Beach Camera

[ukcatfan]

You also get the bonus rebate with the AF360 flash bought at the same time. It ends up being a $125 rebate. That other lens is not as good as the 50-200mm. It is actually a FA-J, which are probably Pentax's biggest lens mistake. http://www.photodo.com/product_335.html

Kevin

 

[RBennett]

You also get the bonus rebate with the AF360 flash bought at the same time. It ends up being a $125 rebate. That other lens is not as good as the 50-200mm. It is actually a FA-J, which are probably Pentax's biggest lens mistake. http://www.photodo.com/product_335.html

Kevin

WHEW!! AGAIN, you saved me from making a possibly bad mistake. So stick to the plan. Well after all the research I did yesterday, I have not found anywhere on-line that has the 50-200 in stock, with the exception of eBay. But there I am definitely going to pay full price for it, but really the only way I found it on there was in a package bundle that you're paying $770 dollars before shipping and 1/2 of the bundle you probably never use. So that's my absolute last resort. I'm going to make a couple phone calls today to see if a store has one in a "nearby" town. We don't have a Pentax dealer here and the closest one is almost an hour and a half away. But if I call and they have one and they're willing to put it back till I get off work, I'll make that drive. Any other suggestions out there? I'm just worried now that Pentax will take away the rebate when it expires next Tuesday because they have oversold the lens.

 

[RBennett]

OK.....Sorry for beating the dead horse here, but I wanted to give an update on the situation. I called Pentax direct today and they said that they are on back order for the 50-200mm lens and that they did not know when they were going to get more. She did reassure me that when the rebate expires next Tuesday they will have a new rebate to replace it, but here's my question now: I'm desperately impatient and wanting my new camera, so my thought is to buy the camera from beachcamera with the $50 rebate and maybe buy the 50mm prime lens now with another $25 rebate, and then later when the 50-200mm lens comes available buy it by itself with whatever $50 rebate it has. All in all it costs me maybe an extra $50 in the end because I'm getting 2 separate $50 rebates instead of the $150 rebate. It's still a LOT cheaper than going to a retail store. Or does everyone think I should wait and see when the lens comes back and hope it's in time for my vacation in December? PLEASE GIVE INPUT!!!

 

[ukcatfan]

I will give you some input from my personal opinion based on my shooting style. I doubt I will ever own the 50-200mm. I do not do much tele shooting, so I do not think it is worth my $$$. I just bought a cheap used Tamron 80-210mm for my tele needs. It was only $25 from KEH and looked like it had never been used. Sure it is not of the quality of the Pentax, but I hardly ever want that focal length anyway. I get much more use out of my 50mm prime than I do the tele.

The lens I am excited about is the future DA 17-70. Along with it is supposed to be a DA 55-300mm. If it is as good as the 50-200mm, then I migh consider picking one up. There are no announced prices, dates, etc. for these, but I am not in the market to do something like that for a few years anyway. If I had the $$$, the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 and the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 are going to be some incredible lenses from what I hear. They are way out of my price range though.

Kevin

 

[RBennett]

I will give you some input from my personal opinion based on my shooting style. I doubt I will ever own the 50-200mm. I do not do much tele shooting, so I do not think it is worth my $$$. I just bought a cheap used Tamron 80-210mm for my tele needs. It was only $25 from KEH and looked like it had never been used. Sure it is not of the quality of the Pentax, but I hardly ever want that focal length anyway. I get much more use out of my 50mm prime than I do the tele.

The lens I am excited about is the future DA 17-70. Along with it is supposed to be a DA 55-300mm. If it is as good as the 50-200mm, then I migh consider picking one up. There are no announced prices, dates, etc. for these, but I am not in the market to do something like that for a few years anyway. If I had the $$$, the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 and the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 are going to be some incredible lenses from what I hear. They are way out of my price range though.

Kevin

So scrap the 50-200 in your opinion and wait to see what happens with the 55-300. I never even thought about looking into other brands! THAT'S GENIUS!!! I'll have to look into that!! Now I think I'm going to place the order and wish upon a star that everything turns out as great as I'm imagining!! THANK YOU GUYS FOR EVERYTHING!!!! Especially you Kevin, you've been helping me out a LOT lately!!

