It's impossible for me to say what I'd tell a beginner to start with specifically. It depends on the particular beginner. However, sadly, it would most likely not be Pentax gear for reasons that have to do with a) lack of local availability, and b) my own misgivings about their QA and consistency.
(My personal history in cameras was very diverse, but basically I started with a Rolleiflex TLR, and mostly had Nikon and Leica gear, although a lot of Olympus and other makes as well. Always liked the Olympus gear. Pentax was there for me late in the game and I had a good run with it for a few years, and I've got a ton of other stuff still, but I'm mostly back to Leica and Olympus, replacing Nikon, now.) But Larry's question—if all my camera gear was stolen, what would I replace it with—I've given some thought to. I've accreted a lot of equipment now, both film and digital, and a pleasing bit of it was given to me. If it were *all* stolen now and the insurance folks handed me a blank check to replace it ... - Leica M digital (M9, M, or MM ... likely MM) with 28, 50, 90 mm lenses. - Olympus E-M1 with exactly what I have now or maybe the equivalent lenses all in Micro-FourThirds mount - Hasselblad SWC + 500CM kit just as I have it now - Polaroid SX-70 and Spectra Pro In other words, I'd want what I have now back again. It's the end result of all these years of buying and selling equipment, using equipment, and it does what I want. Even if some of it I use only infrequently. To compensate the rest of what I have now ... uh, I'll keep the cash and use it to go traveling, thank you! ;-) G On Oct 19, 2013, at 2:34 PM, Larry Colen <[email protected]> wrote: > I will change the question somewhat. > All of your camera gear has been stolen, but the insurance company has given > you a check to replace it with the brand new equivalent, or good quality used > for fear that is no longer made. How would you spend your money replacing > your kit. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
