[Venom3300]

I created a similar thread as a poll not too long ago: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-pentax-film-slr-discussion/269312-start...ch-pentax.html

[OldPentaxFan]

As a few others have said as well, I started with the Kodak Brownie and worked my way up through an instamatic to a hand me down Graflex Speed Graphic (4x5) which I started using at 14.

I used that until I ordered my first slr, the Pentax K1000 when I was 21, which was many decades ago.


I still have the Speed Graphic and some film, but no developing tanks, they were broken in a move when the box I packed them in was crushed. Since I hate tray processing it may be a while before I load up some film for it though.


I do use both the K1000 and the MZ-S when I feel the need to get back to my roots a bit.

[JameyMC]

I bought my K3 two weeks ago. I have the da35 2.4, the da50 1.8, a rikenon 50mm f2, and a m 135mm f3.5. I also have a sigma 17-50 2.8 on order from Adorama.

I'm a hobbyist that mostly shoots landscape and kids. Part of my hobby fun is that I change out gear quite often. I enjoy trying new things. I started a couple of years ago with a Sony NEXF3, the an Olympus OMD-EM5, and most recently a FujiFilm X-E1.

I was in LOVE with my X-E1, and in fact I was very upset when I sold it. However, what bothered me about that camera was the user interface. This, plus the weather sealing and faster AF and shutter speed, is why I chose to go with the K3. I'm really enjoying the body so far. In fact, my wife and I went out last night to shoot some xmas pics of our family. It went REALLY well, and I am incredibly excited at the prospect of shooting this body once I get some more high quality lenses in house.

I also really liked the OMD, but was not thrilled at the IQ of the m4/3 sensor. It just didn't hit me right.

I'm thinking of adding the Tamron 70-200, the 70mm limited, and either the FA limited 43mm or the Sigma 35mm 1.4. I love lens collecting/studying so the plethora of lenses available for the K3 really excites me. I also might try to find a good quality copy of the voigtlander 40mm Ultron. Looks like a fun manual focus lens.

[eddie1960]

I bought my K3 two weeks ago. I have the da35 2.4, the da50 1.8, a rikenon 50mm f2, and a m 135mm f3.5. I also have a sigma 17-50 2.8 on order from Adorama.

I'm a hobbyist that mostly shoots landscape and kids. Part of my hobby fun is that I change out gear quite often. I enjoy trying new things. I started a couple of years ago with a Sony NEXF3, the an Olympus OMD-EM5, and most recently a FujiFilm X-E1.

I was in LOVE with my X-E1, and in fact I was very upset when I sold it. However, what bothered me about that camera was the user interface. This, plus the weather sealing and faster AF and shutter speed, is why I chose to go with the K3. I'm really enjoying the body so far. In fact, my wife and I went out last night to shoot some xmas pics of our family. It went REALLY well, and I am incredibly excited at the prospect of shooting this body once I get some more high quality lenses in house.

I also really liked the OMD, but was not thrilled at the IQ of the m4/3 sensor. It just didn't hit me right.

I'm thinking of adding the Tamron 70-200, the 70mm limited, and either the FA limited 43mm or the Sigma 35mm 1.4. I love lens collecting/studying so the plethora of lenses available for the K3 really excites me. I also might try to find a good quality copy of the voigtlander 40mm Ultron. Looks like a fun manual focus lens.

The XE2 is faster focusing than the XE1 and the XT1 is very good (and accurate) is weather sealed but yeah i get it (the one thing i worry about when out with the XE2 is weather - even with the XT1 since the lenses aren't sealed (at least not the primes and I own them all save the 14)
Shutter speed will come with the firmware update in December (taking the XT to 1/32000) but comes with a bit of rolling shutter issue apparently
One thing I've found is there is no perfect camera
If i hadn't gone the route i did with the insurance money on Fuji my kit would likely have had the limited primes the 24-70 and 70-200 Tamron and a K50 and K3 - and would have set me back a little more money . My wife hates the weight though so part of the change was for that reason (and I truly love the XE2 functionally and the XT1 is very LX like
I miss the SR functionality but using 1.2 and 1.4 lenses makes up for a couple of stops all on it's own and the iso 6400 on the Xt is as good as 800 was on my K7 (on par with a K5/3 I think)

[JameyMC]

Oh I'm sure I'll go back to the Fuji X series at some point. That 35mm 1.4 is worth the price of admission alone. Beautiful and sharp glass. They've got to work out the RAW file conversion for the Xtrans though, or go back to a bayer sensor. Especially for landscape. I'm loving working with the flexibility of the raw files on the K3 so far.

