What made you a Pentaxian?

[noleysdad]

Started with a Vivitar 35mm back in 1976. Bought my first Pentax a couple of years after that. MX and ME's loved the size and weight. Bought a bunch of glass for both. , winders etc. Bronica ETR was next with my foray into weddings.
Bought a K-100 and K-10 as I didn't want to be buying new glass again. Love them both probably won't upgrade to the k-20, but will wait for the k-30 or whatever the newest one will be. Unless I can get a great deal on a k-20, love the idea of 14mp.

[Richard Day]

After being an enthusiastic Olympus OM (and Bronica 645) user for many years, I sold all my kit in the late 80's and after a long period of non-photography, I bought an Olympus IS-100 (around 1996) and after a few weeks found it had a badly de-centered lens, plus I hated it's sluggish operation.

My dealer exchanged it for a Pentax MZ-50 with a FA 28-70 f4.0 lens as Oly had abandoned the whole concept of interchangeable lens SLR's with auto focus and produced their awful range of bridge cameras (I also boght a s/h IS-1000 which one of my sons kept).

The Pentax felt the nearest option to what an AF OM could have been. I looked at Nikon, Minolta and Canon as well, but they just didn't feel right to me.

I then started to rebuild my equipment collection with the addition of a super wide zoom lens (a Tokina 20-35), a tele-zoom, (Sigma 70-300 APO) and I bought a second body, a used MZ-5 and added a Tokina 24-200 super zoom.

I later replaced the MZ-50 with an MZ-6 and the MZ-5 with an MZ-S with a FA 28-105 f3.2-4.5 zoom, I also replaced the Sigma with a Tokina 80-400 mkII.

At about the same time I decided to buy a digital compact camera to replace my Yashica T5 and bought a Nikon Coolpix 775. I quickly found the limits with that and bought a Fuji 602 which I found to be an excellent camera at the time, and it really started to make me consider digital seriously.

It was at this time that the *istD appeared and I decided that when it hit a price below £900 (body only) I would get one (it was retailing at around £1200 at that point!), I bought mine in February 2004. I added a DS in 2005 but sold it soon afterwards (I never liked the DS compared to the D) and decided to wait for the next model release before upgrading or adding a second body.

I almost bought a K100D, but it was still slow and lacking certain features which I really liked about the original istD. When the K10D was due for release I had the opportunity to trial a prototype model, I was completely hooked and bought one of the first K10D's in the UK, the rest is history!

Needless to say, over the period of being a Pentax owner, I've suffered from LBA and had remissions from it! I've tested almost all the DA lenses (and a few others), bought and sold many and kept a few!

I haven't yet upgraded to the K20D, even though it has all the things I wanted improved over the K10D, better high ISO quality, even better IQ and adjustable AF settings (I have hardly ever used continious shooting, nor feel I need more than 3 fps), mainly because I'm not taking that many shots these days due to health limitations and then recovery from my upcoming bypass op.

I'm really pleased that I went with Pentax all those years ago rather than any other brand despite the shortages and limited lens choices (much better now).

Despite a few abandoning Pentax over the same period, I feel that the current range is even more suited to my photgraphic needs than ever before and more than the other brands, apart from my nostalgic love for Oly! I think they made a huge mistake not going with an auto focus OM series and also again with their decision to adopt the 4/3rds format, every time I look through an Oly viewfinder I recoil (the E3 is better I must admit), and then look at the image quality at anything over ISO 200, I just couldn't switch, especially as the K20D had made such a huge leap forward with the new sensor.

I hope that Pentax can build foward on the K20D and continue to improve the QC and increase the range and quality of their lens offerings. I also hope they develop a better standard zoom that matches the quality of the 50-135, even a good copy of the current 16-50 still doesn't quite have *it* IQ wise, I'm sure that many Pentaxians would gladly pay a little bit more and have that edge they had hoped for.

