I haven't managed to covert anyone but was a convert myself albeit not from the Canon Nikon stable. When I first went digital I had been away from photography for a long time and seemed to remember Pentax nd Olympus being bigger players then.So I intended to go for one of them. I got a good deal on an Olympus E510 so went with them only to find lens limited. I bought a 70-300 lens for it which to be fair is an excelent lens has a long reach due to the 4:3 thingy (technical term)but it was really heavy and I found it impossible without a tripod. Tried monopod but I cant get the hang of them. So my friend (who seems to have more cameras than Jessop's)lent me a K10 with kit lens and a 70-300 lens. He said I could use the camera as long as I wanted and I had it around 10 months. Fell in love with it as its small fits my hand better. I have just fallen in love all over again got a K-5 and my friend is letting me keep the 70-300. So happy with the K-5 only have small hands and its just made for me.

guess this doesnt really count as when kids were small I got a pentax auto 110 so had been a pentax owner lol

Hope everything goes well for your sister. Xxxx

Awww perhaps there will be a meet I can get to. Fountains is not at all far from me but unfortunately I'll be working the night before so will be asleep . But thanks for invite
Will certainly try and meet up with you guys at some point.

That sounds good. Will keep a look out. At the moment I dont get out much as I'm a carer for my Mum and only get out when she's in respite. So hopefully there will be a meet I can get to.

Jervaulx abbey is one of my favorite places and west Burton the best of the waterfalls I think. I have stayed in Middleham a few times only once got up early enough to go up to the "gallops". That time I couldn't get close enough to get a photo of horse galloping not sure still how to capture this but hope to get up there and try. Not heard of Thorpe Perrow but having googled it looks like a good place to visit.

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-15565/jervaulx-abbey-45058 one of my pics from last years vist to jervaulx

I live between Leeds and York.
Will be based in Middleham for 3 days. Have been up a few times before but always on the look out for new places.
I'm not so far away from you Carl I live in Wetherby and lived in Knaresborough for 6 month in the late 70s.

the K-5 is good at higher ISO I have not needed to use the flash yet but I am thinking of getting an off camera flash.

The pictures I took of my daughters newborn twins weren't that good as hadnt a clue what to do. Didn't get any of my daughter for reasons stated above lol. I was glad a professional did the rounds and we got a cracking image of them. Now they are 10 weeks old and becoming individuals I'm finding it easier to capture them. The suggestion of taking photos of their feet and hands is good the parents will really appreciate them. I found looking at other professional photos gave me some ideas to go at.I found my better attempts were ones when I could get in close.
As for the using flash I still think its best not to use as its very harsh light.
Some of the cliched poses are that for a reason, parents like them and looked back on show the development of the child.
The best advice on here was to put your camera down for a cuddle can't beat that.

Hi I have recently bought a K-5 which I'm very pleased with.
I have been interested in photography since I was at collage in the '70 but could never get the technical bits sorted in my head and I still bumble along some what. I started with a Zenith E and the got a Chinon SLR
and then got a pentax 110 which was a cracking little camera (have found some 110 film and recently given it an outing )
A few years ago I was made redundant and decided I'd like to have a go with DSLR I bought a OlympusE510 which I like but bought a 70-300 lens for it which is a good lens but i found it too heavy to use without a tripod.
A friend of mine let me borrow his old K10 and a 70-300 lens to see how I got on with it. Loved it even tho the lens hadnt as long a reach as the olympus one due to the 4/3 thing.
So this is how my kit stands today
Pentax K5
kit lens 18-55
Tamron 70-300 (which my friend let me keep)
pentax DA 1:2.4 35mm

I dont have a favourite style of photography will try anything but I love playing in photoshop and like to use my own images for montage work. Recently I became a granny to twin girls who now have become good subjects. Next week going up to the Yorkshire dales might get a few pics up there.

Looking forward to finding my way around here anf getting to know everyone.

please excuse this post if it doubles up I posted earlier and it didnt appear.