Just Joined - From Noosa Australia

brumby · 11-26-2008, 10:03 PM

Another Aussie comes aboard!

I live on a small acreage outside of Noosa (Queensland) about 120k (80 miles) north of the big smoke - Brisbane.

I'm an old film camera dilletante - Pentax K1000 and Olympus OM2 - who has been "subsisting"

on P&S cameras for a while now.

I'm going to get a DSLR, the question is which one. I'm attracted to Pentax because of the glass - and I must admit the fact that it is portrayed as the "poor relation" of CaNikon.

Have been lurking here for a while and soaking up the WEALTH of info which you people have generated here. I tips me lid.

I've got a birthday coming up

, so that might be the time to take the plunge.

**Damn Brit** · 11-26-2008, 10:17 PM

Welcome, so what body are you going to go for?

**roentarre** · 11-26-2008, 10:27 PM

Noosa is a paradise for me that I never had a chance to visit. How lucky that you live in this part of Australia

*hooppjs* · 11-26-2008, 11:00 PM

I said:

Happy Birthday

Peter

brumby · 11-26-2008, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

Welcome, so what body are you going to go for?

I'm thinking about getting the K200D to be going on with. I reckon the K30D is fairly imminent so I might wait for that. I need to get up to some kind of speed with a "proper" camera anyway.

Body and kit lens and one other to start. I'm leaning towards the DA 35 f2.8 Macro.

I'll probably put up a thread to solicit opinions on all this.

brumby · 11-26-2008, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by roentarre

Noosa is a paradise for me that I never had a chance to visit. How lucky that you live in this part of Australia

Melbourne is my favourite city in Australia, mate. I've lived in Sydney and Brisbane so I know them better but Melbourne's got them both beat IMHO. Although it must be said that Brissie has come on in leaps and bounds over the last decade or so.

It's easy and quite cheap nowadays to fly up here. Our neighbours have rellies in Melbourne and bounce back and forth all the time.

**Damn Brit** · 11-27-2008, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by brumby

I'm thinking about getting the K200D to be going on with. I reckon the K30D is fairly imminent so I might wait for that. I need to get up to some kind of speed with a "proper" camera anyway.

Body and kit lens and one other to start. I'm leaning towards the DA 35 f2.8 Macro.

I'll probably put up a thread to solicit opinions on all this.

You could also consider looking for a K10D, it's a bit more functional, front and back wheels for example and likely to allow an easier transition to the K30 if and when it appears.

dosdan · 11-27-2008, 01:40 AM

Brumby, welcome. I bought my K20D from these guys. Good price, reasonable postage, very quick delivery (in stock) & Australian distributor-honoured warranty.

The K200D is very well priced at the moment. Here's their prices for it:

Pentax K200D DSLR Camera

Dan.

brumby · 11-27-2008, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by dosdan

Brumby, welcome. I bought my K20D from these guys. Good price, reasonable postage, very quick delivery (in stock) & Australian distributor-honoured warranty.

The K200D is very well priced at the moment. Here's their prices for the K200D:

Pentax K200D DSLR Camera

Dan.

Hi Dan, and thanks.

That's the online store I've been watching. You're right, the prices for both the K200D and the K20D are very good ATM given the BIG drop of the Aussie Dollar over the past few months. You could not do better, or even as well, by buying in the US, given shipping fees and probable duty in the case of the K20D

Did you try both cameras or just go straight to the K20D?

What's making me "sweat" a bit is that I don't think they can hold their prices when they get new stock in. In fact I've heard that there will be a price hike (amount unknown) with all new Pentax stock. I hasten to add that this is in Australia.

MoiVous · 11-27-2008, 02:42 AM

Welcome Brumby!

Nice to have another Aussie aboard!

If you've still got any of our old K1000 lenses you could use that with whatever camera you buy. Don't hestitate too much as Daz has pointed out prices are going to rise soon.

As for which camera, I'd suggest holding them and trying them out before ordering. Even if its only for an hour or so, its well worth the effort.

Not sure if you've many camera stores near Noosa (the Aussie Pentax supplier thread has none listed so far), but they're stocking the K200D in Dick Smith and OfficeWorks (amazing!)

Good luck with the hunting - and Happy Birthday too!

brumby · 11-27-2008, 03:05 AM

Originally Posted by MoiVous

Welcome Brumby!

Nice to have another Aussie aboard!

If you've still got any of our old K1000 lenses you could use that with whatever camera you buy. Don't hestitate too much as Daz has pointed out prices are going to rise soon.

As for which camera, I'd suggest holding them and trying them out before ordering. Even if its only for an hour or so, its well worth the effort.

Not sure if you've many camera stores near Noosa (the Aussie Pentax supplier thread has none listed so far), but they're stocking the K200D in Dick Smith and OfficeWorks (amazing!)

Good luck with the hunting - and Happy Birthday too!

Thanks for that, but it's still a couple of weeks off

I was in a local camera store the other day. Got to handle a K200D but there were no K20Ds in stock. The salesman said they had just sold their "last" one. He then did his level best to steer me over to the Canon/Nikon section.

I must admit that the viewfinder on the Nikon D700 blew my mind. Course we're talking about seven times the (current) price of a Pentax K200D and more than three times the price of a K20D

I have yet to walk into a local store, admittedly I don't live in the big city, which has BOTH the 200D and the 20D in stock. And I have yet to talk to a camera salesman who didn't damn Pentax with faint praise before hauling out armloads of Nikons and Canons to "prove" how much better they were.

kerrowdown · 11-27-2008, 04:09 AM

Welcome to the forum, Noosa, what a great name for a place.

dosdan · 11-27-2008, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by brumby

Did you try both cameras or just go straight to the K20D?

I bought a K100D Super about 14 months ago. This time I wanted something with more ext. controls so I went for the K20D. Looking at these prices, the K200D is the better bang-for-the buck.

No I did not hold the K200D. I had a local guy, Gordon_l34, whom I meet through this forum, come to my place with his new K20D. He was having problems because he was only used to film. I helped him come to grips with it, so I held it that night. See here for a description:

PentaxForums.com - SE Queensland

Dan.

dosdan · 11-27-2008, 04:24 PM

Brumby, according a message posted in the www.whirlpool.net.au Gadget forum (newbees can't see it) the Aussie price is going up on Monday. I don't know how this will affect existing stocks.

The message was about the the kit lens being offered with the K200D:

http://www.digitalfunstuff.com.au/prod361.htm

"Yeah... I called up... the owner checked... its the Pentax Mark II lens!
Also... (I spoke to her for about 15 minutes about all the different lenses – shame I can't afford the Pentax Twin Lens Kit... with the Mark II lenses!) FYI: Pentax has updated their prices and will be effective from Monday due to the rising dollar. So if you were holding out for a flash or something... expect to see nearly a 30% increase from next week!"

dosdan · 11-27-2008, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by kerrowdown

Welcome to the forum, Noosa, what a great name for a place.

Yes, the place is pretty too. However, the township of Noosa has become far too trendy for my liking and is over-commercialised.

Here is info about the Noosa National Park. It includes a guided tour.

Noosa National Park Australia

Dan.