Joined last week / New K20D Yesterday!

It's been a busy few week delving through magazines, perusing the internet, soul searching and agonising over spending lots of money (yes, I'm Scottish), but yesterday I took the plunge and bought my first Pentax, a K20D! And I have to say, I'm still wearing a big grin which presently runs from ear to ear.

My wife and I went for a Xmas visit to Manchester's town centre, and although I really didn't intend to buy from the highstreet (SRS seemed the prefered choice), I was impressed enough with the service and price at the LCE that I took that great leap of faith! It was getting late and it had to be an almost snap-decision (the shop's shutters were down), but at £785, I opted for the K20D + the Pentax 18-250 lens.
I'm really pleased with that price.

So, just a quick thank you to all here at 'Pentax User' who've been helpful and influencial in helping me to 'see the light'!

I just need to learn how to make it go now!!!

Many thanks.
Alan Lowe-Jones.

Another satisfied Pentax User then, well done.

I'm sure you'll have plenty of questions and this is the right place to get them answered.

Now all you need is a grip, flash, half a ton of lenses, polarising filter . . . the list is as long or as short as your budget, but you have a great platform to build on. Enjoy.

Thanks, Peter.
I had looked hard and long at the Nikon D90, D300, Canon 40D & 50D, and pound for pound, decided the K20D was a good safe bet. I also think the range and price of Pentax lenses helped to sway me.

I actually offered two Jessops shops a sale, if they'd sell me the 18-200 lens with the D300 at the price of a 18-105. Oddly, the declined!
My heart though, throughout, was with the Pentax: better value for money in my humble opinion.

Besides, the Canons and the Nikons only have D's in their model names, whilst the Pentax has both a 'D' and a 'K'. Must be better then!

Regards.
Alan.

There are lots of bits you could and should buy, but I think the priority should be to buy a lens that does full justice to the camera. Wide-range zooms, like the 18-250, are very convenient, but convenience comes at a price, and part of that price is image quality.

So buy a second-hand Pentax 50mm lens, and you will see what a Pentax is really capable of. Best would be the SMC Pentax-FA 1.4, but if that is outside the budget, any SMCP-A or -F lens would be a good alternative. Bear in mind that the A lenses do not offer auto-focus.

Further down the cost scale, though still optically excellent, are various K and M lenses. There is actually no such thing as a "K" lens; we simply use the term as shorthand for the first range of lenses in K-mount, which did not have a suffix letter after "SMC Pentax". These manual-focus lenses (K and M) need more work when metering.

You'll find something in your price range, and it'll be a revelation.

Happy Christmas.

G

Canon and Nikon have their plus points and If I were ever to change from Pentax I'd go the Nikon route, but I'd have to win the lottery first. I have no plans to change brands and I don't do the lottery.

Pentax gear produces results equal to other brands without suffering a painful wallet or max'ing out the flexible friend.

You made a good choice.

Georges advice is very sound. If you have only one Pentax prime lens it should be a SMC Pentax-FA 50mm 1:1.4 (excepting a Limited lens at this stage in your Pentax journey).

Have you used film SLR's previously, or is this your first?

Hi and welcome Alan.
I was in same situation like yourself when I packed up my Film camera and darkroom.After reading various posts here I did not think about canon or nikon.
I bet you will love using your 18-250 mm 'universal'lens.
best regards
vikram

Hi, George & Peter.
Thanks for that invaluable advice on the lenses. I knew that buying the 18-250 was in fact buying into convenience, and with the associated optical consequences. However, as a first lens, I thought it would be a good place to start.

I started SRL photography 6 months ago with the purchase of a Sony A200 and 18-70 kit lens. My wife bought it for my 50th birthday! Ouch! I've since then completed a 10 week OU course and joined Nantwich Camera Club. It wasn't long before I found all the excuses in the world for upgrading from the Sony! Mainly, the kit lens with the Sony isn't the best; the manual focusing ring is quite sloppy and uninspiring.

I'm still very naive and confused though when discussing lenses, and I very much appreciate your advice here. I need to explore lens theory to learn why a prime lens is 'better'. I also need to understand its limitations. I'd really like a nice lens now which would allow me to take close-up shots, as well as say nice portrait and wedding-type shots.
Or is that asking too much of a lens? I truly don't know and would appreciate all help here.

Btw, next week Santa is bringing me a nice Manfrotto tripod!

It feels good to be part of the Pentax fold!

Cheers.
Alan.

Thanks, Vikram.
I can't wait to start exploring the K20D, but would you believe it, having just bought the K20D, my car's wiper-linkage broke on the way home from Manchester last night.

So, all of this evening, in the dark, my time wil be spent pulling the car apart! I like to save money where I can, if possible! That's the Scots blood in my veins!!



Alan.

It was a good choice as an all-rounder walkabout lens. There's not much in the way of photographic opportunity that you'll miss with this lens.

Prime lenses are of a fixed focal length (which you probably know) and therefore don't offer the convenience of framing options that you have with a zoom lens. Compromises have to be made in the design and construction of zoom lenses however. Speed is the obvious one. You'll find f1.4 - f2 prime lenses available at reasonable (affordable) prices but a zoom lens, say 16-60mm having a max. aperture of f1.4 would involve truly astronomical cost even if it were achievable.

Frankly, yes, it's asking way too much.

Close-up is more commonly called macro photography and there really is no substitute for a dedicated macro lens. This does not really include the zoom lenses claimed to have macro capability, they are simply able to focus much closer than normal zooms. Pentax macro lenses include 35mm, 50mm, and 100mm. I prefer the 100mm to maintain a decent distance from wary or dangerous subjects. Other manufacturers (Sigma, Tamron etc.) produce 90mm, 105mm, 150mm, and 180mm macro lenses. These are all primes and can double as telephoto lenses producing astonishingly sharp images.

Two lenses that I can heartily recommend to satisfy your requirement for portrait and wedding-type shots if you have the budget are the DA* 16-50mm and the DA* 50-135mm lenses. Armed with these two lenses plus a D-FA 100mm macro lens and you're just about sorted for most of your current needs.

If you take Georges advice and get yourself a SMC Pentax-FA 50mm 1:1.4 lens, it makes a good portrait lens as it is the equivalent of a 75mm lens in 35mm film terms.

Cheers.
Alan.[/quote]

Traditionally, you send your k20 off to one of the veteran forum members who'll in turn loan you an older "Beginners" camera, for your own safety. The k20 may be too much to handle, at first.....
Please send your camera to "Don, P.O Box 39........."
Seriously Welcome to the forum!

Cheers, Don.
Very funny; I love it.
But yes, I do realise I'm a lucky boy being able to go and blow nearly £800 just before Xmas. My wife didn't whince too much though as this was pennies I'd saved for nearely two years! In fact, my original intention was to buy a lute! Yes, I'm not only training to become a potty photographer now, but I'm also a mad musician too!! (See salixarbour on YouTube, or Alan Lowe-Jones - that's me). However, after waiting nearly two years for my lute to be built, I had a change of heart, and opted for the camera equipment instead!
Best wishes.
Alan.

Hi, Peter.
Once again, many thanks for all that super advice about lens. As I'm at work, I'll have to keep my response brief, but the information you've given me is totally invaluable and hugely appreciated thanks.

I really can't wait to start taking photos and posting them on the forum.

Also, now that I have finally made a decision and bought the camera body, I can finally start concentrating and learning about lenses.

Daunting!

Many thanks.
Alan.

Hi and welcome

Welcome

Welcome to the forum Alan