Canon EOS 500D or Pentax K20D

[Dave Buckley]

looking at the two cameras above, i'm unsure as to which to go for, can anyone reccomend. Obviously money is an issue hence why i have these two narrowed down as they are within my price range.

 

i want them for taking my own sky images and also basic arch photography for photomontages etc

[neil poppleton]

Canon for me, I use the 400d, and very pleased with it.

[Dave Buckley]

is that the only reason or because you have researched both???

 

i do have access to the 400d, it's not mine hence why i want my own.

 

i've been gearing towards the pentax. hence why i'm interested as to other reasons why you'd choose the canon (on a technical level)

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Don't forget the lenses...

 

You might want to spend a lot of time looking at which lenses are available for each model, and the quality of those lenses. They are as important as the camera itself, and in many ways more important. In theory, the lenses should outlast the camera, and be usable on future models of the camera.

 

It looks like Pentax might offer better bang for he buck in the prosumer lens area.

http://www.radiantlite.com/2009/09/pentax-vs-canon-lenses-2009.html

 

You might want to purchase the body, and then find a local place that rents lenses. This way you can test several lenses before you buy one. If you do this, it will be easier to find rentals for the Canon camera.

 

You could simply get the kit lens, but they tend to be lower build quality, and can limit the potential quality of the shot you will get from the camera.

 

Also, I am not sure about the Pentax lenses, and how they factor into Pentax's pro lines vs prosumer lines. Canon offers a prosumer lens line called the EF-S, that will only work with its cropped sensor cameras. However, the EF line, which works with full frame cameras also fit the prosumer bodies. Menaing that I can purchase EF lenses now, with the reassurance that if I go to a full frame in the future, the lenses will still be usable.

 

Next, look at the quality of each camera's sensor. It is also more important than the megapixel.

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/Image-Quality-Database/Compare-cameras/%28appareil1%29/319|0/%28appareil2%29/213|0/%28onglet%29/0/%28brand%29/Canon/%28brand2%29/Pentax

 

 

Maybe you have already looked at all this stuff, but it helps to post it a a reminder. Especially since the camera makers have been pushing megapixel as the most important for years.

 

I use a 450d, but didn't spend a lot of time looking at the Pentax lineup before making that purchase. I mostly went back and forth between Nikon and Canon.

Edited October 18, 2009 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[AJLynn]

If choosing on body alone, the Pentax, no doubt. The Canon is an entry consumer body, the Pentax is a semi-pro model.

 

But you need to look into which lenses you want...

[Dave Buckley]

well again, thanks for the info so far, i must admit i need to do more research in the lens department. i mentioned before that i want to take my own sky shots - background plates (so good quality landscapes??) and also some basic - but good - arch photography for doing photomontages etc.i'm not too sure on what lenses do what just yet although i am looking more and more into arch photography

 

what typical lenses are used in this line of work??

 

in fact if i remember there is a post somewhere about this "lenses you can't live without" must go check it out

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

For general cloud plates the combination make not make a great deal of difference, but for everything else... I will try to generalize it like this, and maybe this is to general.

 

Camera Body = 3dsMax, Rhino, Cinema, Maya, FormZ.. etc...

 

Lens = Vray, Mental Ray, Maxwell, Fry.. etc...

 

Basically,...you buy one product to support the other. That combination gives you the quality you want at output.

 

Edit: My positioning and opinion only amount to maybe a year in this realm. There are far more experienced and knowledgeable people on this board in regards to this subject.

Edited October 18, 2009 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[AJLynn]

Well, for really serious arch photography you want a tilt-shift (AKA perspective control) lens, which is a strong point of large format film cameras and Canon SLRs. But these lenses for SLRs are in the $2000 range, so most of us settle for Photoshopping the perspective.

 

Other than that, look for wide angle lenses. Wide angle on a crop sensor digital doesn't mean the same thing as on a 35mm camera, so you want focal lengths like 10-20mm. Canon and Pentax both have excellent lenses in this range but they're expensive, so I'd look at options from Sigma and Tamron - either way I think the brands are tied in this area (but with the Canon you won't be looking at IS lenses, while the Pentax has IS in the body) so I still lean toward Pentax because the body is better.

 

Are these cameras kits with kit lenses?

[SandmanNinja]

(cough) Nikon (cough)

 

Generally the lenses that are included with camera bodies aren't that good.

[AJLynn]

Yeah, pointing out Nikon's recent wide angle lenses was a thought I'd had but I didn't want to complicate things. It's always easy to answer every question like this with "D90".

[Dave Buckley]

Yeah, pointing out Nikon's recent wide angle lenses was a thought I'd had but I didn't want to complicate things. It's always easy to answer every question like this with "D90".

