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06-18-2008, 07:11 AM   #16
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I started in 1972 with a Practika LLC (m42 screw mount) with 50/1.7 that came with it “plus a Focal (Kmart) 80/210 zoom. After a couple of years, I purchased a Fujica ST901, still screwmount, because I wanted to be able to use my screwmount lenses. The Fujica went bad shortly so I had to go back to my Practika body, which by those days, I could not find a replacement battery (meter).

I came across the newly announced K system from Pentax, and a friend showed me his K2 body, with at least 6 screwmount lenses, all with K mount adapters. To make a long story short, I bought myself a K2 (it was really a gift for my highschool graduation, and 4 k mount adapters for my lenses.

Since then, I've had a K2, a KM, a K1000, and MX, a PZ10, a PZ20, a PZ1p (still have it), a ZX5n, an *ist D (still have) and as of last month, a K20D. (Plus a couple of pentax p&s as the AF35 (still have), IQ90WR (still have) a WP and a WPi (still have).

My lens arsenal has seen many glass from very good to cheapo stuff.

RB

06-18-2008, 08:38 AM   #17
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My Wife made me a Pentaxian!

She bought her first SLR (Minolta) about 30 years ago. My first SLR was her K1000 she loaned me to use on a telescope in 1997. She decided she did not want it back since I, "fumbled around with it in the dark." She bought a new K1000 and a Ricoh K-mount. We accumulated several Pentax lenses over the years. I bought her an istD when they were well over $1000. A few years later when the prices dropped way down I bought myself a K100D, liked it so much I bought a K110D for, "fumbling in the dark." At $350 from B&H I couldn't resist.

Her istD is semi-permanently attached to a manual Pentax Macro I bought for her K1000. Until recently she was a die-hard manual lens user. She expressed an interest in auto-focus after seeing me shoot birds in flight hand held at 200mm. I bought her a K100D which she now uses with various auto lenses, mainly for birds who don't wait long enough for manual adjustments.

We both love our Pentax equipment. Though we have an assortment of cameras and lenses only one camera body (istD) was over $500 and only 2 lenses (macros) were over $200.

Last edited by LeoTaylor; 06-18-2008 at 08:41 AM. Reason: fixed typo
06-18-2008, 08:49 AM   #18
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I did my research and found in my mind that the K10D and Pentax was the best bang for the buck. Then the K10D began winnign awards and that made me really happy after my purchase and proved that my research and gut feeling was correct.
06-18-2008, 09:07 AM   #19
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I became a Pentaxian in 1961 when I bought a used Asahi Pentax with Takumar 55mm f/2.2 preset lens - the original Pentax, with the original shutter speed sequence: front dial: 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25 T and on the top dial 1/25 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500, B. I used that camera, adding a Takumar 135mm f/3.5 lens until the late 1970's. The shutters finally wore through.

I picked up a used KX in 1976 with 55mm f/1.8 SMC Pentax and a Pentax M42/K adapter for the 135. Added the SMCP-M 28/3.5 to the kit, replaced the preset 135/3.5 with an M 135/3.5.

A newspaper I worked for as an accountant asked me to cover my son and daughter's school sports exploits and trained me in sports photography. I got tired of sticking my thumb in my eye winding on, and bought an SF-1 body, foolishly trading in the KX. I added the A 70-210/4 a few months later, trading in the M 135 for the flexibility of the zoom lens for sports work. I did not buy the F 70-210 because the aperture was 5.6 at the long end, and the A held f/4 all the way.

We moved here in the mountains, and I was lucky enough to pick up my M 400/5.6 for a whole Cdn $330 from a fellow who was going Nikon to be able to share equipment with his fellow photojournalists at a Calgary newspaper.

My wife went on a biking holiday in Europe with my daughter, and wanted a camera to carry with her. I bought a used ME body and added the FA 28-80 power zoom, AF lens. No power zoom on the ME, and no AF, but she came back with some really gorgeous photos. This was my second instance of the compatibility of Pentax equipment in both directions, as it turns out. Latest and greatest lens on rather elderly body. The rig was small and light enough to fit the backpack without pain.

I worked in Chicago, IL for four years. While I was there, Claire decided that the SF-1 was a lot easier to focus than the ME, and moved the FA 28-80 onto that body. Of course, I then had a choice of using the ME or .... buying a brand new MZ-S with the FA 24-90. Still in Chicago, I got the long zoom bug and bought a Sigma 170-500 AF zoom. I also picked up an SMC Pentax 28/3.5 Shift - worked great on those skyscrapers.

Got back home, and discovered that the Sigma just couldn't hold image quality up to the 400 Pentax, and I had not much use for the shift lens here - trees, not buildings. Did a little horse trading and came up with the M 100/4 macro and some cash in my pocket.

