DSLR n00b (Sony A35 vs Pentax K-R vs...)

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MarkRSi

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Currently got a Panasonic FZ28. Had phone cameras/compacts/bridges for years and looking to get my first DSLR.

I'm no professional but use the FZ28 for all sort of things, such as (in no particular order) motorsport events, car shows, animals, family events, architecture, landscape, low light/night photography, portraits, creative shots etc. One of the annoyances of the Panasonic is it's poor low light performance and lack of depth of field unless in extreme macro, no doubt due to the tiny image sensor.

If getting new I'd want to spend no more than £400-£500, and a bit less if used. Ideally I'd want a lens to be able to stretch to at least 200mm to get close to matching the 486mm stretch on the FZ28 (I assume focal lengths for these APS cameras are in 35mm equivalent?). Then again if I can get a good body and typical 18-55 kit lens I could play with that for a while then get the telephoto lens later on.

Any thoughts? I've done a bit research and if buying new I was thinking a Pentax K-R or Sony A35 would be the best bet.

Pentax is £450 with two lenses (18-55/50-200). Sony is about £400 with 18-55 lens. K-R would probably have all the lenses to keep me amused, then again with the Sony I could save £50 to put towards a 300mm lens (again I assume these are 35mm eq?). K-R seems to be a bit better at high ISO, the A35 supposedly has a better/newer sensor and has clever processing to compensate for its fixed mirror?

Had a feel for both cameras today in Currys. Annoyingly they could only power up the Pentax camera for a few moments on a low battery :bang: Sony seems similar in size to my Panasonic but the additional weight was obvious. Pentax was more 'SLR' sized but not too big, I could use the viewfinder effectively unlike the EVF in my Panasonic which my glasses get in the way (would the Sony's EVF be similar?). Still undecided...

Alternative would be a used XXXD Canon or D5000/80 Nikon, preferably with the lenses. Then again a 200+mm stabilised lens for Nikon/Canon seems hideously expensive...
 
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the K-R has AF problems in tungsten/low light plus there is evidence that it's now out of production. Also long (300mm+) lens options on Pentax are very limited.
If those don't concern you then it's a great body for the money.

The A35 is quite different with pros & cons.
If you prefer a traditional DSLR then you may want to checkout the A580 (also now out of production).
 
The K-r is not out of production and even if it was warranty from Pentax is still there as it is for any other camera you buy new.

Also if you are looking into a 300£ camera doubt you are after spending 1-2k+ in a extra long zoom lens and even then you do have some of the Sigma ones.

On the other hand for your £300 you get a better build quality and weather sealing than Canon/Nikon/Sony offer on their entry/midrange bodies, built in image stabilisation and an array of really great primes and a couple of amazing zooms (50-135 and 60-250).

I sold all my Nikon kit and went for a K-5, no real regrets to speak of.
 
I said that there was evidence that the K-R was out of production & there are pointers that it is.
Whether or not a camera is out of production may be important to an individual or not but imo it is something to be aware of (notice that I also suggested that he look at another discontinued model).

Similarly, imo it's useful to be aware of the lack of long lenses if that's an area that you feel may interest you in the future.
& I did say that it was a great body for the money if the mentioned issues didn't bother you.

The K-R isn't marketed as weather proof & Sony has built-in image stabilisation too.
 
Are you sure that your not thinking of the K-X? That was the K-R's predecessor and thats recently started to disappear from magazine adverts in favour of just the K-R as Pentax's lower end camera.

Plus the K-R is essentially the same as the K-X, it just has a few improvements like the AF points lighting up in the viewfinder and to autofocus and ISO.
 
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Thanks for taking the time to read my (long) post and replying, thought this thread was to be forgotten :) I'm at work atm so I'll have to be brief

Sure the K-R has been on sale for a while, but that's going to replace it? I'm not seeing many second hand on the likes of ebay too (lots of satisfied owners?). Less A35's but these are newer I think.

vrapan - is 1-2k referring to the cost of the Sony lenses? or lenses in general?
I'm no professional so wouldn't want to spend silly money (I'd rather spend £££ on cars & bikes anyway :D). TBH I'll probably keep my FZ28 as it's performance in good light is fine.

Going to hopefully try out the Sony A35 this weekend.
 
Are you referring to the K-x or K-r as whats going to be replaced?

The K-x is an excellent DSLR for the beginner as it has quite good image quality and features plus its easy to use. My dad has one and he couldn't be more satisfied with it for what he uses it for. The K-r's price is now very similar to what the K-X's was about this time last year and it (according to reviews) a better camera internally (its essentially the same body) with higher ISO, better autofocus and noise etc plus having the AF point light up is useful (very useful feature on my Minolta Dynax 5).

I suspect in a few months a replacement for the K-r will be announced as its about a year old now.
 