 

[ukcatfan]

So scrap the 50-200 in your opinion and wait to see what happens with the 55-300. I never even thought about looking into other brands! THAT'S GENIUS!!! I'll have to look into that!! Now I think I'm going to place the order and wish upon a star that everything turns out as great as I'm imagining!! THANK YOU GUYS FOR EVERYTHING!!!! Especially you Kevin, you've been helping me out a LOT lately!!

That all depends on your needs. Many people suggest just getting the kit lens with a first time DSLR purchase so that you can get experience and then see where you desire more. That is sort of what I did. I had the kit a few months before buying my two used lenses. I love the 50mm, but it is an older manual focus, so it is not really that great if your subject is moving. The 55-300mm might still be a couple of years away at this point. Who knows though as the DA 17-70 looks to be the future kit replacement or other kit option. They are supposed to have some surprises in store for us this Fall.

If you would consider used lenses, check out KEH.com.

Kevin

 

[RBennett]

That all depends on your needs. Many people suggest just getting the kit lens with a first time DSLR purchase so that you can get experience and then see where you desire more. That is sort of what I did. I had the kit a few months before buying my two used lenses. I love the 50mm, but it is an older manual focus, so it is not really that great if your subject is moving. The 55-300mm might still be a couple of years away at this point. Who knows though as the DA 17-70 looks to be the future kit replacement or other kit option. They are supposed to have some surprises in store for us this Fall.

If you would consider used lenses, check out KEH.com.

Kevin

Well, I finally just bit the bullet and bought the camera from beachcamera with the 18-55 lens and then added the 50mm prime lens, so that gets me 2 lenses to start off with and I can see if I want a zoom from there. I'm sure I will, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm SO EXCITED!!! I've literally been overanalyzing this for months and finally I just said let's do it!!! So I have that and the camera case I wanted coming in the mail to me and I'm going to go after work and see if RadioShack still has those SanDisk Ultra cards on sale. Then maybe go to Sams Club and get some rechargeable batteries and I'll be good to start off!!! THANKS TO EVERYONE over the past several months. Maybe now I can contribute with something a little more substantial rather than, "what about this" and "what about that". This is AWESOME!!!!!

 

[Cricket2]

They shipped my stuff sooner than expected. 4 business days for delivery isn't bad since I was expecting it to be on the long end of 9 days. I'm betting you get the same since you ordered the same gear.

 

[RBennett]

They shipped my stuff sooner than expected. 4 business days for delivery isn't bad since I was expecting it to be on the long end of 9 days. I'm betting you get the same since you ordered the same gear.

I'm hoping sooner because they did away with the free shipping since I guess it was too heavy or something, so I just chalked up an extra $10 or $15 to get it in 2-3 business days. Since I ordered it yesterday I'm hoping it will be here by Tuesday or Wednesday. Is that not correct?

 

[Cricket2]

I went with the basic shipping, ordered late in the day on Tuesday and should be getting it on Monday. I'm at the earliest point in the specified window so you might be the same. I guess you won't really know until you get your tracking # email.

 

[Groucho]

Hey RBennett, congrats! And sorry my mailbox was full, I cleared out some room if you still need to PM me.

Chances are that if one place is out of the 50-200mm, they all will be... I think you probably did the right thing; if the 50-200mm is gone, you really have no choice but to order without it if you're anxious for the camera. Anywhere that does have it will charge well more than the extra $50 you'll save from the rebate, so... and for a while, at least, Adorama and B&H had the 50-200mm cheaper than Beach, so it might be even less than $50 if you order it from them later.

Beach is great about shipping... I ordered my 10-17mm fisheye last Wednesday and they tried to deliver it that Friday, and on Tuesday late evening, I ordered a K100D, AF360 flash, and a Fuji F40fd, and they arrived right and early this morning. (Using the slowest, free shipping option.) Yes, I finally took the plunge - I wanted the flash and could save an extra $50 if I bought the K100D at the same time! So my DL will probably go on eBay. So far, the K100D looks like a nice upgrade from the DL.

