Just acquired a K-m :D

Hi, am now the proud owner of a Pentax K-m. Bit late to all of this, having wanted to get the hang of SLR mechanics via 35mm first. Still finding my feet but can't wait to get out and play with it this weekend! I mainly enjoy nature photography so will be trying to figure out what settings are best for that. Any hints and tips greatly appreciated, though of course there's no substitute for learning by experimentation!

Hello and welcome to the forum. Their are a number of nature photographers here who, I'm sure, can point you in the right direction.

Welcome to the forum Marianne

Nature photography can cover an awful lot of subjects from Landscapes to Wildlife, you'll need to be more specific to get any answers, just use the General Digial Photography section to ask what you need.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum Marianne, enjoy your new K-m it's a great little camera

Thanks for all the welcomes!

Yup, I previously had a Praktica MTL3 (and I think Pentax made those, right?) and was very sad when the shutter gave up the ghost in the middle of my Canada holiday because I really loved the lens that came with it. I don't think it was the original kit lens as it says Paragon SMC on it and doesn't look the same as in the pictures, but it had a comfortable zoom range and I got on with it a little bit better than my OM10. One of the reasons I wanted a Pentax dSLR was because I'd heard just that - that I could reuse that nice lens! It's an M42 mount though so I need to get hold of an adapter (a genuine one seems to be the best bet.)

I've already taken some pictures in manual mode and they're coming out pretty good The winter sun just now is making for some fantastic photo opportunities! I was looking forward to going out this weekend to try it out properly but we've now been predicted continuous rain, whoopee.

As for what kind of nature photography I like, well I guess I just take pictures of things that catch my eye for the most part. I don't have a particular preference at the minute but I'd like to try some macro stuff. I've got an M42 bellows set that I inherited from my Grandfather, it's virtually pristine but the mathematics of using it is flummoxing me a bit I must say. I'm all self-taught by trial and error/internet so a lot of things are going over my head! Though from what I gather you can't meter with manual focus lenses so I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the hang of calculating exposure values using the light meter thingy that I've got. I don't actually have the money to buy new lenses just now so I'm relying on being able to fit manual focus lenses until I can afford digital ones.

Incidentally, the guy at the camera shop recommended that I don't use manual SLR flash units with a dSLR in case I blow it up (which would make me VERY sad!) It's a shame because I've got a little wee Cobra flash and also a big one that can change angle - is it a definite nono and I should buy a new flash unit, or are there any precautions I can take to stop that happening and just use the ones I have?

I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to electronics - I've already blown up one flash unit by getting the batteries upside down ;_;

No, they didn't. Praktika cameras were low cost products made in what was then East Germany. The only thing they had in common with pentax was the 42mm screw thread mount.

Quality of Praktikas was clunky and variable, although some of the lenses were OK. Still not in the first league though.

The first league would have been Nikon, Pentax, Minolta and Canon from Japan. From West Germany it would have been Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander.

Woops, I stand corrected then. Thanks for that

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Welcome indeed.

Hi and welcome to the forum