Well, I *was* thinking of buying a DSLR...

[djoptix]

Sadly the kit lenses never feel great - they are cheap because they come with a camera! I found myself a bit disappointed by how cheap film gear is now. All my film stuff is pretty much worthless.

Having said that, you will always get better prices selling stuff on eBay or on camera forums.

 

[JohnH]

The ist is a good cam, and the great thing about going compact is that you will shoot more.

...

There is no substitute for the camera in your hand at the time, no matter how good the one in the hotel room, or car, is.

Wise words, HF. And I'm pleased to see a vote for the ist.

Sadly the kit lenses never feel great - they are cheap because they come with a camera!

Yeah, that's what I suspected. I already own a Vivitar 19-35mm wide-angle zoom for my Minolta Dynax, so I know it to be a more compact lens than the supplied 28-80mm kit lens. I think that will also be true when compared with the Pentax 18-55mm.

If I could get one for the Pentax, it would be the equivalent of 29-52mm on an APS-C sensor, which would suit me fine. So that's my current plan: buy only the ist body and partner it with a 19-35mm wide-angle zoom. Then add prime lenses when the opportunity arises.

I found myself a bit disappointed by how cheap film gear is now. All my film stuff is pretty much worthless.

Having said that, you will always get better prices selling stuff on eBay or on camera forums.

Even if the camera shop had just offered me ten or fifteen quid for both the Canon and the Olympus, I'd have accepted.

But who knows, maybe I can get that from eBay which will make a small contribution towards the Pentax and also vacate a bit of storage space.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I had a Tamron I picked up for £20 a while back that was as good a piece of glass as any I have ever used.

There are lots of cheap high quality items out there now, that perhaps need manual focus or need consideration of how you work, but produce amazing results.

It is probably the best time I have known in my lifetime to get into serious photography.

 

[djoptix]

Even if the camera shop had just offered me ten or fifteen quid for both the Canon and the Olympus, I'd have accepted.

But who knows, maybe I can get that from eBay which will make a small contribution towards the Pentax and also vacate a bit of storage space.

Following on from this... when I was looking at what to buy, like you I was in London Camera Exchange making the most of their expertise. I had to wait ages for a chap who was dickering over every piece of his old film kit - lens cases, filters, bodies, the lot. Eventually the shop offered him a price for the job lot and he grudgingly took it. The moment he went out the door, the assistant put half of it straight in the bin! He said it was worthless.

This really showed me how much camera technology has moved on. Before that episode I was thinking of getting a Canon because my wife and I each had a film EOS body and we had three Canon AF lenses to go with them. However, when I checked on eBay, these excellent bodies which were hundreds new were trading for about £20!!! The lenses were all AF zooms and nothing to write home about. However, although I only had one Pentax film body, it turned out that I also had the highly-regarded f1.7 50mm, and a very nice Pentax 135mm too. Good lenses don't go out of date - at least not until the maker stops using the mount, which at the moment isn't an issue with Pentax.

Anyway, I say this to show that when you buy a half-decent DSLR, you really buy into the lenses and not to the bodies. OK, the body is important, but if you get serious, in 10 years you'll be using a different one. My lenses, on the other hand, date from the 80s and I fully expect to be using them in 20 years. I think the *ist looks like a good bet for you if you fancy the Pentax route, and eBay suggests you should be able to get an *ist D body for under £100 or a good kit for a bit more, like this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentax-ist-D-...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item256273f1c7

DPReview does extremely exhaustive reviews of everything and if you don't mind a bit of reading, here is their *ist D review: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistd/

The body is really just an accessory to let you learn how to use each lens. Get an AF zoom for everyday, out-on-the-bike stuff, because not having simple point-and-shoot ability will wind you up - but do get a couple of reasonable manual primes as well. They don't have to be expensive; you'll score some on the 'bay for under £25 a lens, or go for a kit like the one linked above.

Oh and here's a kit lens, just like the one that came on my KX. It's only £50!... :roll: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-SMC-DA...649?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item53e6b15031