Upgrading from Pentax to Canon/Nikon

[JamesN]

I've been using a Pentax K10D for a fair new years now and am at the point where I want to switch from Pentax to Canon or Nikon. Especially as my girlfriend and I will be doing an African wildlife safari next year and the Australian dollar being almost on par with the US dollar making prices a bit more attractive.

I'm looking for some general advice on some good camera bodies to consider along with some lenses recommendations. Especially relating to wildlife, birds, and general landscaping.

Any advise greatly appreciated

[carregwen]

I've been using a Pentax K10D for a fair new years now and am at the point where I want to switch from Pentax to Canon or Nikon. Especially as my girlfriend and I will be doing an African wildlife safari next year and the Australian dollar being almost on par with the US dollar making prices a bit more attractive.

I'm looking for some general advice on some good camera bodies to consider along with some lenses recommendations. Especially relating to wildlife, birds, and general landscaping.

Any advise greatly appreciated

Hi James and welcome to CiC

It all depends on how much you want to spend. What lenses and how many? You say wildlife and landscape - that probably needs two lenses at least.

[JamesN]

Thanks Rob

Looking at around $3,000 for the body + some lenses. I was considering the Nikon D7000 camera with the Nikon 55-300mm AF-S DX Lens and one of the smaller 17-55mm lenses as a start. A bit concerned about low-light situations though with these options.

[carregwen]

Thanks Rob

Looking at around $3,000 for the body + some lenses. I was considering the Nikon D7000 camera with the Nikon 55-300mm AF-S DX Lens and one of the smaller 17-55mm lenses as a start. A bit concerned about low-light situations though with these options.

That's a good budget. I assume you mean US dollars.

I only know Canon, someone else can suggest Nikon. The Canon 5D is an extremely good serious-enthusiast camera. It has a full-frame sensor and has excellent video capabilty if you need it. This package comes with a 24-105mm 'L' lens which is very good for general shots and some landscapes. For wildlife you will need a longer lens, and because this is a full-frame camera yo will need a longer lens than you would on a 'crop-factor' APS-C sensor camera. So initially, you may need to spend a bit more to get the same field of view, but you will have some great quality gear. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...D_Mark_II.html

Alternatively, you can go for an APS-C sensor Canon such as the new 60D or the 7D, but I think the 5D will be a better camera if you want to spend the money.

[JamesN]

Thanks Rob. Definitely looks a good camera but that would really blow my budget so not really possible and I think is going a bit far up my scale. Looks to be $3,000 just for the body alone

In terms of a direction comparison I've been looking at the Canon 7D v the Nikon D7000 which are of a similar price and from what I've read the Nikon is winning out for me at this stage but I'm still up in the air as to the route I want to go down.

[Jack Hogan]

Hello James,

If photography (as opposed to video) is your primary consideration, I think the sensor and electronics of the D7000 are pretty well state of the art today, giving you almost 2 stops better dynamic range, twice the color depth and half a stop better low light performance than most APS-C cameras today (with the exception of the Pentax K5, which I believe shares the same sensor - if you have some Pentax lenses, why not consider it instead?). See this site for a technical comparison of the three.

The 70-300 f/4.5 is a brilliant lens and a great bargain IMHO, as are the 35/50/85mm f/1.4 primes (choose one - I have the 50mm and love it), which would be excellent complements to the decent 18-105 kit lens. You would still have money left over for a Manfrotto 055 carbon tripod, a good head, good polarizer and ND grad filters.

Enjoy your trip.

[Sahil]

I second Jack. K-5 is a very good camera. A contact of mine is using it & the results are amazing. If you have a good sets of Pentax lenses already, it will be a good bargain.

[JamesN]

Thanks for the responses Jack, Sahil.

I only have a couple of older lenses for the Pentax and have decided I'd rather switch away from Pentax. I was hoping to be able to get a 400mm lenses with Nikon but they all seem to run into the many thousands of dollars unfortunately. Quite concerned about 300mm being too short a focal length for Africa. Any suggestions there?

[benm]

The D7000 is supposed to be great in low light, with clean exposures at ISO 3200. The 17-55 is a constant f/2.8 lens (I have this lens) and is great in low light. Of course f/1.4 is even better so if you need it you could get a 50 or 35 in a f/1.4.

Nikon's 400 or even 300 AFS lenses have breath-taking prices. You might try a used 300 f/4.5 manual focus (around $280US) and a TC 1.4. Might be a little slow but the D7000's clean high ISO might make it possible.

