Canon T2i or Pentax K-R please help quickly.

Drumbum27

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I am new to shooting with DSLR and need to pick one up for a class by tomorrow. I have used my friend T3i and it was nice. I went on some comparison websites and found the Pentax K-r as a comparable for the T2i. It seems a lot of sites rate the K-R slightly higher even though the T2i seems to produce nicer pictures on the reviews I saw. Although i know part of that is the photographer. I would love some opinions on these especially from anyone who has shot both. Thanks
 
i would stick with nikon or canon for now. Harder to find used lenses with other brands.
 
Drumbum27 said:
I am new to shooting with DSLR and need to pick one up for a class by tomorrow. I have used my friend T3i and it was nice. I went on some comparison websites and found the Pentax K-r as a comparable for the T2i. It seems a lot of sites rate the K-R slightly higher even though the T2i seems to produce nicer pictures on the reviews I saw. Although i know part of that is the photographer. I would love some opinions on these especially from anyone who has shot both. Thanks

All modern dslr cameras will produce great photos. It's the skill of the photographer behind it that counts, as well as the lens attached to it.

I've heard great things about Pentax but the downside to them is that you have less lenses to choose from down the road, compared to Nikon or canon. The t2i would be my recommendation out of the two just because there are more accessories available for it.

You might also consider something like a Nikon d5100... It all comes down to what feels best in your hand, because it will be a long time before you are good enough at photography to recognize any differences in IQ between the two cameras in real world shooting.
 
If you don't plan on upgrading the gear to full frame or professional level down the line the Pentax is the way to go. Their entry level cameras aren't as stripped down as Canon and Nikon's are. However if you are starting now to build a kit that you will want to go into professional work with later then I'd say stick to Nikon and Canon.
 
Agreed with previous poster. For outdoors Pentax looks very nice with its support for AA batteries and 6 fps shooting. Also curious about built-in HDR support in Pentax. But it's more expensive it seems (no lens kit out-of-the-box?) and 12.4 MP vs 18 of T2i which might be important if your work will go on print. We have a couple of t3i's for on-site shooting but we do product photography and lens choice is more important so would still pick Canon..
 
Agreed with previous poster. For outdoors Pentax looks very nice with its support for AA batteries and 6 fps shooting. Also curious about built-in HDR support in Pentax. But it's more expensive it seems (no lens kit out-of-the-box?) and 12.4 MP vs 18 of T2i which might be important if your work will go on print. We have a couple of t3i's for on-site shooting but we do product photography and lens choice is more important so would still pick Canon..


12.4 MP is more than enough. Photographers printed 20x30 inch prints from 4 megapixel nikon D1 bodies when digital first came out, so 12 megapixels is plenty, and I'd argue that it is, in theory, better than 18, because of the lower pixel density leading to less visible noise at high iso values.
 
I prefer Pentax.

The anti shake is integral to the body, so you don't have to buy it again with every lens.

Their optics, at least the affordable ones, are better too.

It's true that third party lenses are harder to find than for Canon or Nikon. Used, I'm not so sure. We Pentax guys can use older Pentax lenses than the Canon guys.

Pentax optics are so good that there is not much reason to stray from them.

Think outside the box, and go with Olympus or Pentax. Don't be a sheep. ;)
 
Don't go Olympus! They are on such shaky ground right now that chances are they are going to go the way of the Edsel SOON.
 
Agreed with previous poster. For outdoors Pentax looks very nice with its support for AA batteries and 6 fps shooting. Also curious about built-in HDR support in Pentax. But it's more expensive it seems (no lens kit out-of-the-box?) and 12.4 MP vs 18 of T2i which might be important if your work will go on print. We have a couple of t3i's for on-site shooting but we do product photography and lens choice is more important so would still pick Canon..


12.4 MP is more than enough. Photographers printed 20x30 inch prints from 4 megapixel nikon D1 bodies when digital first came out, so 12 megapixels is plenty, and I'd argue that it is, in theory, better than 18, because of the lower pixel density leading to less visible noise at high iso values.

Sorry, 12 MP is far from enough for pro quality printing with 300 DPI requirement which is a standard these days (magazines, posters, etc).
 
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Yeah... 20x30in @ 4mpixel will look horrible by today's standards. (even 12 is pushing it at this size)

But I'd pick Canon over Pentax just because of user base / lens selection / position in the industry / support available / accessories available. Canon or Nikon is a moot decision. But Pentax... they're great cameras, but I feel like you're limiting your growth from the get go. There's so much around for Canon and Nikon by comparison.
 
I do now and have always liked Pentax. Back in the day I had a K-1000 with a 50mm f/2.0, a 28mm f/2.8 and a 135mm f/2.8. I used it for my yearbook work at the middle school. Good solid stuff and the lenses were as sharp as anything else available. I'm sure the new stuff is just as good. The only thing I would worry about is the fact that the Pentax imaging division has been bounced around as of late. First Hoya bought the entire company and then sold the imaging division to Ricoh. Right now they are only making 2 crop frame DSLR's with a rather strange selection of lenses. Not that you couldn't find enough lenses to get the job done, just kind of odd focal lengths etc. I'd be afraid that Pentax may not be around in a few years. (jmho)
 
Edited: I got a little emotional the first time.

I wouldn't worry too much about Olympus or Pentax going out of business. Spreading rumors and speculations like this is only hastening any damage to the companies. It is not like they are fly-by-night camera companies, you know? They've both been around for many decades. They both make top-quality cameras and optics. They both have a fine selection of optics available.

I would admit that third party lens manufacturers sometimes don't make all their lenses available in Pentax or Olympus mount. But there are enough choices that you can get what you want. The difference being that you may have to pay more for a lens later.

On the other hand, with a Pentax, you can use any Pentax K-bayonet mount lens, auto-aperture type is preferred. Olympus users can buy an adapter to use OM-mount optics on their micro 4/3 cameras. These are manual focus, and available used for very reasonable prices on ebay.

Take some time to look at Pentax's and Olympus' lens line-up on their website. See if they don't make the lens you need. I bet they do.

It is also worth pointing out that Samsung uses Pentax mount lenses, so you can use Samsung optics too. Olympus micro 4/3 shares a mount with Panasonic, I believe. Are you worried that Samsung and Panasonic are going out of business too?

Bottom line: See which camera you like best. Don't eliminate Pentax and Olympus just because Canon and Nikon are more popular with pros. You are not a pro, and therefore, you do not have all the same priorities. For instance, pros prefer full frame cameras when they buy Canons. So if you're going to buy a crop sensor Canon, (much more affordable) what have you gained over Pentax? Pros carry dozens of pounds of equipment when they go on a shoot. They accept that the best equipment is heavy. (not to mention super-expensive) Is that what you want? Or would you rather have a more compact set-up that still gives image quality that looks just as good as the pro stuff until you zoom into an unrealistic level?
 
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