[Mark Castleman]

I got a Kodak 110 flip camera in about the 7th grade
I bought a K1000 at a rummage sale for $30 in 1982
The K1000 went awat when I turned my back on it for a few seconds in the Wien Sudbanhof in 1989
I replaced it with a Carena CX-300 (same camera, made essentially by Vivitar)
Bought a P3n (which I still have) in Des Moines in 1990
Joined the autofocus bandwagon in 1999 when I got a MZ-50 from Cambridge Photo. The camera was (and still is, my sister-in-law has it now) great but Cambridge was run by crooks.
Bought a *ist DL in the spring of 2006
Sold it to my sister and got my K10D, which I am still using. I also still use some of the lenses I had for the K1000 all those years ago. It's the lenses that kept me going.

[sharko]

All I knew was that in order to get a picture with a focused subject and a blurry background, I needed a DSLR. I was impressed with friend's Rebel XTI but after doing some research I found I could get started with a lot less of an initial investment than shooting with Canon or Nikon...and get better quality for the $$$ as well.

[PDL]

I think I have covered this before - but here it goes.

My first images were taken with my Mom's Kodak Brownie Box when I was 12 of Yellowstone National Park. A total of 12 images - sheesh I can burn that up in 4 seconds these days.

Move to the teenage years - when "one roll of film a summer" was the rule, my cousin was taking a photography correspondence course (off the back of a pack of matches - not a bad course either) and he saved up and bought a Ashai/Pentax/Honeywell M42 Spotmatic. That was the first 35mm camera I ever held and took an image with. Along with the darkroom stuff - we decided then and there to become pro photographers - me with a Kodak Brownie and his Spotmatic. -- Oh to be young and stupid. My goal was to work for National Geographic from that point on.

At 16 I got a job (my first paying job) moving rocks -- picking up rocks from prepared ground for landscaping. With the funds from that job I bought my first 35mm rangefinder (Petri - it is broken but I still have it). At that point my dad (who had taken pictures all his life) built a darkroom. We basically did contact sheets and stuff like that until we finally got an enlarger - then I only printed 8x10 B&W prints. This is also the time I started shooting slides (Kodachrome 25 mostly - gawd I loved that stuff).

I was a photographer for my school newspaper, my girlfriend at the time was on the annual staff - so a lot of my images ended up in the annual - without attribution. When I graduated I had a reasonable job (bagger/cashier at a local grocery store), I decided to not go directly to college so I saved and bought my first 35mm SLR - a Fujica ST-801 (still have it - still works - still love it). Through the 70's I went to college, still wanted to work for National Geographic, bought the Fujica ST-901 and AZ-1 (still have them - they still work). I earned a degree in Anthropology and was taking images of archaeological sites (field school NE Wyoming) using IR film (B&W and color slides). I bought a few books on "Scientific Photography" and the Kodak series on forensic photography methods. I really did not care much for "artsy crafty" images - until I got into Weston, Adams etc. During this time my dad bought the entire series of Time/Life photography - history, technique, people, themes etc. Also at this time my dad bought a 4x5 monorail and went out and built his own 4x5 enlarger and in addition he bought a 2x2/35mm enlarger with a color head (I still have it too). At that point I went from buying 100 foot rolls of Plus-x to shooting exclusively slides and printing images on Cibachrome - again only 8x10's.

After college I got a job in South Dakota at their archaeology lab. While there I met my wife and during one of the odd ball things about colleges, taught a course in "Scientific Photography - Archaeology" just so I could continue to use the "teachers lounge". So after this I went to grad school at KU and basically stopped taking pictures, no one was interested in the potential of photography (IR, UV, stereo etc) in Archaeology so it went to the wayside.

At this point I found out I have a chronic condition that would not allow me to continue to do field work or be a National Geographic photographer. We moved to Leavenworth where my wife was teaching computer stuff to inmates at the state prison. (Yes - I did my 2-3 years in Leavenworth -- ha ha) I was able to earn a degree in Computer Science while in Leavenworth, so after graduation we moved to the Puget Sound. (I had to take an "art" course - I picked photography and broke out the ST-801 and took three (3) rolls for that class)

When we moved out to Seattle, I found a job at Boeing doing computer stuff. Very little photography at all. However, when my son was born the following year - out came the ST-801 and baby images abounded. Just some normal images - not as documented as some, but we do have reasonable collection of images.

