[RichardS]

I bought a K200D with the DA 18-55 lens a couple of months ago. I'm loving it.

I only stumbled across this forum yesterday as a result of a Google search. Lurking for 24 hours was enough to show me that this is a friendly place with lots of knowledgeable people willing to contribute. I'm looking forward to learning and maybe, one day, being able to contribute.

I had my first 'real' camera, a Braun Paxette (totally manual, split-image focusing with built-in light meter) when I was 12, so I learned about exposures, focusing, depth of field and all the technical stuff many years ago. My Nikkormat FT3 with 50mm 1.4 and Vivitar 100-300 lenses still works, but quality film processing has become very expensive and I wanted to explore the digital world.

I dipped my toes into the water 3 years ago with a Kodak 5MP point-and-shoot and got some quite good results. However, I was getting increasingly frustrated by not being able to control what I was shooting.

I'm still ignorant about automatic stuff (the FT3 is a manual camera), but I'm learning and having fun.

[hooppjs]

G'day and welcome. You will learn alot here. Have fun with your new toy.

Peter

[dazman]

Hey Richard. Welcome to the forum. Been a few aussies joining lately which is great to see. Get involved and enjoy your time here

[MoiVous]

Hi Richard! Welcome to the community!

If nothing else, it looks like Pentax are attracting a bunch of Aussies to the joys of Pentax. The K200D is a great camera as you've already found IMHO.

Don't worry about the Auto stuff too much - most of the scene modes are there to help those with less knowledge of exposure while they learn. Since you came from a manual exposure background you're probably half way there anyway. If not, play with them a bit and see what they do. Fortunately digital film is cheap

Personally I've found the most useful are P (where I can play with the aperture quickly on on the e-dial). This is almost like the Av mode (set the aperture for the depth of field you need) and let the camera set the shutter speed. Its not a lot different to a manual - you just have to get used to the camera doing things for you! And you can always get back with that green button.

Don't forget to set up the exposure preview on the on/off dial for depth of field preview - the APS-C format makes the apertures your used to drop by about a stop - but not as bad as the tiny P&S sensors where you really need f1.0 to get proper bokeh.

Enjoy!

Cheers

[pw-pix]

If you're on Flickr, join the Melbourne group and come to the monthly meets, we have a number of Pentax users and another one would be welcome.

[lithos]

Oh, another Melburnian.

*loads shotgun, locks doors*

Welcome to the forum!

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum, there's a lot of Aussies in here, enjoy.
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[RichardS]

[QUOTE=MoiVous;395171]Hi Richard! Welcome to the community!

Personally I've found the most useful are P (where I can play with the aperture quickly on on the e-dial). This is almost like the Av mode (set the aperture for the depth of field you need) and let the camera set the shutter speed. Its not a lot different to a manual - you just have to get used to the camera doing things for you! And you can always get back with that green button.

Thank. I'll try P. I've mostly been using Av when I want to play. I haven't been anywhere where I need to set the shutter speed yet.

Don't forget to set up the exposure preview on the on/off dial for depth of field preview

I'd missed that one. Thanks.

- the APS-C format makes the apertures your used to drop by about a stop - but not as bad as the tiny P&S sensors where you really need f1.0 to get proper bokeh.

Doing sums in my head ...

Thanks again.