Pentax film SLR user moving over to digital

Anorakus

Anorakus

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A query on behalf of a friend who's got a manual-focus Pentax P30.. he wants to move over to a DSLR, and is naturally looking at a Pentax. He was asking about how to maintain the quality of film on a digital system, so I was steering him in the direction of a full-frame sensor.

I know that Pentax are far out on the periphery in the DSLR market - a quick look on their website indicates they only have 4 models to choose from, and none of those are full-frame.

I was going to recommend my mate stick his film kit on eBay and go with one of the big boys, i.e. Nikon or Canon. Is there any reason to stick with Pentax, and could he make use of any of his manual-focus lenses?

TIA :)

A.
 
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As far as I know all Pentax lenses work on all Pentax cameras. The reason to stick with Pentax? aside from the lenses your friend already has, they are excellent value for money and tend to cost significantly less than their main rival's equivalent offerings.
 
if he wants pentax buy a k5 awsome camera build quality is awsome weather sealing is probably the best on the market.
af is nice and fast, has built in shake reduction which works on any lens(even his old manual ones)
picture quality is awsome iso is really very good, and is suppose to have the best dynamic range of any camera on the market.
look here.
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Ca.../(brand)/Canon/(brand2)/Nikon/(brand3)/Pentax
 
Quality of film? :thinking: That was a plus-point among users yet a criticism of reviewers from the outset with Pentax DSLRs.

There's no need to sell his kit, unless he's short of space or the price of a fish supper.

Full frame? Zoom lenses likely to have been used with a P30 aren't fast, whereas new lenses likely will be, so it's swings and roundabouts with regard to depth of field. A full frame body would be larger, so may be more likely to be left at home.

Old lenses are convenient to use on Pentax bodies. Ones with the "A" setting on the aperture ring are easiest, but there's the "green dot" on the camera for those without. Unfortunately, the old lenses (and the new) are no longer the bargains they were, and it's a lot easier finding sellers of CaNikon stuff.
 
:plusone: to everything said already, and he should seriously have a look at the K5. If he's moving from a film camera, the differences between (say) a K5 and a D3S will be marginal compared to the overall change - and he can keep all his existing familiar lenses, with a body that is both extremely well made and relatively easy to use.

Or if he's particularly flush with cash, and wants something with a very "filmic" feel to its output, he could look at the 645D :naughty: ok have to start again with lenses though.


Don't know where he is, but if anywhere near Watford I'd strongly recommend going and having a chat/demo with the friendly people at SRS ...
 
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flossie said:
Don't know where he is, but if anywhere near Watford I'd strongly recommend going and having a chat/demo with the friendly people at SRS ...
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Also have a look at the K7, could be some bargains about as people move to the K5.

Regards
 
Anorakus said:
A query on behalf of a friend who's got a manual-focus Pentax P30.. he wants to move over to a DSLR, and is naturally looking at a Pentax. He was asking about how to maintain the quality of film on a digital system, so I was steering him in the direction of a full-frame sensor.

I know that Pentax are far out on the periphery in the DSLR market - a quick look on their website indicates they only have 4 models to choose from, and none of those are full-frame.

I was going to recommend my mate stick his film kit on eBay and go with one of the big boys, i.e. Nikon or Canon. Is there any reason to stick with Pentax, and could he make use of any of his manual-focus lenses?

TIA :)

A.
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It grieves me to say this, but I think your advice is dead right - sell up and go Canikon. There is nothing outstanding about Pentax these days, they're a spent force and you get far more choice, and better prices, with the big brands. It's very sad, not good for market competition either, and while I wish Pentax renewed success, I'm not holding my breath and they'll not be getting any of my money.

Using old lenses on a modern crop sensor DSLR just doesn't work very well, and new kit actually isn't very expensive for what you get.

I don't expect Pentax owners to agree with this. They're good cameras, but no advantages and plenty of downsides and that's not likely to change.

BTW, any decent crop format DSLR will blitz an old film SLR on quality. Full frame competes with where medium format film used to be.
 
I would say go pentax unless you need the specific lenses which only canikon make.
The K-5 is a superb camera body which has definite advantages over some other cameras in it's price range (more weather sealed and better built than both the canon 7D and nikon D7000 and a newer better sensor than the 7D (pretty much the same as the D7000) and it has in body stabilisation).
There are some superb old K mount lenses to be used on digital bodies. I sometimes use a 50mm SMC f/1.7 with an adaptor on my 40D.
 
photon said:
And yet you regularly do :shrug:
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Call me a masochist then, but I believe it's good advice.

The only reason to stick with Pentax is to use some old heritage lenses that will not be as good as new designed for digital. The rest is all downsides.

So, starting afresh, do you think Pentax is the best brand? Not saying Pentax are bad, far from it, but certainly no better and with quite a few downsides to a full system, buying and selling used, too.

I'm far from confident that this ailing brand is going to make it. They're in deep trouble.
 
Mike.P said:
You have been saying that for the last 3 years (since I bought my first Pentax DSLR infact) and yet they are still here.
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I haven't been here that long, but let's hope I'm wrong - with your money rather than mine.

Edit: Pentax was bought by the Hoya Group in 2007. They stripped out the profitable medical equipment division and announced a halving of the workforce two years ago, and the camera division has been losing money ever since. I think it was around that time that I said things couldn't go on like this. Since then, the cooperation with Samsung has been phased out and Samsung are going it alone with their mirrorless camera system. Pentax is up for sale, that's common industry knowledge.
 
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I would say to start again and go for Canon or Nikon purely for the choice of lenses.
 
Mike.P said:
Tell you what, lets make it interesting.
I have £50 that says Pentax will still be around in another 3 years time.

Interested?


If I lose it will be a drop in the otion compared to the value of my Pentax gear. :lol:
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Not interested in the least. The Pentax name will be around for a very long time. It has great commercial value, even if it is applied to a Chinese compact. And I also hope I am wrong.

Whichever way you look at it, Pentax is a shadow of its former self. They used to be marked leaders, the biggest of the Big Five - Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Minolta and Pentax. Their Spotmatic is an all-time classic legend and the ME Super was the biggest selling SLR for a long time. Pentax invented the zoom-compact sector with the massively successful Zoom-70.

That was then, the 80s and 90s. They missed the boat with digital, and the chief exec talks about cutting losses and getting back into the mainstream. This is all a matter of public record if you google it. A return to the mainstream is not likely to happen with their most signifcant new product, the 645D, which has eventually appeared after a long and difficult birth. But at £10k, even if it's a success, that's a short road to nowhere.

It's hard to see a way forward. In commercial terms, the future lies with new mirrorless cameras, and it's the big electronic brands that are making waves there - Sony, Panasonic, Samsung - with Olympus leading the way for the old guard. You can be certain that Canikon will wade in there will something pretty special when they feel the need, but since they have 80% of the DSLR market to themselves, they're in no rush. They surely have prototypes ready to roll.

Latest figures I heard were that the mirrorless sector now accounts for 24% of new quality camera sales in the UK which is a huge figure for such a new line. Samsung have shut Pentax out of that.

That's all in the future. But right now, Pentax make good cameras at good prices, even if there's not so much choice with lenses and accessories and the used market is weak. And they will surely continue to do that for as long as they can. Until the company is bought out basically. Or not. That's when their fate will be sealed, one way or another.

Sorry to ramble :)
 
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