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Comment by quattroken posted on Greetings from SW London at 29/10/2010 - 23:19
Hi everybody. I'm delighted to have joined such an friendly and informative forum.
I've decided to get back into more "serious" photography after some years of inactivity. I originally gained a good grounding following the childhood purchase and use of a manual Halina 6-4. That lapsed in my later adolsecent years but having graduated and moved to London to work, I bought my ME Super in '81. Travelling a lot and watching lots of motorsport, I accumulated Tamron Adaptall 2 glass (28mm, 35-135, 80-210, 500 mirror), with a K and KA mount, to augment that kit 50mm f1.7, a 7-element 2x teleconvertor and an AF200S flash. A few years later I also got a T90 body and an FD adaptor.
When digital cameras were introduced I held back - partly because it was inferior to film but also because I had all this expensive glass I wanted to continue using. As the market matured I eventually got a decent compact - a factory refurbished Canon Powershot A650is (the canny man's G9) and I also have a Fuji F70EXR which I can slip into my pocket.
The backward compatibility of current Pentax bodies with all that kit and the sensor shift stabilisation system, which works with all my lenses, has drawn me here. Since I prefer to be a knowledgeable purchaser, I've been lurking here to re-educate myself on Pentax DSLR, though I have yet to decide what to buy. Presently I believe that the K20D is probably the strongest candidate. I had thought that the GX20 might be an equally viable purchase until I started reading reports about the lack of availability of Samsung spares. The additional functionality of the K7 sounds appealing but the additional cost (and my fairly large hands) suggest that a K20D probably makes more sense.
Any other suggestions including other views on suitable Pentax bodies or ideas on what are the essential accessories will be welcomed.
I've decided to get back into more "serious" photography after some years of inactivity. I originally gained a good grounding following the childhood purchase and use of a manual Halina 6-4. That lapsed in my later adolsecent years but having graduated and moved to London to work, I bought my ME Super in '81. Travelling a lot and watching lots of motorsport, I accumulated Tamron Adaptall 2 glass (28mm, 35-135, 80-210, 500 mirror), with a K and KA mount, to augment that kit 50mm f1.7, a 7-element 2x teleconvertor and an AF200S flash. A few years later I also got a T90 body and an FD adaptor.
When digital cameras were introduced I held back - partly because it was inferior to film but also because I had all this expensive glass I wanted to continue using. As the market matured I eventually got a decent compact - a factory refurbished Canon Powershot A650is (the canny man's G9) and I also have a Fuji F70EXR which I can slip into my pocket.
The backward compatibility of current Pentax bodies with all that kit and the sensor shift stabilisation system, which works with all my lenses, has drawn me here. Since I prefer to be a knowledgeable purchaser, I've been lurking here to re-educate myself on Pentax DSLR, though I have yet to decide what to buy. Presently I believe that the K20D is probably the strongest candidate. I had thought that the GX20 might be an equally viable purchase until I started reading reports about the lack of availability of Samsung spares. The additional functionality of the K7 sounds appealing but the additional cost (and my fairly large hands) suggest that a K20D probably makes more sense.
Any other suggestions including other views on suitable Pentax bodies or ideas on what are the essential accessories will be welcomed.
Comment by quattroken posted on Greetings from SW London at 27/10/2010 - 18:22
I had been following eBay for a while and was almost tempted by snappychappy's link to the GX20, particularly when thoughton's advice on prices confirmed my observations.
As it happened, I was on Tottenham Court Road yesterday and, apart from my prime purpose of buying a well priced ThinkPad for my accountant, I also popped into quite a few of the stores there. One had a GX20 in the window and offered me it for the "special price" of £500. I was considering going back and making him an offer, until I found another - the last one available in ASK. This was reduced to £400 so I had no alternative but to snap it up.
After I charged it up I found that it had never been powered on before. I now look forward to trying it out and, of course, getting many years of use out of it.
Cheers
Ken