DS on the way! What else do I need?

[K1000Photographer]

I ordered a DS from samsclub.com. I love their return policy and they did a price match! I am glad that I waited.

I am getting the kit lens and already have some primes.
Pentax/Cosmicar A28 f2.8 (non SMC but so far seems sharper than my A 50)
Pentax A 50 f2 (very nice!)
Chinar M 135 f2.8 (Who is Chinar and why is this cheap lens so good?)

Sears 28 f2.8 macro (Good lens but it is outclassed by the rest of the lenses I own)
Pentax M50 f2 (Very nice but not an A)
Focal 2X (Well made and cost me $10)

I am thinking about a 20mm and something between 77 and 100mm. Any suggestions?

The Zenitar 16 looks like a lot of fun. Is it worth having?

I have a Nissin handle flash. Any suggestions on a PC adaptor?

Any other suggestions for accessories?

 

[volosong]

Great that you finally too the plung. Using a digital SLR is a whole lot different than using a film camera. You will find yourself experimenting a lot. Film for a digital is so cheap!

It doesn't look like you will have many zooms, other than your kit lens. Possibly a personal philosophy of yours. So be it. However, seriously consider the much talked about SMCP-FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 lens. Available for around $210-$220, it is a bargain. Will cover most of the range you are interested in and is fairly fast.

Since you have the A50/2, you might want to just dump the M50/2. You will find yourself using the A a lot more than the M lens.

Other things you might want to consider getting . . .

1. extra memory
2. external flash
3. carry-all bag
4. long zoom
5. did I mention extra memory?
6. Photoshop CS, or PSE3, or whatever you favor.
7. a fast internet connectiion to monitor ebay and KEH more efficiently
8. more memory

Good luck whey you get your camera. We'll look forward to some posted images.

 

[dscullyfan]

Also, is their return policy as liberal as Costcos? Return any time, even a year later?

 

[K1000Photographer]

It doesn't look like you will have many zooms, other than your kit lens. > Possibly a personal philosophy of yours. So be it. However, seriously > consider the much talked about SMCP-FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 lens. > Available for around $210-$220, it is a bargain. Will cover most of the range you are interested in and is fairly fast."

Since you have the A50/2, you might want to just dump the M50/2. > You will find yourself using the A a lot more than the M lens.

I am going to keep the M50. I bought it used the same day I bought the K1000. They make a good pair. The A28 and A50 were bought due to the anticipated DS purchase. They were actually really cheap; $61 for the 2 lenses, skylight filter and shipping.

Other things you might want to consider getting . . .

1. extra memory
2. external flash

I hope the Nissin potato masher will suffice. It has worked well with the K1000, Kodak DX6490 and 7590.

3. carry-all bag

I have an old bag for my K1000 and am looking for a new one. So far I like the Lowepro Nova 2 and Rezo160 the best. I am also thinking of a zinger and a fanny pack for an extra prime or 2.

4. long zoom

Really? I have a 10X zoom on my P&S and most of the time, it stays at wide. I also have a 135 prime and a 2X.

5. did I mention extra memory?
6. Photoshop CS, or PSE3, or whatever you favor.

I realize this. My work had an extra license for PS 7 but my hard drive crashed and they lost the disk. I may go with PSE3 and get ACR.

7. a fast internet connectiion to monitor ebay and KEH more efficiently

Got it!

8. more memory

So, you think I may need more memory? I have a 256MB card for my P&S and know I will need more. I have seen some deals on 1G cards. How much advantage will there be with a fast card vs a standard card?

 

[K1000Photographer]

The have the same return policy and matched a very low price I found on the web.

 

[Joseph Tainter]

Flash, DA 14, DA 16-45, FA 20, FA 24, FA 31, FA 35, DA 40, FA 50, DA 50-200, FA 77, FA 100 macro, FA 135, FA 200, FA 300, FA 400, tripods, bags, second and third jobs or an inheritance.

Joe

P.S. Congratulations and welcome. You will enjoy it -- and you will learn how to phrase questions!

 

[K1000Photographer]

I think a 20 would be nice and may be my next lens purchase. What is better, Sigma or Pentax?

A 77 ltd is something I would consider. Unless a 90 or 100 macro would be more useful.

 

[Godfrey]

I think a 20 would be nice and may be my next lens purchase. What
is better, Sigma or Pentax?

