[TonyB]

I am a hobby photographer, Studied photography at college when I was younger (back in the 70's). Was a 35mm film user (used to do own developing) until the early 90's when work took me in a different direction and photography got moth balled. Still finding my feet in the digital world. Started off with a Cannon DSLR about 18 months ago and learnt quite a bit but never really happy with it. Have just acquired a Pentax K100D Super and it has fuelled the enthusiasm I used to have

It just feels right, I enjoy using it and the picture quality is great straight from the camera. Think my Canon gear will be going on Ebay to fund purchasing a new Pentax

Software I use for processing is mainly Darktable - I don't use windows, I use Linux instead

[Unregistered User 8]

Hi from Australia Tony. Welcome to the Pentax forums, and Pentax equipment. Good to have you here.

[BigMackCam]

Hi Tony, and welcome from another Brit... good to have you with us

The K100D Super was (and remains) an excellent camera. I have a Samsung GX-10 (which is a Pentax K10D in different clothes) from the same era, and I love the images it produces. That said, if you do decide to spring for a new(er) Pentax camera at some point, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the improvements in resolution, dynamic range, high ISO noise and AF performance. None of these will make anyone a better photographer, but they can make a significant difference in the end result.

I'd be interested to learn more from you on your Linux experiences. I run Windows 10, but I'm increasingly interested in setting myself up with a parallel Linux installation and - at some point in the future, perhaps - moving over to Linux as my main OS.

Looking forward to your involvement here

[TonyB]

Hi Mike, I gave up on Windows when XP expired. Had a Vista laptop and hated it so tried Linux as a dual boot and found I used Linux all the time and eventually deleted the windows partition. I still have a laptop with Windows and every time I switch it on, it reminds me why I hate windows, takes ages to do windows updates and download new anti-virus update, running anti virus scans, defragging, it just goes on and on.

Tried several varieties of Linux and the best for me was LXLE

I am also very impressed with the photography software available. As I mentioned I use Darktable which is a Lightroom equivalent. There is also RawTherapee, UFRaw, Luminance HDR and Gimp to name a few. Shotwell is good for downloading from the Camera and cataloguing . Best of all, it is all free You don't need a modern PC with loads of RAM either. I use a dual core processor with 4GB ram which copes fine.

A capture from Sunday using my K100D which I was quite pleased with. RAW file processed in Darktable

[Racer X 69]

Welcome to the clubhouse Tony. Nice image.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum and welcome back to Pentax.

[TER-OR]

Welcome aboard!

[smf]

Welcome and best wishes.
Please consider posting in the Picture of The Week thread in the Weekly Challenges area.

[automorphism]

Welcome to the forum fellow Darktable user!