I am doing it!!!!

[wkrider]

As I am typing this I am on the phone with B&H ordering my Pentax K100D with the lens kit and 2gig card......

 

[wkrider]

Should be here in a few days.......can't wait.

 

[eugeniuss]

congrats... you should really enjoy it...

 

[jann1033]

looking forward to seeing your photos

 

[Jeanne B]

Congrats, I have the K100 and it's a great choice...but start saving now for your next lens(es)!!

 

[ukcatfan]

Welcome to both the DSLR family and the Pentax family!!! Probably the biggest change for my shooting style coming from a p&s was the control of the DOF. Be careful with the auto modes and P mode b/c it might pick an aperture that will not match your intended vision of the shot.

If you are willing to try some used lenses, there are some pretty good deals at KEH and on Ebay.

Kevin

 

[wkrider]

Thanks for all the replies...as for the lenses I have these already...

SMC Pentax-A 1:2 50mm and the Auto Zoom 1:4.0-5.6 f=70-210mm

 

[ukcatfan]

You have almost the exact same setup as me. I have the same 50mm and a Tamron 80-210mm. Your tele is likely better than mine, but I only paid ~$20 for it so I cannot complain.

Kevin

 

[wkrider]

You have almost the exact same setup as me. I have the same 50mm and a Tamron 80-210mm. Your tele is likely better than mine, but I only paid ~$20 for it so I cannot complain.

Kevin

COOL!!!!

These lenses are from one of my old Pentax 35mm....I checked at a local shop and made sure they worked with the 100D....glad to here you have them and like them.....do you get good zoom????

 

[ukcatfan]

COOL!!!!

These lenses are from one of my old Pentax 35mm....I checked at a local shop and made sure they worked with the 100D....glad to here you have them and like them.....do you get good zoom????

My 80-210mm is decently sharp as long as it is stopped down to at least f/8. Not stopped down, it is no better than a superzoom p&s, but does not seem any worse at least. I usually resort to higher ISOs before opening up the aperture when I need more light. I will eventually replace it, but it is not a high priority. I shoot mainly in the wide to normal focal lengths and just have it around for when I need it. I am sure it will get some use at AK in August.

Kevin

 

[wkrider]

My 80-210mm is decently sharp as long as it is stopped down to at least f/8. Not stopped down, it is no better than a superzoom p&s, but does not seem any worse at least. I usually resort to higher ISOs before opening up the aperture when I need more light. I will eventually replace it, but it is not a high priority. I shoot mainly in the wide to normal focal lengths and just have it around for when I need it. I am sure it will get some use at AK in August.

Kevin

Great thanks for the lens info......

 

[Groucho]

Congrats! Make sure to post your first photo in the first photo thread.

Remember that it'll take a little while to get the best of the camera... I spent the first few months in "auto" mode (gasp!) and shooting JPGs... now I never touch Auto and always shoot RAW, and I'd like to think that I'm getting better photos now. Still not always as good as I want...!

As I told my wife, "if I'm still not getting good pictures, it's not the camera's fault"... it's all up to knowing how to use it as well as having decent lenses.

 

[wkrider]

Congrats! Make sure to post your first photo in the first photo thread.

Remember that it'll take a little while to get the best of the camera... I spent the first few months in "auto" mode (gasp!) and shooting JPGs... now I never touch Auto and always shoot RAW, and I'd like to think that I'm getting better photos now. Still not always as good as I want...!

As I told my wife, "if I'm still not getting good pictures, it's not the camera's fault"... it's all up to knowing how to use it as well as having decent lenses.

Ya..I understand pics are not going to get better overnight. I will probably keep it on auto for a bit and experiment with the manual settings. I bought the "DSLR and Digital Photography for Dummies" book and have been reading it. I will definately post my first pics, I plan on walking around the nieghborhood and going to the zoo.

 

[wkrider]

Groucho....I notice you have a link to IrfanView in your signature. I think I know the answer to this question, but do you like it. If so what do you like about it compaired to other software out there?


Thanks

 

[wkrider]

Supposed to be here Firday. Hopefully it will be, I am off from work and would like to be at the house to accept it. I read on here to open it in front of the driver to make sure that it is not damaged.

 

[Groucho]

Groucho....I notice you have a link to IrfanView in your signature. I think I know the answer to this question, but do you like it. If so what do you like about it compaired to other software out there?


Thanks

I loooooooooooooooooooooove Irfanview. I've tried a zillion image-viewing programs, and nothing that I've tried comes close. I also find that, after using it for a few years now, I am still learning new features. (I just recently started utilizing its batch rename feature, for example.) It's one of the first things I install on any PC I'm going to be spending any time with. (Which is a fair number, I have a lot of PCs in my house!) It allows me to do most photo tasks far faster (and usually easier) than in other applications.

Since it's a free download (and a small one, at that), I'd recommend giving it a try. I can probably answer some questions if you have any about it. And no, I have no relation to the author, I'm just a happy user.

 

[wkrider]

I loooooooooooooooooooooove Irfanview. I've tried a zillion image-viewing programs, and nothing that I've tried comes close. I also find that, after using it for a few years now, I am still learning new features. (I just recently started utilizing its batch rename feature, for example.) It's one of the first things I install on any PC I'm going to be spending any time with. (Which is a fair number, I have a lot of PCs in my house!) It allows me to do most photo tasks far faster (and usually easier) than in other applications.

Since it's a free download (and a small one, at that), I'd recommend giving it a try. I can probably answer some questions if you have any about it. And no, I have no relation to the author, I'm just a happy user.

I just downloaded it...is it a viewer only or does it have editing software?
I have not had time to look at it yet.

thanks

 

[ukcatfan]

I just downloaded it...is it a viewer only or does it have editing software?
I have not had time to look at it yet.

thanks

It has some editing, but really excels at batch processing. It also has a nice search function in the viewer part of the program. I never really looked too hard, but it is the only free program that I found that can search in the IPTC data on a file.

For a little more editing power, check out The Gimp. It was designed as a free alternative to PS, but it is not nearly as powerful as that so far. I used to use it a lot at my old job where I was my department's intranet webmaster. They would not pay for us to have any software, so I had to go free.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

The editing capabilities are mainly cropping, color adjusting, rotating, adding text, resizing, filters (many built-in, like unsharp mask, various "art" filters, etc, plus it can use standard Photoshop 8bf filters like Noiseware), that sort of thing.

It won't help you if you have to "magic erase" a smudge on your picture, or clone out an object you don't want to see, etc. But I think most picture work is really just cropping, resizing, and maybe tweaking colors a little, and for that stuff, it's tough to be Irfanview.

The search is nice, too, and one of those things that I only really found recently. I love to ability to search by an IPTC keyword, then do "show in thumbnails", see all the results in a thumbnail list, and view them full-size just like they were the only pictures in the folder.

It's not perfect - there are a couple tweaks I probably should suggest on the forum - but it's awfully dark good.