Former Leica M user moving to Pentax

Hi everyone, I thought I'd introduce myself and explain what first made me buy a Pentax camera.

I used a Leica M6 system for many years and vowed I'd never go digital, but about 3 years ago I got sick of friends and family complaining I never had photos to share online or email. I therefore bought a Panasonic bridge camera - just for less serious work you understand. I was amazed - the quality was much higher than I had expected. I could make some very nice A4 prints from it, and enjoyed being able to do some telephoto and macro work for the first time since I went rangefinder only!

I found a place for it in my regular bag, but only in addition to my Leicas. After a couple of years however, I realised I was only really using film when the mood took me, and most of my family snaps were now on the digital camera. I wondered what a more capable digital system might do, and at what cost.

Sadly I couldn't afford an M9, but I was stunned when I checked the value of my Leica gear on ebay and realised the lenses were worth many times what I paid for them. I decided I couldn't justify having that amount of money on a system I now used less often, and decided to sell it.

I didn't want a huge DSLR, so thought MFT might be for me, especially if I kept one of my old lenses. I was at home with the small size of the MFT kit, but I didn't find the quality quite the jump from my bridge camera I was expecting.

I tried a Fuji X100 next, and loved the quality of the images, but found it was not quite a finished camera, and the fixed lens was too restricting.

It was then I discovered that not all DSLRs were so very large, and in the K5 Pentax had a relatively small but exceptionally good camera which cost little more than the better MFT models. It even had some nice primes, and was compatible with amazing value analogue cameras so I could still use HP5 when the mood took me.

Anyway, I'm now a proud owner of a K5 and some lenses, and although it's early days, it all seems promising so far. I do miss my Summicrons still, but it's amazing what I could afford in exchange! I hope to let you know how I get on and my further thoughts on the Pentax system once I've had a chance to put it through its paces.

Welcome Nathanael,

Will be interested to see what you think of the K-5 after you have had a chance to play a bit more.

What a lovely intro. Nice story and I hope it has a happy ending ... I'm confident it will as the K5 is a superb camera !

Of course you do know that a simple mount change and you can use Leica R lenses on the K5 ? I've had that done to a VL50, a CZ 28 and a CZ 85 so far an love them to death !

And a warm welcome from me. Its always nice to hear why people have come to Pentax. Quality-wise I cant think of a better set of DSLRs that give high quality output in a small package and all for such a good price (comparatively speaking). and to top it all Pentax is a proper camera maker so an ex Leica chappy would no doubt appreciate the fantastic legacy lenses.

Best wishes

A discerning choice! Welcome.

I guess as DSLRs go the K5 was the only choice for you. It seems amazing to me that Pentax can get all those great features in such a small package but Canikon cant match it. With the advent of CSCs you would have thought a compact DSLR was the way to go. The KR/K5 with the DA40mm is nearly as small a package as a MFT and has all the right controls in the right place.

A no brainer.