Upgrading...Suggestions???

[mouselovenfamily]

It's time to take the plunge after breaking my nice lens and upgrade my camera. I have a Pentax istD and am ready to upgrade. I was looking at Nikon and Canon's today and I know I will purchase an upgraded lens. I saw a Canon ESO D40, a Rebel XSI and a Nikon d80. Any suggestions? I would like to go to at least 300 on my lens. Need to get with iot before our Oct. trip!!

I read some info from another thread and see it looks like user preference, however, I know the cannon has a stabilizer on a 75-250 lens and most all these cameras have a stabilizer them, do I need both or go with a stabilizer on the camera and a larger lens???
Thanks~
Renee

 

[gokenin]

just curious is there something wrong with the camera? do you have other lens or just one lens? wondering why you are thinking of changing systems is all. Have you looked at the new DA 50-300 lens if you need something that long?

 

[ukcatfan]

Why are you not looking at the K20D?

You also seem to have some mistaken info. None of those Canon or Nikons have IS built in the camera. They are the two brands that have pushed hard against that technology. You must get it in the lens with them.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

just curious is there something wrong with the camera? do you have other lens or just one lens? wondering why you are thinking of changing systems is all. Have you looked at the new DA 50-300 lens if you need something that long?

I used my friends Nikon and loved it. It seemed faster and newer featuers. I have not looked at the DA 50-300 lens. Would it be better to just get a lens upgrade. The other camera seemed faster...

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Why are you not looking at the K20D?

You also seem to have some mistaken info. None of those Canon or Nikons have IS built in the camera. They are the two brands that have pushed hard against that technology. You must get it in the lens with them.

Thanks for the info. I did see what I though was a stabilizer on the camera by the lens, guess I better do more homework!! I 've not seent he K20D...I'll look it up.

 

[gokenin]

I often here the comment that this camera is faster or that camera is faster so I ask another question what are you shooting? what as an average picture taker do you need more than 3 frames per second? I would think about upgrading to the K200 or if money allows the k20 if you want to keep the other lens that you have for pentax already

 

[mouselovenfamily]

I often here the comment that this camera is faster or that camera is faster so I ask another question what are you shooting? what as an average picture taker do you need more than 3 frames per second? I would think about upgrading to the K200 or if money allows the k20 if you want to keep the other lens that you have for pentax already

I shoot alot of sports for my sons teams. Footabll and basketball where I get alot of action and sometimes low light, that's why I want the zoom up to 300..it's really all about I can afford. Is it not worth the $ to upgrade the camera and just invest in a lens???

Thanks so much!!

 

[ukcatfan]

Thanks for the info. I did see what I though was a stabilizer on the camera by the lens, guess I better do more homework!! I 've not seent he K20D...I'll look it up.

The K20D will be much faster than your camera and be much better at high ISOs.

 

[ukcatfan]

I shoot alot of sports for my sons teams. Footabll and basketball where I get alot of action and sometimes low light, that's why I want the zoom up to 300..it's really all about I can afford. Is it not worth the $ to upgrade the camera and just invest in a lens???

Thanks so much!!

Check out this Tamron that is supposed to be out soon (if not already?) for the Pentax mount at ~$700. http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/5436/tamron-70-200mm-f28-di-ld-macro-af-sp-lens-test.html

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Check out this Tamron that is supposed to be out soon (if not already?) for the Pentax mount at ~$700. http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/5436/tamron-70-200mm-f28-di-ld-macro-af-sp-lens-test.html

Thanks! I had a 70-200 lens that just broke, hence the decision to invest in a new set up all together or just invest in a lens with this existing camera. Before I drop $$$ I wanted to check with my best choices. I felt alot of you would give me an honest answer. I'll check it out!

 

[Golf4food]

Don't jump off the Pentax wagon just to get a "better" name on the side of your camera. Pentax has plenty of great cameras and a huge selection of wonderful lenses - and for less money than Nikon or Canon, too. Your friends Nikon is a newer camera with newer features than your older Pentax (I have an ist*DL, so I know what you experience first hand). However, the newer Pentax cameras have those same features for a lower price. Explore the various Pentax options, too.

And if you are wanting zoomed sports photographs in low light, the lens is going to play as big a part - or bigger. You'll need a low f-stop value lens (which means more $$$), and probably will get better results with a tripod or monopod as well.

With the Pentax internal camera stablization you can use all of the older Pentax lenses and still get the benefit of the IS - with Nikon and Canon you have to spend the money for the IS lenses to get it at all.

 

[Groucho]

I'd agree with the others, I'd at least check out the newer Pentaxes, there's really no reason to switch systems. Your camera is a few years old now, and like any DSLR from that era, it is going to seem a little slow compared to the newer ones. I started with a Pentax ist DL, then a K100D, now a K20D. My ist DL is actually in Disney World right now along with its new owner, who is on her first visit there. A few days ago, we did a last-minute "refresher course" in using the camera - and while I naturally didn't say so to her, there's an amazing difference in speed between the DL and the K20D that I'm using to now - which is a modern, extremely quick, very satisfying camera to use. Still, there's enough DNA shared between them that the DL is still intuitive to use, and the K20D has most buttons in the same place, there's just more of them (and they're weathersealed ).

