Sorry - Relegated Manual K10d

I bought a close out [ i.e . reduced ] Pentax K10d when the 20d arrived and was able specifically to buy used manual K lenses 50 f1.7 , 28 f 2.8 , 80-200 zoom at £25 each from my local dealer !

To me , this seemed the ideal way to translate from film to digital on a budget . I could never afford such lenses in auto focus form .

I confess that I never quite got on with it , but the faster prime lenses are useful .

Obviously , I considered a later Pentax , to extend the system , and there are lighter and smaller bodies since the K10d !

However , handling the Nikon 3100 / 5100 , Pentax K5 etc , and equivalent Canon , only one cheap and cheerful entry level camera just felt perfect - the Sony A290 , reminiscent of my Minolta 404si .
It has such a clean uncluttered body devoid of all the dials of competitive cameras which suits my ASD ' lostness ' perfectly . It's also light and compact compared to the K10d .

I think that most of all , it creates a continuity from my Minoltas dating back to the SRt . I know this is an intangible element , but I never had the history of Pentax , it's just not familiar .
I also aspire to a Sony A580 body and 50mm f1.8 auto lens , which shares it's sensor with the K5 and Nikon 5100 , again 'cos it feels more ' right ' to me .

Of course so-called mild Autism affects this kind of familarity / safe-ness but I think that it is far too easy to fall for specs and reviews over the camera which fits an individual .

The Pentax system retains it's usefulness as a manual digi-box , but will be used alonside the Sony camera .

Hi Misdee, I'm happy to see you posting here on the Pentax forum. Sounds to me like you got a great deal, but as with everyone, it's the feel and response in ones own hands that determines how you are going to like a camera. I have both a Pentax ist*DL and Nikon D50. Both are similar "entry level" cameras, but to me, the Pentax is my favorite. I like the heavier build and the menus seem to be more intuitive for me. I must admit, I like the picture quality slightly better with Nikon, but it is really negligable. The point is, you have something you really like and you also have a great backup camera with some great manual lenses.
Oh and if you ever decide to get rid of the K10..My birthday is coming up soon...haha
Anyway, we would love to see some of your photos. Please post some. We're not picky about which camera you use.
Happy shooting!

not clear about this.

Ooh! I'm still releatively new to Pentax, but I adore it. I have a Pentax K-x (1 and a half years old) and I love it's ability to use much older lenses. My dad just got himself an K-r (BRIGHT blue) and has an old pentax lens from probably the earlyish 80s (certainly before my time) which I've borrowed from time to time in glee.