Pentax K100D - What else to buy?

[ksloane]

Ok. I think I've done all my research and decided I'll be buying a Pentax K100D Super at the end of the week, and I've narrowed it down to two vendors. I'm buying it in the kit so it comes with the 18-55mm Lens.

What else do I need to buy?

A SD card I know, but I know nothing about them so is there anything I should look for (good or bad)? Size? Any approximations of how many pictures the different sizes will hold?

It takes AA batteries right? So should I invest in rechargeable batteries? And the same questions - any particulars here as I've not ever bought any?

I already have a tripod.

And anything else you'd recommend for a beginner? This is a very large purchase for me so I don't want to buy things I can do without for a few months, but I want to be able to use this camera successfully when I receive it.

 

[Golf4food]

Ok. I think I've done all my research and decided I'll be buying a Pentax K100D Super at the end of the week, and I've narrowed it down to two vendors. I'm buying it in the kit so it comes with the 18-55mm Lens.

What else do I need to buy?

A SD card I know, but I know nothing about them so is there anything I should look for (good or bad)? Size? Any approximations of how many pictures the different sizes will hold?

It takes AA batteries right? So should I invest in rechargeable batteries? And the same questions - any particulars here as I've not ever bought any?

I already have a tripod.

And anything else you'd recommend for a beginner? This is a very large purchase for me so I don't want to buy things I can do without for a few months, but I want to be able to use this camera successfully when I receive it.

In no particular order:

Yes, buy rechargable batteries - you can find sets that come with a charger. We have three sets and have never found ourselves without batteries for our ist*DL.

SD cards: if you plan on taking large quantities of photos, buy at least one 2 GB card - they hold around 690 top quality JPEG shots on ours. An extra 1 GB or 2 GB as backup is good. Watch black friday, I've seen adds for 2 GB cards for $20. Name brand like SanDisk isn't really that important. We have SanDisk and we have Kingston and can't tell a difference, but the Kingston is a lot cheaper most of the time.

Why get the kit lense? Is there a specific reason? You're honestly probably better off buying just the body without the kit lense, then buy a nicer lense like the Sigma 18-125mm which gives you much more versatility than an 18-55 kit lense would. We did just that and have not been disappointed. You will want the extra reach that the 125 will give you over the 55, trust me.

Check sigma4less.com and compare the cost for the K100 body alone plus the Sigma 18-125 vs. the cost of the K100 with the kit lense. The difference can't be much, but you will be much, much happier with the better lense both short term and long term.

 

[ksloane]

In no particular order:

Yes, buy rechargable batteries - you can find sets that come with a charger. We have three sets and have never found ourselves without batteries for our ist*DL.

SD cards: if you plan on taking large quantities of photos, buy at least one 2 GB card - they hold around 690 top quality JPEG shots on ours. An extra 1 GB or 2 GB as backup is good. Watch black friday, I've seen adds for 2 GB cards for $20. Name brand like SanDisk isn't really that important. We have SanDisk and we have Kingston and can't tell a difference, but the Kingston is a lot cheaper most of the time.

Why get the kit lense? Is there a specific reason? You're honestly probably better off buying just the body without the kit lense, then buy a nicer lense like the Sigma 18-125mm which gives you much more versatility than an 18-55 kit lense would. We did just that and have not been disappointed. You will want the extra reach that the 125 will give you over the 55, trust me.

Check sigma4less.com and compare the cost for the K100 body alone plus the Sigma 18-125 vs. the cost of the K100 with the kit lense. The difference can't be much, but you will be much, much happier with the better lense both short term and long term.

Thanks for all the info. I will check out the price of the different lense. I just thought that since they were bundling it together it would probably be a good place to start. I guess I should have known it wouldn't be that simple.

I had already marked some black friday sales for the sd cards so glad to see that I was on the right track. I can't remember where, but someone even had a 4gb that I thought was REALLY cheap. I'll go back through and look, but I'll need to order something immediately with the camera so I can use it when it gets here. Unfortunately, I've only owned Sonys for the last few years so my cards won't work.

Again, thanks for the tips. I will probably only not purchase any more accessories until summer so I want to be sure to make wise decisions. FWIW, I'd really like decent softball pictures of my girls in the spring, would the lense you suggest be good for that in addition to my disney trip in 1 month, 1 week and 1 day ?

 

[ukcatfan]

Just to offer a different opinion to Golf4food's lens suggestion. I actually think the Pentax kit is an incredible lens for the price. I believe that you are better off optically and image quality wise by going with the kit and the DA50-200mm. I am not sure, but it might have a rebate as well. You typically get better results with lenses that do not zoom too much. This forces you to have more lens changes, so you have to measure quality vs. convenience. Only you can say which is more important. If convenience is, also look at the Tamron 18-250mm. It gets pretty good reviews.

