Hello all.
This is my first post, so I will give a little info. I started being interested in photography 2 years ago after a received a digital compact as a gift. Since then I have slowly become more and more emersed in this "hobby." I have been wading through several digital photography books the last few months
I am at a point where I have outgrown my existing camera and would like to upgrade to a digital slr. My current camera is a kodak z650, which, while it has gotten crummy reviews, was a nice camera to learn on. I look some great pics within the last two years, and I even have firends and family members asking to buy some of my photos and for me to do portraits. I feel I have "maxed out" what that camera can do in the form of manual adjustment (i was suprised it had PASM controls, white balance, etc.).
I do not know where my "hobby" is going to lead, but I know it is definately going to steadily consume more of my time and resources. As far as types of photos, I love taking colorful landscape photos, esp. at night, in addition to B&W photos. I have lately started to get into macro photos. I do not anticipate getting into hardcore sports photography.
I basically want a dslr that is easy to use but has the capability to grow with me as my interests do. Price is also an issue, so i am looking at the entry levels.
After doing exhaustive internet research I narrowed my choice of DSLRs down to 2: the Nikon D40 and the Pentax K100D Super. I am all but sold on the Pentax, and am basically posting here to make sure I didn't miss anything or to be "talked out of" getting this. Based on my research, I think the Pentax by far is a better bang for the buck. Please let me know if I missed anything:
The Pentax seems to get very high ratings consistenly, although it is not as well-known as nikon or cannon. The pextax has has many more features than the Nikon equivilenent including 1) anti-shake---which makes nighttime picutes much easier; 2) auto dust removal; 3) 11 point focus (Nikon has 3); 4) backwards + third party lens compatibility (Nikon can only be used on new, special Nikon lenses; and 4) includes pro photo editing software (Nikon charges $150 extra). Nikon does have a much easier to use menu and a newbie "training mode" that graphically explains what the features do. However, the nikon camera is very small and my fingers flubbed all over the buttons, it has limited manual features, and is limited to fancy nikon lens upgrades. As to picture quality, it seems pretty equal, enthusiasts on both sides claim to have slightlky better image quality, but they both seem to take very nice, crisp images. The Pentax has a steel body frame, whereas the cannon and nikon are all plastic. The Nikon takes double AAs, and lithium CRV3, while both nikon and cannon require proprietary rechargeable lithium batteries.
The only thing I am concerned over is I have heard the menu on the pentax is not very userfriendly and confusing to newbies.
Any advice, correction are appreciated. And in advance I will apologize for not using the search function,
Thank you