Well im going to use this thread not only to introduction, but im hopping experience users hang here with like me newbies =)
I had a chance to try a Nikon 3100 and while i liked it, at least for a none slr user, i felt it very flimsy, my dad used to have a Canon 35mm (not sure the model but was from 1980s) and was very solid feeling, somehting that the nikon didnt felt, at least on the entry level camera.
Now the thing that its making me enter the SLRs is that i buld my own PCs, and when i finish i share my builds on other forums, but i really wished i could take better pictures of the finish builds, most of the time even with good light the photos are not detail enough to my liking. Im not the kind of person that enjoys nature, but i do travel a lot on my job, by car mostly, so i could take some pictures of different towns and so on, but not a big deal either. Im really interested on taking pictures indoors, specially close picture to my PCs and its components.
I have read very good things about pentax, specially the build quality, so im interested on buying one as my first SLR. I have interest on K5 IIs and the upcoming K3, some friends that are into SLRs have recommended to start with lower model and to not enter a newer camara as sometimes there are tweaks that come with later production, but i also don't want to go down into lowest end to have to buy a body soon, i want something that i can work with for couple of years at least, and the K5 IIs seems to have been on the market for some time, really good reviews from what i cant tell, not that expensive as the K3.
I do want to buy a good lens that will work indoors (not necesary bad lighting, just not outside), to take pictures of my PCs, there will be daylight just not on direct daylight, it will be mostly taken inside my home. I do like the effect of the distortion of the background while certain part is still in focus, this is something that i would use if the lens allows, not a must have but something that i wish it would be good at. I would like it to be able to autofocus, not that i don't want to try manual, just that while i learn i do want to have something in the mean time work with. Some friends recommend me 50mm f1.4 or f1.8, i see pentax has some lens in that range, and a 55mm f1.4, which would you recommend? or any other that you would think fill the task better.
I'm also interested on scenery lens, like to take landscapes for when i go on the road, maybe volcanos, churchs, parks, lakes, etc (no close ups). This would be in daylight mostly, maybe sometime a night picture, but i don't go out much at nights, so i doubt from an occasional photo, most will be at outside with daylight. The same friends recommend something like 35mm f2.8 or 40mm f2.8, but open to any suggestions also.