[vonuhl]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, new to Pentax and recently a renewed interested in photography.

I've been looking for a mid level camera for some time and after some careful consideration I decided to purchase a Pentax k-5iis. I was drawn to Pentax for a couple reasons; the value I was getting for the price I pay (weather seals, metal camera body, 100% viewfinder, etc.), and that fact that I found a wealth of information and thriving Pentaxian community here on this Forum. Prior to making a purchase on a camera, I found myself coming back to this website comparing camera models , lenses, reviews and was finally convinced that I could purchase a great camera for less than $1,000.

I'm interested in improving my skills at strobe lighting, landscape and nature photography.

I bought the camera with the body only. My first lens is a SMC 50mm 1:1.8, so I'd force myself to consider the shot before looking through the view finder to learn as much about the lens, as opposed to zooming in and out on a kit lens. It was unfortuante that the new member lens give-a-way was this very same lens.

I was able to locate a few more film lenses for the Pentax on Craigslist, but i've noticed that the lenses either have poor reviews or some of the lenses appear to have a cloudy appearance to them, which I gather may be separation, judging by previous forum posts on the matter.

The film lenses I have are:

Vivitar 100-300mm F5.6-6.7 MC MACRO

Tokina AF SD 28-70mm f3.5-4.5

Tokina 80-200 SZ-X f1:4.5-5.6

[mee]

Welcome to the forums and Go Green Bay!! haha

You will soon learn that lenses make the difference.. well a lot of things make the difference in your photography.. but lenses are a nice place to work with.. not just in type of lens (wide, tele, zoom, macro) but in image quality.

Also if you want that really artsy/magazine quality look you will want to explore Post Processing software and shooting in RAW mode with your K-5iis at some point down the road.

[vonuhl]

Thanks Mee!

I shoot only in RAW and have a subscription to Creative Cloud, so I have access to Lightroom and Photoshop.

I'm fortunate enough to have a career that utilizes my BA in Multimedia Design, so I use PS on a daily basis. That said, my goal is to improve my photography considerably to minimize the amount of work I do in post.

[pezmaker]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow Wisconsinite. Madison here. There's a Wisconsin group here, but it's not very active. Have fun with your gear!

[TER-OR]

Welcome from just south of the Border.
Remember there's a Marketplace here where you can find used gear.

Craigslist will be a crapshoot, but occasionally you'll find some good stuff. I was pleasantly surprised at a Promaster 28-105 which has really good IQ. Got it and a film body for $35. If you want to do outdoor stuff you might consider spending the money on an 18-135 or 55-300 WR lens. It depends on how much you think you might be out on days with a chance of precipitation. I do like the speed and silence of the 18-135. It's a good walkaround, but of course all zooms have compromises.

Where you're not likely to find bargains on Craigslist are in wide-angle lenses. The film wide-angle of 24 or 28mm isn't all that wide on APS-C bodies, though some of them are quite nice.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum, interestedly enough your the second person from that area in the last few hours to sign up here, must be doing a special there.