need some shutterbug advice

[Perro Del Diablo]

 

I've got their K-50 with 2 motorized lenses (an 18-55 MM and 50-200 MM)

 

My larger focal length lenses *200+ mm) are from my K-1000 as I got them for $20-40 vs $300 or more for the new stuff. I prefer those lenses if I'm not trying to grab quick shots as I can manually adjust everything and don't have to deal with trying to get the auto-focus to grab what I want.

 

I've had a lot of fun with that camera. I took a lot of pictures at my brother in laws wedding. They had a friend who was a "photographer" do all their pictures. When they saw the ones that I took, after running them through Photoshop and putting them on a DVD for them, they said they wish they would have paid me to do it rather than the so called professional. Which I would have then used all the money to buy some of the neat stuff that my camera bag is lacking. Maybe I'll get a gig doing their maternity photos when that time comes.

 

The only downside to modern Pentax is it can be harder to find compatible accessories. To get a good flash, there aren't as many that sync up with the Pentax camera as the ones that work properly with Cannon and Nikon. Also the off brand lenses tend to be harder to find as they mostly manufacture Cannon and Nikon mounts. It's fairly hard to find a K-mount digital lens from an off brand manufacturer that is of decent quality and still affordable. Amazon has thousands of results compatible with Canon and Nikon and usually less than 100 for Pentax. BUT, Pentax never changed their mounting system, so that was a huge plus for me as I learned on the K-1000. All of your K mount lenses work on new Pentax cameras. I think the only exception is their new medium format digital camera.

 

 

I mainly use mine for B&W as IMO digital hasn't come close to surpassing film in that aspect yet, unless you drop thousands on camera and gear. You just can't beat film for B&W as far as I'm concerned. B&W is fairly easy to develop yourself once you've practiced a time or two with unimportant film rolls.

 

As for memory cards, I never skimp on those. I buy the absolute best I can afford and back them up to my PC after every time I go out and shoot. I've had excellent luck with the Kingston brand and rarely buy anything else.

The knowledge I see here is why I originally asked for advise. As a amateur I was not sure what would be good choice. I was interested in canon because I knew the name. Pentax was way out of what I felt reasonable price range for my skill level. The Nikon kept coming up but I was not sure about them. I look forward to receiving it and I believe my first subject will be my My Harley. thanks again.

[DocWard]

 

I've got their K-50 with 2 motorized lenses (an 18-55 MM and 50-200 MM)

 

My larger focal length lenses *200+ mm) are from my K-1000 as I got them for $20-40 vs $300 or more for the new stuff. I prefer those lenses if I'm not trying to grab quick shots as I can manually adjust everything and don't have to deal with trying to get the auto-focus to grab what I want.

 

I've had a lot of fun with that camera. I took a lot of pictures at my brother in laws wedding. They had a friend who was a "photographer" do all their pictures. When they saw the ones that I took, after running them through Photoshop and putting them on a DVD for them, they said they wish they would have paid me to do it rather than the so called professional. Which I would have then used all the money to buy some of the neat stuff that my camera bag is lacking. Maybe I'll get a gig doing their maternity photos when that time comes.

 

The only downside to modern Pentax is it can be harder to find compatible accessories. To get a good flash, there aren't as many that sync up with the Pentax camera as the ones that work properly with Cannon and Nikon. Also the off brand lenses tend to be harder to find as they mostly manufacture Cannon and Nikon mounts. It's fairly hard to find a K-mount digital lens from an off brand manufacturer that is of decent quality and still affordable. Amazon has thousands of results compatible with Canon and Nikon and usually less than 100 for Pentax. BUT, Pentax never changed their mounting system, so that was a huge plus for me as I learned on the K-1000. All of your K mount lenses work on new Pentax cameras. I think the only exception is their new medium format digital camera.

 

 

I mainly use mine for B&W as IMO digital hasn't come close to surpassing film in that aspect yet, unless you drop thousands on camera and gear. You just can't beat film for B&W as far as I'm concerned. B&W is fairly easy to develop yourself once you've practiced a time or two with unimportant film rolls.

 

As for memory cards, I never skimp on those. I buy the absolute best I can afford and back them up to my PC after every time I go out and shoot. I've had excellent luck with the Kingston brand and rarely buy anything else.

 

Thanks for the info, it's very helpful. I've considered Pentax for a new camera simply because I knew they had the same mounting system. My father was what I would call a very accomplished amateur photographer. Had his own darkroom with two enlargers, did color, b&w and slides, bought bulk film, etc... I think he has a couple of Pentax lenses in addition to the few that I have as well. The cameras that I have that I hope to display are ones he gave me, and are very cool, if not rare or valuable. At one time I toyed with the idea of going into photography as a profession, but was very unsure of what I wanted to do at the time. Over the past ten years or so, I have sort of slid away from the hobby in pursuit of others. I would like a decent DSLR to help with those as much as anything else.

[Buffalo Douglas]

 

Thanks for the info, it's very helpful. I've considered Pentax for a new camera simply because I knew they had the same mounting system. My father was what I would call a very accomplished amateur photographer. Had his own darkroom with two enlargers, did color, b&w and slides, bought bulk film, etc... I think he has a couple of Pentax lenses in addition to the few that I have as well. The cameras that I have that I hope to display are ones he gave me, and are very cool, if not rare or valuable. At one time I toyed with the idea of going into photography as a profession, but was very unsure of what I wanted to do at the time. Over the past ten years or so, I have sort of slid away from the hobby in pursuit of others. I would like a decent DSLR to help with those as much as anything else.

 

From what you've posted I would have to agree that he was pretty accomplished. If I was more into film, I would love my own dark room. For now I just go sit in the bathroom closet with the doors closed and lights off and do my work in a garment bag But I only do a few rolls of film a year (this year my count is at 0).

 

I've got a few old cameras myself. They are just display pieces. The look neat but none of them work, It would cost way too much to fix them and they would never be worth what I would have to put into them. Since I'm not worried about function with those, I just keep them on the built in above the TV in the living room. There's no need to worry about dust.