When my father passed away at 102 yrs 9 months, he left a little bit of money behind, and that got me the K10D, DA 12-24, D-BG2 grip and the two DA* lenses.

Why would I ever switch brands? Everything still works on everything, almost. The DA lenses don't work on the SF-1.

06-18-2008, 09:42 AM   #20
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My brother-in-law worked his whole career for Honeywell. At that time, Honeywell was the United States distributer for Asahi (Pentax) cameras. He had a screw-mount Spotmatic and I marveled at the lenses. They seemed so fine and well machined, like Campagnolo cycling components. Works of art!

So, when the time came (1976), I purchased a MX and a few lenses. Have stuck with that ever since. Never felt the need to get anything newer, (this autofocus, auto aperture, etc. is all new to me since digitals. Seemed to have done okay in the past with manual mode only.)

When Pentax finally marketed a digital, I wanted one but couldn't justify the cost of the *istD. Way too expensive. When the Ds became available, I jumped all over it. Even got a second...then a K100D while waiting for my new K10D; then the K10D. Was very happy with the K10D, but was convinced at the improvement of the K20D and got one of those.

Today, only have that old, trusty MX, both Ds bodies (but can't find one of them), the K100D and the K20D. Sold the K10D to a fellow Pentaxian at our work establishment. Will probably sell either the Ds bodies or the K100D. Want to keep at least one for infrared work.

p.s. Never for one minute did I consider a competitor's offerings (except for getting a Sony p&s early on. That old MX did everything I needed.)
06-18-2008, 10:04 AM   #21
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Officially, I became a Pentaxian in 2003--with the purchase of my first Pentax camera, the ZX-M. Although, I suppose I have been a Pentaxian since about 1980. I remember reading the full-page camera store ads in the New York Daily News and New York Times. The Mibro ad always attracted me, as they seemed to have had the best kit deals. I never got to visit Mibro, never got to see the cameras. Out of all the cameras advertised, the Pentax bodies made the strongest impression on me. They seemed to offer the best value, and also appeared to be the most underrated of the bunch. I have always favored the non-favored, the underdog. Canon and Nikon were very popular. Nikon had become a hollowed name, the top non-German camera brand. Olympus was kind of nifty (my uncle had one of the OMs). My father bought my older brother an AE-1, which was (and still is) a nice camera. That K1000, though, was the best deal...and the ME (and later ME Super) was the camera I really wanted...but never got.

Today, I think of the past and then wonder how I can own any of these fine Pentax bodies for $60 or $80. While I have no fondness for digital, I thank digital for helping me to afford those cameras I could not buy 25 years ago. I am happy to "recycle" what has been thrown aside by the computerized image machines.

Last edited by zx-m; 06-19-2008 at 06:25 AM. Reason: typo
06-18-2008, 10:49 AM   #22
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I'd had several P&S cameras over the years. My first digital camera was an Olympus 1.2mp P&S. It was decent at the time, but it wasn't very durable. I'd attended a machine gun shoot and just being in the proximity of an M2 .50 caliber maching cause the camera to go all out of whack. The camera never took an in focus picture again.

After teh Olympus I went through a series of Canaon P&S cameras. They were very good and we were happy with the results. My last Canon P&S was destroyed by my son a little over two years ago. He was 4 and my daughter was only a couple of months old. We came home after day care pickup. I put my daughter in her baby swing and set the Canon on the tripod facing her and let my son take some pictures of her while I went to the rest room. I figured that would keep him busy and out of trouble for a couple of minutes. WRONG! He came into our bedroom after a few minutes and told that something was wrong with the camera. I discovered that he had tried twist the lens. As you all know, that don't don most P&S cameras any good. It was going to cost more to repair than to buy new.

I started doing research on a new camera. I had decided to get one of the super zooms Looked at Canon since I'd been happy with them and also the Panasonic Lumix series as they had good reviews and I liked the results I was seeing. The more I looked at the SLR-like cameras the more it seemed to make sense to just get a true SLR. It would serve to make me learn more about photography and it offered so much more flexibility. Of course I tried the Canons, but they were just too small and uncomfortable. Then I came across the Pentax K100D. It was perfect. It allowed me to get into the DSLR world and learn more while at the same time still function as an overgrown P&S for my wife with all the scene modes. At first and for a while I am guilty of using the modes. the IQ was far and above any P&S I'd used.

I'm now on my second Pentax and don't intend on changing. Thanks to the help, encouragement, and constructive criticism by many here on this forum I rarely use any scene / auto modes anymore. Mainly shoot in Av and find myself doing more manual. Sure sometimes if I'm feeling lazy I still use P or the full auto.

That's my story.

06-18-2008, 11:13 AM   #23
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ok my short tale...

I was given a Pentax ME buy a friend of the family a few years ago now.
To be honest it saw little use, but I did buy more glass for it (good old ebay)...
I got to use it a bit more... but also around was this thing called digital....