OK - here comes the Pentax connection. When we moved into our first house - three days after moving in - a neighbor kid broke in, stole the TV, VCR and all nearly all of my 35mm cameras and gear. He was caught the next day, his fence was caught too but the fence was in another county (more about this later). The insurance would replace two bodies, the 50mm, 28mm, 135mm, 300mm, two flashes, filters, extension tubes, close-up lenses, bellows rail and my Aluminum camera case with one camera and one lens for 400 USD. We went down to the local Kits Camera store and the guy behind the counter "gave me a deal" - a Pentax SF-1 and a Tokina 28-70mm AF macro. I liked the camera but absolutely hated the idea of having to let the camera focus on every shutter button squeeze.

Now flash ahead 5 years. I got a call from the small town where the fence lived and they wanted to know if I wanted to come down and pick up my "camera stuff". Come to find out the local property officer had a "thing" about dealing with the county sheriff department and he did not release any property back to cases in my county. Well the guy finally retired and the new property officer wanted to get the junk out. I called the insurance company - they said go get the stuff and see if it works - after I asked them what they were going to do with it and they said sell it as scrap. I went down and got all of the camera bodies and lens back - took a roll of film through each one and told the insurance company. They said -- OK that's nice -- we will get back to you --- it has been almost 16 years now with no response from them.

So after we moved to our current home (1996 - ironically the same day that my father died) - in 2004 my wife decided to go through all of our boxes and put the stuff in plastic containers. When she did - she found out that nearly all of my B&W negatives and been either peed on or chewed on by mice. We threw away all of my B&W negatives I had shot - I came this '' close to selling every camera I had and just giving up on ever shooting another image.

In early 2005 I saw a ad in National Geographic for a Photo Workshop - and I said "mockingly" to my wife - "Gee - maybe I should do this - Ha - what a waste of time". She just looked up from what she was reading --- and said "No - you need to do this ---- do it NOW!!". So I signed up. I was wandering around Costco and saw they were selling the *ist Ds and a Tablet Laptop -- and since the workshop was either film or digital - I came home and brought it up. My wife said - "Go buy them - use your bonus". (one of the last one's I will ever get) So I did - the reason I bought the Pentax was because ---- I already had one and I had an additional lens (the Tokina). I bought a TX-K adapter for my 300mm - and poof I had a "system".

Going to the workshop, literally changed my life - as photography has now become an outlet for my meager "creative" side. I bought my K10D because I wanted the additional control that the body provides. At present I have no need for the K20D as I have yet to completely wring out the K10D. Since the *ist Ds I have the 50-200mm and the FA 50mm 1.4 (which fits quite nicely on my SF-1 tool). I still love the smell of film and when we move to a place where we are not on a septic system - I will build a darkroom and warm up the Fuji's and the SF-1 with modern B&W film - that is going to be fun. I also retrieved the 4x5 tank from my parents house - so the monorail will get some work too (I have 50 sheets of Ilford B&W but I am just too lazy these days).

Anyway - that is how I was drawn into the Pentax world and my latest thing is -- I did get published in National Geographic I got one in National Geographic - Daily Dozen -- Woo Hoo
Now - to set up a web site so I can bore people with my slide shows (I still have my 2000+ slides from the old days - 8 trips to Yellowstone and a 35mm scanner)

My story is long, convoluted I hope you have stayed away.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL

[christinelandon]

Now, that's a story! Just goes to show how long the road can be sometimes.

[gawan]

Short story: The price/features ratio and some test results for K10D turned me from choosing the N D80 for my first D-SLR.

Longer story: I watched my father shooting with Minolta and Pentax gear in the late 50s and 60s. My own first SLR was a Minolta SRT-101 which I use many years - from late 60s trough 70s with only one lens (50mm). In the 80's to early 90s I had also Canon T70, my first camera with some automatic functions. Used it with 50mm F1.4 and a combined Kenko 2X tele/macro converter. In this century almost lost the photographing activity until last year, as I started again and wanted a state of the art D-SLR. I think that the early years studying my father activities gave me the idea that Pentax was a good choice and made me take a good look on choices Pentax had for me..

Now I have kinda started from scratch again with this D-SLR and acquired also more lenses.

