Novice needing help!

Tilly · 11-19-2010, 09:16 AM

Hi my name is Natalie, Tilly for short.

I've always wanted an SLR camera and coverted my fathers as a child.
Now I'm an adult and very much into my digital point and shoot camera, a great invention but I've always hankered after the camera my father rarely let me use.

Walking past the charity shop I spotted a Pentax P30 camera in the window with a 28-80mm lense for £14.99. All those memories of my childhood flooded back and I made the possibly rash decision and ran in to buy it.

I'm now sat at home. I've loaded the batteries in the flash, sat and zoomed in and out with the lense and enjoyed that wonderful sound of the shutter.... shutting .

But now I'm at the point where I'm thinking, ok, I know nothing about this camera, I have no real idea how to use it, what any of the functions do or are for and as pretty as it is and the memories of this type of camera are wonderful, this to me is now a piece of kit that if I'm not careful will be put in the back of the wardrobe and forgotten about and I really don't want that to happen.

Please help me out guys, any information you can give me to help on the way to taking photo's that I can be proud of, or even just ones in which the subject matter is distinguishable, will be very gratefully received!

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Tilly

MRRiley · 11-19-2010, 09:23 AM

First off Tilly, welcome to the world of SLRs. It can be quite daunting but is infinitely FUN! You can get tons of good advise here on the forum, but my first suggestion would be to go to your local library and check out a couple of general photography books. Since it's an older camera, it won't matter if they are old books. Just make sure they discuss the care and feeding of a 35mm film camera.

You may also want to look online for a digital copy of the manual for the P30. I'm sure there's one out there somewhere, and if not maybe someone here can help you with one.

Also, welcome to Pentax Forums!

Mike

Oldschool · 11-19-2010, 09:25 AM

First of all, welcome to the forum and congrats on your 'new' camera. There is a forum here dedicated to film cameras where you should be able to get all your questions answered. Ask the question here Pentax Film SLR Discussion - PentaxForums.com and you'll get lots more responses.

Stratman · 11-21-2010, 08:26 AM

Here is a link to a place you can download the manual for the P30, it is in 2 parts, so make sure you get both parts

And, of course, enjoy your new camera !!

Pentax P30t instruction manual, user manual

11-19-2010, 09:16 AM	#1
Tilly Inactive Account Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 4	Novice needing help! Hi my name is Natalie, Tilly for short. I've always wanted an SLR camera and coverted my fathers as a child. Now I'm an adult and very much into my digital point and shoot camera, a great invention but I've always hankered after the camera my father rarely let me use. Walking past the charity shop I spotted a Pentax P30 camera in the window with a 28-80mm lense for £14.99. All those memories of my childhood flooded back and I made the possibly rash decision and ran in to buy it. I'm now sat at home. I've loaded the batteries in the flash, sat and zoomed in and out with the lense and enjoyed that wonderful sound of the shutter.... shutting . But now I'm at the point where I'm thinking, ok, I know nothing about this camera, I have no real idea how to use it, what any of the functions do or are for and as pretty as it is and the memories of this type of camera are wonderful, this to me is now a piece of kit that if I'm not careful will be put in the back of the wardrobe and forgotten about and I really don't want that to happen. Please help me out guys, any information you can give me to help on the way to taking photo's that I can be proud of, or even just ones in which the subject matter is distinguishable, will be very gratefully received! Hope to hear from you all soon. Tilly

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11-19-2010, 09:23 AM	#2
MRRiley Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sterling, VA, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,275	First off Tilly, welcome to the world of SLRs. It can be quite daunting but is infinitely FUN! You can get tons of good advise here on the forum, but my first suggestion would be to go to your local library and check out a couple of general photography books. Since it's an older camera, it won't matter if they are old books. Just make sure they discuss the care and feeding of a 35mm film camera. You may also want to look online for a digital copy of the manual for the P30. I'm sure there's one out there somewhere, and if not maybe someone here can help you with one. Also, welcome to Pentax Forums! Mike

11-19-2010, 09:25 AM	#3
Oldschool Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Central NJ Posts: 1,278	First of all, welcome to the forum and congrats on your 'new' camera. There is a forum here dedicated to film cameras where you should be able to get all your questions answered. Ask the question here Pentax Film SLR Discussion - PentaxForums.com and you'll get lots more responses.

11-21-2010, 08:26 AM	#4
Stratman Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: St Louis, Missouri U S A Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,464	Here is a link to a place you can download the manual for the P30, it is in 2 parts, so make sure you get both parts And, of course, enjoy your new camera !! Pentax P30t instruction manual, user manual