The Pentax KP has not been my favorite Pentax camera.  I preferred the K-3 models and would be using the K-3 III today except for the fact that the KP is lighter and has a tilting LCD.  These are features that I thought I needed to accommodate my problems with aging; i.e., balance, back, knees, and hands.  With my therapy I am now reevaluating whether the lighter KP is necessary.  There is no doubt that I have physical issues that are not going away and that lighter weight, etc. helps me; but, is it necessary?

One thing I have been doing, and enjoying, is using the 35mm Macro lens on the KP when I take it with me on my walks.  This reduces the weight to a level where it hasn’t been bothering me.  I might, just use this lens most of the time.  It depends on what I photograph (my intent).  If I want to capture birds, etc. during my walks, I need my 55-300mm lens, but it is heavier.  Depending on how much success I have with my back, I may or may not be using it much.

I am in my sixth week of therapy and one of the therapists suggested something to me that I haven’t explored extensively … sitting down more often when making images.  I have learned over the years that I can’t stand for long periods of time and that when photographing events at Homewood in the Omni room that I needed to sit on a stool as much as possible when photographing from the rear of the room with long lenses.  The stool often isn’t high enough, but it helps when necessary to relieve my back pain.

I have yet to try carrying a stool or light folding chair and spending more time sitting by the ponds or along the creek.  Hmmm, I do have one of those English seat-canes that I never used.  Maybe it would help.  I’ll try most anything if it enables me to continue using Pentax DSLR cameras.

Another way that I think I might extend my abilities to utilize the heavier Pentax cameras might be to drive around with the camera and lenses and then make short outings to make images close by, or even photograph from the car.

This morning I changed lenses and put the heavier 55-300mm lens on the camera and stepped out to the back porch where I made the frost pictures in the previous post.  After holding the heavier combination for a while I went back inside and put the 35mm lens back on the camera.  I’m thinking that my selection of what I photograph in the future is still going to be heavily influenced by my back and the weight of my camera plus lens.  Any choices I make for future projects with my Pentax gear (which I very much want to use) will be focal length and weight dependent.

It is coming up on a month since I used my Fujifilm gear on a project and I have already started thinking (again) about just using my Pentax gear exclusively; i.e., letting my Pentax gear determine what Homewood photos I make and selling my Fujifilm gear.  I also find my thoughts drifting back to getting another K-3 Mark 3 camera.  That decision is very dependent upon my balance issues and abilities to get down low to make pictures, and then getting back up since the K-3 doesn’t have a tilting LCD.  The additional weight of the K-3 also probably has a big influence on what lenses I could use with it.

An alternative, more rational choice would be to continue using the KP camera, selling the Fujifilm gear, and getting a Ricoh GR III or IIIx to supplement the KP when, and if, I need something smaller and more discreet.