[ivoire]

First slr\dslr was the K10D 1.5 yrs ago. Read tons of reviews, many forum posts and decided the K10D had a great feature set and the adaptability for soooo many lenses. Before that I shot maybe 200 photos in about 40 years. Now i have the K20D and am continuing to fill hard drives. Great cameras and a very addictive hobby. Picked up work shooting realestate once or thrice a week and it is the first paying hobby i've ever had. The others in the biz shoot the big N cameras. The customers i contract for love my images and so do the N guys. Because i make money at it, people call me a professional photographer. Myself, i'm just enjoying the fun, challenges, technical aspects of shooting, and a label means nothing (but then i receive a monthly retirement check that pays the bills so a title is un-necessary). The proof of the camera and photographer are in the images. Shoot , learn, and shoot some more!

And lest i forget, i have all the forum members here to thank for dramatically decreasing the learning curve.

[germar]

My story, as short as possible:

Trained as a film and video production major in college in the early early 80s. Bought a Canon A-1 and a trio of lenses, used them for fun and family until the 90s when my son arrived. We then opted out for the simplicity of Canon point and shoots like the A40. I got the bug to shoot "real" stills again, but simply couldn't deal with the sticker shock of what Canon wanted for bodies and *gulp* lenses.

Heard about this DSLR from Pentax, the K100D. It wasn't cheap, but seemed to be a good value. I then found this forum. I then found out about the old LENSES... and it was love from then on in. I can't imagine why anyone would buy anything else when the treasure of old glass is everywhere. I'm now happily shooting 35 year old Takumar glass on my new K10D body, smiling how my Canon friends are saving their pennies to buy their one lens for the next few years.

What made me a Pentaxian? Excellent quality, excellent value and reputation, amazing lenses for cheap, and finally... this forum.

germar

[Trawlerman]

I officially became a Pentaxian in 2006 when I got back into photography again, as a way to fill up short working hours on my job.

My first steps as a photographer were taken back in the early 80's. My dad bought his first real SLR, a Ricoh KR-5 in something like 1980/1 and I immediately showed an interest and when I became old enough to use it he allowed me to take a few shots with it.

He fell on hard times and sold it and it was later replaced with an old Russian ZORKI-4 rangefinder. Once again, I was fascinated by it and was allowed to use it occasionally but really didn't appreciate it for what it was.

I got my first 135 camera in 1986 or something like that. It was little 'holga-esque' compact camera. I can distinctly remember that the first roll of film that I ever shot was on a visit to the local docks to see the 'then new' HMS SHEFFIELD. I was instantly hooked and even though the results were relatively poor to what I take today I was fascinated.

For christmas 1988 my Fad and Grandparents bought me a Praktica camera kit comprising a BCA 135 body and a couple of zooms covering 35-70 and 70-210mm. My muse for photography was once again my dad and he showed me how to operate that camera and I was soon shooting alsorts of stuff.

I should mention that my main interest in photography has always been to document the local shipping here on the River Humber. And despit being interested in photography for over twenty years it is still my #1 interest to this day.

Anyway, after using the BCA for a while I decided to go for a full-manual camera and plumbed for the BC1 also from Praktica. Eventually, I parted with both camera's - the BCA got wet and died and the BC1 was forcibly stolen from me.

After saving enough money for a replacement camera I bought me a new all-sing all-dancing Ricoh KR-10m and a couple of off-brand (Centon) consumer zooms. The KR-10m was a decent enough camera but I can't say that I ever got any results that I was blown away by. It was only later, much much later that I realised that it was the crummy lenses that were letting the side down. Anyway, I used the KR-10m throughout the 90's. It got put away whilst I wasn't using it and as always when I got it out to use it the shutter had gone faulty and it wasn't cost effective to repair it.

My first digital camera came in 2001 with a brand-new 5-mp Minolta DiMage7 bridge camera. I used that quite effectively for some time and still have it although I do admit to never really using to anywhere near its pottential.

My next 135 camera was another Ricoh body. I had joined the crew of a small stern-trawler (dragger for those in the US) and needed a camera quick-smart to take away with me. The local camera shop had a lovely Ricoh XR-20sp in stock and I snapped it up - albeit at an exorbitant price. Shooting with the lenses from the KR-10m I got some reasonable results but once again nothing that really excited me. So the XR-20sp got put in the back of the cupboard and forgotten about.

