Well I decided to invest in a new digital camera after all (for those who remember my previous dilemma). My new Pentax K100D should arrive today and I will officially enter the digital age. We took a vacation to San Antonio and I loaded up my Nikon N70 to take pictures while visiting SeaWorld. By the way, I visited SeaWorld many years ago in San Diego and was very unimpressed. So unimpressed that I didn’t go to SeaWorld in Orlando at all during my eight years living in Florida. Things have changed! Was a pretty fun experience in 2007.
Anyhow, back to my story. I had all sorts of trouble with the N70, film, and getting it to advance properly. I threw my hands up in frustration at one point and told my wife that I was done with film and would purchase a digital SLR. She didn’t object at all – could have been all of my cursing amidst the families entering SeaWorld’s entrance that did the trick.
Initially I was going to purchase a Nikon D50, discovered that Nikon discontinued it and was making the D40 now. Problem with the D40 is that the auto focus motor is no longer in the camera, so all of my nice Nikkor lenses won’t work in AF on a D40. Screw you Nikon – to eBay go my lenses.
I was a free agent and looked at the various offerings from Canon, Olympus, Sony, and Pentax. Each had its strengths and weaknesses, but I am a Pentax guy from way back. One of the first film cameras I used seriously was a Pentax ME Super. Pentax digital cameras get great reviews and they happen to be offering some serious rebates (ending March 27th).
Next I purchase a fancy printer!
Can I ask how much this purchase cost you? I have wanted to go digital for a while, but I have to go Canon since I have a couple of nice lenses. I guess I could buy a xzy to Canon adaptor, but I digress. Have not been able to stomach $800+ for a nice Canon digital SLR.
I bought mine through Beach Camera (an amazon affiliate). The body was $460 (I used free shipping and it got to me in four days). I purchased an 18-55 zoom for $88 and a 50-200 zoom for $225.
That being said, if I could have afforded a Canon XTi I probably would have purchased it. But I’m happy with my Pentax. I also got $100 worth of rebates to send in.
By the way, if you don’t care about built-in shake reduction, the K110D is a steal. I think the body is $399 and you can still use the rebate. It’s the exact same as the K100D and having looked at it, I’m now thinking I could have lived without it and used that extra $80 bucks.
I’ve gotten back into photography in the past couple of years with a digital. The main benefit is no film so it’s about volume picture-taking and also the ability to catalog and search through the thousands of pics I’ve accumulated.
That and real convenience, although mine isn’t as slim and light as other point and shoot models. But still easier to carry around than the SLR and additional lenses I used to have.
While the resolution is up there to let me do big prints, the dynamic range is missing compared to film. Disappointing sometimes when you take pics of interiors with just natural light and the light source is uneven (small windows within cathedrals for instance).
All in all though, probably wouldn’t do as much with film. It’s nice to be able to review the pics at the end of a day. There is no darkroom work required of course but you can get really into photo editing with advanced applications. That I haven’t done either. Digital is partly about productivity meaning not as much work.