getting a new camera, few questions.

[BCreefmaker]

I am going to pick up a digital SLR soon and was just wonder what others thought of the Pentax K100D. I mean I've used one before, but did not really know how to use it and still got awesome results. how does it compare with other digital SLR's for the price? is this a good camera to eventually get a macro lens for later? the camera sales person said that to save some money i might be able to find an old used Pentax macro lens and it would fit onto and work with the digital SLR perfectly, is this true? and where i can quickly compare it to other cameras? any help would be great

 

[Absolute Reef]

What exactly do you mean by "other camera" ?
Is it like...Canon 400D, 30D, or Nikon D200, D80?
then we can read the brochures.

I don't know much about Pentax, but I've seen pictures taken by K100D and all I can say is that its a decent camera. The pictures are not as natural as Canon or Nikon, that's all.

 

[BCreefmaker]

for the extra 100-200$ would it be worth it to get a cannon rebel XT or a Nikon D40? i was looking at something in the 600-800$ range. im looking for a camera that will just give me the most natural looking photo's and awesome macro shots (but i know that depends more in the lens). plus what exactly do you mean that the pentax pictures are not as natural?

 

[Dino]

I can't say much about the Pentax DSLR's as I've never messed with them - but, just as a bit of general DSLR advice know that you're buying into a system of lenses. Bodies really are kind of the "second" part of the whole deal in that bodies will come and go but your lenses will be with you for a looooooong looooooooooong time. So its wise to really look through the different selections of lenses to see what fits you the best - weather it be Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony...

 

[Absolute Reef]

What I mean by "not as natural as..." is that the color looks a bit unreal to me. The pictures seem to be coloring enhanced, especially in magenta tone. The results may be different, depending on the monitor screen too. I use calibrated mac "cinema display", and that's what I see.

To make things easy, just go with the flow...you can get either Canon Rebel XTi (make sure that it's the newer version one) or Nikon D40, they are both affordable and capable of taking stunning picures. You just wont be regret with the price you pay. Besides, like what DINOMAN said, you are buying the lenses too and they will be with you much longerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr than the dslr body itself.

It's a smart move to pay less for the body and affordable decent lenses in the beginning, and see if you really get hooked into it....then you will see the answer yourself weather you should go on and buy more lenses or upgrade your body, or just call it a day and do no more damage to your wallet.

 

[BCreefmaker]

haha i see, i might just go for the nikon d80, its a nice but im gunna have to save up for a bit longer . but i see what you mean absolute reef, when reading the features of the other cameras most of them have some kind of color matching system to make sure all the colors are natural, accept the k100d. what is a good size macro lens for aquarium and outdoor closeups? personally i think there is nothing more beautiful then the natural patterns and colors of nature, although im a novice, i still like a camera with lots of tinker room to play around with what your setting do to your pictures.

 

[shaggydoo541]

When I was researching cameras I really thought about the Pentax. But decided on a Nikon because of the lenses. The features sound nice on the Pentax but as everyone says, buy for the lenses. I decided to listen to basically everyone's advice and buy a canon or nikon. It seems to be a coin flip as far as which brand to go for. I chose nikon because I had relatives with nikons that I could play around with first and I liked them. But really there is little to no difference between the two as far as recommendations go. People are all for one or the other in the advanced pro sector, but if you are just starting out it seems to be mostly a coin flip since there seems to be just as many people who like their nikon as like their canon.