On cameras: I've been shooting Pentax since I received my first K-1000 (bulletproof tank of a thing) for high school graduation (yeah, I'm old-ish). Currently we have a 2nd gen Pentax DSLR (6mp), a successor (12mp), and their newest offering (24mp). Apart from legacy lens compatibility, I've stuck with Pentax because they still give you the option to use AA batteries...and being able to buy batteries anywhere in the world has saved me on many occasions.
But I didn't mean to make this a Pentax commercial. I meant to say that each of these three cameras has its strong points. And for some color combinations, I just cannot beat the 2nd gen from 2006. That's ancient in DSLR years. I entered photos from each camera in the contest.
This is getting away from me. Perhaps the most important aspect of this thread (and what spawned it) is that I truly think that with ANY camera (that you can screw magnifying lenses on to) can take really acceptable (ranging to fantastic) close-up shots - even in auto mode. It's mostly a matter of setting up the shot properly in the first place and then experimenting with the camera in-hand to get decent results. Here are three un-retouched shots from the cameras in question...all using the same 50mm lens with a +2 and +4 magnifier stacked - using autofocus. I didn't go full auto on them because I had to shoot with a flash this morning. But I think the point is still made well for the purpose of *this* thread anyway. All were shot at f/8, ISO 200, and 1/125 shutter speed. The flash intensity was controlled manually and was consistent. If the focus was off a little, that's my fault and not the fault of the cameras:
- Pentax K110D (6.1mp)
- Pentax K-x (12mp)
- Pentax K-3 (24mp)
I've upgraded a couple of times for multiple reasons. But at the end of it all, any old camera has the potential to perform. It's just figuring out what the camera is doing and why and coaxing it into doing the things that you want it to.
Edit: And...for the record...I decided to upgrade to the K-3 because the K-x had 150,000+ shutter actuations (which is well beyond the expectations of the manufacturer). But even after I bought the K-3, I decided that I liked the K-x so well that I bought a used one (with only 3,000 shutter actuations) with a kit lens and a bunch of other stuff (including 2 50mm manual lenses, a pretty good 70-200 AF zoom, a card, a remote shutter release, etc.) for only $200.00 to serve as a backup. So the ancillary point here is that a usable setup need not be expensive at all (relative to new, top of the line stuff - or even a decent point-and-shoot).
- Pentax K110D (6.1mp)
- Pentax K-x (12mp)
- Pentax K-3 (24mp)
