Pentax general discussion

[MinnieForMe]

a Tamron 18-200 mm lens instead of the two lens kit? The Tamron is very lightweight plus I'm thinking it would allow me to do the basics with one lens.

Any thoughts for someone still agonizing over which camera to buy?

 

[gokenin]

is it crazy no its not. the combination will give you a very good starter camera with good low light capabilities. what it will not give you is the best image quality but if you are not a pixel peeper then the lens will be absolutely fine to start with. Many will tell you that a megazoom is bad because you will get an a picture that is not as good as a lens that has a more limited range but I don't feel that my Tamron 18-250 gives me pictures that are any worse than my Sigma 17-70 in its focal range and the Tamron gives me the peace of mind knowing that i can cover a large focal range without having to constantly changing lens when I dont want to.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Do you think the image quality would still be better than using a bridge camera like the Panasonic Lumix FX35 or Canon SX 20?

I'm trying to figure out the lightest camera with ease of use that will still get me a decent zoom and actions pictures.

 

[ukcatfan]

Do you think the image quality would still be better than using a bridge camera like the Panasonic Lumix FX35 or Canon SX 20?

I'm trying to figure out the lightest camera with ease of use that will still get me a decent zoom and actions pictures.

Without a doubt it will be better. The high ISO of the K-x is amazing! I upgraded to it from a K100D about six months ago and I love it. It is also much faster than the K100D at shot to shot, clearing the buffer, etc. I prefer the two lens kit but changing lenses doesn't bother me too much and I do not shoot much in the tele range anyway. I am sure you would be happier with the K-x and the one lens than with a bridge camera.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Without a doubt it will be better. The high ISO of the K-x is amazing! I upgraded to it from a K100D about six months ago and I love it. It is also much faster than the K100D at shot to shot, clearing the buffer, etc. I prefer the two lens kit but changing lenses doesn't bother me too much and I do not shoot much in the tele range anyway. I am sure you would be happier with the K-x and the one lens than with a bridge camera.

So humor me because I'm DSLR ignorant! If I use a 50-200 kit lens, will I be able to focus on my family if they are standing 10 feet in front of me with Cinderella's castle in the background or would I be using the 18-50mm lens for that? I'm just finishing my first photography class and should have asked questions on lens but we've moved on to photoshop. We've been focusing more on understanding ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

When you first purchased your K-X, did you try automatic at all? How was your image quality before you started running on manual?

 

[ukcatfan]

So humor me because I'm DSLR ignorant! If I use a 50-200 kit lens, will I be able to focus on my family if they are standing 10 feet in front of me with Cinderella's castle in the background or would I be using the 18-50mm lens for that? I'm just finishing my first photography class and should have asked questions on lens but we've moved on to photoshop. We've been focusing more on understanding ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

When you first purchased your K-X, did you try automatic at all? How was your image quality before you started running on manual?

For that shot you would be using the 18-55mm. The 50-200mm would be to get just one of their faces filling the shot. The 50-200mm is nice to have at AK, but I do not use those focal lengths very much at the other parks. I use the 18-55mm range on probably 75% of my shots.

I cannot help much on the auto mode. I have been shooting in the manual modes for about 5-6 years now, even before I had a DSLR. I have switched it to auto for my kids taking shots and they have done just fine. It sounds like you would not need full auto if you have had that class.

 

[zackiedawg]

As long as you get a good lens, you'll be just fine with an ultrazoom style lens as a main all purpose lens...it's like any other kind of lens - there are better ones, and not so good ones. Don't worry about people saying the lens isn't that good just because of the long range it covers - they can be downright excellent lenses, supersharp, very flexible, and can be used in nearly any type of photography you care to try. There will be better lenses for a specific type of photography, but for overall versatility and still great image quality a good ultrazoom lens will be far better than any P&S camera.

