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04-02-2016, 07:10 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alliecat Quote
That K-50 would be $400 CAD. I'll wait around a bit...
There can be some good deals found used... same with the K-5 (maybe $300 CAD if you look hard for the K-5)

05-19-2016, 10:19 PM   #17
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I'm still thinking about it, off and on. I wish there was some logic to the camera model numbers. The specs comparison page is really helpful; thanks Adam. Budget-wise, I seem to be sliding down the list to K5. I've looked at the comparison between K5, K5ii and K5iis, and don't see any difference. What the heck? Also I read about the exposure failure issues with K30 and K50's.... It all looks so complicated. Geez I love my K1000. I don't really want to spend $400 on something that's going to crap out inexplicably after a few months...
05-19-2016, 11:19 PM   #18
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The K-5 is an awesome camera. I have no hesitation recommending it.

Earlier comments about battery life are quite misleading in my opinion. I can shoot casually for a week on one DLi90, and carrying a fully charged spare is no great imposition. If you decide to upgrade to the K-1 later it uses the same battery.
05-20-2016, 12:52 AM   #19
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I really like the way cameras looked in the 80s. I like the the Canon F-1, A-1 and AE-1. I also like the OM designs and the Nikon designs. Pentax looked fine too. But, I sort of didn't like the way the Minolta SRT looked though it was really a fine, durable and capable camera. Probably I like the cut on the edges compared to the rounded edges the way Canon designs their cameras. No offence to Canon guys. How I wish a retro camera will come out. Probably one for FF and one for APS-C.

05-20-2016, 04:29 AM   #20
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K-5...............
05-20-2016, 04:49 AM   #21
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K5
05-20-2016, 01:34 PM   #22
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You might look into getting your film processed by mail. I've been using The Darkroom with good results for the most part. However, film and processing aren't getting any cheaper.

If you want something that is actually similar in look, feel, and operating controls to your 35mm SLR, you might have to consider. . . a Fujifilm X-T1. You get aperture rings on the lenses and a shutter speed dial, right where they are supposed to be. The control scheme is actually most similar to a Pentax ZX-5n film camera, in that the aperture and shutter speed both have an A-for-Auto position. Since you're no longer dependent on film sensitivity, you also get an ISO dial which also has an A setting. So, if you want to shoot fully manual, just put each of those controls onto something other than A.

Also. . . Instead of a huge optical pentaprism viewfinder with a split-prism focusing screen, you get a huge electronic OLED viewfinder that offers several focusing aids: magnification, focus peaking, or a simulated split-prism focusing screen.

Pentax lenses can be used with an adapter. The only caveats there are the 1.5X crop factor and the lack of aperture control, which means you'd compose and focus with your aperture stopped down. However, the EVF gains up the brightness so the image doesn't look dark, and this doesn't seem to be a problem for most people. (Also, a "Lens Turbo" Pentax-to-Fuji adapter, which works as a focal reducer, was made which makes the dreaded crop factor go away, but that particular adapter seems to be out of production now. They can be found with some hunting if you really desire it.)

05-20-2016, 02:08 PM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alliecat Quote
I've looked at the comparison between K5, K5ii and K5iis, and don't see any difference. What the heck?
The K-5 II was a slight improvement on the K-5. It has the same body, 16MP sensor, and image processor, so most specs will be the same. It does have a different autofocus module and the rear LCD is slightly improved. The K-5 IIs is the same, except it lacks an anti-aliasing (AA) filter, which can produce slightly sharper images (if you have good enough lenses), but it can cause moire (false color) on repeating patterns. All three versions are still excellent cameras.

QuoteOriginally posted by Alliecat Quote
I wish there was some logic to the camera model numbers.
Well, the K2, KM, and KX all came after the K1000, so Pentax has a long, proud tradition of confusing model numbers. The camera timeline at the bottom of the Wiki pages for most Pentax DSLRs can be useful for figuring out where the bodies are in relation to each other. (you may have to click 'show' on the right to expand it)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-5
05-20-2016, 02:21 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by THoog Quote
Well, the K2, KM, and KX all came after the K1000, so Pentax has a long, proud tradition of confusing model numbers. The camera timeline at the bottom of the Wiki pages for most Pentax DSLRs can be useful for figuring out where the bodies are in relation to each other. (you may have to click 'show' on the right to expand it)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K-5
You mean they came before the K1000. K2, KM, KX were released in 1975, the K1000 in 1976...

