[abhishek8605]

hello,

so i just got myself a pentax k-r and surprisingly i went out looking to buy a canon 550d. i had no idea that i'd be able to find a pentax in thailand so i never really researched it until the store we went to the salesman was strongly pushing for the k-r. i was still not sold and after we did a side by side comparison between the k-r, the 550d, and the d3100, i was sold. the k-r is just more bang for the buck.

so i thought i'd introduce myself here, i've been reading quite a lot in these forums and have found it quite helpful, but if any of you guys have further tips for me then that would be appreciated.

[kenafein]

Welcome to the forums, and congratulations on your new camera. My suggestion would be to look into buying some old manual focus lenses. You can get high quality lenses for much less than new, but you have to focus manually(not a big deal for many applications).

[abhishek8605]

i have a question regarding cleaning the dust in the camera, how often should it be done?

[sameagle]

As an amateur/hobbyist, you really only need to clean the dust in the camera (on the sensor) when you start seeing the spots in your photos.

You generally should not get much dust in your camera unless you are changing your lens a bunch or in dusty/sandy environments (such as the beach, or a windy day in the woods).

I have been a hobbyist now for about 2 years and change lenses probably 1x/week. So far all I have required is to use a good blower.

Here is a quick way to tell if you have dust on your sensor:
Set your aperture/f-stop as small as possible (this will be something like f16 or f22).
Aim the camera at a light colored subject that has as little variation as possible (blue sky is perfect).
Take a picture.
Look at the picture on your computer screen.
Look for dots.
Dots = dust on your sensor.

Hope that helps!

- Sam