Just want to say hello,

[albreca]

Hi All,
i want to introduce myself first.
My name is Alex, i am living about 25 miles north from Vienna, Austria. I am 42 years old, with two nice daughters and my wife. We have a small zoo at home (4 cats, 1 rabbit, 1 guinea pig and a couple of fish in 2 aquariums)

I just got my new K100D with the help from all of you in this forum.

I read along here for about 2 monts and incorporated nearly any advice you all made for byuing a DLSR.
When i first thought of getting a DLSR, my decision was clear, i want a Nikon D40, small, cheap, easy to handle.
But after reading some reviews and a look at the current prices, i decided to go either with a K100D or an Olympus e-410.
Why those two: I have a small Olympus superzoom (C-725) for about 3 years now. It was a pretty decent camera to grow with. What i really missed is SR, wide angle and the possibilites for some manual adjustments (eg. longer exposures than 4 seconds).
The Oly looked nice , but without a 'grip' it was not c'very comfortable to carry and shoot.
So i bought the K100D.
Why not the Super: i think it will last years to afford a SDM lens and i think i can clean the sensor sometimes on my own, so i saved the money for some extra stuff (maybe lenses in the future - LBA sound very interisting.)
Why not wait on the K200D: I wanted it now and had the money(sold some company stock options)

I just started today with a DSLR, so i am not posting pics from today. The IQ looks impressive. (i realized now, i have to learn that much, but that will be fun with that gear.)

Oh, my favorite pictures are family (2 daughters and my wife),flowers in our garden, in winter time the birds, we feed in our garden, and nearly everything where you go with your family too. And if i could steal me away in the evening some nightshots of Vienna,

Maybe that message is long and sometimes confusing (hopping through my thoughts), but i am so excited about the new cam.

So at last, i want to thank you all again for your indirect advice.
by alex

btw. This forum has almost the nicest people, i found in any forum ( as i am an IT guy, i have read various forums for different things).

[DigitalAddict]

Welcome to this forum! We will be nice with you ... for a while:-)

Post some pics around your locale when you get a chance. I visited Vienna about 10 years ago: 5 sunny days in late October that are hard to forget.

[albreca]

Thanks for the nice welcome.
Until getting some pics from my locale will last for about 2 weeks.
I am flying to california on sunday for about weeks, unfortunatley a business trip and nit holidays.
I hope i'll get some nice pictures from California, (let's see, if i can handle the cam until next week:lol

alex

[Ken T]

Hello Albreca,

I'm also newbie here, juststop byand say hi to you .

Ken

[mtngal]

Greetings from sunny Southern California (don't think Northern California is as nice)! You should have a great time with your K100. As an aside, SDM lenses will still work with the K100, but they will use the in-camera motor. They won't be nearly silent like they are on the K10 or the Super, but they still take great pictures. I know because I have the DA*50-135 and use it on occasion with my K100.

[albreca]

Thanks Harriet, Ken
For the welcome.
Great to hear that SDM lenses work, only not as slient as they could be.
But as i said, i don't think i can afford a SDM lens in the near future.
Unfortunately the shop, where i bought the K100, is very pricey on the Tamron 70- 300, which i wanted too. So that lens has to wait until i am back from the US.

bye alex

[bilybianca]

A warm welcome from a fellow European. Never been to Austria though, but that will comesoon as the kids are approaching adulthood (a workmate, a little older than me, told me that the best pay rise you get in life is when the kids move out...:-)) So please post some photographic tourist propaganda...

Kjell

[DigitalAddict]

albreca wrote:

Thanks Harriet, Ken
For the welcome.
Great to hear that SDM lenses work, only not as slient as they could be.
But as i said, i don't think i can afford a SDM lens in the near future.
Unfortunately the shop, where i bought the K100, is very pricey on the Tamron 70- 300, which i wanted too. So that lens has to wait until i am back from the US.

bye alex

While in US you might consider buying some lenses. They are definitely cheaper here. The problem is that I am not sure which stores carry them over there. I know of Ritz Camera but not much else.

[albreca]

Thanks for the hint, i thought first on buying the whole cam in the US. Especially with the low change rate between dollar and euro now. But i decided to buy here, because Pentax does not do support on 'gray imports' here in Austria.

So i will have a look for some lenses, although they are not toll free, like cameras.
And i know, if i try to avoid the toll, they will pick me out :-). (It's almost the same with my former teachers, they always got me :-( )

bye alex.

[robar]

welcome alex,
we're an international forum. and you're right --we are nice--at least for awhile.. only thing you need to look out for is the dawg, it bites..:blah:

roy