About good deals?
Hi James,
I have been watching your videos for the past few months. Currently I shoot with a Pentax K200d so I appreciate your love for the old and inexpensive. When looking for good deals, the best ones seem to be in Japan. Do you have experience ordering from EBay sellers in Japan, and dealing with customs, etc. ?
Looking to update to a KP and possibly a K-01 for a walk around/travel camera.
Thanks for any advice,
Matt
Quote from mattlinardo on October 12, 2022, 12:48 amHi James,
I have been watching your videos for the past few months. Currently I shoot with a Pentax K200d so I appreciate your love for the old and inexpensive. When looking for good deals, the best ones seem to be in Japan. Do you have experience ordering from EBay sellers in Japan, and dealing with customs, etc. ?
Looking to update to a KP and possibly a K-01 for a walk around/travel camera.
Thanks for any advice,
Matt
Hey Matt!
I do - I've ordered a few camera items from Japan. Most recently I bought a Pentax Q7 in a speciality color that arrived just last week! My experience has always been good. The sellers are honest and overly helpful. One time a lens came in a condition I felt was not accurate based on the description, and the seller just refunded me the payment.
In all cases I have not had to deal with customs/duties. I think generally the sellers are experienced enough to what how to fill out all the forms so there's no surprises, but I believe there's always some chance you could be caught in paying some extra duties. I'd have to research more about it. Are you in the US?
The KP and K01 are both very different cameras. What do you like about each? I have owned both, so maybe I can help you out there.
Good luck!
Yes I am located in the US. When I bought my K200 years ago, it came from a shop in Canada (I didn’t notice I had only clicked off North America) and wound up having to pay customs taxes, and it wasn’t a small amount. So needless to say I am always a little leery of purchases outside of the country.
That said…I like different things about both the KP and K-01. The Kp (or K3 I am still in the air on which one) will replace my K200 for most things. I get to shoot photos for my church usually once a month. The 1600 max iso on the K200 doesn’t cut it (beautiful for stuff outside in good light still). Obviously a faster lens would help too.
The K01 would be my “pocket” camera, for when I travel and don’t want to/can’t bring my full rig, or when I am out for the afternoon at the disc golf course or soccer fields with my kids. I love the option to use all of my current lenses, rather than buying new.
Quote from mattlinardo on October 13, 2022, 4:22 amYes I am located in the US. When I bought my K200 years ago, it came from a shop in Canada (I didn’t notice I had only clicked off North America) and wound up having to pay customs taxes, and it wasn’t a small amount. So needless to say I am always a little leery of purchases outside of the country.
That said…I like different things about both the KP and K-01. The Kp (or K3 I am still in the air on which one) will replace my K200 for most things. I get to shoot photos for my church usually once a month. The 1600 max iso on the K200 doesn’t cut it (beautiful for stuff outside in good light still). Obviously a faster lens would help too.
The K01 would be my “pocket” camera, for when I travel and don’t want to/can’t bring my full rig, or when I am out for the afternoon at the disc golf course or soccer fields with my kids. I love the option to use all of my current lenses, rather than buying new.
Yikes, yeah that's most worst fear with international orders but thankfully has not happened to me yet.
While the K01 is noticeably smaller than the K-3 or KP, it isn't that small of a camera. It mostly takes a bit of the height (no viewfinder) and depth (no grip, no mirror) off, but still has to accommodate that Pentax SLR flange distance. It's like a chunky mirrorless camera. So it would save you some space in a bag, but you'd still have to bring a bag. It's not going to fit in a pocket, with or without a lens.
The K01 does have a great sensor though. The same as the K-5. I do think it's less usable overall than the KP or K-3. Just a quirky camera!
The KP has incredible low light performance - it matches the most modern K-3 III low light performance almost the same.
The K-3 would be a huge upgrade in low light performance over the K200D, but behind the KP by a bit. It's much cheaper of course, so maybe saves some cash for faster lenses for your indoor photography.
There's my rambling thoughts xD Let me know if I can be a help in any other way!
Also check out MPB, UsedPhotoPro and KEH if you haven't already. Usually some good Pentax body options on those sites for sometimes really nice prices. Plus you get the free returns and limited warranties.
Update:
Decided to go with a K3 from MPB…only 7000 shutter actuations…for a really good price. Can’t wait to get familiar with my new friend, coming tomorrow 🤓
Quote from mattlinardo on October 26, 2022, 1:09 amUpdate:
Decided to go with a K3 from MPB…only 7000 shutter actuations…for a really good price. Can’t wait to get familiar with my new friend, coming tomorrow
Awesome! Enjoy! It's such a good camera! Report back how you feel about it once you've had a chance to play with it 😀
So far so good. Glad I went with the K3. Now I am looking at one of the f2.8 lenses, possibly the Sigma 70-200.
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Quote from mattlinardo on November 14, 2022, 1:31 amSo far so good. Glad I went with the K3. Now I am looking at one of the f2.8 lenses, possibly the Sigma 70-200.
I owned the Tamron variant, and it was really good! Fast focusing and sharp from f2.8, which is fantastic for a zoom that goes up to 200mm. It is very big and bulky though, as you may already know!
