[pacerr]

Keeping in mind that you're used to the MX body and a great viewfinder and the <$400 goal, I'd say the *istDS for size and VF or the K100DS or K200D for just a slightly larger body but with SR.

A split-image VF and/or O-ME53 magnifier always help too.

To me, the K10 / K20 body feels the size of a catcher's mitt after holding the MX.

H2

[alsterling]

Consider the 5d Canon option noted guys. The issue is money spent. When I used my cameras as tools of the trade, I just bought what was best for the job. Right now, I want to get utility out of the good glass that's sitting, unused. Unfortunately, not getting full benefit of the 15mm lens because of the cropping issue is a big loss. However, moving the threshold from $200 for the istD or DS, or the K20D at $500, all the way up to $1k, well, I might as well find a photo-shoot job that covers the cost of the equipment. But if I did that, I'd honestly get what all my commercial photo friends have, which is Canon. As always, it's about the lenses! I guess that just never changes. I've started looking for that great deal as of now. Who knows? Maybe someone will want to trade one of my other toys for a camera body? Anyone out there want a dual-bander Yaesu 2mtr-440 rig, or a 220mtr mobile? Yes, I'm the total geek..... count Ham Radio amongst my other hobbies. KG6ML (Similar, but not as bad as the Pentax gear, I haven't used the mobile units since 1998!)

[alsterling]

Lowell...... well, I suppose if you and Marc were placing bets on what I'd do, maybe you would'a won? I did commit to the istD that PentHassyKon pointed out. I think it'll be a good starting point, and will give me a reference for what's possible. I again opened my Halliburton case to see what other lenses were in there. Everything looks like it was put into a time capsule. It's all in basically new condition. I believe I have a few more lenses at my brother's house. But just with the MX body I have the Pentax M Series SMC 15mm f3.5, 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.7, 100mm "flat field" w/macro f4, Vivatar 100mm-300mm f5 Auto Zoom, and a Vivitar Tele-Converter 2x-22. I also found an auto-winder handle for the MX body. Wohoo! And while I was digging around, and from my 2 1/4 days, I came across my Gossen Luna Pro light meter with all attachements, and even a Wein Flash Meter. This doesn't count the SX-70 and matching Polaroid strobe unit. I'm sure there's a bomb-bunker somewhere, loaded with SX-70 film paks! (smile)

[Lowell Goudge]

I think you will enjoy the *istD. It is not as fast as newer models but it has continued to serve me very well, even though I have both a K10D and K7D.


You should consider now a flash for th ebody as well as your existing kit, and the AF500FTZ is a great unit to use on the *istD.

I suggest, although it might be a little more expensive to start, getting a CF Form II to SD adaptor, that way you can use SD cards in the *istD as well as your eventual next camera.


My philosophy with my cameras is never to sell them, and with the *istD this has been a great thing because it has completely different capabilities to the newer bodies, and I think that as a back up you should look to expand your capabilities, noit just duplicate them.

[alsterling]

Lowell, if it weren't for the fact that I'm coming into my "geezer" years, I'd really be beside myself; waiting for the camera body to arrive! (smile) As it is, I've got this patience that I didn't have even 15 years ago. And regarding flash units and camera capture and save speeds... When I finally get the "catcher" (camera body), for my lineup of "pitchers" (my lenses), I'll be doing natural light shots to learn the metering. I still use the old school approach of taking the ASA of the film or sensor setting, making the reciprocal, 1/ASA, as my shutter speed, and then using the old f5.6 for soft lighting, f11 for outdoor or generous light and f16 to f22 for bright lighting or unobstructed sun. During Vietnam we didn't always have metering, so knowing how to sense light and settings for whatever we carried was an important skill. The only time I use the flash on the Oly E20N is with the soft box attached, and when I'm doing events. If I'm indoors, I like to find a white surface to bounce the flash off of, while using a small direct flash to balance the shadows. As for speed, the Oly has to be way slower than the ist series. If I shoot raw TIFF (15megs) on the Oly, I literally have to wait half a minute, it seems, for the image to write to the card. I'll be interested in seeing what "slow" is with this Pentax.

[Ash]

I think you'll be reasonably impressed.
When I had mine, I rarely missed a shot for lack of speed.
RAW images on the little beast were around the 10-11Mb range, and did take about 5-6secs to dump to the card, BUT the *ist D had a generous 5 RAW image buffer, which to me is more important than card dump speed.

Even the K100D, a more modern camera, gave me more trouble taking shots in quick succession with the same write speed but only 3 image buffer...

[alsterling]

Ash, hello. I was about to shut down and saw your post. My Oly E20 is 5 megapixel, but the quality of the body and the 1:4 zoom lens makes it an excellent camera for stills. And it too has a memory-write buffer, but only 4 frames. When I have done events with allot of action, it's sorta' like fireing and reloading a musket, as compared to a semi-auto rifle. You really have to anticipate the moment and gauge your shutter actuation. With the Oly, I only get, basically, one great shot opportunity. If this ist body writes in 5-6 seconds, that's autobaun speed for me.

[Marc Sabatella]

And while I keep mentioning the value I place on SR, I do understand that for Al's purposes, it doens't really matter - he's talking about shooting on tripod primarily, and uses a different camera for basic snapshot and other types of photography.

[alsterling]

Marc, you're absolutely right. And to carry this to its extreme, and if I get back to reading my Alan Watts Zen philosophy books again, I may just go to Costco, get a collection of corrugated boxes, punch a clean small hole in the ends, and start shooting with Ansel Adams size pinhole cameras! At that point, if I totally Zen-out, I might just sell off all my "new age" camera gear........ and maybe even all my clothes! I could sit naked on a rock near Big Sur and take pictures of the sea lions. (now THAT's an image that's just plain wrong..... and can't be corrected in Photoshop!) But nearly seriously, thanks for all the input on the forum.

[Stringmike]

I'll throw in one extra reason for getting the K20D - a much more readable larger rear LCD. As an old geezer who needs reading glasses to resolve small stuff, I find I can read the K20D screen better than either the K10D or *ist DS, which I also own.

The dust finder feature is also a very useful addition.

Mike

[alsterling]

Mike..... well, the K20 was available for a short time through Best Buy refurb'd for $500 plus tax and shipping. I drew the line at $200 to try out my old lenses. I already have a huge finder option in my Oly camera, and for 90% of what I do, the lens on that camera is excellent. Only problem was having a clean wide angle option. Because the E20 has a fixed zoom lens, you have to use screw on wide angle adapter lenses; they're junk. So the Pentax body, right now, is just a means to an end. If I decide to reenter the commercial side again, which I doubt, I'd certainly buy a new, fully compatible body and lens system. I wonder if the K20's and 10's will reappear on the refurb market? Seems that there are still some out there, but not at the price I saw at Best Buy.

[alsterling]

THANK YOU FOR REPLYING TO MY QUESTION ON WHAT BODY FOR MY SMC LENSES!
Dmitriy in NYC, sold me his istD, and it arrived today via UPS. It was packaged extremely well, and the camera body was boxed in the original packaging, with documentation, orig. software and cables. I just wanted to let you know that the camera was exactly as he related it in his "marketplace ad"....... excellent condition. I grabbed one of my 1gig cards from my Oly E20N, and after dropping in four AA's, took a few shots with my 15mm, 28mm and 100mm flat field portrait lens. Everything worked right out of the box. I'll, of course, have to read the manual included, to pick up on the details of best settings, white balance, etc. Again, thanks for all your input, it honestly helped me make a good decision. Best, Al in SoCal