D7000 vs K5 II vs 60D (vs D7100 vs Sony? vs 70D)

srhmoto

srhmoto

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Ok, I'm after a bit of advice before I go mad from going round and round in circles LOL.

I want to get myself a DSLR kit again after years of m4/3 use. I'm starting with a blank sheet of paper, and have a budget of strictly no more than £1100. I'd rather buy new (the kit will have to last me years), and buy into a system I could grow into if I wanted. I'm not ruling out secondhand though. If a decent telephoto up to 300mm could be squeezed into the budget now, then great but not essential.

What's important to me is as follows:-
  • Image quality, particularly once ISO is up around 1600.
  • A good quality walk around lens option.
  • Well built and ideally some degree of weather sealing (I visit the Lakes a lot).
  • AF tracking good enough to keep up with an active toddler (2 yr old) in varying light.
First and last points are the most important to me. I can't remember the last time I printed something over A3 size (normally only 12x8 max) so huge mp counts are not necessary.

I am wavering in a particular direction, but would love to hear the thoughts of others.

Cheers,

Simon.
 
I think from your initial 3 cameras it's all down to how they feel in your hand. I have had the Nikon D7000 (Twice) and to me it felt the most comfortable for me to hold. I tried the Pentax K5 (Not K5II) and it felt plasticky compared to the Nikon, the 60D felt as if the shutter button was to far forward and uncomfortable for me. I have hand disabilities and it was down to feel rather than spec for me.

If you bought the D7000 from HDEW, you wouldn't be far off also buying the Tamron 17-50 & 70-300VC for your budget. I havent had the 17-50, but I have had the Tamron 28-75 and found it fantastic, also, I had the Tamron 70-300vc and again I found it a great lens, and to me I found it produced better colours / more pop than the Nikon 70-300vr. the onlything I found with the Nikon lens was it was quieter then the Tamron.

As you would be keeping the camera & lenses for a while you would have 3 years warranty with the body and 5years with lenses, providing the lenses are bought from uk dealer. I also believe the mentioned body and lenses would more than meet your requirements.

Due to my disabilities I have now changed for a lighter system and gone to Fuji Xt-1, but would have been more than happy to keep the Nikon if they had been lighter.

Edit:. I know the D7000 body is weather proof not sure on the Tamron lenses. From memory I think the Pentax has more weather proof lenses to use with their bodies. Not sure on canon.
 
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Swanseajack said:
I think from your initial 3 cameras it's all down to how they feel in your hand. I have had the Nikon D7000 (Twice) and to me it felt the most comfortable for me to hold. I tried the Pentax K5 (Not K5II) and it felt plasticky compared to the Nikon, the 60D felt as if the shutter button was to far forward and uncomfortable for me. I have hand disabilities and it was down to feel rather than spec for me.

If you bought the D7000 from HDEW, you wouldn't be far off also buying the Tamron 17-50 & 70-300VC for your budget. I havent had the 17-50, but I have had the Tamron 28-75 and found it fantastic, also, I had the Tamron 70-300vc and again I found it a great lens, and to me I found it produced better colours / more pop than the Nikon 70-300vr. the onlything I found with the Nikon lens was it was quieter then the Tamron.

As you would be keeping the camera & lenses for a while you would have 3 years warranty with the body and 5years with lenses, providing the lenses are bought from uk dealer. I also believe the mentioned body and lenses would more than meet your requirements.

Due to my disabilities I have now changed for a lighter system and gone to Fuji Xt-1, but would have been more than happy to keep the Nikon if they had been lighter.

Edit:. I know the D7000 body is weather proof not sure on the Tamron lenses. From memory I think the Pentax has more weather proof lenses to use with their bodies. Not sure on canon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Simon. The Nikon D7000 plus the two Tamron lenses you mention are very, very high on my short list. The Pentax system looks good, but I'm not sure about their prowess at AF tracking.

Good point as well about handling the cameras, although where I live that is becoming ever more difficult yo do.

Simon.
 
The sony A77ii AF tracking is in a new league. It has a lock on feature so you can tell it who/what you want it to track and it will follow that subject while you keep a half shutter press. Literally no other camera maker offers this.

It's out of your budget at the minute unfortunately unless you can get a good trade in on the old gear. List price is £999 and a half decent walk about lens will be another few hundred on top.

Looks like the Sony A6000 which is a lot cheaper does have that feature though and it is a lot smaller than the A77ii :http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras/ilce-6000-body-kit

The A6000 is E mount not A mount but that shouldn't make any difference as you are buying into a new system anyway.
 
srichards said:
The sony A77ii AF tracking is in a new league. It has a lock on feature so you can tell it who/what you want it to track and it will follow that subject while you keep a half shutter press. Literally no other camera maker offers this.

