K 10 dee

[dee]

Yes , it's me again !

I had an opportunity for a couple of hours with my Pentax K 10 , and am begining to get to grips with it , I also compared the size with my old Minolta 7000i - Haven't SLRs GROWN !

The results are mixed . The great boon is being able to bracket shots and to really learn instantly how such an exposure etc works or doesn't [ this was merely a test after all ] and how well i work with it !

It certainly needs a big handbag , no way am I using a camera bag - not my scene

I found myself using auto to check the ambient light , then switching to manual usually on centre weighted , whic I am more accustomed to , and can predict more accurately .I do find that the Leica M 8 meter is more likely to give a satisfactory result , but I am begining to wonder if the Leica somehow has an extended dynamic range over the less-than-a-fifth-of-the-cost-with-free-lense Pentax - hardly a fair comparison .

Having said that , I was as impressed by the budget zoom as I was surprised by a Minolta zoom on my cheap 1997 Minolta 400si .

The pics are excellent , last time I was taking in very low light and was concerned the Leica can do this relatively easily . Pictures do tend to need a little tweaking on the mac to make them as I recall them [ a long term reversal user , I am still adverse to doing stuff outside the camera !

Some reviewer [ somewhat over enthusiatically , maybe , but with graet deliberation likened the K 10 to a Nikon D 200 @ Nikon D 80 price , I took this with a pinch of salt ... but I wonder ... ]

I really like the camera , and it was intriguing to see the deeficlty I had with the zoom and focus change , which plagued my ASdee vision in the past - it still does cause a kind of break up in my mind , but now , I know what it is , I am slowing down , and being more deeliberate , so that the alterations [ and mind altercations ] are less pronounced .

I forgot to take the manual with me , so I had yet to work out how to set manual focusing , but I believe that I will prefer that in most cases - but the point and shoot fall back is not to be ignored too !

I was also relearning the old trick of fixing focus and holding the camera away so that I could align the image , but was looking over it , to capture the moment .

This is not necessary with the Leica 'cos the entire view is ever visible - ut I do it all the same sometimes .

i had live view on my 1st Digibox Canon G 2 - which , incidently , I still appreciate , 'cos it's like a familiar rangefinder , so was a great introduction to pixellated pics .

But I really do not miss it on an SLR or a rangefinder - I find it awkward to hold the camera away to see the screen any way , but the last thing I need is the deestraction of a computer screen lighting up to spoil the deelusion of using a CAMERA !

This was kinda an intriduction to a DSLR to complement my M 8 - with a long term view of wasting the rest of my inheritance on a '' bettter '' Nikon D 300 ...

Now I am not so sure that any '' better DSLR '' will in any way improve my snapshooting ...

whereas , a PanaLeica box DSLR , rather like my M 8 , would outlive any of the rapid adavances in technology , simply 'cos the interface and style / feel is so 50s and natural to me ... it's just having no proper inexpensive wide angle lenses with an aperture ring ...

If Leica really wanted this to work , a limited series of manual 28 / 50 / 75 equivalent lenses should have been launched alongside a body only option .

MOST OF ALL , HOWEVER , THE LEICA IIIC AND ZORKI TRIBUTES OPENED UP A WORLD WHICH ALL- AUTO SLRS HAD MADE TOO DEESTURBING FOR ME .
MY LEICA M 8 TRANSLATED THIS NEW BEGINING INTO PIXELS - AND NOW , THANKS TO MY K 10 , I CAN OVERCOME THE VERY '' MIND BLINDNESS '' WHICH MODERN SLRS CREATED ... AND ESCAPE INTO MY LITTLE PIECE OF THE WORLD ONCE AGAIN .

THIS IS PRICELESS .

dee