Caravanwalks said:
Found this that states k-r is being discontinued
http://www.photozz.com/fizz/22856688.aspx
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From a rumour site that gets very little correct.

Someone on the Pentax forum phoned Pentax UK directly and they were told it is not being discontinued in the forseeable future.

Thay have been having a lot of problems getting parts due to the flooding though.
 
s162216 said:
Are you referring to the K-x or K-r as whats going to be replaced?
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K-r

Apparently a few weeks ago a chap in Japan phoned Pentax & was told that black, white & pink bodies were discontinued but that if he was quick he could order a special colour one.
Then B& H listed it as discontinued (not 100% certain but usually reliable).
When the K-x was discontinued Pentax offloaded a lot of special previously Japan only coloured bodies overseas - this week Walmart announced that they would be selling a pile of special colour K-r bodies.
& then apparently Pentax Japan tweeted today that they won't be accepting orders for custom coloured K-r bodies after 9/12/11.
 
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Alright, so if the K-R is being discontinued - so what? :)

Where's the replacement?
Is it simply a case of supply & demand?
If production stops and no new model is announced and there is demand, would K-R prices go up?
Or will they go down?
Does the fact it's being discontinued means if I take pictures of my cat with a K-R they won't look as good as if I took them with a Nikon D3100? ;) (until that gets replaced by the D3200 :p)
 
I read the bit about k-r being discontinued but still bought it last week. Why because reading the reviews etc it met my requirements and budget. So far looks good.

I did look at the panasonic fz100 when this being replaced by fz150, price didn't seen to drop when 150 came out.

As you say doesn't matter it will still take good pictures if you use it right. A newer model will give enhancements maybe more pixels, could cost more but do you need it - my answer was no.

We seem to have gone off track against your orginal question though - sorry
 
Caravanwalks said:
I read the bit about k-r being discontinued but still bought it last week. Why because reading the reviews etc it met my requirements and budget. So far looks good.

I did look at the panasonic fz100 when this being replaced by fz150, price didn't seen to drop when 150 came out.

As you say doesn't matter it will still take good pictures if you use it right. A newer model will give enhancements maybe more pixels, could cost more but do you need it - my answer was no.

We seem to have gone off track against your orginal question though - sorry
Click to expand...

Ah don't worry about it, just wondered why it was such a big deal :p theres always something newer & better (or not) in the pipeline so you'd end up waiting for the next model and never actually getting a camera :lol:
 
MarkRSi said:
Alright, so if the K-R is being discontinued - so what? :)

Where's the replacement?
Is it simply a case of supply & demand?
If production stops and no new model is announced and there is demand, would
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There may not even be a replacement...

Who knows what Ricoh is planning with Pentax now, maybe they'll ditch small format completely :/ Or maybe they'll ditch everything but compacts...

When I heard that Hoya had sold the brand to them, I thought it was a bad sign, and then they go around discontinuing products, with no announced replacements, does not bode well.

It's a shame really, because part of me keeps thinking that a K5 would have suited me well.
 
Looking around it seems that its only the body only and coloured versions that are being discontinued - the standard black version with 18 - 55mm f3.5 - 5.6 kit lens is still in production apparently as well as the twin kit lens version with the 55 - 300mm f4 - 5.6.

Its been out for about a year now so you would expect them to start offering a replacement soon (Unlike in the days of film where some cameras like the Pentax LX and Minolta SR-T 101 were sold for over 20 years). Apparently they did a similar thing with the K-x when the K-r was due to be released - discontinuing all the coloured versions etc but keeping the camera and kit lens on sale.

On Pentax's list of discontinued products on their Japan website it lists the K-x and K-7 but not the K-r.

http://www.pentax.jp/english/products/others.html
 
MarkRSi said:
Alternative would be a used XXXD Canon
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Has the advanatge that the 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS are arguebley the best performing lenses in there classes optically. You could get both of them and a 500D for £500 giving you a 28-400mm range in 35mm terms in good enough quality to live up to a 15 megapixel sensor.

For the tele espeically in lens IS is a clear advanatge for me since it stabalises your viewfinder aswell.
 
NikkiA said:
Who knows what Ricoh is planning with Pentax now, maybe they'll ditch small format completely :/ Or maybe they'll ditch everything but compacts...
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd heard about Pentax brand changing hands recently - surely from a business point of view it would be unwise to ditch to SLR market?

Perhaps they're doing what Sony did with Minolta a few years ago?
 
MarkRSi said:
Yeah I'd heard about Pentax brand changing hands recently - surely from a business point of view it would be unwise to ditch to SLR market?

Perhaps they're doing what Sony did with Minolta a few years ago?
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Not sure about that, Sony had the advantage of a very strong brand that sells almost any kind of comsumer electronics, I don't see Ricoh SLR's selling aswell as Pentax.

It could be there just going to ditch the cheaper end of the market that overlaps more with Ricoh's existing business and focus on a the K7/K5 line or perhaps move into FF?
 
