I have an old film Pentax and some lenses that I haven't used for years because I've been using Point-and-Shoot Digital cameras. I want to take some sports photos this fall when my son plays high school soccer and I understand I can use my old Pentax lenses on a Pentax DSLR. My question is, does this really work and which used DSLR would be the best buy. I want to stay below $200.00.

[TER-OR]

Below $200 you're looking for a used Kx or K200 maybe? If you're patient you may find a K10 or K20.
Look in the marketplace, it's a good resource. You can search for terms like Kx and get an idea of how much people are asking. I'm not sure whether you can access the completed deal archives.

[Adam]

At that price you won't find a camera that's good for sports, though any older Pentax dslr model should get the job done. Look for a km or a kx.

[psychdoc]

In the past I have used the km [also called k2000] for sports. Its older than the kx It should be available for pretty cheap price.

However these older cameras are not that easy to use for sports. If you have some 'fast' lenses to put on it, it may work. It would help if we knew what lenses you have.

The picture below is from a couple of years ago when all I had was the k2000 and from when I first started using a dslr but I had rented an expensive lens to put on it [I quickly changed to a K5 when it came out because it was not good enough for my needs in many situations]

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Last edited by psychdoc; 11-14-2015 at 03:41 PM.

[jatrax]

It would be good to know what lenses you have. Just because they are old Pentax lenses does not mean they will be good for sports. They will most likely work on a newer camera but will they do what you want?

Post what lenses you have before you go camera shopping. $200 for a digital DSLR is a really tight budget as the bodies retain a fair amount of value for years.

Your expectations will be the deciding factor and certainly good images can be taken with most any lens but a good 'sports' lens often runs into the $1,000 area just for the lens.

[carrrlangas]

expensive equipment just makes it easier but you can take sport shots with anything, if you know what you want and what you are doing. Any DSLR should serve this purpose. Lenses are what I am worried about. Let us know which lenses you have.

[RKKS08]

I am closely monitoring Pentax DSLR prices on eBay, as I intend to buy a backup body some time this year.

Can't speak for the US, but on European eBay there actually is happening a steep price drop for used Pentax bodies with 10MP or less (and for the original Q). Within only 3-4 months, prices for *istD models dropped by nearly 50%, and K10D/K200D by about 25%.

It is possible this is only temporary - users needing money to finance a newer body for summer vacations. We will see. But there were several *istD and *istDS going < EURO 90, and K10D/K-m(K2000)/K200D for less than EURO 140.

Much smaller price drop for K20D, K-x, K-r, K7.

[thechumpen]

I am closely monitoring Pentax DSLR prices on eBay, as I intend to buy a backup body some time this year

Me too but as an upgrade not backup, and I'm amazed how close to retail price I see some used K-5s going for. I have seen them going for almost the same price as you could get a new one which seems really odd to me. Been hoping to find a K-5 bargain but it hasn't happened. There was a K-5 with a bunch of limited lenses a few months back that I really wish I had gone for now.

For example, you can get a new K-5 for £449 at the moment...

Back to the original question - you mention they are old lenses which probably also means manual focus and possibly manual aperture/metering as well so may be worth considering how easy that will be for sport.

[GibbyTheMole]

A few to look for, and what you might expect to pay for them:

*istDS or *istDL = around $100
K100D = around $125
K200D = around $175
K-x = around $200

You can take great photos with any of them. The main difference is MP and high ISO performance. I think the *ist DS or K100D would be great cameras to get your feet wet, so to speak. I've taken plenty of baseball photos with a K100D and manual focus Tamron SP 60-300 zoom that turned out well. If you can spend the full $200, the K-x offers better high ISO performance and more megapixels for cropping. Any of them should be fine, though.

Good luck,
Bob :-)

[Canada_Rockies]

People used to earn their living taking sports pictures with a 4x5 Graflex. You can use the most primitive equipment to take web sized soccer pictures. The most important thing is to know the game, and if your children are playing soccer you know the game.

A K10d with DA-L 55-300 took the slow pitch pictures here at Coal Miner Days, for example. It is all to do with the person behind the camera, not the equipment.

[TER-OR]

And remembering my experience with the Tamron 70-300 on my K-10 I think it would do fairly well, too.