Leaving Nikon for Pentax - am I mad?
Discussion
Hi all 
Over the weekend I took a look at a lot of bridge-type cameras with the aim of replacing my Nikon D70 DSRL. The bottom line is that none of them really do what I want, which is clearly served by updating my SLR to a more modern one.
The obvious upgrade would be to go from my D70 to the D5100 (the D7000 being out of my price range), which is currently very competitively priced. The D5100 will give me a lot of the modern features I seek, but I cannot help but feel it would be a step "down the ladder" in some respects.
The other contender I really liked was the Pentax K-30, which for a similar price seems to have a higher feature set and build quality - more equivalent to the Nikon D7000 in many respects and therefore a better upgrade from my D70.
I like my D70, but I don't love it! The Pentax seems just right for me.
Obviously the Nikon would be the sensible choice. No-one ever went wrong buying a Nikon. I can use my old lenses (to a certain extent - they aren't anything special, don't have integral motors or stability, so I won't miss them).
So the Nikon with my head, or Pentax with my heart?
Anyone made this move or offer any advice?
Over the weekend I took a look at a lot of bridge-type cameras with the aim of replacing my Nikon D70 DSRL. The bottom line is that none of them really do what I want, which is clearly served by updating my SLR to a more modern one.
The obvious upgrade would be to go from my D70 to the D5100 (the D7000 being out of my price range), which is currently very competitively priced. The D5100 will give me a lot of the modern features I seek, but I cannot help but feel it would be a step "down the ladder" in some respects.
The other contender I really liked was the Pentax K-30, which for a similar price seems to have a higher feature set and build quality - more equivalent to the Nikon D7000 in many respects and therefore a better upgrade from my D70.
I like my D70, but I don't love it! The Pentax seems just right for me.
Obviously the Nikon would be the sensible choice. No-one ever went wrong buying a Nikon. I can use my old lenses (to a certain extent - they aren't anything special, don't have integral motors or stability, so I won't miss them).
So the Nikon with my head, or Pentax with my heart?
Anyone made this move or offer any advice?
We had a Pentax ist DL2 and then last year upgraded to a K-5 and have not regretted our choice. Well made, relatively compact and well-placed buttons for those with smaller hands. The prime lenses are great (including pancakes), the zooms not so, but certainly adequate for general use. But old K-mount lenses work.
Go for it!
Go for it!
I have:
Kit AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX which was quite good at the time, but not outstanding.
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF. Very Slow. Very plastic - but it was cheap (£60!)
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor. Very cheap (£40). Very plastic. Takes nice photos though!
I won't miss any of them!
Kit AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX which was quite good at the time, but not outstanding.
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF. Very Slow. Very plastic - but it was cheap (£60!)
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor. Very cheap (£40). Very plastic. Takes nice photos though!
I won't miss any of them!
Hi Page3.
If you want to sell any of your Nikon kit, please PM me.
I am a newbie and have a cheap Niokn (D40) and am keen on upgrading the lens.
Ironically, I still have a Pentax wet film camera which i started out with and additional lenses in my loft......
If you want to sell any of your Nikon kit, please PM me.
I am a newbie and have a cheap Niokn (D40) and am keen on upgrading the lens.
Ironically, I still have a Pentax wet film camera which i started out with and additional lenses in my loft......
Edited by Ray Singh on Monday 26th November 10:34
The Pentax K-30 looks a great camera (good reviews too), especially at the bargain deals around at the moment.
I'm looking to upgrade to one (hoping the wife's going to buy me one for Christmas) from an iST which has taken some good photos over the years.
I chose a Pentax DSLR because I still had K-Mount lenses from my 35mm camera (a Chinon CE-4) although most have been replaced now (I still use my 500mm Mirror Lens now and then), so I'd agree about the hit on lenses if you switch.
That said, I think Pentax are massively underestimated by the mainstream, Nikon and Canon totally dominating any discussions.
M.
I'm looking to upgrade to one (hoping the wife's going to buy me one for Christmas) from an iST which has taken some good photos over the years.
I chose a Pentax DSLR because I still had K-Mount lenses from my 35mm camera (a Chinon CE-4) although most have been replaced now (I still use my 500mm Mirror Lens now and then), so I'd agree about the hit on lenses if you switch.
That said, I think Pentax are massively underestimated by the mainstream, Nikon and Canon totally dominating any discussions.
M.
Turning it around, I "progressed" from F90x and F100 Nikons to D70.
Given that anyone's criteria would be to have controls that enable you to do stuff, and not buried in menus, then I agree that sticking with Nikon would not be advantageous unless you're going towards at least a s/h D300 - even that's not great. So, unless you have a selection of glass (that's more important than the body anyway) that you can't do without there are plenty of more capable choices than the D70 elsewhere. Decide on what handles best!
