Moving from Pentax to Sony - Some questions

[Ducky]

Hi everyone, hope all of you are doing well.

I'm from London and enjoy landscape, adventure and astrophotography, and wildlife if and when the opportunity presents itself. I've been using Pentax cameras and lenses for the past 12 years - Initially a Pentax K-30, followed by a Pentax KP, both of which have served me very well. My lenses are all Pentax - HD DA 15mm F4, DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6, DA 50mm F1.8 and DA 200mm F2.8.

I've been contemplating buying a full frame camera for some time now, and I think I'm finally ready to do it. I would have to trade in my entire existing kit to be able to afford the camera body + one versatile walk-around lens. Note that none of my existing lenses are full-frame lenses.

My budget for the camera body is about £1,500, and I've narrowed it down to two options - Pentax K-1 mark II and Sony A7R IIIA. I acknowledge that the Sony is a better camera in almost all aspects, but the one thing that the Pentax has which is very important to me is toughness and weather resistance. That is not to say that the Sony doesn't have these attributes, but based on my own experience the Pentax is built like a tank and has served me well through some very hostile environments, including -30C temperature in the Arctic, rain and snow.

I am very keen on the Sony as it's and incredible camera and the photos I've seen it produce are stellar, but I was wondering if anyone can vouch for it's toughness and durability in harsher environments over the duration of it's lifetime?

Thank you and I look forward to reading your replies.

Ducky

[Ducky]

Upon further introspection, I might have exaggerated a bit in my previous post. A more realistic depiction of the harsh environments that the camera would be subjected to would be:

• Extreme cold (-30C)
• Very windy
• Not torrential rain, but misty and humid conditions

[Mike J M]

I can't vouch for the cold but I used the A7Riii in very very hot windy conditions and in several sand storms ( in Namibia ) without any I'll effects. I did use a silicone case on occasion which is readily available on Amazon for $20 or so, not because I didn't trust the camera but just in case I dropped it which I probably did several times without any damage. I've used Sony cameras since their inception and never had a fault occur.

[Alexander L.]

I can not say anything about cold weather since I live in South Florida.  But I love my two Sony A7RIII.  I bought them when they were released in November of 2017.  I know this will sound crazy, but I also own the Sony A7IV.  I have had it for almost 3 years and it's brand new still in the box as well as the Sony A7RV which I've owned since November 2023 (brand new, still in the box).  I also own a couple of Sony Sony A7RII cameras and the Mark 3 is noticeably better than the Mark 2.  OOPS, sometimes I shoot with three bodies; I have the Sony A7III too. Before switching to Sony I shot with Canon.

Edited July 17, 2024 by Alexander L.

[XKAES]

The main problem with COLD is the battery -- not the camera -- and you seem to have already solved the battery problem, somehow, with your Pentax.  Whatever you do will work with the Sony as well. 

FYI, lots of different cameras from different brands use the same battery.

[Ducky]

Thanks all, very informative. Re the batteries, I tend to keep 2 extra when shooting in very cold weather, and I was planning on doing the same with my next camera. 

[Pieter]

2 hours ago, Ducky said:

Thanks all, very informative. Re the batteries, I tend to keep 2 extra when shooting in very cold weather, and I was planning on doing the same with my next camera. 

Do bear in mind that mirrorless cameras last quite a lot shorter than DSLRs with the same battery capacity because the sensor has to constantly read images to be processed and fed to the viewfinder. One of the very few drawbacks of mirrorless cameras over DSLRs.