shannon_stanfield

Before I start, I sold camera junk for years and in my opinion, overall the film

camera you use is a lot like the watch you wear, or the car you drive- the

camera you choose depends more on peer pressure than anything because

for the most part they are all the same.

I think the chips in these digital cameras are not the same and that seems to

be the most important thing to me. I�ll bet that many of these will become

collectable for the chip they had at the time

This being said, I have 6 pz1ps, one pz1, two 6x7s more lenses than I know

about and shoot around 2000 rolls of film per year.

I had two canons a G4 and a Digital Rebel before my ist that I have had for a

week now.

The G4 gave me the best control over my lighting like strobes etc. and the

Rebel�s chip took the best photos outside.

Overall the color on the Pentax is the best for people, looks great outside and

is not soft at all. What ever the chip is I like it the best. I have heard it is a

Sony.

Like all Pentax cameras in history the battery door sucks. They always have

and will. Get the longest warranty you can.

I also use a lot of vintage lenses and the very best thing is that I can use my

screw mount lenses and they look better than any new lenses I�ve seen. You

have to meter with them in A priority then switch over to manual to over

expose but the control for this is like a K1000 so it is pretty easy. The latitude

seems a lot like film as well and is the best of of the other two I have had.

The ASA starts at 200 and I wish it was slower, and the flash sync is 150 and I

wish it was faster. However, you can shoot at 3200 which looks pretty good

and I think that is a fair trade off.

The buffer to bring up your work in the ist is the fastest, and as far as the

battery thing goes, I think they are getting the rechargeable deal together, if

anyone has a good idea about this let me know.

I spot meter everything so I can�t say much about the matrix junk, I use my

pz1ps in manual and just like them mostly for their 250 flash sync.

In recent experience, the best digital work comes from scanned film that is

color corrected, and I have used my digital cameras to proof for my film, check

light and for shooting kids and print ad work for the web or publications on flat

stock like newsprint.

If you have great old Pentax lenses and recognize and desire their own

unmistakable saturation and feel you should get this camera. Pentax always

waits forever to get stuff out but I think they make the best choices in the long

run. All their lenses work with all their cameras back to the 1960s like no

other cameras out there, and their auto focus works better than the Nikons,

not as fast as the Canons and Minoltas.

I did not get the 18 to whatever lens that they make for this camera that is like

the Rebel lens that I did have and the conversion v. distortion thing for it was

kind of weird.

I have used mostly a 50m af lens from the 80s and a 135 2.8 af and their is no

distorted feel at all.

I used the fill flash once outside and I�m not sure if I like it. I did not like the fill

with either of my canons so I guess I��ll just wait and see. As I get used to this

one I will figure how to trick it out for strobes and the like and if anyone else

has any tips please e-mail me.

Pentax took 2 years getting this one out and I�ll bet they take a little while for

the next version, however I�ll bet that once they get it down they will crank out

some cheapies with less features down the road, and I�ll just stick with the one

with the fastest flash sync.

I have never used the software from any of these cameras I just use

photoshop and mac photo view so I can�t say about the software.

I generally treat my cameras like crap and this one feels like it will hold up like

the rest of them though it is small it is not that light.

If you are a pentax dude and want access to all those lenses I�d get this

camera now.

E-mail me if you want to see some specific stuff.

Good Luck!

Shannon