Given that anyone's criteria would be to have controls that enable you to do stuff, and not buried in menus, then I agree that sticking with Nikon would not be advantageous unless you're going towards at least a s/h D300 - even that's not great. So, unless you have a selection of glass (that's more important than the body anyway) that you can't do without there are plenty of more capable choices than the D70 elsewhere. Decide on what handles best!
Sold Nikon D50, and bought Pentax K-r. K-30 is very good.
Check if park cameras are still doing their deal - http://www.parkcameras.com/article/483/Black-Frida...
does say one day only but maybe worth giving them a ring....
park or SRS are premium dealers - you get a 2 year warranty if you buy from them. SRS certainly give free postage if ou join pentaxuser.co.uk and quote your forum name/numer ot them.
The poster above looking to buy your nikon - may be interested in a part swap - any old pentax lenses will work with the new cameras. Autofocus ones will AF, manual ones you need to check on the details of eactly how well they will work.
pentaxforums.com has a good lens database.http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/
Check if park cameras are still doing their deal - http://www.parkcameras.com/article/483/Black-Frida...
does say one day only but maybe worth giving them a ring....
park or SRS are premium dealers - you get a 2 year warranty if you buy from them. SRS certainly give free postage if ou join pentaxuser.co.uk and quote your forum name/numer ot them.
The poster above looking to buy your nikon - may be interested in a part swap - any old pentax lenses will work with the new cameras. Autofocus ones will AF, manual ones you need to check on the details of eactly how well they will work.
pentaxforums.com has a good lens database.http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/
Just remembered I bought my Zenith and Minolta SLR's from SRS, quite a while ago! I also bought from them Elite for the BBC Micro, but that must have been even longer ago when they did computers too. Nice to see some companies still being around.
They have the K30 in stock, in white so I'm hopefully going to go along Saturday and take a look. I don't know why I like the white one, I just do!
I was hoping to compare with the Nikon D5100, but they don't have stock of that right now.
They have offered a good price (subject to inspection) for my Nikon kit, so the change won't be financially painful if I go down that path.
I find the sheer amount of Nikon/Canon bias makes choosing something else quite daunting. You feel as though you must be missing something!
They have the K30 in stock, in white so I'm hopefully going to go along Saturday and take a look. I don't know why I like the white one, I just do!
I was hoping to compare with the Nikon D5100, but they don't have stock of that right now.
They have offered a good price (subject to inspection) for my Nikon kit, so the change won't be financially painful if I go down that path.
I find the sheer amount of Nikon/Canon bias makes choosing something else quite daunting. You feel as though you must be missing something!
I also still have a stack of Pentax "silver halide" kit gathering dust on a shelf in the study. I loved all of it and the cameras were faultless over many years hard use and the lenses were excellent. One of the 35mm bodies is a clockwork shutter K1000 the descedant of the legendary spotmatic.
If they are still building to their historic quality level then no reason not to.
If they are still building to their historic quality level then no reason not to.
page3 said:
Hey, I loved that camera! Was 30 years ago though 
Only 30? I'm with you on this - I think mine was the 3M, also had a Kiev IIII.
Interestingly, i moved on to a secondhand Pentax S1a......probably very jealous of people that had the Spotmatic etc.... and then via Cosina to Canon. But nostalgia is a great thing, the Pentax and Olympus models of those times, right through to the early Pentax K series and Olympus OM10, were beautiful pieces of engineering. From this perspective they knock the notion of a D70 Nikon completely into the shade, and neither is a D200, 300, 700 or 800 that much better. In fact, possibly Leica aside, I don't think there is anything built like those cameras (and the Zenith). Even having lived with a D2X Nikon ( and I don't think the D3/D4 are that much different ), I'd say that they're not built like they used to be. But they were built to last 20 or 30 years, and today's offerings only have to last 2 or 3 before technology moves on and sweeps stuff aside.
Buy now on the basis of what works easily in the hand - forget the brand, unless you have a "system" already in your bag. Nothing is a long-term purchase in the same way any more, so it's more important that it's something you'll use. Just a pity we can't put the latest digital sensor into a well built SLR from 30 years back!!! Nikon==> Pentax today is definitely no backward step!
Simpo Two said:
Now there's a project - take a steam SLR and see if you can fit the gubbins from a cheap DSLR into it...
I was looking at my T90 on Sunday and thinking, if only I could squeeze the innards of my 450D in there, it would make the perfect camera. I already use a lot of manual lenses, so auto focus wouldn't be an issue.I had a Pentax K20 a few years back and loved it, the K5 and K30 look very good with the K5 seemingly better though of than the similar Sony and Nikon bodies, if there were better long options on the Pentax I'd snap one up because of the Weatherproofing but at present it wouldn't do me any good for motorsport.
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