The Fuji is replacing my wife's Canon SD600... I'm going to take some side-by-side photos and post them later, and we can see how Canon's 6mp 1/2.5" sensor (probably the same as the S3's) stands up against Fuji's 8mp 1/1.6" sensor, in lowlight and bright light. I'm curious as to the results myself... I obviously am pretty sure which'll win but it'll be educational to see for sure and if so, by how much.

 

[RBennett]

Well I'm extatic!!!!! I can't wait till it gets here. I've been checking the FedEx tracking website NONSTOP! Last I checked it was picked up in NJ this morning at 11:15 and it's on it's way. They say it's scheduled to arrive by 7:00pm on Tuesday but I would REALLY love for it to get here on Monday. Who knows if it'll happen. Now I'm on to what "stuff" I want to go with it. I have 4gb of memory cards, thinking about getting more. I have a camera case being shipped as we speak, and I'm going to buy Bryan Peterson's "understanding exposures" tomorrow. Now I'm trying to decide how much I want a couple filters, if I need a memory card reader, and which pp software to go with. Also I'm trying to decide on a remote shutter and I think I've narrowed down the field on tripods. Trust me, when I go all out, I go all out! If anyone reads this and can put in their input on the areas I haven't covered yet, let me know!! THANKS!!!!!!

 

[ukcatfan]

Congrats to both of you!

I would stick with the included software at first. Then when you get some experience with RAW, look into some new software for that and typically some good entry level pp software like Elements or PSP. For the upgraded RAW software, look at Bibble, Lightroom, Adobe camera RAW(free for use with Adobe software you purchase), Phase One, etc.

While I am thinking about it, if your computer has enough processing power and space, when processing RAW, stay in the 16 bit TIFF format until the very last step when you would go to JPG. This gives you a higher quality end result.

Kevin

 

[Taqwus]

The Fuji is replacing my wife's Canon SD600... I'm going to take some side-by-side photos and post them later, and we can see how Canon's 6mp 1/2.5" sensor (probably the same as the S3's) stands up against Fuji's 8mp 1/1.6" sensor, in lowlight and bright light. I'm curious as to the results myself... I obviously am pretty sure which'll win but it'll be educational to see for sure and if so, by how much.

That fuji should blow away the Canon once you hit 400 ISO+, though the one thing I do not like about Fuji's was there was no rotating LCD IIRC

 

[Taqwus]

OK.....Sorry for beating the dead horse here, but I wanted to give an update on the situation. I called Pentax direct today and they said that they are on back order for the 50-200mm lens and that they did not know when they were going to get more. She did reassure me that when the rebate expires next Tuesday they will have a new rebate to replace it, but here's my question now: I'm desperately impatient and wanting my new camera, so my thought is to buy the camera from beachcamera with the $50 rebate and maybe buy the 50mm prime lens now with another $25 rebate, and then later when the 50-200mm lens comes available buy it by itself with whatever $50 rebate it has. All in all it costs me maybe an extra $50 in the end because I'm getting 2 separate $50 rebates instead of the $150 rebate. It's still a LOT cheaper than going to a retail store. Or does everyone think I should wait and see when the lens comes back and hope it's in time for my vacation in December? PLEASE GIVE INPUT!!!

I been doing some research after I saw this post, was going to get teh S5, but noticed that there is some low cost dSLR's right now. I think after this rebate ends there should be another good one right now they are trying to clear out thier stock of the K100D to make room for the K100D super
Also you should be getting the end of summer deals, I will be buying soon also
Right now I am keeping my eyes on these models: Nikon D40 & D40x, Olympus E500 & E330, Pentax K100D, Canon Digital Rebel, and Samsung Digimax GX-1S

 

[ukcatfan]

I been doing some research after I saw this post, was going to get teh S5, but noticed that there is some low cost dSLR's right now. I think after this rebate ends there should be another good one right now they are trying to clear out thier stock of the K100D to make room for the K100D super
Also you should be getting the end of summer deals, I will be buying soon also
Right now I am keeping my eyes on these models: Nikon D40 & D40x, Olympus E500 & E330, Pentax K100D, Canon Digital Rebel, and Samsung Digimax GX-1S

If a DSLR style is what you want, then you are much better off with your money spent on one. They are not for everyone though. I find myself thinking all the way through every single shot now where with my S1, I only did that about 1/4 of the time. You almost have to do this to get the most out of it. One of the biggest changes is the control over the DOF. Be aware that a DSLR setup that covers the same focal length as the S5 is going to easily cost twice as much and DSLRs do not have some of the extras like movie mode.

