dslr first camera

Hi guys,
i have a fuji compact f610, i am looking to move up to my first dslr camera. I am on a tight budget i am therfore looking at a second hand pentax k100d super, with 18 to 55 smc lens. can anyone give me some feedback on it. I must get a stupid question out of the way, on digital slrs,s do you have a button to move the zoom out like in a digital compact or do you manually twist the lens to adjust the focus??

hi suds and welcome the k100d super is an awsome camera i used to have one i know have a k200d and a k20d, you wont go wrong, and yes you have to twist to zoom, no button and you can autofocus or manual focus by twisting the focus ring,

(added) as with all dslr,

Welcome to the forum.

I don't have experience of the k100d super but I can tell you that there is no button to zoom. There is a zoom ring that you twist to zoom. There is also a seperate focus ring that you can use to adjust focus (if not using autofocus)

Take a look at THIS LINK to see what the k100d is capable of.

Hi and welcome to the Forum. You have to twist or push/pull depending on the lens . The K100D super and 18-55 will be good to get you started. if your buget is really tight you might consider the K100D it will work just as well with the 18-55. The super can use lenses with the SDM focus system but the 18-55 is not one of that type.

thanks guys you can tell i am new to this. Does anyone have any tips on what i need to get with the camera. I will need a memory card, are any makes better, and on batteries, which recargables are best.

thanks for your help

suds

i tend to go for 4GB SanDisk SDHC cards with no problem. might need to check can't remember if the K100D will only go up to 2GB. Batteries Uniross Hybrio, they do not loose the charge as quickly when not in use.

Hi and welcome to the forum.
As others have said with a zoom lens you will have a zoom ring to adjust the focal length and a separate focus ring for manual focus (when selected). With regard to memory cards, I tend to use Transcend and SanDisk, Transcend being the less costly.
You mention you have a Fuji.... great little cameras with lovely colour reproduction, both my daughters and wife have Fuji compacts. I used to have a S9500 a few years back too

Hi and welcome to the forum

The K100D only does 2GB as standard, but the firmware update now allows it to do 4GB

Good morning and welcome to the forum.

Hi Suds
Welcome to the forum .. I am looking forward to seing some of your photos in here

Hi and welcome to the best and friendliest Pentax forum on the web.

I’ve had the K100d for the last 2 years, and have enjoyed every minute of it. You will be amazed at the image quality compared to a compact.

The K100d Super has shake dust control at start-up and able to use SDM lenses.

Due to the smaller pixel count I would stay away from the HC cards, a 2gig card gives 186 RAW and a massive 689 jpegs, that’s a lot to lose should something go wrong.

I have used high power Ni-Mh for one day photo sessions but keep Panasonic Infinium for everyday usage as they always seem to be ready to go. A good battery charger is also important.

Other things to think about are how you are going to carry the camera around and software.

Hope this helps
Ron

Welcome to the forum!

I can vote for the K100D's performance. An excellent camera. I would also stick to the 2 GByte SD cards. It's big enough, and you would like to download the pictures to your computer long before the card is full anyway.

As for software, I recommend Photoshop Elements, reasonably priced, and with the functions you need. With a plug-in from Adobe it also reads RAW format. And the Organizer part of Photoshop is very useful.

Perhaps 2 Gig cards won't be filled up very quickly with landscapes but if you are shooting sports or other fast moving subjects on continuous it is easy.
I filled 2 of these cards yesterday shooting Raw + Low quality JPEG -approximately 100 shots per card.
Happy shooting.
Geo.

Hello and welcome to the forum from a fellow newbie.
Best wishes