I don't have a D300 anymore, having traded it in on a D300S, which is basically the same thing, but with dual card slots and video, but I do have a 40D and an E-3.
Hey, you know what you can get really cheap on the used market these days?
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| A Pentax K20D with a 16-45mm f/4 zoom lens |
That DA 16-45mm F4 ED AL lens came out in 2003 and was one of Pentax's first digital-specific zoom lenses and, like the camera itself is available for a song because there are newer and cooler alternatives. Altogether the whole setup was a couple hundo at Used Photo Pro.
5 comments:
Let the fun begin!
Fun blogfodder is the best kind of blogfodder!
Congratulations on entering the Pentax world!
I've been shooting a Pentax SLR since I was about 8 years old; it was my dad's hand-me-down Heiland Pentax H2 that I got when he got his Spotmatic with the TTL metering. I was 15 when I bought an SP500 through his Honeywell employee discount, which came with the 55mm/f2 kit lens. In '78 or so I found a used 135mm/f2.5 complete with case, hood and covers...it's STILL my favorite lens
Tried a point-and-shoot Pentax Optio50L in 2006, and then jumped digital in 2007 with a close-out (discontinued) K100D. Shot that for long time, and then a couple of years ago found a pair of K20D's for a total of $250 for the two of them.
What's really fun is if you want to shoot some real digital fossils you can find an M42-to-K-mount adapter (be sure to get a flush-mount original Pentax or Urth one, the flanged ones don't allow infinity focus) and explore the world of Super-Takumar and Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lenses for very little money for some great glass.
And I'd like to thank you for recommending UsedPhotoPro since it gave me the courage to order a couple of lenses from them...as with KEH and B&H they under-promise and over-deliver on the quality of their used gear. They've got a bunch of Super-Taks and SMC-Taks in M42 to look over.
Thanks for the pointers! I'm excited to try some vintage glass on this.
If I may press my luck and make another recommendation, the Pentax Forums offer incredible resources to non-members for the majority of their information. One you might find particularly useful would be here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/
You can select any of the categories, including M42-mount lenses, and find technical summaries and user reviews for pretty much every lens Pentax (and then Ricoh) ever made.
And the members bring thousands of years of cumulative experience with just about any problem that could be encountered with Pentax gear...I'm in awe of the knowledge that those folks can bring to bear. If you do get some vintage glass they've got videos on how to set up your DSLR to handle using them, including the necessary sub-menu changes ("enable aperture ring") kind of stuff.
Just as a personal quirk, I honestly believe that the SMC-Takumer 135mm/f2.5 was one of the best pieces of optical gear ever made...the only problem is that the cost of them is starting to go up sharply...and don't bother with the f/3.5 version, its nowhere near as good. But that's what the lens review database is for, and making your own judgments.
Enjoy your "new" camera!
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