A great starting point would be the Pentax K-5 II kit containing the Pentax 18-135mm zoom, then spending some time getting to know them well. Unless you're intending to make prints the size of a house to view the corners from 6 inches away, it should satisfy your initial requirements while you're learning the system. The results and your experience will then enable you to properly select your next purchase.

Philip

#4 - as others have commented, it is the glow of the sun on the distant hills (and in their reflections) that makes that the one for me.

Cheers.
Philip

Two edited versions to attempt more "sparkle", the 1st with the levels adjustment, the 2nd with local contrast enhancement:







Cheers.
Philip

Thank you again, Nigel. I suspect that you have realised that this would be a difficult scene to expose correctly, given the deep shadows in the woodland and the very bright sky and reflections. In fact, this was posted with other recent images in mind, e.g by John Riley, to show the effect of the in-camera HDR setting (this setting was switched on here). I have found this to be a useful and effective tool in Pentax cameras, particularly, as in this example, the auto-alignment works well for hand-held shots.

Cheers.
Philip

That is one of its top features for me - I wish it was also on the K-5, etc.

Cheers.
Philip

Hello Nigel. This was a photo taken at one of my favorite National Trust properties - Stowe Landscape Gardens - and this woodland is at the eastern end of the lakes. The K-5 was set on multi-segment (matrix) metering, and 2/3 EV were added because the shot was towards the very bright sky, with its equally bright reflections on the water.

I am grateful to you for viewing and commenting, and also for your suggestions. Even though I usually shoot JPEGs, I always tweak the images to my taste for my own use, and I will try your tips. In this case, I was interested to read any comments on the image as is - straight from the camera - so thank you for your contributions.

Cheers.
Philip

A little stream flowing through a wooded valley opening out into a small lake. Photo shot directly towards the sun in the middle of the afternoon of a clear sunny day - last Wednesday (16/04/14):




JPEG straight from the camera apart from re-sizing for the web site.
K-5 II Manual Mode, ISO 200, f=20mm, f/8, 1/200s, +2/3 EV.

Any comments?

Cheers.
Philip

Cameras like this usually have a built-in flush.

Cheers.
Philip

K55 f/1.8 or f/2

Cheers.
Philip

I'm not too bothered about full-frame, but just one point - well a question actually. Wouldn't more MP benefit someone who wants the advantages of a FF camera with FA lenses, but also wants to keep and use their DA lenses by cropping the image frame?

Philip