Yeah those are fair points. Whether current SDM complaint comments are regarding older lenses that have recently failed is anyone's guess. Tokina makes a bunch of those lenses for Pentax, and some of them do have high CA's, but sharpness levels are extremely high.
I have run across a few posts from people who purchased lenses fairly recently & had the SDM failure. But, who knows how long those lenses have been sitting on the shelves. One of the recurring complaints is that the lens works fine, then is put away & unused for a month, then immediately has the SDM fail upon next use.
Regarding "Full frame is a rip-off": After i bought a Pentax, I read a lot of comments and ensuing arguments regarding Pentax not having a FF camera. Having been used to the Nikon and Canon mantra of emigrating to FF, I was surprised to see a lot of Pentax users simply not giving a darn whether Pentax makes a FF camera - to which I was stunned. It took a bit of time for it to filter into my thick skull, but these folks know what they've got. They've got IQ that stands shoulder to shoulder against FF and even beats certain FF cameras. All thats missing is ISO 6400 (print worthy 6400). You don't really need to crave a FF in Pentax.
Strange, because I see all kinds of Pentax users clamoring for a Penatx FF. But I agree, what they have now in the Pentax stable should appease most people.
Regarding shooting primes and non-weather sealed lenses: Shake Reduction - all lenses will be stabilized; Horizon correction (the sensor levels itself. No more crooked pics); 3-4 stops of SR; Tiltable sensor (tilt shift photography); perspective control (widen a scene when you're in a tight spot); astrotracer (sensor tilts to track stars. no streaks). Can a Nikon do that ?
All excellent features.
There are plenty of features and plenty of great lenses. Out of the thousands of Pentax images you've downloaded, which images were bad which lenses were used - I mean if they were pushing the lens to the extreme, you're bound to get CA's or flare.
The reason I am not with a Pentax now has a lot to do with this. The photos with really bad CA were not what I would consider challenging in any sense, yet they sprouted CA like the plague. This was a wide range of lenses, essentially all the zooms that are weather sealed. From what I remember, the 18-135 was bad in this respect, but more surprising was how soft it is on the sides. I just remember thinking that if I could make this lens work until they got the SDM issues ironed out, then I could be a happy shooter. But, the 18-135 just didn't cut it with me. At that point, I deleted all of my Pentax folders and scratched them off my list of potential cameras altogether.
Plus you don't have to always buy weather sealed lenses.
No, one does not have to. In my case, weather sealing is absolutely essential. There's no way I would buy a fantastically sealed body only to not used a weather sealed lens on it-defeats the purpose. But, I also know I am in the minority as most people don't seem to care about sealing whatsoever.
Nikon and Canon weather sealing isn't very good, and thats why you see pro's in the rain using umbrellas and camera-rain-jackets. So Nikon (and Canon) weather sealing isn't real weather sealing, they're just dust and humidity sealed - so the point is moot.
Not sure what particular point is moot, but I do agree with you. I wouldn't trust any Nikon body or lens unprotected in the rain. Kind of hard to have any confidence with a fairly expensive lens that only has a rubber gasket on the mount (see lensrentals tear down of "pro" lenses). It absolutely kills me that I have to "bag" my body/lens so often in the elements.
There is effectively no truly weather sealed lens (or body) in the Nikon (or Canon) line up that you can confidently use in the rain. But Pentax's "minuscule" line up can be used confidently in real rain.
I used to shoot with the Olympus E-3 and various sealed Oly lenses. In horrendous conditions. Never had one spec of doubt about the sealing. That's why I really, really wanted the Pentax to work out for me. Unfortunately, the whole SDM issue with the only lenses I wanted kept me away. If there was no SDM problem, I'd be shooting Pentax now.
Thanks for your thoughts, but you need to research a little further.
Research what exactly? You presume that I haven't done enough research? I like what works. I don't care what brand is on it as long as it meets my needs. That being said, I refuse to get drawn into a pissing match involving fanboyism, which it seems to be leading to.
