... K10D etc. etc

[Godfrey DiGiorgi]

On Dec 17, 2008, at 8:58 AM, Charles Robinson wrote:

> I'm just curious - and I don't mean this as a dig at you or  
> anything, seriously - how long has it been since you've used the  
> K10D on a regular basis?  I know you liked it a lot when it first  
> came out, but it seems that you've moved on.

No offense even thought of. Equipment is transitory.

I haven't touched the K10D other than to charge the batteries since  
March, and for the occasional test snap. For some reason ... I don't  
pretend to understand these things! ... it didn't resonate with me the  
way the *ist DS did, and the way the Panasonic L1 and Olympus E-1 do  
even more so. I've picked up and handled the K20D at the store and it  
feels very much like the same thing. I've sold off some of my Pentax  
stuff and the rest is up for sale (K10D, DA14, DA70, couple of other  
things if anyone's interested). Biggest things I miss out of all my  
Pentax gear are the FA43/1.9 Limited and the DA21/3.2 Limited lenses.

Where when I handle the Olympus E-3 ... and now the little Panasonic  
G1 ... the immediate reaction is "gotta have it". They just do  
something right for me that I can't easily define, aside from making  
excellent photographs. And the Olympus ZD and Panasonic/Leica lenses I  
have are the equal of anything else I've used, that FA43 aside as  
something I think is extra extra special.

Funny stuff: handling the Nikon D700 and D3 I always walk away with  
"now that's impressive!" but with with no particular desire to buy  
one. Canon stuff ... similar but even less desire. I handled the Sony  
A900 recently: impressively well featured for the money and the Zeiss  
lenses are a draw, but just like the Konica Minoltas it is descended  
from, very little about it actually fits my hands well: I find it an  
awkward camera to hold and use.

But as I said, equipment is transitory. Frankly, almost anything made  
since 2003 in a mid-line DSLR is far more capable than most people  
ever get to the limits of, and I include myself in that assessment.  
The *ist DS returned a tremendous lot of excellent photos that I'm  
still cataloging, processing, and putting out there with good  
recognition, so did the K10D. The L1 is my 'standard' camera now, and  
the E-1 is right in there holding its own. I'm complementing/ 
supplementing them with the Panasonic G1 very shortly, which will give  
me access to other lenses I've missed (the G1 is the best camera yet  
devised for adapting lenses to, imo ... I've got my eye on a couple of  
my old favorite Leica M mount lenses ... and maybe another  
FA43 :-) ... but I'll be working with what I have otherwise for a  
while to come.

The photographs are more important to me. And that's where I'm putting  
most of my time, energy and money.

Godfrey