Nikon D5100 VS Pentax K-30. Would like your photography input please.

fortybrandon · Jan 28, 2014

I would like to say thank you beforehand. As a newb I am taking all the knowledge I can at the moment. I have sold my recent D3100 in an attempt to upgrade both lens and Body. I understand lens make a world of difference in pictures as do skill in photography. Knowing this I have looked and looked and looked countless of times at a lot of different websites about both the D5100 and the Pentax K-30.

From what I gather, (Snapsort.com) compares any DSLR and other cameras to each other. I really don't know how accurate snap Sort is. Below is the link to the comparison.

Nikon D5100 vs Pentax K-30 - Our Analysis

From what I gather the Pentax offers more features than the D5100 does. Some say it competes with the D7000 more so than it does the 5k series.

What really gets me on the Pentax K-30 is the

Image Stabilization
100% viewfinder
Faster Shutter Speed
Weather Sealed.
Variety of Colors, Blue, White, Silver (Stupid, but makes more aesthetic appearance)

I also like the Nikon D5100 because of the
More Lenses available.
The Flip Out Screen
The Battery Life

Keeping this in mind. I would like your input on the two cameras please. I understand the lens makes a difference in the pictures and I am aware of this when looking at the K-30. The Video does not make me any difference as I will be taking pictures not videos with it.

Right now I can buy a K-30 Body only for $446.oo (I am buying the Body only because I will not be using it as it is an early birthday present to myself next month and I can buy the lens later)

The D5100 actually sells for less $420 from what I have seen with the kit lens.

I like how the K-30 has the built in stabalizer and i know some of nikon lens VR cost more than the regulars.

I am sorry if it appears if i have made up my mind, but i honestly wouldnt be making this thread if i have. I am just asking is there any reason NOT to buy the K-30 over the D5100? The reason why i chose the D5100 is because i could not find any other DSLRs in the same price range with as many features and as good reviews as these. I may be wrong, but please correct me. Can anyone recommend me any other DSLRs under $500.oo in the same category as these?

Thanks and God Bless.

jaomul · Jan 28, 2014

A guy I know bought a Pentax k30 just to take shots to put iems up on ebay. He was not photography orientated so asked me to help out with preferred settings for certain shots. My initial impression of the k30 was it felt very solid, took nice photos and seemed better than its price.

Recently I moved from DSLRs to micro 4/3rds. I missed the DSLR set up so bought into a system again. I seriously considered Pentax as they seem to give a lot for the money. In body stabilisation and weather proofing are excellent features- one can argue the benefit of lens stabilisation all day, but if you can have stabilisation on every single lens regardless of price then I thinks this is a winner.

I believe Pentax and Nikon use sony sensors and that image quality between the two is very similar (in raw files). I also read that the Pentax jpeg engine is not quite as good as other brands, so jpegs straight out of camera may be better with other brands. This didn't matter to me as I usually do most things in raw.

For a finish I bought Nikon-why?- i live in Ireland with a small consumer base. Nearly every item of equipment has to be ordered in. Nikon and canon stuff is easier to get straight off the shelf. The nearest shop to me that I could find that dealt with Pentax was 3 hours away by car. I am not sure where you live but if Pentax stuff is available readily I would say its a great camera for the money. Having said that I dont think the nikon is to far behind, but the Pentax for me at least has the edge.

Good luck with whichever you choose

robbins.photo · Jan 28, 2014

fortybrandon said:
I would like to say thank you beforehand. As a newb I am taking all the knowledge I can at the moment. I have sold my recent D3100 in an attempt to upgrade both lens and Body. I understand lens make a world of difference in pictures as do skill in photography. Knowing this I have looked and looked and looked countless of times at a lot of different websites about both the D5100 and the Pentax K-30.

From what I gather, (Snapsort.com) compares any DSLR and other cameras to each other. I really don't know how accurate snap Sort is. Below is the link to the comparison.

Nikon D5100 vs Pentax K-30 - Our Analysis

From what I gather the Pentax offers more features than the D5100 does. Some say it competes with the D7000 more so than it does the 5k series.

What really gets me on the Pentax K-30 is the

Image Stabilization
100% viewfinder
Faster Shutter Speed
Weather Sealed.
Variety of Colors, Blue, White, Silver (Stupid, but makes more aesthetic appearance)

I also like the Nikon D5100 because of the
More Lenses available.
The Flip Out Screen
The Battery Life

Keeping this in mind. I would like your input on the two cameras please. I understand the lens makes a difference in the pictures and I am aware of this when looking at the K-30. The Video does not make me any difference as I will be taking pictures not videos with it.