So I was bought a Samsung S800 P&S, 8.1MP and 3X optical zoom! sunds good....
As such the poor pentax saw less use again... but I wanted to get back into SLRs so out came the ME again...

By this time I had a better job and money...
So time to look for a DSLR....
now I loved the ME so... should I get a Pentax or some other brand?
So I started to read reviews...
Pentax still use K mount and I have old K glass... and the reviews where good....
Right no contest! Pentax wins! but which one?

thinking it over for a few days... and then an email from argos.....
Pentax K100D super and 18-55 glass £280
within 2 hours I had bought it!
also across the road from Argos is a Kodak shop.... with a tameron 70-300 KA for £79.99
So guess what? Yes I bought that too!

I still have the ME... but along the way there is also a Chinon CS (M42) and a Chinon CE-5 (K mount).
All of which I still have...
06-18-2008, 12:28 PM   #24
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It is the community of enthusiasts.

Pentaxolog:

Following FTPAddict's format:
  1. 1965-1973 lusted after the cameras my friends had
    1. Pentax was safe, Nikon was cool, Canon was weird and 'Blads were for the rich
  2. 1977 - college graduation present KX + SMC 50/1.4
  3. 1984 - Sales Contest SPIFF - chose ME SUPER + M-50/1.4 + AF200S kit over golf clubs
  4. 1986 - 2003 Dark Years
    1. One Canon P&S after another - 1/2 life = 24 months
    2. KX or ME SUPER (most often) came out for holidays and vacations, then went back
  5. 2003 - daughter was accepted to a 6-week landscape theory, shooting and printing course at Ghost Ranch in NM (think Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams)
    1. Course required fully-mechanical 35mm camera and wide lenses
    2. 40 rolls Tri-X and 40 rolls TMAX, Y2 & O2 filters, tripod, QR plates, etc.
    3. KX came out and ebay beckoned - Pentax glass was inexpensive - 2nd KX backup
    4. Instructor praised the glass, panmed the bodies (F1n body of choice)
    5. Daughter received an "A" and gave me a 16x20 print for Christmas, masked, dodged, burned and mounted, taken with KX & K28/3.5
  6. 2004 - Daughter bought a Rebel on ebay, gave me back the KX's and the (new/old) glass, challenged me to photograph
  7. Found Eric
  8. Mentioned new "hobby" to a client. Praised the glass, panned the body.
  9. ebay called some more
  10. LBA/BBA/PBA set in
  11. 2005 - 3 bags full of glass and 9 bodies, no using. Big sell down into ebay
    1. Retained my KX, MESUPER and wide glass, plus a NOS S1 105/2.5 Macro - I didn't know what I was buying and lucked into after calling the guy in Cal. who was selling 20 of them.
  12. 2007-8 - Got serious about photography this time - after much research and thought, + advice from "the client" bought a K10D at end-of-life
  13. Have too much glass again, but managing LBA - discriminating buying, disposing of M's.
  14. Canon is safe, Nikon is still cool, Leica is for the rich and Pentax is weird.
I didn't become a Pentaxian - I have always thought of myself as a proud Pentax owner, probably because that is what people owned in high school.

Why I am a Pentaxian.

I like being different whenit is right to be so, and thinking about why I own what I own.
I like great glass.
I like (but can't explain why) holding and looking at Pentax stuff in a way no other system pleases me (except the original F1).
I like the K-mount and the loyalty of Pentax to its historical installed base.
I like the POTENTIAL to make great images, when I luck into them.

It is the sense that Pentax designs for users, not for consumers.
It is the feel of a Pentax body in the hand and a metal helicoid.
It is the innovative spirit that returned with the K10D and is extended with the K20D.
It is the quality of the second-hand glass.

It is the community of enthusiasts.

Last edited by monochrome; 06-21-2008 at 07:24 PM.
06-18-2008, 12:45 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
It is the community of enthusiasts.
Is that not the truth! I am with you on this, monochrome.
06-18-2008, 01:24 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
It is the community of enthusiasts.
Exactly!
For the same reason some of us chose Karmen Ghia over Porsche. Price/Performance/Weirdness. 1971 my dad picked me up a SPII in Tokyo with the 28/50/135 lenses. Over the years the SPII went by the wayside for digital P&S (Pentax of course), plus a nifty Pentax digital Super 8mm video camera. Finally 2007 hits and it's Price/Performance/Weirdness deja vu all over again. I do miss the Ghia though but wouldn't think of giving up my K10D until I drop or it drops.
06-18-2008, 01:46 PM   #27
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I saw the need for a DSLR to replace my Ixus. Looked at a couple of cameras, and the K10D looked promising.
I then realised that maybe a beginner camera would be enough. And when the local store had K100D for sale for the same price as the Nikon D40, I quickly went and bought it.

