Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

While I don't use a Pentax camera. I do use a Pentax light meter. It is a fantastic irreplaceable piece of equipment for me.

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

Mundji, isn't that DA 50mm f:1.8 the bomb! I have one and it's as sharp as a razor's edge.... and I've NEVER seen a lens in my life that will compare to it's color rendition! NONE! Not a Canon. Not a Nikon. Not a Sony. Not an Olympus. NONE!

I've heard a lot of good comments about the DA 18-135mm, but as of yet, I don't have one in my arsenal. I recently got a DA 18-250mm, but haven't had a change to put it through the wringer yet.

Pentax (Ricoh) is really crapping in their nest by not standing by their loyal customers and providing good customer service. Such a shame. If they would do the RIGHT thing, they would have repaired it for free the FIRST time and EVERYTIME thereafter. That would be the absolute cheapest advertisement they could ever have gotten!

Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

I agree the 50mm f/1.8 is remarkable lenses, especially considering the price. I held off for a long while because it ha a plastic mount, big mistake.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

i use only film and one of my favorite cameras is the pentax spotmatic. my second favorite is the pentax k2dmd. the takumar lenses are superb and if you don't need to change prisms, i.e. nikon f, then you never need to buy anything else.

in Europe, the camera preferred by pros was pentax. here in the U.S. it was nikon - we probably have David Hemmings, in the film Blow Up, to thank for that!

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

I just saw one, NIB, on Craig's List in Prescott, AZ, for $60.00! A steal!

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Back in the mid 80's I switched to Pentax. When I ordered my P3 I made sure it came with an excellent lens, the great SMC-A, 50mm f:1.2.

Since auto focusing came out I've been tinkering with the idea of selling it. (Old eyes have problems you know.) That is about once or twice a year. Every time I hold off, sure enough a low light need arises and I'm happy to have it!

My latest was just prior to Christmas with a living manger set up by a local church. Hard to see to focus but a wonderful lens!

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

it is a great lens for low light situations, and the last thing you EVER want to do is sell it. if you've trouble focusing, try using the depth of field scale on your lens.
the other suggestion, if you will pardon my lack of your situation, would be eye glasses or diopters on the camera.
all the best to you!

cgchief Loc: Jarrettsville

You are correct, I did not have a Visoflex; nor wanted one.
The problem with the Leica IIIf was the difficulty loading film in the 'out-dated' system they kept too long.
The lenses were OK, view and range finder poor , but you could expose the film.
My conclusion: LEICA over priced. I found a reason for the high price to the common purchaser in this book on page 19, a list of cameras presented to notable people; H.M. Queen Elizabeth II two cameras.
Leica THE FIRST 60 YEARS by G.Rogliatti ISBN 1-874707-02-2

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

considering the IIIfs continue to fetch high prices on the secondary market, more for what they sold new, it appears there are many satisfied users of this camera body.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

My first SLR was a Pentax ME which was a wedding present for myself in 1979; a few years after our honeymoon we finally made it to Niagara Falls and that camera got just damp enough that it was never quite right, and apparently not fixable, so in 1984 I bought a Pentax Super Program.

I used that camera for eleven years, but when I was ready to go auto-focus, I liked the Canon system better than the Pentax and Nikon systems, so I started using Canon in 1995. After having two Canon Rebels die way too early (*), I decided that I still liked Canon lenses better but I like Pentax bodies better, so I bought a Pentax K-30 this past summer (earlier I had bought a small-sensor Pentax Q-7 MILC to replace the Canon Elph that had been my pocket-able camera); the K-30 was kitted with an 18-55 screw-focus lens, but I have since bought an 18-135 DC lens which has the same feel I liked in Canon lenses, but is WR.



(*) I went digital in 2007 by buying a Canon Rebel; that one died earlier than I had expected, and I hadn't done any serious thinking about a new camera, so I bought another Rebel and started researching current cameras; thus I was ready when the second one died. I've been told that eight years is an OK time for two bodies, but I'm an amateur and I had taken a total of 4351 pictures with the two cameras, and I really believe I should get more than that. In the daze of film, my previous camera served as my backup, and that just wasn't happening when my previous cameras were dead. The good news is that the Q-7 provides much better pictures than the Elphs were doing, so for now it is implicitly my backup.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Not a Pentax user in my 60 years.

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

Well, Stan.... I certainly won't hold that against you. :lol: Just joking, of course. I've used a few of the other brands of 35mm SLR's over the years, but I've never had the opportunity to shoot another brand of digital SLR.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

My first 35MM was a Bolsey B2, followed by a Exakta and the started with a Nikon F and the Nikon list goes on. I am SO happy you will not hold it against me. I did have a Pentax 1 Degree spot meter. Still have it and use it.

rbfanman

I still have a K-1000 35mm film Pentax around, but rarely use it. In the DSLR arena, I am strictly Nikon so far. I looked at Pentax, but they lacked features I wanted. If the shutter speeds, etc, were right, the MP were too low. If the MP were right, the color depth was wrong, etc. Canon, and Nikon, gave me more of the features I wanted, at a price I liked, and Canon was still using the control placement I had grown to dislike back when I had a T-90 film camera. So, the control placements decided me on the Nikon.

Dewman Loc: SW Idaho

This is very interesting, hearing all the different opinions about different brands and the reasons for owning and using them. I've been a Pentax user all my life, more by chance than anything, I would suppose, but.... I also suppose it kinda' goes back to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I bought my first Pentax, a Spotmatic during my tour in Vietnam and have never had a reason to try another brand. Went from the Spotmatic to the ME Super, then the K2000, then the K-50. I absolutely LOVE the K-50, now owning two of them, a K-x (a wonderful little camera) and a K-r.

I own far more lenses than I can justify, but.... well, being single, I don't really have to justify ANYTHING! As long as my budget will support it, then that's justification enough.

I really like using some of the older manual lenses, and I've got a fair collection of them.... from the 28mm f:2.8 to the 500mm f:4.5.

Some very good input, y'all. Thanks for participating. Always good to learn about the wares of other fellow photographers.

Funny story I'll pass along that sort of pertains to certain camera people and their blind allegiance to their brand. Once, I had a friend who was a dyed-in-the-wool Chevy guy and was into four-wheeling BIG time! We went up into the mountains once and he got stuck. I mean, BIG TIME stuck! Another guy came along with a Ford 4x4 and offered to help him out of the ditch he was in. My friend, the goofy Chevy lover, DECLINED the help, saying, "I'll be a cold day in hell when I'll let a FORD pull my Chevy out of a damn ditch!" He spent all the rest of the day and finally, about 8 o'clock that night, he got his beloved Chevy out. Talk about a dumb-ass!

There are some camera people who are sorta' like that! I'm NOT one of them. I like ALL cameras, I just happen to use a Pentax. It's the PHOTOGRAPHS I like, not necessarily the camera that took them.