Long serving committee and honorary member Cat Humphries gives us the final instalment of her four part series of her photographic relationship with Pentax & Nikon. Enjoy!
A Back Garden Busk and Decision Time
Lazy Sunday afternoon, there’s no time to worry… I’m sure there’s a song there but the Back Garden Busk crew were more keen on showtunes!
I had a fine afternoon in Chorleywood to compare the Nikon D7500 and a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 with my trusty Pentax K-5II and a Tamron 70-200mm 2.8. I’d photographed an almost identical socially-distant event two weeks previously so it was ideal to compare how well the two set-ups worked.
Being able to set a minimum shutter speed while in Aperture mode was fantastic compared to Pentax’s Aperture+Time setting. This helped me avoid over-exposing the highlights as the lighting changed and ensured that I was always shooting fast enough to avoid camera shake or blurring movement.
Within minutes I wasn’t thinking about the controls on the Nikon – I was completely in the moment and able to change aperture quickly as the action developed. Although the Pentax has two control dials, the same as the Nikon, the rear control dial is nearer to where you rest your thumb so it’s too easy to change the setting accidentally. I was very pleased with the layout of the dials of the Nikon and felt like I was in control at all times.
The fact that the camera worked like a dream was nothing compared to how I felt when I saw the images in Lightroom. I’d grown used to adding a lot of sharpness to the RAW images from the Pentax – their shallow-focus vintage quality becoming my signature style. The sharpness of the Nikon images was a revelation! So crisp in the focus points, so dreamily soft in the background. Much less forgiving than the Pentax, but satisfying when you got the focus spot-on.
This was it, seeing the images from the day I made my decision to switch to Nikon for my theatre work. I accepted the trade-in quote and boxed up my beloved Pentax gear ready to go.
I must admit, I was quite sad packing up the Pentax kit. It had served me well over the years but as much as it felt like I’d been cheating on it for a younger model, I knew that it would be the right decision. With Pentax heading further out of favour, I would trade-in before it became worthless. And besides, a box full of lenses and a second-hand D7200 is on the way. No turning back now!
There will always be a place in my heart for my Pentax DSLRs… and a place on my shelf for my Pentax MX. Might need to buy another roll of film to go in it. Once a Pentaxian, always a Pentaxian.
