Upgrade from Pentax K100D to?

[greengiant]

Hi all, a long time lurker, delurking for a bit

At the moment I shoot a Pentax K100D dslr I bought this way back in 2006!. My main interest in photography is panoramics / landscapes.
I have the following lenses:

Sigma 10-20m F4-5.6
Zenitar 16mm F2.8 fisheye
Tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2
Pentax 18-55mm kit lens.

So not a massive investment in Pentax.

Recently, however I've been finding that I have been running into the limitations of the camera. Mainly poor autofocus, and very slow raw performance. The poor raw performance is particularly noticeable when I am shooting bracketed raw exposures when shooting images for a multi image HDR panorama.

So now I am considering my future options.

Do I stick with Pentax, and invest in a new body such as a Pentax - however none of my lenses have HSM focussing, they are all screw drive. To gain maximum performance from a new Pentax body, such as the K70 which supports HSM lenses, I'd want to eventually upgrade my lenses.

What I am actually seriously considering though, is migrating over to Canon / Nikon.

There certainly is a wide market from reputable companies selling used gear, which I reckon would give me a decent camera body for not a lot of cash. I'd certainly be able to afford a higher spec of camera body this way, than buying new! The same with lenses.

Seeing as I have a "Big Birthday" coming up, now would be a good excuse to "treat" myself

Thoughts please?

Regards,

Brian.

 

[greengiant]

Thanks for the reply, D.P. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed using my Pentax K100D, I just feel that I have outgrown it. Seeing as I don't have a massive investment in Pentax glass, then perhaps a move to either Canon or Nikon would be a better idea for the long term.
Looking at reputable online second hand dealers, there is a lot of used lenses at very reasonable prices which would be ideal for my needs in Canon or Nikon mounts, e.g. Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM or the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX HSM.

Seeing as I've been out of the loop for a few years, if I were wanting to spend, say at the most £400 on a DSLR body, either new or used, what should I go for? At the moment I'm leaning towards Canon, as I like the feel of my Canon SX40HS Bridge Camera.

Regards,

Brian,.

 

[greengiant]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
My main interest is landscape photography / nature photography, so I'm looking for a system which has decent wide angle lenses (e.g. 10-20mm), plus decent macro lenses. There certainly is a good market for used Canon & Nikon gear compared to Pentax.

As I mentioned above, all my current lenses are ye olde worlde screw drive, which I'm finding are increasingly hard to focus accurately with. That could mainly be down to the age of my Pentax K100D. So rather than buy a new Pentax body which is compatible with pentax SDM focussing, as well as replacing all my lenses with SDM ones, I may actually be easier to start from scratch.

I have had a fondle of Canon & Nikon DSLR bodies in a local highstreet chain of electrical stores, with the Canon feeling nicer in my hands than Nikon.

Tomorrow I'm planning on a trip out to a major camera retailer, which may have some second had gear in stock. I do think I'd get a better camera for my money by buying a used Canon body.

 

[greengiant]

Just a quick follow up. Visited my local camera shop today, and came home with a Canon 750D with EF-s 18-55 IS STM kit lens, plus the Canon EFs 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM! Looking forward to comparing photos taken using the Canon 10-18mm on the 750D, compared to shots taken using the Pentax K100D with Sigma 10-20 F4-5.6.

I'm already eyeing up more glass for the camera already, such as a 50mm f/1.8, and a 105 f/2.8 macro.

But I'll need to wait on some pennies coming in again though! So I'll probably opt for looking for these lenses used.

 

[greengiant]

Did you just get a camera for that kind of photography,and not get one with a Pentaprism?? That is the one thing people have forgotten to tell you that the lower end Canon and Nikon dSLRs don't have. All the newer Pentax dSLRs have it and that is their niche and they are all weather sealed. I have handled most of the newer models from both companies(tend to visit some of the shows),and I would not touch a pentamirror with a bargepole,as pentaprisms are just brighter and tend to be larger,ie,not looking down a tunnel. For Canon you need to get at least a £900+ 80D to get those features.

If anything,the Nikon D7100 and D7200 have those features too,and they are cheaper than the 80D,and you can get them secondhand from reputable dealers for less. Plus the 10-20MM AFP also has VR built in too,which makes it quite unique for that class of lens.

For me, photography is just a hobby, so the difference between pentaprism / pentamirror isn't really much of a concern for me. I'm certainly finding the Canon 750D a significant step up from my Pentax K100D. Live view on the rotating screen ideal for macro photography of beasts and bugs! Plus there is a better choice in used lenses for Canon / Nikon I have tried holding a Nikon D5300 in the purple shirt store, and I actually preferred the feel of Canon DSLRs.

I recently bought a K70 as I had Pentax fit lenses anyway and rather than start again after my K50 started to play up I decided to stick with what I felt comfortable with.

Maybe should have gone with a different brand but I never had any complaints or felt the K50 was lacking what I needed so the K70 is just the same with a few extras like moveable screen and WiFi.

All my Pentax lenses were screw drive focussing, so I would have had to replace them all eventually to make them compatible with aPentax body with SDM focussing. Hence my reason to jump ship to Canon

 

[greengiant]

First of all, I didn't buy the camera from the purple shirt store, you'll be pleased to now CAT-THE-FIFTH, but my local WEX Store.

And I prefered to by a new body with 2 year warranty rather than a used one. As I said, I tried holding a Nikon D5300, and it felt uncomfortable in my hands compared to the 750D. No point buying a camera you don't feel comfortable holding!