It's out of your budget at the minute unfortunately unless you can get a good trade in on the old gear. List price is £999 and a half decent walk about lens will be another few hundred on top.

Looks like the Sony A6000 which is a lot cheaper does have that feature though and it is a lot smaller than the A77ii :http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras/ilce-6000-body-kit

The A6000 is E mount not A mount but that shouldn't make any difference as you are buying into a new system anyway.
Click to expand...

A99 II way over budget. Form factor on the A6000 puts me off it completely, but thanks for taking the time to post Suz :-)

Simon.
 
Everybody you ask will usually recommend their own make of camera for one reason or another.

When I bought my first camera I went on multiple forums and asked the same question you are now (same makes, different models) and found everybody recommended Canon or Nikon .... so I bought a Pentax.

6 years on I still use Pentax (K-5II and K-3), I find the ISO performance exceptional for a crop body, the IQ is great, build is as solid as you can get (all alloy body, not partial like others), it's more weather resistant than the other makes and has a good selection of WR lenses.

Saying all that I bought a Canon a few years ago because I wanted to use the MP-E65mm macro lens and currently I also have a 7D ... the AF tracking is certainly superior with Canon but the Pentax focuses much better in low light, locking on to things the Canon can't.

If I had to choose between the 2 it would be Pentax, pair the K-5II up with the 18-135mm WR and you have a well built camera with a decent walkabout lens that is fully weather sealed, has great IQ and has adequate AF tracking (I can do airshows all day long with the K-5II so it 'aint that bad)

Which brings me back to my first sentence ..... ;)
 
If you don't know what you want then a trip to a well stocked camera shop is a good idea. Pick them all up and you'll find which one you want to take home.
 
yeah try them, i do have a soft spot for pentax and and sony (have a sony system). YOu maybe able to get a good deal on a a77 mk1 or a65

pentax have some unique lenses, and best weather proofing
 
Mike.P said:
Everybody you ask will usually recommend their own make of camera for one reason or another.

When I bought my first camera I went on multiple forums and asked the same question you are now (same makes, different models) and found everybody recommended Canon or Nikon .... so I bought a Pentax.

6 years on I still use Pentax (K-5II and K-3), I find the ISO performance exceptional for a crop body, the IQ is great, build is as solid as you can get (all alloy body, not partial like others), it's more weather resistant than the other makes and has a good selection of WR lenses.

Saying all that I bought a Canon a few years ago because I wanted to use the MP-E65mm macro lens and currently I also have a 7D ... the AF tracking is certainly superior with Canon but the Pentax focuses much better in low light, locking on to things the Canon can't.

If I had to choose between the 2 it would be Pentax, pair the K-5II up with the 18-135mm WR and you have a well built camera with a decent walkabout lens that is fully weather sealed, has great IQ and has adequate AF tracking (I can do airshows all day long with the K-5II so it 'aint that bad)

Which brings me back to my first sentence ..... ;)
Click to expand...

Now this is interesting to hear, particularly the AF bit. If I am able to stretch my budget to the K3, is it worth it over the K5 II?

Cheers,

Simon.
 
srichards said:
If you don't know what you want then a trip to a well stocked camera shop is a good idea. Pick them all up and you'll find which one you want to take home.
Click to expand...

Definitely a good suggestion, although it is over an hours drive to my nearest well stocked camera shop :(
 
theres not really enough difference between makes at the moment, the sony,nikon and pentax camera's all use the same sensors (sony made) , and the sony;s use a evf which is a difference...

but otherwise its lens selection and body ergonomics and physical controls
 
pingu666 said:
theres not really enough difference between makes at the moment ... its lens selection and body ergonomics and physical controls
Click to expand...
That's it in a nutshell.
srhmoto said:
... it is over an hours drive to my nearest well stocked camera shop :(
Click to expand...
Make the effort. And then buy the camera there rather than coming home and buying on the internet. It might cost a *little* bit more, but the results of people using camera shops as free advice and hands-on centres rather than as shops are obvious.

My personal experience: When I bought my first DSLR, I was comparing the entry-level Nikon and Canon models of the time - D70 vs 350D. In terms of specs they were comparable, and I didn't have any particularly niche interests which would incline me towards one system or the other. So I went and handled both cameras in my local Jessops.

