This post serves as the first to this new blog. I will be reporting here about all things photography related.
It will be strongly Pentax oriented, as this is the brand that I have been using ever since I started in SLR photography.
I will start with a post explaining my background in photography.
My first steps were with my dad's Pentax P50. After that (in 1989) I got me a Pentax SFXn and things got really rolling. During my years at university I used it only on very short trips, but once working for real and thus on a larger budget I got to travel more frequently and my SFXn got put to the test. Dust, water, mud for 15 years and it kept going. Ok, twice the electronics needed repairs and once the film transport. The final break down on my first Zambia trip made me think about going digital after having seen the advantages. Pentax didn't offer anything within what I considered my budget (the *istD was out a long time, but not easily available and still a bit expensive), but I discovered rumours on a forum I discovered around that time. The forum was to become as close to a favourite pub as an internet forum can be, and the rumours concerned the then still to be released *istDS. I decided to stick to the SFXn another few months, taking it to Guatemala for a last and favourite series. AF had given up on me, but still the SFXn took me some great shots.
10 december 2004 marked an important date in my photography past. That's the day I got me a Pentax *istDS, my first digital camera and a renewal of my love for photography for real. The Zambia and Guatemala trips had me working with photography more than before (shooting more than I used to and scanning my own slides for more extensive post processing), but digital proved a real revolution. Almost two years later, and I am now taking a photography degree, my lens collection has gone times 4, and I am breathing photography on a daily basis. The Pentax SLR Talk forum at DPReview has been a major player in this and a wonderful resource for information and friendship.
I am close to leaving on a trip to Costa Rica now, which will see the last use of the *istDS as a primary camera. I have pre-ordered the new K10D, which has weather sealing and SR as two features that would have served well in the dark wet world of the Costa Rican jungle. But its market release being a bit later than anticipated, the K10D will be a nice end-of-year toy and the DS will have to survive the humidity supported by the Manfrotto monopod. I will report on its performance during the trip if I find internet access...
Well, that should do as a first post to get this blog going...
cya!! Wim