Why I looked at Pentax in the first place? Maybe because I know the value of checking out the underdogs. After all, my two first mobile phones were Siemens, and I absolutely loved them. My third is a Nokia, because Siemens disappeared from the European market.

What makes me stay? The feeling of being a bit special. Going down my own road, together with the community.
(And the lovely collection of primes. I'll make sure to stick my flat forty up in the face of every Canikon owner. )
06-18-2008, 02:07 PM   #28
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I bought my first Camara (what I could afford at 20) a Minolta XG with a 50 1.8 and a Soligor Mirror 500mm lens - did not even know Pentax existed!

My good mate had the classic Om1n and Om2 which I also used and boy could these camera's deliver

Here in South Africa (80's) Olympus and Pentax were never seen on the shelves - mainly Minolta, Nikon, Yashica, Leica, Contax and a smattering of Canon AE-1.

Dream cam was a Nikon and eventually bought a Nikon FE2 with a 50mm and Tamron 70-210 - I was in heaven!

Had it for years but it was stolen - replaced with the Contax M (one of the first camera's ever to have a 3fps internal MD) which had a funky AE-L as well - lenses were Zeiss 50mm 1.4, Zeiss 28/2.8 and my trusty Tamron 70-210 (adaptall mount) & 1.4 convertor - these lenses were unparalled in sharpness and color and I lived with the system till 2000 (camera fell apart) and SA no longer sold Contax

Went digital with the Oly prosumer 5060w and was in love again - the ED lens I believe was untouchable in sharpness, clarity and it still goes and has been everywhere - it now gets used as a family camera - the pics still blow me away.

Decided to upgrade to dslr as I wanted more flexibilty and creative headroom - looked at Canon (plastic) Oly (crap viewfinder) Nikon D80 (YUMMY) and was sold on that camera

Anyway the internet allowed me to download stacks of unprocessed pics from the various camera makes and I put them through my preferred pp workflow - only the Pentax gave me the results I liked

Luckilyone shop in Durban had a k100 and the K10D and was blown away by the build quality.

Purchased the K10D as this camera had the weather sealing, OIS, dust removal and less menu driven with the 18-55 kit lens

Too be quite honest this lens is amazing - and I have developed an even greater addiction for taking pictures with this beautiful combo
06-18-2008, 07:34 PM   #29
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The short version of my story in a timeline:
1980's--used Mom's Kodak 110 and Kodak Disc camera whenever I needed a camera
1990--with my high school graduation money, I went to Wal-Mart and bought myself a Canon Snappy p&s 35mm camera. I was happy just to get a 35mm camera.
2000--after getting married, I buy my very first film SLR, a Minolta QTsi (so basic that it could be considered a p&s SLR)
2001-2007--I got rid of the Minolta and went through a series of both film & digital cameras (a couple were film p&s, several film SLRS, and several digital p&s)
Fall 2007--I enroll in a photography class put on by the Community Education program at the local community college, using a Minolta XTsi. By the time I finished the first 6-week class, I was convinced that it was time to get a DSLR. Although a N&C man himself, the instructor recommended Pentax K10D as the best value, but the money wasn't quite there, so I picked up a DS used off of Fleabay. I was definitely prepared for the second class.
February 2008--after the K20/200 announcement, I decide that I would do whatever it took to get a hold of a K10D (since I couldn't--and still can't--afford the K20). Among the many things I sell to finance this purchase, I sold a Canon G7.

Why I went with Pentax--it was the best bang for the buck. It wasn't until after I was fully engrossed into Pentax that I found both the Dpreview Pentax SLR and this forum, so all the great people I've met in both places is just a great bonus for me. This is a place that is definitely newbie friendly; you can ask all the seemingly obvious questions and nobody is going to make fun of you or call you stupid.

My lens kit should be complete with the purchase of 2 or 3 more lenses, depending on how bad my LBA is.

Heather
06-18-2008, 08:48 PM   #30
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When I was in high school, I had a 110. I sometimes used my grand fathers Minolta equipment. He has always been a Minolta guy and just turned 88. When I got out of HS and got my first real 35mm I went with Pentax because I liked the straight forward capability it had and quality of build. I felt Nikon was too over priced due to the "Me Too" following it has. My first digital was a Nikon 5700 in dec 2001 and while it sux as a pseudo-35, it is superb as a P&S. 2 Weeks ago I got the k200D because I felt it was on par with the Pentax and Minolta film cameras I learned own and since I have some lens, the reverse compatibility was a plus. The bottom line is I just like Pentax stuff. I have 4 35mm film bodies and they are all Pentax.

Edit: I think the K20D/K200D will do for digital 35s what the Spotmatic F did for Pentax film cameras in the 70s and 80s.
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