For sports, you are going to have to have more focal length than the kit lens, so you should consider a second lens right away IMO. There are also other brands of ~50-200mm lenses like Sigma and Tamron that will likely be cheaper than Pentax brand, but typically the Pentax brand is going to be better. The Pentax SMC is known as one of the best lens coatings available on the market and it only comes on Pentax brand lenses. This comes down to price vs. quality.

If low light is important, look at a prime lens. The Pentax 50mm f/1.4 is a very nice lens for the price.

Kevin

 

[ukcatfan]

Almost forgot, for memory, look at Newegg, Buy, and Amazon (stick to direct, not a partner). For batteries, I usually go with Walmart and Target, but Walgreen's sometimes has sales. Look for a charger that has a separate circuit for all four cells. Duracell has one that I have been using for about a year that I am very happy with.

Kevin

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'll second what Kevin said about lenses. The kit lens is a great value. There is a significant tradeoff in quality to get the convenience of a super zoom. At this point, I prefer to use higher quality lenses and switch them rather than one lens that covers the entire range with reduced image quality. YMMV.

I would also lean towards getting a relatively large SD card. You will hopefully shoot in RAW, and you can only get about 100 to 150 shots per gigabyte when shooting RAW.

Some other stuff you might consider getting but don't really need:

1) An off-camera flash, particularly one that allows you to bounce the flash.
2) A camera bag for carrying the camera and your accessories.
3) A nice camera strap to make carrying the camera more comfortable.
4) A polarizing filter to make skies bluer and to cut down on glare and reflections.
5) Some good books on photography. You'll find lot's of recommendations by people here.

 

[ksloane]

Thanks for all the advice. I've printed it out and will look at everything this evening when I get back home from work. I'm planning to purchase at the end of the week so I still have a few more days to look at different options. This seems as stressful (as far as making sure to buy the right stuff) as buying a car.

Thanks for everything and please feel free to keep sending ideas/suggestions my way. I definitly need all the advice I can get.

 

[Steve's Girl]

Thanks for everything and please feel free to keep sending ideas/suggestions my way. I definitly need all the advice I can get.

Hold on to your checkbook! You have no idea what you just got yourself into!

 

[ksloane]

Hold on to your checkbook! You have no idea what you just got yourself into!

Yea...I'm afraid of that, but I think I have so much to learn that I can limit my purchases until I can use what I have.....maybe!

 

[Master Mason]

you said you have your purchase choice narrowed to 2 vendors but did not say who they were....

If your buying online, please check resellerratings.com with your vendor of choice before you buy.... there are a lot of scam artists out there in the world of online camera "stores"

 

[ksloane]

you said you have your purchase choice narrowed to 2 vendors but did not say who they were....

If your buying online, please check resellerratings.com with your vendor of choice before you buy.... there are a lot of scam artists out there in the world of online camera "stores"

I have to buy online as I couldn't find anywhere within 2 hours that had it...I did check it out resellerratings though, but thanks for the heads up....I think I'm good...BHPhoto seemed to have the best price, but they are out of stock, and after I am ready to make this commitment, I'm going to want it in my hands as soon as possible. So I'm thinking newegg.com. I'm also considering amazon though as I have about $50 in gift certificates from them..

 

[Master Mason]

Those are all good vendors you listed, you can add buydig and Beach to those as well...

 

[ksloane]

I would also lean towards getting a relatively large SD card. You will hopefully shoot in RAW, and you can only get about 100 to 150 shots per gigabyte when shooting RAW.

I think I have a general idea of what RAW means (will probably need more clarification after I have camera in hands), but is there a certain software I would need for photoediting if I take them in this format? I currently use photoimpact.

1) An off-camera flash, particularly one that allows you to bounce the flash.

Would this be something I would use frequently? What does it do? Can you be more specific about brand/type/etc?

A polarizing filter to make skies bluer and to cut down on glare and reflections.

Do I just type in polarizing filter on one of these vendor's websites? Is there anything specific to look for or avoid?

5) Some good books on photography. You'll find lot's of recommendations by people here.

I'll look for those threads but if anyone has any specific recommendations I'd be happy to have them here too....I may my amazon certificates for this instead of towards the camera itself.

 

[Master Mason]

Not mark, but I'll take a stab at answering as well.
1. How much you use an external flash depends on a lot of factors. What are you planning on shooting the most of. If it is sports, then the external flash won't be used much at all when you shooting that. If you planing on lots of shooting inside at parties and such, then the external would seldom leave your camera. They are also usefull in the bright sun of day for fill flash so you don't get shadows on your subjects faces. Some folks always have the external on their camera, others like me, only when I think I'll be using it. I would put this in the list of things you can get in the future myself, something that is very very nice to have, but not a need out of the gate IMO

2. There are several good makers of filters, probably the biggest name is Hoya. The thing to remember here is if you get a cheap filter, then you have just put a cheap piece of glass in front of every picuter you take with it, so if you have a 1K lens and a $20 polorizor, your going to severaly cut down on the quality you can get with that 1k lens.... And again, I would put this in the nice to have but not needed out of the gate things....

