First, let me make it very clear that Boxed Light is not a review site. It is my own personal site broken down by the cameras I have owned or used and the images produced by those cameras.
In addition, I have added this blog section which allows me to blather on about anything I please without some forum bozo or forum policeman getting on my case for voicing my opinions. If you don’t like my opinions you don’t have to read them.
Anyway….
I am considering selling all of my Canon gear. It’s bulky, it weighs a ton, it scares small children and natives of foreign countries. The 5D MKII makes me look like something I am not.. a “Pro” and that tends to make shop owners and others nervous and they begin wondering what the hell I am doing taking photos of their property or in their store, etc..
The other thing is that I am completely bored with my Canon gear. That’s right, I find the 5D MKII to be boring. I have probably less than 1,000 shutter activations on it and I have never used it for video. So, why am I hanging on to it? Because it may feel boring but it also feels “safe”. It is like an old friend.. I feel comfortable (but bored) with it. You know the type.. they pop over for a visit, sit on your sofa, drink beer, belch and fart while they watch your TV.
Here comes the uncharted territory part….
I am actually thinking of the Pentax K5 as a new addition to my family of cameras. There are things about the K5 that I find very interesting. So I began reading reviews… that was my first mistake. Review sites can be so boring, especially when they use those mundane test shots.. you know, the ones with crayons, whisky bottles, thread, and other items that no photographer would ever take a shot of… and they drone on and on about specs, etc..
What I want in a review…
How about using a real, talented photographer to actually do some real work with the camera being tested? I don’t give a damn about test shots.. I want to see real world use of the camera by a talented photographer. I say talented because some of the review sites seem to hand the cameras being tested/reviewed to interns who churn out some really boring stuff… snapshots, if you will.
“Here’s a picture of me mate having a go at some fish and chips! Eh? What the hell is that growth on the side of his head? Better have a doctor take a look at that.”
No, I want to see what the K5 can do in the hands of a real and talented photographer. That would really help me make a decision. Specs don’t always tell the whole story and sometimes I actually think they lie. I much prefer to look at a body of work (serious work) from a camera and make a decision based on that rather than a bunch of test shots taken on a lunch break.
So here I am pondering something like the Pentax K5 and wondering where the truth really lies with that camera. Some say it has auto focus issues, some say it does not. Some say the IQ is not as great as some suggest, some say it is. Reading the reviews is like sticking ice picks in my eyes… some of them actually seem to just use the press release from Pentax. Frustrating.
In all fairness to those sites who do equipment reviews, I’m glad you’re there. Even if it does take forever to get a review done or you did the review on a pre-release model which bares no resemblance to what was released. I am glad you’re there. You do offer helpful information. But consider using a real (and talented) photographer in your reviews. Sample photographs, not to be confused with “TEST” photographs, are really one of the most important things to me when I am making a decision.
I’m looking for something smaller than the 5D MKII with some cool camera features. So far, at least on the spec sheets, the Pentax K5 looks pretty good. But here’s the problem. I can’t find one to hold and test myself. (Not that I am a really talented photographer, I’m not) But I do want to hold it, possibly even caress it and see if it speaks to me. I hear the sound of the shutter in the K5 is a whisper compared to that of the 5D MKII… hope I can hear the thing if it does speak to me.
Maybe I should read the review on Jim Bob’s Plumbing Site. Surely he won’t have one of those static displays with crayons and thread.