As for the models, I am not a fan of the D40 and D40x due to the no focus motor in the body issue, but otherwise I do like Nikon. You will not likely find that great of a deal on the Samsung. I have the feeling that Pentax has an arrangement that their models will be the dominant presence for the US. They seem to have more Samsungs abroad. (In case you didn't know, Samsung DSLRs are re-labeled Pentaxes) If you are interested in a Rebel XT, then move quick b/c they have not been made for about 6-7 months so the supply is likely getting pretty low. I do not think that the Oly models are bad, but they are different from the other brands due to the 4/3 mount system. They are all in a 4x3 aspect ratio like a p&s and I prefer the 3x2 ratio of the other DSLRs. They also do not have as much control over the DOF due to the 2X crop factor. I prefer the Pentax b/c of what you get for the money. I have had the K100D for about 9 months now and I am very happy with it.

Kevin

 

[Taqwus]

(In case you didn't know, Samsung DSLRs are re-labeled Pentaxes)

Kevin

I had a feeling they were due to the closeness in price and performance

I am wondering about the K100D, it is set to come out in August at about $600, that is with a 18 - 55mm lens. Looks to add dust removal and support for all lenses

 

[Anewman]

I had a feeling they were due to the closeness in price and performance

I am wondering about the K100D, it is set to come out in August at about $600, that is with a 18 - 55mm lens. Looks to add dust removal and support for all lenses

I was under the impression that the K100d already had a dust removal/prevention system, guess I was wrong.

The Samsung Digimax GX-10 with 18-55mm kit lens is currently $689 from B&H, it is pretty much the same as the Pentax K10d which they sell for $820 and that is AFTER REBATE($50 from Pentax).

Only difference I can see as a real issue is that the Samsung is not compatible with the Pentax Grip, but if you are not going to get one anyways this seems like a nice deal. Some of the Pentax users might be able to point out other differences, I could not find any that would really concern me.

 

[Taqwus]

Right now Amazon has this going
www.amazon.com/Samsung-GX-1S-Digita...d_ts_p_77/104-3015276-5543946?ie=UTF8&s=photo
From what I found on another site
The GX-1S wasn't actually created by Samsung -- it's the now-discontinued Pentax *ist DS2 with a Samsung label on it. Same goes for the GX-1L, which is the same as the *ist DL

 

[ukcatfan]

I had a feeling they were due to the closeness in price and performance

I am wondering about the K100D, it is set to come out in August at about $600, that is with a 18 - 55mm lens. Looks to add dust removal and support for all lenses

I was under the impression that the K100d already had a dust removal/prevention system, guess I was wrong.

The Samsung Digimax GX-10 with 18-55mm kit lens is currently $689 from B&H, it is pretty much the same as the Pentax K10d which they sell for $820 and that is AFTER REBATE($50 from Pentax).

Only difference I can see as a real issue is that the Samsung is not compatible with the Pentax Grip, but if you are not going to get one anyways this seems like a nice deal. Some of the Pentax users might be able to point out other differences, I could not find any that would really concern me.

The only lens change that the K100D Super has is that it can take advantage of the DA* lens ultrasonic focusing. That does not mean that the DA* models will not work with the K100D. They will just focus like any other lens. At the high price of the DA* lenses, many people that want that level of lens will be more than willing to go for the higher priced K10D or GX-10, so I do not see where the K100D Super is even needed. The dust reduction system is worthless IMO. The professional tests seem to prove that every brand's dust removal system may prolong needing to clean the sensor, but they do not remove that need. Just get a Giottos Rocket Blower and a cleaning kit and be happy. With the rebate, the K100D is a much better deal than the K100D Super.

I think the Samsung can actually use the K10D grip, but it does not match up correctly. i.e. It might not be that comfortable to hold.

Kevin