 

interesting, i shall do some research

 

cheers again guys, its just the info i'm looking for, bear in mind though i am a beginner and for now just want to hone my skills rather than getting into it professioanlly

[shaneis]

You'll find a few common threads of advice when you research a new DSLR purchase. More often than not, they are (in no particular order);

 

* It's not the camera, it's the photographer,

* The time it takes camera bodies go out of date is measured in months,

* The time it takes for good lenses to go out of date is measured in decades.

 

With this in mind, if you can still see yourself interested in photography way down the track, put your money into good glass. You'll be using those lenses years from now, regardless of what camera body you have.

 

"Which glass?", you say.

 

Do you like shooting with the Canon you borrowed? Have you tried the Nikons? I prefer the latter, but that's just me.

 

How many Sony or Pentax lenses do you see when you go to a photography shop? Not too many, right? It's always easier to sell second-hand Canon and Nikon glass if you ever want to swap to a different maker or buy a new pro/ semi-pro lens... or if you decide you change your mind completely and don't want to shoot DLSR any more.

 

Long-story-short... if you're only getting your feet wet, head down to the local camera shop. Ask to try an entry level Nikon and an entry level Canon. Pick the one you find most comfortable with and easiest to use (ie: do you understand the way the menus are set out). That's your new camera body. Then ask what sort of bundles are available for lenses. They'll usually have a few options. Go with the one that suits your budget best.

 

I'd recommend you have a read through this sites reviews http://www.kenrockwell.com/

Although the guy's a bit of a knob (but in a good way), you'll get an honest review for each pice of equiptment... something you won't get at most other photography sites (advertising and sponsors tend to influence the way equipment is reviewed )

[SandmanNinja]

+1 for the above

 

I've had my 15mm wide angle lens for 5+ years - got it with my D100 and now use it on my D200.

 

I'd also suggest a medium range zoom lens rather than a fixed focus 50mm lens.

35mm-70mm lenses are good and they bracket the 50mm 1:1 ratio well.

 

Nikkor and Sigma make pretty good lenses. There's also an 18mm-200mm zoom lens that looks really good.

 

(Not sure if you know this, but traditionally a 50mm lens sees what a human eye sees. Do some division to get how much of a wide angle or telephoto lens is by dividing by 50. So a 25mm lens is 0.5x (pretty good) and a 75mm lens is 1.5x)

[Paul Twyman]

If you are looking at the Pentax K20D you might want to check out the Samsung GX-20 as it is effectively the same camera and you can probably pick it up much cheaper. All Pentax and Samsung lenses will also fit on either. I know Samsung are not exactly a name in DSLR cameras but I have one of these and I love it. It has some nice features that are normally only available on cameras of a much higher price range.

 

(When I bought mine anyway, haven't looked recently)

[Dave Buchhofer]

Theres 3 pretty big questions to think about while picking a system to go with:

Types of Photography: Portrait, Urban, Architecture, baby chasing?

TIMES of photography: at this point, almost anything is suitable for daytime work, the lower the light, the higher the price to keep a similar quality

what is your Budget (Initial) and Budget (Going forward)

 

Doing it all again I would probably buy a dirt cheap used Nikon D80 or D50, and have money left over for interesting lensy toys. (I chose d50 instead of d40/60 because it will focus cheaper older non AF-S lenses)

 

base 1-2 year roadmap after getting a bunch of the lenses then i'd look into a new body once those D90's start to appear cheap

 

vaguely average used prices trolled from Fredmiranda or NikonCafe forums, street prices vary by how much effort you want to put in finding stuff obviously

(~$200) Nikon D50 or (~$550) D80 or D200

(~$350) Tamron 17-50 f2.8

(~$200) Nikon 35 f1.8 (Retail)

(~$375) Sigma 10-20 (Not the best quality, but the best quality before there is a +$500 price increase!)

if into zoomy stuff at all, these two are the best bang for the buck nikonwise currently

(~$200) Nikon 55-200Vr or (~$430) Nikon 70-300Vr

alternately maybe grab a fisheye 10.5mm at (~$400)

 

(Nikon centric as I haven't really done much with cannon other than cry at the horrific quality and feel of our xTi w/ kit lens at work)

 

that doesn't really answer the question very well, but maybe a 'what would i have done differently' can be helpful to someone

[alexg]

Go to dpreview.com and see the in-depth review of both cameras.

Very useful.

 

I use EOS 400D, very happy with it, since the noise at iso 800 is better than those of other brands. Very useful for snapping interiors without tripod.

I tried EOS 50D and now is just waiting to upgrade.

EOS kit lens are not that good. Need to spend approx another 1K to buy an EF-S lens

Just got a 15-85mm EF-S lens today, very nice but heavy.

 

try looking at Olympus as well. A bit noisy at high ISO, but very nice colour and saturation. Expensive lenses though.

Olympus E-3 is weatherproof and has a very good kit lens at 12-60mm (24-120mm equiv)

other option is to go with cheaper E-30 and ask for the same lens above.