Pentax, by far.

A 77 ltd is something I would consider. Unless a 90 or 100 macro
would be more useful.

One way to figure out exactly what you'd like in longer primes is to buy a Pentax FA28-105/3.2-4.5 AL IF zoom and then see what focal lengths you end up using most of the time. And then you have a great all around wide-normal to medium tele lens as well, for about $200 or so.

In my opinion, this is the lens Pentax should be supplying as a "kit" lens for the DS, not the 18-55. I'm very happy with it as an all around extremely useful lens.

Godfrey

 

[K1000Photographer]

Thanks. What primes do you use fairly often above 50 and below 135?

 

[volosong]

K1000Photographer wrote (in part):

8. more memory

So, you think I may need more memory? I have a 256MB card for
my P&S and know I will need more. I have seen some deals on 1G
cards. How much advantage will there be with a fast card vs a
standard card?

You will definitly need more memroy. 256Mb won't last too long in the field. Shooting JPEG will help. At quality, you can get 78 shots, just slightly more than two rolls of film.

Honestly, you will find yourself taking 10 times more pictures than you did with your K1000. Get at least a 1Gb card, at the minimum. I have two one giggers and am thinking about a third one (for vacation next week). If you shot in RAW, you will need the extra capacity.

As far as speed, for most purposes, I've seen no difference. Got some of the old Sandisk cards and one new Ultra II card. I haven't noticed any difference on download speed, amount of images I can get in continous mode, nor write speed after acquisition of an image.

Sam's Club has Lexar cards. They are okay. I just have SanDisk because that is what Costco carrys and they have worked good for me. The local pirces of cards at Sam's Club and Costco are pretty much the same.

 

[volosong]

Thanks. What primes do you use fairly often above 50 and below 135?

Tamron SP 90/2.8 macro. Great lens! Fills the gap nicely and is one of the best macro lenses around. Can be found used for around $300.

The Sigma 105mm macro along with the fast Pentax 100mm macro are the ones to consider for a mid-telephoto macro. The slow Pentax 100mm macro (made by Cosina and marketed under four or five bands names) is very, very good optically, but poorly constructed.

 

[Michael Barker]

If you're coming from film, think about the number of shots you normally shoot on an outing and multiply it by five. Then multiply that by the size of a RAW or JPG file / your choice. That should give you the amount of memory you need. But if this gives you like 4 GB you might want to look into an image tank instead of lots of flash cards. Or the possibility of bringing a laptop...

 

[dscullyfan]

If I can save over Costcos price, I will.

 

[K1000Photographer]

It was A&M photoworld. $579.00 with kit lens

 

[K1000Photographer]

I remember the Tamron 90 Macro. That was used for the famous bee macro photo that was posted in the forum. That is one I would consider, since it is also a real nice macro lens.

 

[K1000Photographer]

What are the good image tanks? Last year I took my lap top on vacation to download photos from my digicam. I was also able to do some editing and make copies onto CD for friends.

The laptop was an option then, because it was a one month vacation and we stayed at the in laws. That meant that the laptop did not get carried around much.

 

[dscullyfan]

Im assuming you did this online? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[dscullyfan]

Im trying to get the price match as well. I figure if I can get them to reference your price match, I should be good.

 

[K1000Photographer]

You will need to call them or do the online chat in order to confirm that they will do the price match. You may get the run around. They told me I could not get the price match because theirs was 6MP and the A&M one was 6.1MP. :-(

Click the contact us link at the bottom and you can do a live chat with a CS agent. You will need to be patient because they are not camera experts and are trained to say no. Have the link to the camera price you want to match.

Have the 6 digit samsclub.com item # for the DS. It may take a few days to get through all the red tape. They will need to verify. They may e-mail you and say no for some really silly reasons. If the reason is silly, explain it nicely and you may wait a few days more. When they realize the items are the same, you may get the match. I hope this helps. I do not want to give out my purchase #

 

[Godfrey]

Thanks. What primes do you use fairly often above 50 and below 135?

Over 50mm, I have the M85/2, FA135/2.8, and A200/4. The M85/2 is the most frequently used of those three. I tend to use the 28-105 and 100-300 more when over 50mm focal length than any prime.

The 85, 135 and 200 both do a good job on macro work with extension tubes, even though they're none of them dedicated macro lenses.

Godfrey