Right now I can buy a K-30 Body only for $446.oo (I am buying the Body only because I will not be using it as it is an early birthday present to myself next month and I can buy the lens later)

The D5100 actually sells for less $420 from what I have seen with the kit lens.

I like how the K-30 has the built in stabalizer and i know some of nikon lens VR cost more than the regulars.

I am sorry if it appears if i have made up my mind, but i honestly wouldnt be making this thread if i have. I am just asking is there any reason NOT to buy the K-30 over the D5100? The reason why i chose the D5100 is because i could not find any other DSLRs in the same price range with as many features and as good reviews as these. I may be wrong, but please correct me. Can anyone recommend me any other DSLRs under $500.oo in the same category as these?

Thanks and God Bless.

Well Pentax makes a good camera, don't get me wrong. But in the interest of full disclosure I own a D5100 and I'm a big fan of it - it really is one of the best crop sensor cameras in it's price range. The first thing I recommend you do is take a look not at the K-30 or the D5100, but at the more advanced models such as the K-5 and the D7100. I'm not recommending you purchase them, just research them. Remember your not so much buying a camera as you are buying into a camera system, so look at the more expensive models and ask yourself, in a few years time when I go to upgrade, which system makes more sense for me?

I chose the Nikon over Pentax for three basic reasons, first I buy used and the used market for Nikon is much stronger than it is for Pentax. There is a lot more used gear available for Nikon which gives me more choices at lower prices. The second big reason that I went Nikon was for the low light performance. Both cameras do great in good lighting but in lower light conditions the Nikon has the lower noise to high/iso capabilities and that can make a very big difference when the lighting isn't the greatest.

The last thing that convinced me to go Nikon was that I looked at the cameras that I would be most likely upgrading too and Nikon gave me the best choices as far as future purchases at the price points I'd be looking at, so for me Nikon was the best choice.

That having been said as I said before Pentax makes a fine camera, the K-30 is certainly very capable and honestly there isn't a "bad" choice here - the question is what is the best choice for you?

goodguy · Jan 28, 2014

One more point to consider.

Pentax makes only crop sensor cameras (and one medium format) while Nikon makes crop sensor and full frame.
If you will want to upgrade to full frame in the future you will have your foot in the door if you will get a Nikon camera.

From what I hear and read Pentax make very good cameras but I like to join the bigger and more known so for me Nikon is the obvious choice, range of lenses (used and new), ease of having service near my place was a big plus when I got into Nikon.

fortybrandon · Jan 28, 2014

Thank you everyone! I have considered the k-5 and d7000. I have a wide variety I have looked at and compared. If either the k-5 or the d7k was under 500 I'd jump at either. I do understand that in a couple years I might look at getting a new dslr but I'm sure there will be new other ones to come out.

As said above I really enjoy nikon as the wide variety of gear for it. I have no camera shop where I live so walmarts the closest thing other than online.

I feel as though the Pentax is an underdog brand in the dslr business at the moment. But from what I understand the Pentax can attach a wide variety of past lenses as well.

Derrel · Jan 28, 2014

Both Pentax and Nikon allow attachment of MANY years' worth of older lenses, dating back literally decades, with varying degrees of automation. I looked at the K-30; it's a LOT of camera for the money, it really is, but it's a Pentax. Pentax is one of the small players in today's market, with narrow, limited sales presence in "real-world stores". It's a brand that has a large following in the Japan market, and which 40 years ago, used to be a bigger player, and popular in Europe. What Pentax has ALWAYS done is to Make.Good.Cameras. PERIOD. But, they have fallen to a point where they are like 5% of the d-slr market, through a series of events spanning decades.

It is rumored that Pentax will announce a full-frame camera this year. Pentax makes some VERY nice lenses for 1.5x bodies. Their DX-optimized lens lineup is, I think,. stronger than that of Canon or Nikon, with their "Star" series of lenses, and their Limited series of primes. But....Pentax just does not sell widely, or sell well. But I do think the K-30 is probably a better-designed camera than the now aged D5100, which has a rather clunky menu system. But...it's a Nikon...part of a big company's line of popular, sold-everywhere cameras. Nikon is the Budweiser of cameras.