I think I want to swtich from Pentax to Nikon

[GrantMeThePower]

I currently have a Pentax K10D. I'm ready to replace it. The k-5 is the obvious choice to replace it with, but i realize that while i have a couple of decent lenses, nothing i have is keeping me attached to Pentax. In fact, the biggest hurdle i see is selling everything. How do I sell it? I can't see craigslist being that good for pentax gear, and i dont want it to take months to sell either.

I have a K10D, a simga 10-20, the 18-55 kit lens, the pentax 100mm f/2.8 macro, pentax 50mm 1.4, and a tamron 70-300 cheapo.

Would i be making a mistake in switching? I'd probably go with teh D7000 and need to get new lenses, but i think that having 2 quality nikon zooms would do me better than this hodgepodge of glass i have now.

 

[Sp12]

Pentax and Nikon use the same sensors now. Both brands produce top notch cameras.

Differentiators:

Pluses Nikon:

More glass, tilt shifts and long primes and everything in between
Better AF
Larger user base
Arguably better video compresssion
Full frame upgrade path

Pluses Pentax

Slightly better IQ given the same chip
In body IS
Large amounts of fully usable vintage glass
Weathersealing/build

 

[Munky]

I'd switch, but I already use Nikon. It's not like you can't sell all those lenses for a price close to what you paid for them.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

One of the other reasons i have for switching is the support for Nikon body/glass in Lightroom. Its a PITA to find good lens profiles for Pentax, but LR has the Nikon stuff built in. It would save me some time and effort for each photo if i had Nikon.

My real question is, how do I sell that stuff? Where is a good place? Do you guys recommend ebay for that sort of thing? I'm just worried about selling it all piecemeal and taking forever.

 

[GoSharks]

One of the other reasons i have for switching is the support for Nikon body/glass in Lightroom. Its a PITA to find good lens profiles for Pentax, but LR has the Nikon stuff built in. It would save me some time and effort for each photo if i had Nikon.

My real question is, how do I sell that stuff? Where is a good place? Do you guys recommend ebay for that sort of thing? I'm just worried about selling it all piecemeal and taking forever.

Why Nikon? If you get two quality Pentax zooms, you will have built in LR profiles as well.

 

[JohnnyRebel]

I currently have a Pentax K10D. I'm ready to replace it. The k-5 is the obvious choice to replace it with, but i realize that while i have a couple of decent lenses, nothing i have is keeping me attached to Pentax. In fact, the biggest hurdle i see is selling everything. How do I sell it? I can't see craigslist being that good for pentax gear, and i dont want it to take months to sell either.

I have a K10D, a simga 10-20, the 18-55 kit lens, the pentax 100mm f/2.8 macro, pentax 50mm 1.4, and a tamron 70-300 cheapo.

Would i be making a mistake in switching? I'd probably go with teh D7000 and need to get new lenses, but i think that having 2 quality nikon zooms would do me better than this hodgepodge of glass i have now.

Here is the snapshot comparison between the K-5 and the D7000.

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon_D7000-vs-Pentax_K-5

Buy the D7000 and the 35mm f/1.8 prime from Adorama and try it out. You have 30 days to return it "no questions asked" if you are not simply enthralled with it. The D7000 is "quicker" than it's specs would indicate. You have to try it out to understand what I mean. Right now, there is no DSLR in existence that I would rather have than the D7000.

JR

 

[Gooberlx2]

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/846/cpsid_84666.html#main_List_of_supported_lenses

Looks like the only lens that might not have a built-in profile is your 50mm f1.4 (which surprises me, be really shouldn't be much of an issue anyway for a "standard" lens).

What version of lightroom do you have?

 

[GoSharks]

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/846/cpsid_84666.html#main_List_of_supported_lenses

Looks like the only lens that might not have a built-in profile is your 50mm f1.4 (which surprises me, be really shouldn't be much of an issue anyway for a "standard" lens).

What version of lightroom do you have?