For some samples of my 18-250mm lens (mine is labeled 'Sony', but optically is the same as the Tamron 18-250) on my Sony DSLR-A550 and A300 camera, feel free to take a look in this gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/sony_sal18250mm_f3563

You can see I shoot everything with it - architecture, indoor, outdoor, landscape, macro, night photography, high ISO, action, wildlife. I do have 6 other lenses, and do use different lenses sometimes for a specific need...but for a one-lens, all-purpose solution, the 18-250 is always my default, go-to lens.

 

[amyy]

I have the camera, memory card and hip case in my cart at amazon.com. Can we be happy with just this as the extra lens are not in the budget at this time (which means for months)?

 

[gokenin]

I have the camera, memory card and hip case in my cart at amazon.com. Can we be happy with just this as the extra lens are not in the budget at this time (which means for months)?

yes you will be happy with the camera as you get to learn how to use it with only the 18-55 if thats the only lens that comes with the camera. I dont know if you know about it but there is a website called Pentaxforums thats a friendly place to ask any questions you may have about pentax cameras and lens (if this violates DIS forum rules I apogize)

 

[amyy]

Thanks so much for your response. I am going to go hit send

 

[RBennett]

Thanks so much for your response. I am going to go hit send

Whooo hoooo!!! Another cult member! (I mean "Happy Pentax Owner".)

 

[amyy]

I will check out the pentaxforums. This is our first SLR camera. It is actually a wedding gift for my fiance (we are having a Disney wedding in two weeks). I do want to give it to him as soon as it arrives so he can get use to it. I certainly hope he likes it but he has been talking about a new camera. When I have hinted about the SLR he has commented they are a bit too expensive. I just hope I don't like it so much that we need two

 

[ukcatfan]

A good way to save money starting off is used lenses. You can find used ones on that forum, but you can also buy from companies like KEH, B&H, and Adorama. When I first got my K100D, I picked up a Pentax 50mm f/2 (manual focus) for about $50 and a Tamron 80-210mm for about $20-25. They are not as nice as a brand new lens and I eventually upgraded, but they can give you a start.

 

[amyy]

Thank you for the tip about the used lens. It sounds like the way to go at first.

Now I just can't wait until our camera gets here so we can play around for a bit before our trip. We'll keep busy reading on the pentaxforums until then. I almost feel like I should be taking notes as I read.

 

[Groucho]

The other downside to the megazoom lenses is that they tend to be "slow", but the basic 50-200mm lens is similar. If you want to not switch lenses, then an 18-200mm/18-250mm is probably a good choice for you. Image quality should be much better than most any point-n-shoot, plus you can zoom more quickly and accurately because of having a real zoom ring (instead of buttons) and you will have much better low-light performance.

When we talk about megazooms being inferior in terms of image quality, remember that we're usually talking about comparing them to more expensive lenses - they are certainly not bad (well, most of them), but some of us are willing to carry a bunch of lenses and switch between them in pursuit of ultimate image quality plus we want "fast" lenses - there are no "fast" megazoom lenses because they would be ridiculously large and heavy.

 

[Groucho]

Congratulations! I didn't see the big question answered yet...

What color?

That's one of the fun things about buying the K-x.

FWIW, on our last trip to WDW, we saw a red and a white K-x. May have seen black ones but it's harder to notice those.

 

[AlisonUK]

Yay - welcome to the club! You will love your K-x!

 

[amyy]

Thanks all for the welcome. I bought the black as I thought that is what he would like best.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I did it! I finally bought the Pentax K-X! Although, I wanted an all around lens I found the two lens kit for $594.00 through Sams Club with a 90 day return policy and no restocking fees. It seems like a no-brainer.

I'm going to ask for the Tamron lens for Christmas!

Thanks for all your help and I'm sure I'll be pestering you in 3-6 days when my camera arrives!

 

[RBennett]

So I am going back right now and reprocessing some of my pictures because I have recently acquired Topaz/Photomatix. What does everyone think of this shot? Please be honest.