WTD Entry level SLR

Hi everyone, I am fairly new to photography but I have been taking pictures with a pentax me super SLR which was given to me, for the past 3 months and I love it! The only issue is the price of getting film developed and there are usually quite a few shots which aren't quite how I would have liked them to be but I've only taken 1 picture!

So I'm planning on moving onto digital and would like to stick with pentax as I feel they are the best value for money!

I'm a cash strapped student so only have a budget around the £150-£200 and would like a body with at least 1 lens. I know it's alot to ask but thought someone might have upgraded and be moving on an old one. I take pictures mainly of landscapes including sunsets ect as we have a caravan on the northumberland coast!

Thanks in advance

Forum sponsor SRS Microsystems have a few K10Ds at £120, with 12 months guarantee. You could find a used 18-55 'kit' lens from £25-30. But the lenses from your ME Super would work very well, if not even better.

Thanks that sound quite a good deal, sorry if this is a stupid question but on my ME super it detects what the lens aperture is set at and warns me if I set the shutter speed too high/too low if that makes sense. Would these lens work similar on a new dslr? Do the kit lens work like this on the dslr?

If you up you budget to £250 you should be able to get a K20... Better than a K10 and still able to hold its own in good-to-lowish light as any other camera currently on the market...

I reckon the K20 is 'the' deal on the used market at the moment...

If using 'A' lenses or newer all Pentax DSLRs will read apertures automatically... But even if using 'M' or 'K' lenses (older but still quality) use of the Green Button will give you what you're after...

Not a stupid question at all.

When you first get the camera, you'll need to go into the camera's set up menus and check 'permit aperture ring' is enabled. It's a set and forget option, so you only need to do it once.

When taking a shot, and assuming you have 'Pentax-M' lenses rather than 'Pentax-A', you press a little green button on the camera to briefly stop down the lens and meter the scene. If you're in Av (Aperture priority) mode the camera will then set the correct shutter speed. If you're in M (Manual mode) it will tell you how many stops you are over or under correct exposure with the shutter speed you've set.

If you have a modern lens, or a Pentax-A lens, you actually set the aperture using a control wheel on the camera. The camera will meter with the lens fully open and calculate the correct shutter speed for when it stops down to capture the image.

I hope that makes some kind of sense. There are many better posts in the depths of the forum which no doubt explain the process more clearly!

Sorry but I disagree. The K20D has a CMOS sensor whereas the K10D had a superb CCD.

The K20D's CMOS does better at higher ISOs than the K10D's CCD at higher ISOs, sure, but for sunset landscape, when one is mostly shooting tripod mounted at ISO100, the K10D's CCD is very much the better performer.

Thanks that makes alot of sense and good to know I can still use it in a similar way to what I am now as I am used to using it! I presume the lens I have now are fairly good as my pentax me super takes good quality pictures so it's good to know I can still use them. To be honest, I know megapixels don't massively matter but I was hoping for more for my budget as I plan on printing some pictures on a fairly large scale for around the house (not massive but I think maybe a bit too big for 6mp), I may be totally wrong and this makes no difference!

The K10D is 10Mp, which I find more than good enough for A3+. That's as large as my printer goes so I can't comment on how much larger you can go before you encounter pixellation.

Depends on your print size, I suppose, but I would go for a sturdy tripod over more Mp any day!

K-x is also superb, you should be able to find one in mint condition for £150 to £200. It's a brilliant low light camera, also great for landscape and portrait work.

It weighs very little so is also ideal for travel, the downside is it's not weatherproof.

Regards
David

K20 has a 14.6mp sensor... That said I've recently printed some of my stepson's images from his *IST (6mp) filling A4 and the quality is there...

For specs on all Pentax DSLRs the other (US) forum is a useful resource: http://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/pentax-k-mount-dslrs.html

Agreed.

I must have looked at the wrong camera 10mp is fine for me that's what I was looking for really, I had read 6mp somewhere and thought that was a little low!
Alsa thanks davidstorm I was actually reccommended the K-x by a friend so was hoping that might pop up around the price I'm looking for.
I'm finding there are less second hand pentax cameras on places like ebay and gumtree than canon and nikons so it's harder to pick one up!
Still hoping someone on here might have something!

I have a Samsung GX10 (which is a Pentax K10D clone, made by Pentax for Samsung, to the same design and on the same production lines - identical in almost every respect, including the Pentax lens mount) which I was just getting around to putting on eBay. Body, 18-55mm kit zoom, 2 batteries and strap - £165 including postage and Paypal fees. Send me a private message if you are interested.

He'll not be able to instigate PM as yet DavidG... Too new on the forum... If you PM him he'll be able to respond...

Thanks but would rather get the Pentax name for that price, Dave Holmes is right I can't pm