Or this. I was looking at the 3.3 list earlier.

 

[Funyuns101]

you can sell your stuff on pentaxforums, here on the F/S section, craigslist, etc
i'd buy the macro or wide angle if the price were right ;-)
and i'm in LA too~

 

[JohnnyRebel]

My real question is, how do I sell that stuff? Where is a good place? Do you guys recommend ebay for that sort of thing? I'm just worried about selling it all piecemeal and taking forever.

I have always gotten more than I thought an item was worth when I sold it on Ebay.

However... I would sell it all to Adorama. They pay top dollar for used Camera equipment. They will pay you 85% of what they will resell the equipment for. Also, if you plan to trade up (i.e. D7000) they will pay you 90% (store credit, I believe). I was very happy with how I was treated. Give them a call. They will pay to have it shipped to them.

JR

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I have always gotten more than I thought an item was worth when I sold it on Ebay.

However... I would sell it all to Adorama. They pay top dollar for used Camera equipment. They will pay you 85% of what they will resell the equipment for. Also, if you plan to trade up (i.e. D7000) they will pay you 90% (store credit, I believe). I was very happy with how I was treated. Give them a call. They will pay to have it shipped to them.

JR

Whoa...thats incredible! I didn't know they did that.

Thanks for the tip.

As far as the lightroom questions- i have LR3, fully updated. I did some reading (thanks for those links). Looks like the problem is that the images i imported were already converted to JPEG, so it doesnt even show the option to lens correct. The built in profiles are only for raw images (dont know if this is just pentax, or all models).

I just got lightroom two weeks ago, so everything i've been importing is old that I had already converted and had saved as jpgs. I guess that explains it! The literature i was reading was pre-updates when they didnt have support for the pentax lenses.

 

[yhelothar]

If you want to get two high quality zooms to replace all your lenses, you should stick with Pentax. Nikon has no professional fast F/2.8 zoom lenses for crop sensors. If you got the FF one, it'd cost significantly more, and you'd be carrying around a bigger and heavier lens that you can't even use completely. Pentax has a range of professional grade lenses for crop that will be cheaper and lighter.

 

[Munky]

If you want to get two high quality zooms to replace all your lenses, you should stick with Pentax. Nikon has no professional fast F/2.8 zoom lenses for crop sensors. If you got the FF one, it'd cost significantly more, and you'd be carrying around a bigger and heavier lens that you can't even use completely. Pentax has a range of professional grade lenses for crop that will be cheaper and lighter.

And why would he want to lug around F2.8 zooms like a professional, unless he was making money from it?

 

[JohnnyRebel]

If you want to get two high quality zooms to replace all your lenses, you should stick with Pentax. Nikon has no professional fast F/2.8 zoom lenses for crop sensors. If you got the FF one, it'd cost significantly more, and you'd be carrying around a bigger and heavier lens that you can't even use completely. Pentax has a range of professional grade lenses for crop that will be cheaper and lighter.

Actually, there is the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/2147/AF-S-DX-Zoom-NIKKOR-17-55mm-f%252F2.8G-IF-ED.html

Used @ Adorama starting at $1100ish, New for $1400ish.

However, I try to buy FF glass. First, DX only uses the center "sweet spot" of the lens, with exceptional results. Second, I will be getting a FF DSLR and will be able to use the same glass. Third, I still shoot the old F4 sometimes and ALL the new glass works wonderfully on that amazing work of art.

For DX, there is also the wonderful $200 35mm f/1.8 prime, and any of the 50mm primes will work well also starting at just over $100.

JR

 

[GoSharks]

And why would he want to lug around F2.8 zooms like a professional, unless he was making money from it?

Well shit, I guess an iPhone is all I need. :hmm:

 

[GrantMeThePower]

The bigger thing is that I'm ok with glass that doesnt have f/2.8 throughout the range on either the k5 or the d7000. Since I'm not a pro, and just constantly working on my techinque/exposure, the price of that really nice glass is just more than i can spend.

