Upgrade Advice..k20d?

[Niresangwa]

Hi all

so..I recently accelerated my interest in photography, and toe-tested this by picking up a k100 and dump load of accessories from a friend (who was upgrading) for a reasonable $200.

After a few months of playing, I'm ready to admit I want to take this to the next level. I'm fortunate enough with my current job to allow me the time to develop this hobby into a side-line and envision myself being comfortable enough (in the near future) with my skills to start doing work for people.

If I'm going to take this seriously, I'm making the assumption I'm going to need a better system.

I want to stay with Pentax. I fell in love with the intuitive use of the k100, and also the flexibility in lenses is a boon.

My initial urge is to take up the seemingly good deals on eBay for the k20 body plus a few bells and whistles and little toys. This bundle runs at $860, and includes a Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6.

Are my assumptions on needing a better camera in order to make this step correct?

Is the example bundle a decent deal?

I am, of course aware I will have to up the quality of my lenses also...but first things first. Or am I taking the last thing first in this case?

TIA

Steve

[Trigger]

people all can give you good advice,but on a whole the consensus is glass will outlast camera bodies,so its much the same as 6 to 1/2 dozen do you keep the body and upgrade the glass or go with k20D and use existing glass until money becomes available.I cheated as i have K10D and K20D both as great bodies and glass has been upgraded.Search for a deal that your happy with and good start would be a sigma 17-70(totally under rated,but it performs) or a bit higher Sigma 70-200,these two will cover you in the short term.....anyways good luck and post the results


cheers

[Mr Guy]

There's nothing particularly "wrong" with a K100D that would necessitate upgrading. There's no doubt the K20D is a good camera, and will have a lot of features that you'd like. The biggest differences are going to be how you control your camera. The K20D has a second dial and more buttons to access exposure controls more directly. Additionally, it can command an off camera flash with wireless p-ttl. It's also got an orientation sensor which makes portraits easier.

I'm not familiar with that Tamron lens, but if you plan on using for real work, I'd say it's not fast enough to spend money on. Brand new K20D from reputable shops are in the mid 700s, with and without kit lenses, and you should start seeing more used ones pop up as people upgrade as the K-7 price begins to fall. The lens looks like it can be had for as low as 45 bucks for some of the dubious vendors on Amazon, which makes that a pretty unspectacular pricing bundle.

What lenses do you currently have?

I'd put fast lenses and an external flash above upgrading the body. I used a K110D as my primary camera for a while, and then regulated it to backup status once I got a K20D. Then it got stolen and I replaced it with a K-7, bumping the K20D down. If I were you, I'd fill gaps in my lenses and get used to working with an on camera external flash before I started thinking too much about upgrading the body, and then I'd go used.

There's not a huge difference between the K10D and the K20D, so I'd get whichever was more readily available used from reputable dealers when you're sure that you need another body. Right now, Adorama has a used one of each, $400 for K10D, $520 for the K20D.

[Niresangwa]

Thanks for the replies

I know i need a better zoom, and am working that into the equation, looking for something in the f2.8 range. I love the 50mm Prime i have and am happy with that.

I think the main reason I initially wanted a new body is that when I'm doing post processing, the resolution of the 6mp image seems to be limiting me a little. Then again with better glass, I should be working with a cleaner image to begin with right?

I feel like sooner or later I'm going to need a better body..based on the advice of you two, I think a solid zoom first, then the body upgrade, flash and then round out the glass collection...

sound like a plan?

[Mr Guy]

6MP takes a pretty big picture. Unless you're often viewing them 1:1 on a giant screen or cropping out tiny portions of the picture and blowing them up, it's pretty darn hard to blame the resolution on the quality of the result.

What exactly are you doing that you feel it's the resolution and not just the overall quality of the picture that's effecting the result?

[Niresangwa]

Its mostly crop work where I'm noticing the 'problem'...of course the obvious answer is to get a better shot in the first place so I don't have to work on crop and zoom after the fact.

Having given much thought to the issues you brought up, (both direct and implied once I've thought this through), I have decided to upgrade the lenses and see what that does for me. Found a couple of what I feel to be good deals (Sigma AF DC 17-70 mm f/2.8-4.5 & Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6) which won't break the bank, but will definitely be a step up from the Soligor and the current Kit lens I think)...

The way I figure it with the release of the k7, the only way the k20 bodies will go is down, so I'm not missing anything.

[Mr Guy]

Any chance you can post some specific pictures so we can give some specific advice? If we see the images, we may be able to identify a specific issue that may be giving you trouble, like SR working when the camera is on a tripod, focus issues, lens problems, motion blur, etc.