New Camera
Just bought the Pentax K-x to replace my broken and very very much loved and missed Canon Rebel EOS 300d. The shutter went on the Cannon, after many months of sounding a little off, and the estimate to fix it > the value of the camera.
So I went for a "next generation" camera - that is my opinion on these things. Specifically, I wanted camera-body image stabilization (James just got this on a point and shoot for $100 - Canon and Nikon refuse to put it on their cameras so you buy their stupidly overpriced IS lenses. Jackassery) and HD movie capability. These, in my opinion, are the next generation features which set the Pentax apart from my old Canon. The pixel count is pointless - I have printed off many pics from the Canon at 2ft x 3ft. If I start doing billboards, maybe pixels will matter again. Instead, it has features like high-dynamic-range burst mode, which I will be using a fair deal, rapid burst mode and a big ISO range. And yes - I got it in white.
Courtesy of my brother James, I also got a 500mm lens. Now, 500mm lenses come in three forms: crazy expensive ($2000+), mirrored (crap - but compact and cheap), and the telescope variety. The last is made by a number of different asian companies, and have the advantage of much better optics than mirrored lenses, but physically, they are awkward. The one I just got is over a foot long. And the closest focal distance? About 70ft. No macro here. It is a basic telescope with a aperture ring and a camera mount.
Now here is the cool part. The lens comes with a 2x converter, giving you 1000mm but reducing quality. I also bought a (universal) 2x converter for the Pentax, which gives 2000mm. Then, because consumer digital SLR cameras use the APS-C sensor size, you then multiply that by 1.6. The result? A 3200mm lens.
For reference, that is about 100x human eyesight, and thus would be roughly 100x on a point and shoot or camcorder. Even the 'regular' 500mm setup--which should have good optics--will be 800mm, or to put it another way, friggin ginormous.
Look for me this winter perched on top of a ridgeline with my white Pentax, 800mm lens shooting HD vids of my bros/friends ripping pow lines down the opposite slope. Going to be sick...
So I went for a "next generation" camera - that is my opinion on these things. Specifically, I wanted camera-body image stabilization (James just got this on a point and shoot for $100 - Canon and Nikon refuse to put it on their cameras so you buy their stupidly overpriced IS lenses. Jackassery) and HD movie capability. These, in my opinion, are the next generation features which set the Pentax apart from my old Canon. The pixel count is pointless - I have printed off many pics from the Canon at 2ft x 3ft. If I start doing billboards, maybe pixels will matter again. Instead, it has features like high-dynamic-range burst mode, which I will be using a fair deal, rapid burst mode and a big ISO range. And yes - I got it in white.
Courtesy of my brother James, I also got a 500mm lens. Now, 500mm lenses come in three forms: crazy expensive ($2000+), mirrored (crap - but compact and cheap), and the telescope variety. The last is made by a number of different asian companies, and have the advantage of much better optics than mirrored lenses, but physically, they are awkward. The one I just got is over a foot long. And the closest focal distance? About 70ft. No macro here. It is a basic telescope with a aperture ring and a camera mount.
Now here is the cool part. The lens comes with a 2x converter, giving you 1000mm but reducing quality. I also bought a (universal) 2x converter for the Pentax, which gives 2000mm. Then, because consumer digital SLR cameras use the APS-C sensor size, you then multiply that by 1.6. The result? A 3200mm lens.
For reference, that is about 100x human eyesight, and thus would be roughly 100x on a point and shoot or camcorder. Even the 'regular' 500mm setup--which should have good optics--will be 800mm, or to put it another way, friggin ginormous.
Look for me this winter perched on top of a ridgeline with my white Pentax, 800mm lens shooting HD vids of my bros/friends ripping pow lines down the opposite slope. Going to be sick...
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