[dmach47]

Thanks for all the replies. Now that I have the K-1ii, I have retired my film cameras. I actually have a K-1000 along with my PZ-1. I sold my Super Program a long time ago. I recently bought a "parts" version of the Super Program so that I can set up a display of my film camera history. I inherited my aunt's cameras (a couple of Argus C3s), so I'll add my cameras to the display I set up with her cameras. It's a nice progression from the C3, to the K1000, to the Super Program, to the PZ-1 (and then on to my new K-1ii, but that one's not going on display).

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome back to photography with that K1

[ShutterPro]

Welcome.

[Kendra59]

When I was stressing out in college, my aunt suggested I get into photography and she gave me some money to buy a camera. So I looked at the available models and brands at the time and chose the Pentax Super Program because it had both aperture and shutter priority, along with full program settings (kinda super...). I also got a 35-70 and 70-210 zoom lenses. I then took LOTS of photos. It really did help with the stress of getting an engineering degree. I then got my degree, got married, and had kids. I moved up to a PZ-1, a 20-35, 28-80, and a 100-300 zoom autofocus lenses. I took lots of pictures. Then life happened. I more or less put away the PZ-1 and my lenses, and got a series of point-n-shoots to take pictures of our family adventures.

Now the kids are all off on their own, I decided to get back into photography. So I got a K-1ii. It seems my various AF zooms work just fine with the K-1ii. I splurged and got a 400-600 Pentax zoom mirror (not AF) and a 12mm fisheye (also not AF). So now I am remembering how to take pictures of things other than what my kids were doing (trees don't move as fast as kids...). So I have lots of questions about digital photography. I'll be asking my first very soon.

It sounds like you had a smart aunt, and a helpful one to boot! In a lot of ways, film cameras and digital ones work the same way. You can make great pictures with either one, depending on how deep you want to delve into it. One advantage of digital is it doesn't "cost" you anything if a photo doesn't turn out as expected versus the real cost of film. Another is you can often "save" a digital photo by doing some post-production work. The comforting thing about DSLR cameras made in the last few years is the technology they were based on has matured. Buying a top rated Pentax K1-ii camera now should ensure you won't need an upgrade for quite a few years.

[Photos-by-Chas]

It sounds like you had a smart aunt, and a helpful one to boot! In a lot of ways, film cameras and digital ones work the same way. You can make great pictures with either one, depending on how deep you want to delve into it. One advantage of digital is it doesn't "cost" you anything if a photo doesn't turn out as expected versus the real cost of film. Another is you can often "save" a digital photo by doing some post-production work. The comforting thing about DSLR cameras made in the last few years is the technology they were based on has matured. Buying a top rated Pentax K1-ii camera now should ensure you won't need an upgrade for quite a few years.

Your comment that top of the line cameras purchased now will ensure not needing an upgrade for several years. The same can be said for several of the older cameras. I've seen a significant number of comments here about the old CMOS sensor cameras and the quality of the photos from them. Sometimes newer is better in most ways but not always in all ways.

[Clydesdalecoop]

I'll make one observation based on my own experience, sort of a big Aha! that hadn't occurred to me, going from film to digital: unless you're using your camera as a fully automatic snapshot camera, half of what happens is in post-processing. All the camera does is record data about the light that's coming in through the lens - it's up to you to make sense of it using software on a computer. I found that chore at least as onerous as having to learn all about what all the menu options in the camera do. And still haven't figured out probably eighty percent of what the software's capable of.

yea, I'm feelin' ya. Choosing Fuji, AGFA, or Kodak, and picking speed and type of film has been swapped for software. I'll be spending a bit of time working around the digital darkroom.

yea, I'm feelin' ya. Choosing Fuji, AGFA, or Kodak, and picking speed and type of film has been swapped for software. I'll be spending a bit of time working around the digital darkroom.

Not only has so much of what one had to do by careful planning and work with the enlarger been shifted to software, but the software does all sorts of crazy stuff that Ansel Adams would never have dreamed of, and which I have trouble even imagining. Automatic functions that will adjust the size of a model's eyes within the picture, and the pupil within the eyes, for example. It's a brave new world. I haven't scratched the surface of what that software can do.

[uhfiwdsf]

Welcome to the forum!

[reedik]

Welcome to the forum!

[TimR]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I just bought a used Super A.

[willdmo]

Welcome to the photographic crazyness

[dmach47]

Welcome to the photographic crazyness

It's a "welcome back" as I used to be "into it" until life changed things. Now I'm back and crazy in a different way, learning how the camera works, what bits of tech I need, what works and what doesn't work (handholding a 100mm shot at night at 1/2 sec doesn't work, even with the shake reduction ), etc. Oh, and when shooting full frame with a 12mm lens, make sure your feet are not in the picture . It's fun and doing EXACTLY what I wanted/needed it to do (get me back OFF my butt and out into nature). The biggest difference is I don't need to mess with rather nasty chemicals to get prints now. Earlier in life, money was much more tight (first being in college, then having kids, who seem to eat money), but now I can actually buy the stuff I want. Spending my kid's inheritance.

[willdmo]

It's a "welcome back" as I used to be "into it" until life changed things. Now I'm back and crazy in a different way, learning how the camera works, what bits of tech I need, what works and what doesn't work (handholding a 100mm shot at night at 1/2 sec doesn't work, even with the shake reduction ), etc. Oh, and when shooting full frame with a 12mm lens, make sure your feet are not in the picture . It's fun and doing EXACTLY what I wanted/needed it to do (get me back OFF my butt and out into nature). The biggest difference is I don't need to mess with rather nasty chemicals to get prints now. Earlier in life, money was much more tight (first being in college, then having kids, who seem to eat money), but now I can actually buy the stuff I want. Spending my kid's inheritance.

I am similarily "ON" and "OFF with photography. Life simply is no straight route and my photography isnt either.

[dmach47]

Well I just traded the two lenses I replaced with new ones for a K-30. Yes, I know about the K-30 shutter issue. I have the temp solution. I now have my main digital camera (K-1ii) and a backup (K-30).
Before anyone says I didn't get a fair trade, the person I traded with is my daughter, who has also taken up photography (for the same reason I took it up when I was in college). She now has a K-70 (and two more lenses). So when she visits (once in a while, she lives in another state and has a stressful job, hence the photography), we can go on shoots together. Adult child-parent bonding.

[dmach47]

I just traded a couple of my old lenses for my daughter's K-30 (she moved up to a fancier Pentax APS). So far, it seems as if the sensor for the K-30 is not nearly as sensitive as the K-1ii sensor. Note, I wanted her camera because once in a while, I want a second camera around. In the past, I would shoot with my PZ-1 and then my Super Program, but I wanted both to be digital this time. And yes, I'm aware of the shutter/exposure issue with the K-30. Given how infrequently I'll actually use it, that's fine.