NikkiA said:
When I heard that Hoya had sold the brand to them, I thought it was a bad sign, and then they go around discontinuing products, with no announced replacements, does not bode well.
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Yet virtually every Pentax owner was jumping for joy. ;)

The new company is called Pentax Ricoh, why have Pentax in the name first if they intend to dump them. They certainly didn't buy Pentax for their compact cameras as they are crap, they only bought the camera side of the company so the only reason I can see is for the interchangeable camera/ lens market.

Anyway Ricoh only officially took over 2 months ago so I doubt we will see much from them until after Xmas
 
Ricoh have already said that the Ricoh name won't be used on any of their new cameras in the future, Pentax is going to be their new brand name. Obviously that means that some Ricoh models are going to get the chop or be re-branded as Pentax when their updated as will some Pentax models in the compact market likely.
 
Any thoughts on the Sony A35?

Had a try of the A35 in Jessops today, and in between the lovely sales girl trying to sell me camera bags, SD cards, serving packages etc. also had a try of a Canon 1100D & Nikon D3100. Of the Nikon & Canon I preferred the Canon, felt nice despite it supposedly being 'placcy' in the reviews and got on better with changing the settings etc. Quite similar to the K-R actually...

As for the Sony, it just felt like a heavier bridge camera, smaller than the SLRs. The EVF was actually ok, better than the one on my Panasonic. Was a bit fiddly at first got to grips with it quicker than the Nikon.
 
Never mind... :D

XF2M3mTP.jpg
 
MarkRSi said:
Any thoughts on the Sony A35?

Had a try of the A35 in Jessops today, and in between the lovely sales girl trying to sell me camera bags, SD cards, serving packages etc. also had a try of a Canon 1100D & Nikon D3100. Of the Nikon & Canon I preferred the Canon, felt nice despite it supposedly being 'placcy' in the reviews and got on better with changing the settings etc. Quite similar to the K-R actually...

As for the Sony, it just felt like a heavier bridge camera, smaller than the SLRs. The EVF was actually ok, better than the one on my Panasonic. Was a bit fiddly at first got to grips with it quicker than the Nikon.
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I think that it really depends upon ergonomics, how/what you intend to shoot & the availability of the lenses/accessories to do that as at any given level the actual output (at least from RAW) of any modern DSLR is going to be similar.

The Sony is going to give you probably the best video from those that you have mentioned, built-in IS & no mirror slap.
The EVF gives you a larger viewfinder image than those other bodies & you can display more info (if you want). Also, in poor light it will gain up so that although it may get a bit grainy you can use the EVF at levels that you would struggle with using an OVF on the others. (btw the A65/A77 EVF is a big improvement on the A33/A35/A55s)
It's also very good for using with manual focus (you can both magnify for critical focusing & use peaking).

On the other hand battery life isn't wonderful & afaik there is not a battery grip for it (no doubt some 3rd party will come out with 1 given time) but a spare battery is cheap.


http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta35/
 
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s162216 said:
Ricoh have already said that the Ricoh name won't be used on any of their new cameras in the future, Pentax is going to be their new brand name. Obviously that means that some Ricoh models are going to get the chop or be re-branded as Pentax when their updated as will some Pentax models in the compact market likely.
Click to expand...

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/we-interview-pentax-uk-gm-jonathan-martin-18246

Has the K-r recently been discontinued?
The K-r has finished it's final production run, which means that no more are being made, however stock is still shipping to dealers until the end of Feb/Mar, and dealers will still have stock available for people to buy after this.

Is there a K-r replacement on it's way?
While I do not know timelines, it is inevitable that a camera company would introduce a replacement for a product that is profitable and selling well.

There are rumors of a Full Frame Pentax?
I've not seen that one.
 
MarkRSi said:
Any thoughts on the Sony A35?

Had a try of the A35 in Jessops today, and in between the lovely sales girl trying to sell me camera bags, SD cards, serving packages etc. also had a try of a Canon 1100D & Nikon D3100. Of the Nikon & Canon I preferred the Canon, felt nice despite it supposedly being 'placcy' in the reviews and got on better with changing the settings etc. Quite similar to the K-R actually...

As for the Sony, it just felt like a heavier bridge camera, smaller than the SLRs. The EVF was actually ok, better than the one on my Panasonic. Was a bit fiddly at first got to grips with it quicker than the Nikon.
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Hello,
It does not matter that a product is not in production anymore. With Pentax you save money in comparison to a same level of hardware unless you are willing to go higher on cost (over 1800£ for a body) where then the music changes.I bought more than 2 years ago a k200D and I am not disappointed at all. Actually it is also tropicalised and at the time I paid for the double kit 750£. The body of the Kr is stabilised and so it means also that you can save further money each time you buy a Pentax Lens.
All the best and enjoy the camera rather than the specs!
TB
 
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