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Thanks so much for all this great info! I have been very happy with my Pentax and will look into keeping the brand. The store I was at the other day didn't sell Pentax so my options were the other brands. Groucho, I think you hit it on the head for me, the newer cameras are faster from what I saw the other day. Although my camera is great, if I'm going to spend the $ I don't think I'll get what I want with a new lens. I noticed the newer cmeras just being all around quicker. Thanks again and now I can't wait to go find my camera and be ready for our Oct. trip!!!

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Okay....I think I've narrowed it down to the Nikon D90 or the Pentax K20. I'm not a one brand type of person. I have used Pentax for years but will switch to Nikon if I should. My camera store is getting the D90 on Tuesday and have a K20 in stock. I've done a side by side on dpreview.com and they both look good! I know the Nikon has movie clips included. I want something nice and based on photos I see all over the boards, I respect and appreciate your opinions.

Thanks~
Renee

 

[DueyDooDah]

Well, if you're not brandcentric, you might as well look at the Canon 50D also.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=17499

 

[ukcatfan]

The D90 and 50D are brand new, so will be at full retail price. The K20D has been out for a while, so is discounted. I suggest looking at the lenses and other accessories for the different brands to see who has what you want and for the right price.

 

[Groucho]

Okay....I think I've narrowed it down to the Nikon D90 or the Pentax K20. I'm not a one brand type of person. I have used Pentax for years but will switch to Nikon if I should. My camera store is getting the D90 on Tuesday and have a K20 in stock. I've done a side by side on dpreview.com and they both look good! I know the Nikon has movie clips included. I want something nice and based on photos I see all over the boards, I respect and appreciate your opinions.

Thanks~
Renee

I'm generally staying away from camera recommendation threads lately but since I'm already subscribed to this thread...

The Nikon movie mode still has some questions (though someone may have answered them by now), but it sounds like you're limited to fairly short movies, manual focus, no exposure adjustment (I'm not sure if you'd be able to manually adjust the aperture on older lenses that include an aperture ring but probably), etc. The K20D's burst mode is pretty similar, slightly higher-resolution photos, similar speed (21fps vs 24), manual focus and no exposure changes during; the big difference is that the K20D records individual JPGs and not a single movie file. Depending on what you're interested in, one may be better than the other. I used it to get some neat shots of jousters on horseback in the rain and mud recently (as well as some juggling and similar things), I prefer having individual photos but others may vary.

The K20D is, I think, skewed to a slightly higher-level user than the D90, it compares more somewhere between the D90 and the D300, with a huge amount of controls and customization, extremely effective weathersealing, and possibly slightly larger and heavier than the D90 (but I could be wrong.) And don't forget the benefits of in-body image stabilization - every lens you mount will have IS. The D90 sounds very strong on paper though, with the D300's great sensor and a decent feature set. Time will tell how the reviews pan out.

(And I'd definitely recommend checking out some sites other than DPReview... they're great for raw information but many people don't like the conclusions they draw in their reviews, for any number of cameras...)

 

[MICKEY88]

if you're going to look at canon and nikon, you might as well look at sony as well, they have image stabilization built into the camera, rather than the lenses...

 

[MICKEY88]

The K20D's burst mode is pretty similar, slightly higher-resolution photos, similar speed (21fps vs 24), manual focus and no exposure changes during; the big difference is that the K20D records individual JPGs and not a single movie file. Depending on what you're interested in, one may be better than the other. I used it to get some neat shots of jousters on horseback in the rain and mud recently (as well as some juggling and similar things), I prefer having individual photos but others may vary.

QUOTE]

wow 21fps...

jousters...?? sounds like you've been to a ren faire..., have any pics to share..?

 

[Groucho]

jousters...?? sounds like you've been to a ren faire..., have any pics to share..?

I've been to the Sterling, NY one many times but not for a few years. Now that my kid's 3 years old, he's old enough that we're starting to get back to some places we haven't been, as well as looking for things to do with him. So, off we went...

I got a ton of photos, some of which I'm very pleased with, but haven't processed the series yet. When I do, they'll be in the "What I did over my summer..." thread. So far, that thread has...
Rochester Lilac Festival, Rochester Harbor and Carousel Festival (barely), Watkins Glen Historic Races, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert, Parkside Whispering Pines (oldest minigolf in the country), and Corning Museum of Glass.

Upcoming things are...
Seabreeze amusement park (twice!), Pageant of Steam (old steam-powered machinery and agricultural stuff), Sterling Renaissance Festival, Genesee Country Museum fireworks show, and Watkins Glen Vintage Races (just got back and am very excited to go through my shots! tons of fisheyes and shots taken with 40+ year old lenses.)

So, I'd say, check into that thread in a week or two and maybe I'll have the Renn Festival shots up. There's only 821 of them. (Those 21 fps shots add up very quickly!)