[Starrfish]

I am a "new to me" K-3 user from MPB.com! Thank you all! Shipping some time in Feb!

I want a K-3 tag but it doesn't look right on my sig...

[Starrfish]

So today I was trying to learn digital photography and I am starting with B&W... lots to learn! But fun! 18-55mm lens is cool and the prime 50mm lens is a bokeh background monster, I love it!!

So today I was trying to learn digital photography and I am starting with B&W... lots to learn! But fun! 18-55mm lens is cool and the prime 50mm lens is a bokeh background monster, I love it!!

Wow, quick learner! I started trying to figure out digital photography about twenty years ago, and I'm still trying.

[Starrfish]

first shot

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[Wasp]

Welcome to the forum. I would suggest a K5 II with 50mm and 28mm primes to get you started. They can be found for a low budget, especially in manual focus. They both work well for street photography, the 28mm being the best. A 50mm would work well for taking pictures of your paintings.

As a left field alternative, look at the now defunct Samsung NX line. It could be a risk, since there seems to be no official support nowadays. Nevertheless, there were some fine cameras and lenses. If the price is right, it could be a good inexpensive way to get started. I have an NX100 and an NX1 that were bought cheaply and serve me well.

[Des]

first shot

Congratulations on the new kit. Pushing the limits straight away!

Two things you've probably figured. First, the shake reduction in the K-3 is very good, but there's a limit to what it can do. At 50mm, 1/4th second is usually beyond that limit. For very low light, you need to mount the camera on a tripod (or a stable surface like a table with a bag of rice or something like that under the camera) and use the self-timer or remote shutter release, or else add light (through a flash or something else). There's a lot of motion blur in your test shot.

Second, the 50 f1.8 has good centre sharpness wide open but the corners and edges are rather soft, as this chart shows.

(Source: Pentax SMC DA 50mm f/1.8 - Review / Test - Analysis)
That's good when you want to isolate a focal point in the middle portion of the frame. Not so good when the centre subject isn't particularly distinct.

Incidentally, for photographing your artworks, as you can see from the chart, this lens will be sharpest at f4 or f5.6, or most even (and still quite sharp) at f8.

Have fun!