Quote Originally Posted by String682 View Post
Hello All,
I'm Ken from Atlanta. Joined the group in hopes of finding advice on putting to use an old bag of K-mount lens I still have. I also still have my original Pentax Me-Super from the early 80's, when I use to shoot for my high school newspaper and yearbook, even had my own darkroom back then.
Photography has always been a life long hobby and I enjoy shooting a wide variety of subjects. For now, I would like to use my old K-mount lenses again and looking for a camera body under $500. Currently debating between the K-01, K-X, and X-5.
Hey, welcome! Not too many Pentax people here but I shoot Pentax. I made the same jump from ME Super to digital and I went with a K-x. I have now added a K-5. I had the 135/2.5 and a 50/1.7 and used them both on modern bodies. They will seem longer on digital due to the smaller sensor. You have to multiply by 1.5 to find the 35mm equivalent field of view. You also have to enable a setting in the menus to allow for use of the aperture ring. Finally if they are M or K lenses you have to stop down meter using the green button. If they are A lenses you can control aperture from the camera and metering works more normally. It's nice to be able to use those old lenses but new ones with fast AF and all the new coatings sure are nice too.
The K-01 is an amazing bargain now and if you want to spend the least get that. It's image quality is up there with the SLRs. But you have to live without a viewfinder which is tough for someone used to one.
The K-x is a good reliable camera with very good image quality too. The viewfinder is reasonably nice and it's still pretty compact. It runs on AA batteries which can be a plus or minus. I got Eneloop rechargables for mine and they work great. The biggest drawback of the K-x is no illuminated focus points in the viewfinder.
My main camera now is a K-5. It's great but out of your budget new.

You might find a K-30 or even a K-5 close to $500 used if you look around. A PentaxForums.com has nenver a $550 K-5 posted right now with 20k actuations. Those are a big leap from the K-x in features. Both are sealed too.