[eddie1960]

I find the latest LR is pretty good now (older Lr was not so hot) there are a few converters that do well though, I just like trying to stick to one.

[Moropo]

My first camera ever was a Fuji S3200. I really disliked the electronic viewfinder. That was my main "I hate it" factor. It always looked granulated. Besides that, I also hated the low-res LCD.

We took a NYC trip on December 2012 and while walking in Manhattan, I was drinking a redbull to stay awake since we had almost no sleep and somehow from the straw there was a drop of redbull into the circular slider used to turn it on/off. I wiped it off but it soon became sticky to the point that turning on/off the camera took some pressing. Must have been the sugar deposit.

The camera was perfectly usable but I just hated it and I used the previous incident to justify getting rid of it and I swore my next camera was going to be optical viewfinder, high-res LCD, and weather proof. I gave it away to a family member and bought myself a K-50 on December 2013. We took such K-50 to the Niagara Falls that very same December (we take yearly vacations to cold places with snow, since we live in Miami...) and it got snowed on every single day and the snow melted on top of it and I felt awesome.

I still have the K-50.

---

Last edited by Moropo; 11-24-2014 at 01:59 PM.

[stens]

Started with a Pentax ME that I bought in high school (I bought it new...if that dates me at all). Shot that for years, then a SF-1n, after the ME ate a lot of dust on the Annapurna circuit trek in 1991. I also had a Pentax IQ Zoom point and shoot 35 mm. When I decided to go digital, I had a Sony 3.2 megapixel point and shoot. At some point, I upgraded to a nice little Canon point and shoot.

I knew I'd go back to the SLRs when I was ready, but the advances were so fast I never bit before the next new thing was coming. Finally, I decided that was a ridiculous attitude, and fortunately the K5 came out, right on my schedule. I bought that for the usual Pentax reasons: compact, ergonomic, weather resistant; plus, I had some old glass around. Now I've got the K3, which I love. Hopefully, I can get out and shoot some this weekend.

[kooks]

When i first got interested in photos i just got a Panasonic Point & Shoot.. nothing fancy but it was just ok for what i wanted.. then i found the Lumix LX5. GREAT camera.. love it.. is like a high end P&S.. manual settings, ability to use external flash.. then i got interested in DSLRs and that was the time when i had to deside wich brand. So by that time i had like $750 or something like that.. so i said... lets compare every camera Canon, Nikon, Pentax, etc.. and lets see what is the best camera that i can get for that price.. so.. it came up that the Kr was at that time the best.. thats how i started.. then i got a K5ii and then a K3.. and hopefully i will switch it to a Pentax FF in the near future ( haha as many of us hope so )

[Sportsgal501]

Canon 50D but when I graduated from junior high school, my parents gave me a Ricoh KR-S Super that I still own. with a Pentax 2x auto teleconverter and three manual lens. I used that from 1989 until 1998 when I picked up a Canon Rebel G film camera and have been with Canon since but I will be picking up my new Pentax K-5iis on Black Friday and I can't wait!!! The Canon's (Rebel XS|40D|50D) have been packed back in the camera bag (that held the Ricoh gear) and next year I'll be looking at adding a Sony Full Frame to the mix.

[pacerr]

Which camera/brand did you use before switching to Pentax and why?

The better question is "Which camera/brand could possibly tempt me to switch after half a happy century with Pentax?".

Other than a brief necessary affair with a 1/2-frame Oly Pen-F system while "traveling extensively" in the late '60's it's been Pentaxes since my first Honeywell H1a in '64.