K1000 naming is actually not that confusing. It is simply the K-mount replacement for the Spotmatic 1000, which was the replacement for the Spotmatic 500...
05-20-2016, 03:22 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
You mean they came before the K1000. K2, KM, KX were released in 1975, the K1000 in 1976...
Hmm, found a typo on Boj's website. I thought it didn't sound right, but the point was humor, not accuracy.
05-21-2016, 04:20 PM   #26
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After I found out that the stores around me (CVS, Rite Aid) outsourced their film to Dwayne's Photo in the Kansas City area, I've been cutting out the middle man and mailing directly to them since. I've discovered a few more labs since, so that shouldn't be the reason to stop shooting film. Kudos to you though, I retired my K1000 five years ago for a ZX-5N, and finally making the switch to digital this month.
05-21-2016, 04:44 PM   #27
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If you want to get into digital for very little risk or money, I second the Pentax K100D. It was the first digital SLR camera I bought and I still get amazing pictures from it. It is compatible with all your lenses and you can buy one used under $100 US dollars. It may only be 6 mega pixels, but the pictures it takes are stunning. I also own a Pentax K5II and it is also an excellent camera. It also costs more. So - if you want to try out digital and see if you like it, you could pick up the K100D at virtually no risk.
05-21-2016, 04:50 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by digitaleagle12 Quote
If you want to get into digital for very little risk or money, I second the Pentax K100D. It was the first digital SLR camera I bought and I still get amazing pictures from it. It is compatible with all your lenses and you can buy one used under $100 US dollars. It may only be 6 mega pixels, but the pictures it takes are stunning. I also own a Pentax K5II and it is also an excellent camera. It also costs more. So - if you want to try out digital and see if you like it, you could pick up the K100D at virtually no risk.
Agree it's a great little camera. A note about lens compatibility - the K100D cannot make use of SDM-type lenses. You would need the K100D Super version for those lenses.
05-22-2016, 08:40 AM   #29
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As a replacement for my K1000, I upgraded my K-50 with a split-prism focusing screen for use with manual lenses. I'm very happy with it.
05-23-2016, 12:02 PM   #30
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I don't know if this was made very clear yet, though it was mentioned, but on any Pentax DSLR except for the new K-1, all your lenses will have a "crop factor", meaning, only the center of the image will be used, and your lenses become "longer" because the sensor is smaller than the size of the film you are used to. On the K-1, the sensor size is the same size as film, so you would see no difference, but it costs quite a bit - and that is the same with all other cameras with a big sensor size, unless they are very old like the original Canon 5D - and a well kept 5D with a low shutter count would still cost you around 400 dollars at least (and you would need Canon lenses, too...).

So: in other words, your 50mm lens becomes a 75mm lens on all Pentax DSLRs except the K-1. The 28mm lens becomes a 42mm. If you have a 135mm lens, it would now be a 200mm lens. Would you be willing to live with that? You would probably have to add a new wide lens if you are used to shooting with a 24 or 28mm lens, for example. And in this case, zooms are more affordable than primes... I bought a Pentax 16-45mm f4 lens, which by all accounts is a pretty good lens and covers all my wide angle needs, for 120 dollars. I also have a Tokina 19-35mm which is sort of my backup, which I bought for 90 dollars.

Regarding cameras: if you are shooting the K1000 right now, you probably don't shoot anything over ISO 800, but correct me if I am wrong. In that case, my recommendation would be the Pentax K10D. If you expose correctly, you can get great looking pictures up to ISO 800, and ISO 400 and lower look fantastic. It has a lower megapixel count (10MP) than newer cameras, but still capable of printing up to A3 size. The K100D which was also recommended, is very similar and the main difference is that the K100D only has 6MP. Both are capable of great pictures but considering the difference in cost is small, I would get the K10D.

KEH.com currently has a couple K10D's in the 109-115 dollar range, both in EX and EX+ condition. In other words, it's cheaper than a similar condition K1000! They don't have K100D's at KEH. BHPhoto.com has a K100D for 100 dollars and it's in their 8+ condition which would probably be like KEH's "BGN" condition (BGN=bargain, meaning well used).

I got a K10D recently (and paid a bit more because it only had 4000 shutter actuations) and it's now my main camera for all my fun pictures (for family pictures we mostly use my wife's K-r). Here's what I got with it in the month or so that I've had it: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=11375085%40N02&sort=date-taken-desc&t...10d&view_all=1
Note that all pictures I took with the K10D were taken with old film lenses. I have a couple of affordable and good DA (digital) era Pentax lenses but they stay with my wife's K-r.

For about 100 bucks, I would get the K10D, and also try the mail-in film development services. You might end up enjoying both systems

Edit: I forgot to mention, the K10D and K100D are similar because they use a different sensor technology than more recent DSLRs. It's called a CCD sensor, and the K10D was one of the last Pentax cameras that had it (K200D and K2000/K-m also have it but they have smaller viewfinders that I would not recommend for manual focusing). The older CCD sensor has a more film-like behavior that is well documented in a forum thread called the K10D Club: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/242738-k10d-club.html

Newer CMOS sensors are great too, and they can do video much better which is one of the main reasons why the technology changed from CCD to CMOS, but a lot of people who are used to shooting film like the CCD look.

Last edited by ChristianRock; 05-23-2016 at 12:07 PM.
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