3. This is your most important purchase at the time of camera purchase if you don't know what your doing yet.. You will need something that can teach you how apeture, shutter speed, and ISO combine and effect your pictures... I recommend Understanding Exposure, I am sure there are others out there, but this one is easy to read and understand.

My standard advice is to get the camera, the kit lens, and a book to learn how to use it.... Then use the camera a lot, learning as you go... once you have determined which shots you can't get with the camera, then decide what you might need to enable you to get those shots.

the difference between a $200 lens and a $1600+ lens isn't really that great, but what you get for your money is the ability to capture shots you couldn't get previously.... If you not trying to get the shots that the $1600 lens will allow you to get, then your wasting your money buying it.... similarly if you buy a new $200 lens and find out that you needed the $1600 to get the shots you really want, then you have wasted the initail $200.... I hope that makes a little sence..

 

[DueyDooDah]

I think I have a general idea of what RAW means (will probably need more clarification after I have camera in hands), but is there a certain software I would need for photoediting if I take them in this format? I currently use photoimpact.

You can still use Photoimpact but your camera will come with software of its own and you will need to use it to retrieve and convert the raw images to some other format first.

Would this be something I would use frequently? What does it do? Can you be more specific about brand/type/etc?

Depends on how much your shooting style requires flash. I seldom do indoor photography so don't find this option to be useful. Your style may vary.

Do I just type in polarizing filter on one of these vendor's websites? Is there anything specific to look for or avoid?

Yes, but make sure you look for a "circular" polarlized filter.

I'll look for those threads but if anyone has any specific recommendations I'd be happy to have them here too....I may my amazon certificates for this instead of towards the camera itself.

"Understanding Exposure" is the standard around here. Or, Understanding Digital Photography, both by Bryan Peterson.

 

[ksloane]

Thanks for the answers guys. I feel like a dork my notes are getting so long, but I do want to make sure to invest in the correct things. As far as what pictures I'll take:

Instantly, I am heading to Arizona this month and Disney next month

Spring will be softball pictures

I do take some inside pictures for birthday parties and such, but those don't happen but 2 or 3 times a year so I wouldn't necessarily need those capabilities right off the bat.

 

[Golf4food]

The kit lense might be good, but it is limited in range and I get the impression that the OP doesn't want to break the bank on 3 or 4 different lenses off the bat to catch everything, so I was suggesting something with a little more reach than the kit 50mm will offer. This is especially true for softball games if they want "up close" shots from the other side of the fence.

Also, double check on what size SD card the camera can take - not all cameras can use the giant sized SD cards. I know ours only can use 2 GB or lower, so a 4 GB would do us no good at all. Just a warning. Not familiar with the SD capabilities for the K100 but I imagine it is probably ok for most anything - safer to doulbe check just in case, though.

 

[gokenin]

the K100d super which is what i believe she is looking at can use the SDHC cards so that opens up the 4+ gig cards as for a first lens the kit lens is a very good lens but I have to admit i am thinking of getting the sigma 17-70 for my day to day lens instead of the 18-55 it would also give the OP a little longer reach from the kit but it would add to the price at the get go

 

[ukcatfan]

The kit lense might be good, but it is limited in range and I get the impression that the OP doesn't want to break the bank on 3 or 4 different lenses off the bat to catch everything, so I was suggesting something with a little more reach than the kit 50mm will offer. This is especially true for softball games if they want "up close" shots from the other side of the fence.

The K100D with kit is only thirty dollars more than no lens. Then the 50-200mm is around $230. The 18-125mm Sigma is around $260, so the end price is exactly the same. The two lens setup will give you more reach and better optical quality, so I just do not see any advantage in the Sigma other than convenience.

Kevin

 

[Jeanne B]

Everyone is different but I prefer to change lenses as little as possible. I purchased the K100 last fall with the 18-55 and the 50-200, both of which are great lenses for the price and are very lightweight. But for me personally, the more I used my camera the more I disliked changing lenses because there were times I lost shots so I just recently purchased the Tamron 18-250 which has been a great lens for me so far even though I haven't used it too much yet. I'm a casual photographer and the quality of this lens is good enough for what I do (although this lens has received very favorable reviews, from what I read while doing my research on this lens people were generally surprised at the quality of this lens considering its wide focal range).

I also have the 50mm prime and the 10-17 fisheye which I use on occasion but the 18-250 is the perfect walkaround lens for my needs. I guess my point is that the 18-55/50-200 combo is a great starting point and you may find you're completely satisfied with this combination over the long run but don't be surprised to find that your needs change over time as you get familiar with your shooting style. It can also be called LBA!!! (lens buying addiction)

And BTW, great camera choice!!