Hi - I'm new to the group. About 35 years ago I learned photography using a
Spotmatic and fell in love with it. A number of years later when I decided
to buy an SLR I remembered how much I'd liked the Spotmatic and bought a
chrome MX and an M-series 50mm f/1.4. Over the years I've bought quite a few
K-mount bodies and quite a few lenses. My favorite is my black MX. It has a
minor problem that I'm willing to live with because I almost never shoot
film anymore. The counter doesn't always reset to zero. That has to be the
most beautiful camera I have ever seen.
Three years ago I decided to get a digital SLR so I bought a * ist DL and
the kit lens, mostly because of the lens compatibility. I've been very
pleased with it. However I think something got inside of it while changing
lenses. For quite some time there have been some spots in the photos that
shouldn't be there. It's easily seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcgibson55/3663886483/in/set-72157620514334411
It's almost half way up the first tower then another bigger one inbetwen the
first two towers near the bottom. When I try to fix something it almost
always leads to disaster. Is this something that's easily dealt with? If so
I may sell it and step up to a K100D; one is available in mint condition for
what I consider to be a very good price. I'd like to have a digital SLR body
with image stabilization. My niece has a K100D and it seems very nice.
While looking at bags at Best Buy recently I found a nice Lowepro (all of my
bags are Lowepro) that was being blown out too cheap ($12.99) to pass up so
I bought two even though I wasn't sure what I'd put in one. It's the EX 140
and isn't in this year's catalog. I did some experimentation and found that
I can lay my *ist DL on its back with the kit lens and hood on and the
height is perfect. There's a teeny bit of wiggle room on the bottom but
that's easily remedied. Two of the usual Lowepro Velcro type dividers are
included. There's a front compartment and either my Pentax-FA 28-90mm or
Tamron 75-300mm will fit in there. It's a bit snug with the Tamron but it
fits.
Speaking of the FA 28-90mm I am underwhelmed with mine both optically and
build quality wise. Fortunately I didn't pay very much for it. I need to
figure out how to use my Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm on it. That's a great
lens.
I am contemplating selling some of my film bodies and lenses that don't get
used anymore. I live in a very expensive area and my wife passed away from
cancer two months ago. We just barely got by with two incomes and now
there's only one. The bodies would likely be an SFXn (European version of
the SF1n), Chinese K1000, P30T and a chrome MX (the one referred to
previously) that needs the foam replaced. The lenses might be M-series
primes such as the 135, 150 and 200mm and there might be some nice
aftermarket K/A zooms. I haven't decided exactly what I'll let go of yet.
Actually there is one I'm sure about; the non SMC Takumar bayonet 135mm
f/2.5. I was never happy with its sharpness or contrast. The M-series 135mm
f/3.5 is much better. If there's any interest please write me directly.
Dennis
Santa Barbara, CA
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