[emalvick]

I grew up using a Minolta SLR... I never really knew the details of using the camera other than the concept of Shutter Speed and ISO (Aperture was lost on me). Most importantly, that camera was quite sharp. Finishing with College, I decided that I NEEDED a digital camera, but being out of camera could only afford a P&S (Fuji). A few years later and finishing grad school, I NEEDED something like a SLR so I purchased a prosumer type extreme zoom Panasonic Camera. After a few years of that, I realized that nothing was getting me back to the sharpness of my Minolta. I learned more about cameras, and decided I needed a SLR.

Of course all along I still have the Minolta, but there are no Minolta cameras out there. I then begin debating over Canon and Nikon but still being relatively poor start looking at my options for lenses, especially on the used front. Then I find Pentax and I'm instantly drawn to it. The K20 just came out so I purchased the K10d on clearance. Now I finally know how to use an SLR, and I'm considering buying some film to give my Minolta some more use. I'm curious at how its lenses hold up compared to some of the fine Pentax glass I've obtained.

[Scorpio71GR]

I bought my first Pentax from my brother-in-law back in 1984. I bought a K1000 body with a 50mm lens, a basic Pentax flash, a few filters and a camera bag. My dad was always was taking pictures with his Polaroid and I wanted to be able take pictures too. I started teaching myself the basics and got a few books from the local library. A friend of my parents who was photographer said I should shoot slide film on my K1000. He said if you can get correct exposure on slides with a manual camera film will be a breeze. I shot and developed my own slides on Ektachrome. Eventually I graduated to a ME then to a MX then finally to a Super Program. I used that Super Program until I bought my K10D seven years ago. Now this week I will be stepping up to a K3 that I purchased from B&H on their bundle special. I like the fact that I can still use every lens that I have ever bought without any adapters. I have forty year old lens that I soon will be using on camera that was designed in 2013. So I still have that K1000 and it still works. I will never part with it. It is the camera that taught me photography. The first camera I used was a Pentax and the last camera I use will hopefully be a Pentax.

---------- Post added 11-25-14 at 05:50 PM ----------

Started with a Pentax ME that I bought in high school (I bought it new...if that dates me at all). Shot that for years, then a SF-1n, after the ME ate a lot of dust on the Annapurna circuit trek in 1991. I also had a Pentax IQ Zoom point and shoot 35 mm. When I decided to go digital, I had a Sony 3.2 megapixel point and shoot. At some point, I upgraded to a nice little Canon point and shoot.

I knew I'd go back to the SLRs when I was ready, but the advances were so fast I never bit before the next new thing was coming. Finally, I decided that was a ridiculous attitude, and fortunately the K5 came out, right on my schedule. I bought that for the usual Pentax reasons: compact, ergonomic, weather resistant; plus, I had some old glass around. Now I've got the K3, which I love. Hopefully, I can get out and shoot some this weekend.

I bought a ME in high school too. I had a K1000 that I bought in middle school before that. After high school I bought a Super Program new. I held out forever too until I bought a K10D ,7 years ago. I used that Super Program for 20 years.

[btnapa]

Many of the old Miolta lenses are quite good and stack up well against Pentax glass. Ufortunately, they have a very short register distance and so have been less adaptable to modern equipment, although they are getting a more attention now that more serious mirrorless offerings are available.

Minolta had an interesting philsophy of trying to make the color rendering of every one of their lenses as similar as possible across all lenses so you could switch lengths on the same roll of film without having to adjust your filters. They also used a different sharpness approach that they supposedly borrowed from Leica. As a result, the Minoltas often produce a very different, albeit still excellent, look than their Pentax counterparts.

I have a stack of old (super sharp) Konica Hexanon lenses that do not work on my Pentax bodies. I tried them on my friend's Sony NEX7 and they are beyond words. I wish I could use them on my K3.

[MrNPhoto]

Minolta X-700 (great camera), then switched to a Pentax ZX-7 for autofocus. ME Super SE and K1000 followed (photo classes). K-7 into digital, and now K-3.