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The cameras themselves are good. Weather-sealed bodies, had in-body image stabilization long before anyone else, reasonable (although not great) compatibility

by paulmd 8y ago

The cameras themselves are good. Weather-sealed bodies, had in-body image stabilization long before anyone else, reasonable (although not great) compatibility with older lenses, etc. The first-party lens selection is not up to par with the Canon/Nikon offerings. If a third-party like Sigma makes the lens you're looking for, it will usually come in a Pentax-mount variant, but most of the Pentax lineup is focused on consumer-grade lenses rather than the high-end stuff. That's fine, but Nikon and Canon have entry-level/midrange lenses too, while the reverse isn't true of Pentax with the high-end stuff.

baldfat 8y ago
I would say that Pentax has the best Prime Len stock period. Also you can buy a lens from 1980 and it will work (No auto focus) perfectly. I have extra sharp beautiful 42mm and 50mm and a 100mm prime and it cost me less then $250. I love my Pentax. I own a Sony A3 RIII and I still get better portraits on my cheap o Pentax lens. Pentax Prime Limited are amazing and so much cheaper then Cannon or any other brand. Look here for lens: https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/ https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/
pietroglyph 8y ago
> reasonable (although not great) compatibility with older lenses All Pentax cameras from 1975-on have used the Pentax K-Mount[0], which means that in (almost) all cases you can use most of the lenses made in the last 43 years. I would call that pretty good compatibility. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-mount https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-mount
- Bud 8y ago
  Pretty mediocre, really. The Nikon F-mount dates back to 1959. :)
- paulmd 8y ago
  I'm specifically referring to the crippled K_af2 mount, which does away with the feelers necessary to read out the aperture setting on older lenses (approximately pre-90s). The lenses mount, but you need to go into a menu on the camera body each time you adjust the aperture to tell it how much the lens is going to stop down. I think it's perfectly fair to ding some usability points for that.
mark-r 8y ago
Unfortunately Sigma and Tamron have backed off from Pentax support in recent years. There are still some in the current catalog, but the newest lenses aren't offered. On the other hand, Pentax's just released 50mm might be the best 50 ever.
brudgers 8y ago
High end Pentax cameras are still medium format. The peer group is Fuji, Hassblad, Phase One, and Mamiya. Cross shopping the 645z with flagship Canon and Nikon cameras might make sense...or not. At the point it's a business decision, the tradeoffs of medium format versus "35mm" are usually pretty clear. The Pentax product line reflects this discreet gap in the product line. Pentax isn't filling out a product line matrix of IS and non-IS lens against weather and non-weather sealed lenses. The high end of Pentax's 35mm lenses are mid-range in the Pentax product line.

by paulmd 8y ago

baldfat 8y ago

I would say that Pentax has the best Prime Len stock period. Also you can buy a lens from 1980 and it will work (No auto focus) perfectly. I have extra sharp beautiful 42mm and 50mm and a 100mm prime and it cost me less then $250. I love my Pentax. I own a Sony A3 RIII and I still get better portraits on my cheap o Pentax lens. Pentax Prime Limited are amazing and so much cheaper then Cannon or any other brand. Look here for lens: https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/ https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/

pietroglyph 8y ago

> reasonable (although not great) compatibility with older lenses All Pentax cameras from 1975-on have used the Pentax K-Mount[0], which means that in (almost) all cases you can use most of the lenses made in the last 43 years. I would call that pretty good compatibility. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-mount https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-mount

Bud 8y ago
Pretty mediocre, really. The Nikon F-mount dates back to 1959. :)
paulmd 8y ago
I'm specifically referring to the crippled K_af2 mount, which does away with the feelers necessary to read out the aperture setting on older lenses (approximately pre-90s). The lenses mount, but you need to go into a menu on the camera body each time you adjust the aperture to tell it how much the lens is going to stop down. I think it's perfectly fair to ding some usability points for that.

mark-r 8y ago

Unfortunately Sigma and Tamron have backed off from Pentax support in recent years. There are still some in the current catalog, but the newest lenses aren't offered. On the other hand, Pentax's just released 50mm might be the best 50 ever.

brudgers 8y ago

High end Pentax cameras are still medium format. The peer group is Fuji, Hassblad, Phase One, and Mamiya. Cross shopping the 645z with flagship Canon and Nikon cameras might make sense...or not. At the point it's a business decision, the tradeoffs of medium format versus "35mm" are usually pretty clear. The Pentax product line reflects this discreet gap in the product line. Pentax isn't filling out a product line matrix of IS and non-IS lens against weather and non-weather sealed lenses. The high end of Pentax's 35mm lenses are mid-range in the Pentax product line.