[JamesN]

Thanks Ben, especially for the low light comments. Are you using the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G Lens at all? That's the one I'm considering purchasing to go alongside the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens and the possibility of a wide-angle lenses as well. Do you have any experience with that lenses as well?

The 17-55 you mention is out of my price range unfortunately.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi James,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me.

I have the AF-S 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens; it's pretty good, but as you said above, it might be a tad short for Africa, but as I've not been on Safari, I couldn't say - and it probably depends a lot on how good the guide is on the day, quite apart from luck or otherwise with the animals.

All I have below 70mm is the 18-200mm, which is in the range of f4.5-f5.6 and I am just considering getting a faster lens, for low ligh and narrow DoF when required.

I am not sure whether to go for the versatility, but expense and weight, of a short zoom (sadly the best Nikon one is > £1000 and hence 'too much' for me to justify), or a couple of primes - I already have an f2.8 105mm macro, so maybe a 50/1.4 (supposedly quite good) and/or a 35/1.8 (supposedly mediocre).

Don't know if my thought's will help you or not

Cheers,

[inkista]

Just a thought on a possible Canon combination: 60D ($1000), EF 100-400 f/4-5.6L IS USM ($1500), and Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 ($450). total just squeaks in under $3000.

[pwnage101]

Why not get a Canon 40D instead of a 60D? apart from resolution, the sensors technically produce the same quality images at any given ISO (according to DxOMark). On the same note, why not get a Nikon D90 rather than d7000? Again, their sensors differ very little on test charts. With the money you save getting a D90, you can get a Tokina 12-24 f4. The money you save getting a Canon 40D will at least get you that 70-300 telephoto

You can have all the bells and whistles on your camera body, but the bottom line is that the quality of the sensor has a major impact on the image. All these (aps-c) cameras produced after the year 2007 seem to have the same quality sensors (the later ones just have higher resolution) so why not just get the cheapest of them all? There is no button positioning or menu dialog you can't get used to; FIRST, buy for the sensor, THEN think about the lens (or lens, then sensor; doesn't matter), then after all that digesting consider what you want in a camera exterior. To me, it is not a question that a nikon d5000 (almost) entry level camera will outperform a professional grade, fully metal D2X.

[JamesN]

Thanks for the thoughts guys, and interestingly enough I was beginning to have similar thoughts. Think I'll do a bit more reading and make a decision. Thanks again for all your feedback

[SR71]

Hi James, You might look at the basic D7K body, w/the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED-IF Autofocus, along with the TC-14E II 1.4x Teleconverter, & 18-55G 3.5-5.6 VR AFS, this will be right around $3000.00. with the TC the 300 will be a become a 420mm and when associated with the crop body you end up with a 620mm the only down side to this combo is you lose 1 stop of light. However with the D7K you can compensate by setting your ISO up from 100 to around ISO 800 to 1600. This TC doesn't effect the IQ of this lens very much and this 300mm is just as sharp as the 300mm 2.8... You can also do the same for the 18-55G set you ISO higher and it will be fast enough for an inexpensive lens it really is a very good lens... go get em...!!!!!!


Wylie

[JamesN]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I finally made a decision and purchased the Canon 7D along with the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lenses. It came out a little over my $3k budget but I got some help with it being the Xmas season and look forward to giving it all a run out after the 25th.

Merry Xmas everyone

[rpcrowe]

JamesN...

17-55mm IS + 100-400L: This is the combination that I would have suggested - especially considering your upcoming trip to Africa where the 100-400L Canon is one of the most versatile lenses that you can use.

I have an additional suggestion. Get a hotshoe flash; the 430EX (series) or the 580EX (series) - if they are not possible within your budget, an older, yet viable 420EX would work. The 420EX doesn't have manual capability but, it is just fine for fill flash and can be had quite inexpensively.

Get a second body. Even a Canon 20D or 350D (which are cheap as dirt in many used markets). This second body will accomplish two things... Allow you to switch focal lengths without switching lenses and will serve as an insurance policy if your camera goes down.

I am quite sensitive regarding backup cameras on once-in-a-lifetime trips. I fell climbing a rugged Kenai Peninsula, slope on the first day of a ten-day trip to Alaska and broke my 40D camera. My 30D allowed me to continue my photography of that very picturesque area.

You don't have to be boonie tromping to break a camera. A fellow tour member fell outside the City Walls of Xi'an China and broke his Nikon. He did not have a second camera and was out of luck.

[JamesN]

Thanks Richard

I'll have a look into those flashes and yes definately re the backup body, thanks for the suggestions.