I found that the Canon felt totally intuitive to me. All the controls were in the right place and worked the way I expected them to. The Nikon was bizarrely unintuitive, with confusing menus and awkward controls - even down to the placement of the main control wheel, which I found really awkward to reach and use. So as soon as I'd handled the cameras the decision was a total no-brainer.

But - and this is the key point - I know people who made exactly the same comparison and reached exactly the opposite decision. It's a very personal thing. So don't trust any person or any review if it says one has better ergonomics than the other. The only person who can decide that for you is you.

And it's important to get this right because you're potentially buying into a system. Your first DSLR is unlikely to be your last DSLR, and within each manufacturer's range the cameras have a lot of shared DNA. So if you find you particularly do or don't get on well with a Canon DSLR, it's more than likely that you'll have a similar reaction to any other Canon DSLR.
 
StewartR said:
That's it in a nutshell.

Make the effort. And then buy the camera there rather than coming home and buying on the internet. It might cost a *little* bit more, but the results of people using camera shops as free advice and hands-on centres rather than as shops are obvious.

My personal experience: When I bought my first DSLR, I was comparing the entry-level Nikon and Canon models of the time - D70 vs 350D. In terms of specs they were comparable, and I didn't have any particularly niche interests which would incline me towards one system or the other. So I went and handled both cameras in my local Jessops.

I found that the Canon felt totally intuitive to me. All the controls were in the right place and worked the way I expected them to. The Nikon was bizarrely unintuitive, with confusing menus and awkward controls - even down to the placement of the main control wheel, which I found really awkward to reach and use. So as soon as I'd handled the cameras the decision was a total no-brainer.

But - and this is the key point - I know people who made exactly the same comparison and reached exactly the opposite decision. It's a very personal thing. So don't trust any person or any review if it says one has better ergonomics than the other. The only person who can decide that for you is you.

And it's important to get this right because you're potentially buying into a system. Your first DSLR is unlikely to be your last DSLR, and within each manufacturer's range the cameras have a lot of shared DNA. So if you find you particularly do or don't get on well with a Canon DSLR, it's more than likely that you'll have a similar reaction to any other Canon DSLR.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed reply.

To be clear though. This is not my first DSLR. I bought a 10D when it first came out and then worked my way through a 20D, 40D, 50D, 7D, 1D MkII and 1D MkIII before having to sell my entire DSLR kit for personal reasons and move to m4/3.

The current Canon offerings 60D / 70D leave me feeling underwhelmed particularly against current competition.

The point is very well made about handling the cameras, and I will do just that. Where I then buy from will depend on price. Money is tight, so I'll buy from where I get the best deal from, but absolutely would prefer to buy locally.

The point of the thread is to try and get some real world feedback on the cameras I mentioned in the OP. You can read reviews until they're coming out of your ears, but nothing beats feedback on real user experience :-).

Cheers,

Simon.
 
apart from the tilty flipy screen, im not sure there is too much difference between a 70d and 7d. and you can pick up a 7d now for about 600 odd pounds second hand. leaves a load of cash for a lens, and your familiar with canon systems.
the focus system as brilliant, iq fantastic, weather sealed and well constructed.
my 2p! (can you guess what one of my bodies is?)
 
brave said:
apart from the tilty flipy screen, im not sure there is too much difference between a 70d and 7d. and you can pick up a 7d now for about 600 odd pounds second hand. leaves a load of cash for a lens, and your familiar with canon systems.
the focus system as brilliant, iq fantastic, weather sealed and well constructed.
my 2p! (can you guess what one of my bodies is?)
Click to expand...

Had a 7d for a while, and based on that experience I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back to one. I found the AF to be very good once setup correctly, but IMHO it wasn't that impressive at elevated ISO and as for weather sealing, a good friend of mine had his 7D damaged by one drip of water off the branch of a tree that landed on the little joystick thingy on it. Never trusted the weather resistance claims after that.

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
While the Sony A77 II looks great, I'm just not sure about Sony as an overall system.
Click to expand...

You can still use all the older minolta AF lenses with it. There are some beauties. Especially the cheap 50mm (usually about £80) and the minolta 100mm macro (usually around £200). The sony G are some of the best lenses around (L series equivalents easily)

Unless there is some specialist lens you want eg MPE-65 then I can't see what is missing from the sony line up. They've gone for a standard hot shoe now so that's one less pain in the bum too.

I don't think the E mount system for the NEX and A6000 is as comprehensive though.
 
Perhaps, but I'm still not convinced. As good as the G lenses may be they, like the Canon L lenses, are far too expensive for the foreseeable future.
 
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