[Serkevan]

Hello there!

I'm a twenty-something PhD student from Spain, though currently working in Germany. As a child I used to get a couple disposable cameras for each school trip, but then smartphones came and more or less everything I wanted to mindlessly snap was covered with terrible terrible technique. Composition? What's that, can you eat it?.

Then, I met my girlfriend, who is very much into photography (and considering she has amazing eye, it's great to have someone to look up ), like... half her colleagues, actually, and I started getting interested. It got to the point where I was trekking the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion in the US, driving two photographers and having a... Moto G4. Yay. I started asking her questions about the cameras and how she came up with compositions, how she edited, etc. She offered to lend me her 5D and told me to use the 50mm 1.8 lens, since "This way you have to think and move around to frame". I went around the city snapping stuff; 99% of the pictures said nothing, but I had so much *fun*.

Ah, crap. Well, here comes a hobby; in the end I pondered for a while on whether I wanted to buy a camera (after all, it is a relatively expensive hobby), and started doing my homework, checking Ebay for prices, DPReview (I'm sorry) and Ken Rockwell (I'm VERY sorry) for reviews, reading a lot of "best cameras for X" lists, etc.

Somehow, however, after finding these forums' user review section I decided that I wanted... a Pentax. Because of three reasons: weather sealing and solid construction (I come from what amounts to Spanish Scotland, I'm conditioned to be skeptical of any and all clouds), they all looked very comfortable, and the cost of assembling a solid, if manual focus*, system was dirt cheap.

For all that research and overly-long introduction, last summer I ended up getting a not-really-that-used (17K shots, in perfect working condition and not even looking that old) K-7 with kit lens. After that, I started getting a bunch of lenses: a couple Pentax-M (50/1.7 and a recent 135/3.5 with which I'm in love), a Porst 35mm/2.8, a Tokina 80-200 tele and an actual modern lens (the 17-50 Tammy), since I felt the kit was too slow on the low end and not really up to snuff compared to the other glass.

All in all, I'm a happy camper: the camera is just so comfortable in hand, it's a joy to use. I have some complaints about the sensor, mostly about how ISO 800 is already debatable, but oh well. 95% of bad shots are my fault alone

I'll leave you guys with a photo of our poor cat (unwilling model, always), and some landscape shot in Tenerife.

Looking forward to sharing more with the great community over here!

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[Martin Stu]

good shots, you have an interesting story, good luck

[Kerrowdown]

what amounts to Spanish Scotland

At least you get some "yellow orb" in the sky, we all run and hide from it here, on the rare occasion it does put in an appearance..

Welcome to the forum... from the Highlands of Scotland.

[Take-5-JB]

Welcome. Enjoy the forum and information.

JB

[MarkJerling]

Welcome to the forum!

Kind regards,
Mark


(New Zealand)

[TER-OR]

Welcome!
Rugged is a trait held high in my esteem, too. I've been in rain, heat, very cold and the camera keeps going. My first digital camera, a nice Sony, would just stop if the weather was below 25F. That's no bueno in Northern IL, not when we have huskies and go to the parks in the winter...

[dave_roe]

Welcome to the forum.

I think you will find it an interesting place to hang out.

[Serkevan]

Thank you for the warm welcome! Looking forward to some nice discussions