[guitardude]

Hello fellow Pentax owners! Well I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a Pentax KX on E-bay from KEH camera in GA. I believe I got a pretty good deal, its the white "Storm Trooper" addition, with the matching 18-55mm lens. I purchased for $325.00 (w/free shipping) and it had less than 300 shutter releases on the camera. I think I got a pretty good deal, it came in the original box with the lithium batteries, strap, book, software and EVERYTHING looked brand new and was in the original plastic bags and packaging.

My LAST Pentax that I purchase was a Pentax ZX-M and I thought it was awesome. But this Kx is unbelievable, I can not believe the pictures you get even if you just use it as a "Point and Shoot" camera. I haven't shot many pictures yet, however the FIRST thing that I noticed when viewing the pictures on my laptop was the depth ALL the pictures have. I know that I have a LOT to learn about the capabilities of this camera, but I'm confident that this camera will serve me QUITE well for the next 5-10 years. It's MORE than I had imagined.

The other aspect of the camera that I dearly LOVE and main reason I stuck with Pentax is of course the fact that I can use ALL my other K-mount lenses that I was using with my ZX-M. Once I figured out that the camera has "automatic" F-stops and got it programed correct for manual lenses I stuck on my 80-200mm Ashia Pentax lens. Absolutely awesome pictures, however I do need to figure out how to over-ride the automatic exposure so it doesn't focus on the "brightest" object. I'm sure the more I play with it the MORE I will learn. Yea, I guess I could read the manual also....LOL.

I purchased a SanDisk "Ultra" 32 Gig' SDHC that runs at 30meg, the woman at the store indicated that I should get about eight (8) house of video out of it if I don't put any pictures on the disk. Anyone know if that's true?

Just wanted you guys and gals to know that I finally, after a year or so of research, have come into the age of Pentax digital photography.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks and happy shooting,
David

[blackcloudbrew]

Welcome to the real world!

[Na Horuk]

Hey, welcome! Cool choice.
Advice? I dunno, update the firmware, use some old manual Pentax lenses, have fun!

[crewl1]

Congrats, the K-x is a wonderful camera.
Advice? Look into a couple of sets of Sanyo Eneloops rechargeable batteries and charger.
Enjoy!

[i_trax]

well K-x was my first DSLR after years on film and it really turned me over.
still have an access to it and still admire it for it's IQ and compactness.
yes you can use all old K and M42 Pentax ( and other manufactures ) lenses , there is a lot of information about it on this forum, just search for it.
welcome and kind regards
jack

[percy]

Great little camera. I really enjoyed mine, and often wish I still had it as a backup/second camera.
But, the K-x can be fussy about the batteries it uses. I'd recommend rechargeable Eneloops and/or lithium batteries.

[Reliant K1000]

I made the digital leap earlier this year too after many years of film cameras.

Best advice...just get out there and shoot pictures! I find the best way of learning your camera is just getting out there, experiment and make mistakes!

I had many questions earlier this year when I got my K30, but didn't need to post anything at all... I searched here and found all my answers.

If you want to manipulate the image after it goes into the computer, I'd recommend you get something like Adobe Lightroom. It's like having a darkroom for your digital shots without all the messy chemicals!

Have fun with your new purchase.

[Kerrowdown]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a Pentax KX

Enjoy that new camera, we all fear going from film to digital, it's not all a total leap of faith, because we can still do both if we choose.

[bhairavp]

Great choice. I shoot with a K-x, and it is a fine, fine camera.

[dragra]

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

My only gripe with the K-x is the missing indication of the active AF points in the viewfinder. If you don't set your focus point manually you actually don't know where the camera focuses. The Auto-5 (focus points) comes very good for panning and action shots though.

Get two sets of new Eneloops and you will have smooth operation.

[GibbyTheMole]

Congrats! You picked a good one. I have two K-x bodies & they're the only DSLRs I shoot with. They're so good, I've never felt I'd gain much by upgrading.

Eneloops are the most recommended battery for them, but I use Energizer & Kodak rechargeables with good results. My charger is a Maha MH-C801D. A bit spendy, but it doesn't ruin the batteries. Stay away from the 15 minute quick chargers. They're convenient, but they burn up the batteries quick.

I don't mind the absence of AF indicators in the viewfinder, since I set my AF point to center anyway... Just focus with the subject in the center, recompose & shoot. No biggie.

Going digital was the best thing I ever did as far as photography is concerned... I'm sure you'll dig that K-x!

Cheers,
Bob :-)

[ChuckB28]

Congrats! Now get Lightroom for a whole new world!

[BirdDude007]

I too re entered into the DSLR world with a K-X, it is an awesome little camera, I only owned a small cannon point and shoot camera before that and before that I owned (and still own) a Pentax Optio S5i point and shoot that still works flawlessly for a ten year old 5 megapixel camera.
I left photography for about ten years and still have my Pentax ME Super and lenses, the first thing I did when I got my K-X was try out all my old lenses on it, I was really impressed.
You cannot go wrong with a K-X they are virtually trouble free and very reliable, I still have my K-X even though I upgraded to the K-5, it is a great little back up camera, I wanted the K-5 for the battery grip, top LCD, front and rear edials, and weather sealing(among other things)
However I do turn to the K-X occacionally for the compactness, lighter weight and how simple it is to use. The lack of focus indicators has never phased me at all because I really dont use it on my K-5.
You will really enjoy using the K-X I know I have and will continue too. Like others have said in here already, you need to get something like Lightroom, I already knew how to use it, but from the first time I uploaded RAW images from my K-X/K-5 I was really amazed at what all I could do and create just in that program alone, it just got a lot better the moment I learned how to integrate my images in Photoshop via Lightroom.
Enjoy...

[gaweidert]

Went digital in March of 2012. A bit or a learning curve for sure Way too many options for us old dogs to learn. One really great thing about the smaller sensor. I have found that full frame lenses look really good as you are never near the edge of the image. Just the sweet spot closer to the cneter. I took some photos the other day using my SMC screw mount 55mm f1.8 lens. Got awesome results with it mounted onto my K5-IIs. Felt like finding a long lost friend. The photograph of the Iris on page 30 of the K5-IIs photo tread is one of the results.