The next step will be perhaps an upgrade to a D300 in the future - again losing very little on my present body.

Just my 'tuppence' worth...
 
Luke_ said:
So now the question is, will Sony support be around forever, or would it be better starting off with Canon/Nikon.

I am very impressed with Nikon, but Sony are offering such great deals currently, it seems stupid not to get one! But do you think they will be developing more high end bodies and lenses, or should I stay on the safe side and shoot Nikon/Cannon?
Click to expand...
OK, now that Sony seeems to be back on the table I'll try to answer this.
Sony as a company are bigger than either Canon or Nikon, indeed they seriously considered buying Nikon but took the opportunity to buy Konica Minolta's imaging division cheaply when KM wanted out of cameras.
They are the #2 overall manufacturer of digital cameras plus they supply others (like Nikon) with sensors.
Re. the DSLR side of things they are now clearly the #3 brand having put a good bit of space between themselves & Olympus, Pentax etc. & the brand with the fastest growing market share.

Will they continue to develop more high end bodies & lenses - I would bet on it (you could argue that I already have by further investing in glass).
At the end of the day though you have to pick based on how they feel to you & whether they have what you need - e.g. does it matter to you that they don't currently have a £6000 600/4 if you have no need of that (there is a 500/4 coming though)? On the other hand all lenses fitted on an Alpha are image stabilised which actually means a larger no. of image stabilised lenses available than for either Canon or Nikon ...
You can find fault with all the systems but all the companies have the vast majority of needs covered & it's only around the fringes that some may be lacking a solution (& even then 1 may be available 3rd party).
 
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