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I started on a Nikon FM2 that my parents had when I was a kid. It only had a kit glas, some zoom lens. I also very much enjoyed using video cameras when young (I guess the digital aspect appealed to me... being able to review instantly). Didn't shoot many rolls of film with the FM2 (film is expensive for a kid), but I devoured the actually pretty good manual and learned working in a dark chamber in school.
2003 I bought a Canon PowerShot A60, a great little camera with full manual controls. That helped a lot... I could practice all the basics, what ISO, shutter speed and aperture do without having to spend money on developing film... let alone not remembering what I actually set the camera to.
2008 I was going on a semester abroad, and after that traveling through China. I've been eying DSLRs for a while at that point and knew this was the time... I shouldn't waste such an opportunity. Initially I was heading for a Sigma SD10, it appealed very much to me. It couldn't save JPEG, had a full frame mirror (with an APS-C sensor, so you could see what happens outside the frame. I still think that's a very, very nice feature that I'd love to see in a Pentax). There were also some great deals for my small budget, but those went before I pulled the trigger. The next thing I considered was a second hand Canon, then second hand Nikon. Or perhaps a new D40... they were really cheap back then. For some reason I stumbled across a to me unknown brand called Pentax. Seeing that Pentax has poor resale value on the second hand market (a 2004 Pentax would get me a 2000ish Canon...? And cameras from the early naughts weren't that good) I looked into it... and liked what I saw. Few weeks later I bought a second hand *istDS. In China I then bought a cheap, new Centon 50mm 1.8 and a microprism split screen. A bit later, in Singapore, a camera dealer literally pushed me into buying a Tokina SZ-X 80-200. Again, new lens, very manual, and very affordable. The dealer was desparate to clear his shelf in order to make space for products he can actually sell.
In 2012 my *istDS finally started acting up, the buttons stopped working to an extend that it became rather pointless, the dial at the back had stopped a while back already. The local camera dealer that was specialized in Pentax let me try a K-30 and his own K-5 (with a limited lens... what a beauty!), they were replacing the K-5 with the K-5 II and IIs, which pushed the K-5 into a reasonable enough price range. A quick test of the video functionality of the K-30 convinced me to forget that idea despite the speed of the interface. It had to be the K-5, despite being older, on paper inferior in terms of video (but only on paper), having poorer AF, having to wait a long time to enter a menu after shooting... My employer agreed to pay part of the K-5, and so it was bought. Never regretted it a single day, it's a great camera. The K-3 was a big disappointment to me, which made me even happier with my K-5. Last purchase was a DA 50 1.8, which Pentax Malaysia made an offer on. Despite the lack of markings I love that lens, it's so much better than the Centon (that did break after a while, despite the all metal construction). Though the Centon had a very cool, oval shaped bokeh at the edges, but overall the Pentax lens is better (the official price is way too high though, Canon charges half as much for a probably similar lens).
Hopefully by the time my K-5 dies Pentax will have caught up with competitors, or I will switch brands... or, perhaps, just buy a K-5 II.
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Originally posted by dcshooter 
Post #58 by drypenn
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