A Nikon 18-200 @ 800 dollars is a lot more doable to me than two zooms that are 2.8 @ 1200 each.

 

[JohnnyRebel]

The bigger thing is that I'm ok with glass that doesnt have f/2.8 throughout the range on either the k5 or the d7000. Since I'm not a pro, and just constantly working on my techinque/exposure, the price of that really nice glass is just more than i can spend.

A Nikon 18-200 @ 800 dollars is a lot more doable to me than two zooms that are 2.8 @ 1200 each.

I just bought an excellent Nikon AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED (Refurb) from Adorama for $230. Very sharp and quick focus. It stays on the old D200 now. F/3.5-4.5 is much faster than the even cheaper but very sharp kit lenses (Nikon 18mm - 55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX (VR) for under $100 refurb and free shipping).

The 18-70 is plenty fast enough for shots of my family in pretty much any situation. I have had very good results indoors with lamp light and outside in overcast or twilight.

http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20443747.html

JR

 

[JohnnyRebel]

Well shit, I guess an iPhone is all I need. :hmm:

That's what Chase Jarvis says....

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Camera-On.../dp/0321684788

 

[Sp12]

I just got lightroom two weeks ago, so everything i've been importing is old that I had already converted and had saved as jpgs. I guess that explains it! The literature i was reading was pre-updates when they didnt have support for the pentax lenses.

That's an issue with shooting Jpeg.

As for your lens problem, have you looked at any of Pentax's older K-mount glass (I don't know if your current body supports screw drive focusing)? It's all fully compatible (again, assuming screw drive) along with in-body IS stretching back like 25+ years. Lots of good values out there.

 

[Smoove910]

I'd recommend Pentax Forums as well:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/photographic-equipment-sale/

That's where I bought my K-7.

 

[Munky]

Well shit, I guess an iPhone is all I need. :hmm:

What you need is a lightweight zoom that you're going to shoot at F8 anyways, and a F1.4 prime for the times you really need a fast lens.

 

[GoSharks]

What you need is a lightweight zoom that you're going to shoot at F8 anyways, and a F1.4 prime for the times you really need a fast lens.

Sounds like that is what YOU need.

 

[Munky]

Sounds like that is what YOU need.

I don't see the OP stating a need for a F2.8 zoom either. Not that it will stop certain people from suggesting that the only proper way to take vacation snaps is to lug around a bulky 24-70 F2.8 zoom attached to one body, and an even heavier 70-200 F2.8 zoom attached to a second body, in addition to a backpack full of extra lenses, and let's not forget the mandatory tripod.

 

[microAmp]

My real question is, how do I sell that stuff? Where is a good place? Do you guys recommend ebay for that sort of thing? I'm just worried about selling it all piecemeal and taking forever.

I sold my Olympus stuff a couple months ago to switch to a Nikon D7000 (I considered Canon 60D & 7D). I took me about a month to sell all but 1, 35mm macro took the longest at 5 weeks. I also priced all my stuff as the cheapest too, majority sold within a week of posting except macro and 300mm lens which was due to buyer error.

I used Amazon.com to sell all my lenses, body and kit lenses. Amazon.com takes 8.5% for their collection fee and I calculated on a $300 lens using Ebay + Paypal would run 12%, anyone feel free to correct me on this.

However you do it, I advise to use insurance and signature confirmation. One buyer gave Amazon the wrong address, which the wrong one was given to me, after I sent a confirmed ship to the buyer they FYI me. Luckily USPS was able to stop the package and return it back to me (unlike UPS for me the other day, can't )

Due to the tsunami in Japan, prices went upwards and I did manage to break even on two lens and only small losses on other lenses and flash, except body and two kit lens.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

microAmp-

How pleased are you with the D7000? What made you choose it over the canon models?

Selling everything on amazon meant that you sold it all piecemeal, not as a set? Did you sell the camera also?