In late 2005 a lot of my work dried up and I was at a loose end and decided to get back into photography again and learn how to do it correctly this time. I had a few chats with my dad and expressed my interest but said that I was put off by spending lots of money on new kit. He told me that prices had fallen sharply and 135 kit could be had for almost nothing now. Not quite believing him I took a look at eBay and was shocked to find how cheaply stuff was being sold for now.

So in the new year of 2006 I took my first steps in getting some decent kit again. Not knowing what to buy amongst the bewildering assortment of equipment I went with what I knew again and got another KR-10m body. Immediately I fell right into using it as it would be my 3rd 'M body in 15 years. This time though, I got a Komine-built Vivitar 28-200mm lens and right away the 'M produced shots that I though were much better than those previously.

I was hooked again!



Pentax kit

After getting the KR-10M again, I saw an original P30 and had always wanted one. Indeed, it was hard decision originally between the P30 and the KR-10M as they were competitors in the day. I originally went with the 'M as it had the built-in motor drive and looked cooler.

Right away I liked the P30 better and the new 'M went in the cupboard. From then on I never looked back. I soon found that original Pentax 'marque' lenses were the way to go on Pentax bodies.

Over the past two years i've slowly built up a collection of SMC-M series lenses and now have the M28/3.5, M35/2.8, M40/2.8, M50/1.4, M50/2.0, M85/2.0, M100/2.8, M135/3.5, M200/4.0, A50/1.4 plus some other manual focus zooms.

I now shoot with AF bodies and my 135 kit consists of a Z-1 and MZ-S w/grip. When I went with a dSLR, choosing pentax was a no brainer but I went with a Samsung GX-1L originally but now shoot with a GX-10 w/grip.

My three main lenses are a Sigma 10-20, a Sigma 50-500 and a Pentax DA40. I do of course use other lenses but tend to pick and choose from my SMC-M's depending on the subject.


Right now i'm a Pentaxian through and through and can't see me changing to another system. For that what it is to me. A system where the body is not important really but does rely on high quality glass. In five years time my GX-10 body will be gone, most likey upgraded to the K40d/60d or whatever but the glass will still be the embodiment of the kit. Sure Pentax may not have the big-brand name that Canon or Nikon has now but it does have loyalty to its users and a whole legacy of kit spanning 50+ years.

[woof]

At the ripe old age of 15 Dad gave me his 1957 Asahi Pentax "AP." He had been a photojournalist through the late 50s, and this had been his camera. By the time I got it he had moved on to a Spotmatic, and then to Minolta and Nikon. I got the Spotmatic in due course. So by the age of 18 I had two Pentax bodies.

I'd have to say that did it. I still use an "AP" and my Spotmatic as well as a Spotmatic "F" and my K10D.

woof!

[wlank]

Because the Spotmatic was $20.00 less than the Minolta SRT 101 and a whole bunch less than the Nikon F. Those were my choices at the Exchange at San Vito dei Normani Air Station when I got mine.

As for the K100D Super, it was recommended by a Professional Photographer as the best camera for the $$$ based on my requirements. I knew he was a professional because he uses C***n.

[Fl_Gulfer]

Well my first camera was a Petri SLR back in 72 I got from Japan after leaving Nam. Then I got away from photography in 75 and worked myself to death till last year when I started reading about DSLR's and wanted to get away from the Jones's,, so I came to this place and read alot, till I got my K100D. Now I just finish ordering a K20D for $1065.00 and I hope I like it as much as I did my K100D.

[Fritz]

What made me a Pentaxian? This little beauty right here, with a M 50mm f1.4 attached to it that I purchased in December of 1980. The next year I bought a Vivitar 75-205 zoom to expand my kit and a small flash as well. That was all I needed until I purchased my K100d last year.

[chedoy]

I dunno. I always confused Pentax SLR's with the German Exacta and Praktika cameras. Although I knew the Spotmatic was legendary, I thought it was German. Ha.

Anyway, what made me buy one was the SR and the rebates in 2006.