Great little package that I found easy to use as a cheap travel camera. It's light, quality is pretty good and pretty ergonomic

No spot metering

Buy it as a beginner or as a safe second body if you are a Pentax fan, which I am...

Customer Service

Never tried but Pentax's site sucks

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Hard to say, I have a Rolleiflex SL35e and TLR which are not in the same league

Very good automatic Focusing,Lightweight, great price.

Im a begainner and I have no idea to make my pictures come out with out becoming blurry.

Very excellent camera especially for the money but I just wish I knew how to use the darn thing but the manual doesnt have anything aboutit.

Customer Service

The guy At Ritz Camera was a complete jerk to me.

Similar Products Used:

none

It is categorized as a 'beginner' auto focus slr, and that's what it is. I love this camera. I've only ever had manual focus Minoltas and this camera is so effortless to operate, it's silly. Capable of manual control over focusing, exposure, flash cut-off, everything the beginner AND advanced could want. Very responsive auto focusing and auto flash gives excellent lighting. Very light body and lens to carry around.

Haven't seen any yet. I agree with Jody from NZ... the auto flash does tend to pop up when you don't need it, but is easily cut off with the turn of the program ring.

EXCELLENT CAMERA FOR ANYONE. This is a terrific value for the first time AF camera owner, the beginning photographer, or even an advanced photographer. You can't go wrong with the deals you can get on kits from a mail order house.

Customer Service

No need yet.

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None

Great camera, the meter is always correct. Green mode works great when you need fast shots of those ounce in a life time moments. Very light and easy to operate. Love the eposure compensation feature wich allows me to get creative without having to go into full manual mode. AF fast and always on target.

No place for PC cord without having to purchase a hot shoe adapter. No DOF preview.

Great camera for someone just getting into photography and some one with more advanced skills. The people at Samys were great, great price too. Considering getting a second one as backup. Had lots of compliments form loyal Canon users.

Customer Service

Spoke to one of Pentax customer service reps. just before buying and was very helpfull in making sure I was getting a good product (not gray market).

Similar Products Used:

contax SLR (very old), Nikon,Vivtar, Canon

Just finished my 4th roll and I was quite pleased with a wide variety of shots. Easy to use in auto and manual modes.

None found

I've hd the camera fr 45 days and shot over 100 pictures and everything has been perfect. Can't find a problem or complaint.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon Z85 and older olimpus SLR.

great variety of functions for the price. i love bein able to go from completely auto to fully manual. it's the best slr camera in the $300 price range. i love the viewfinder diopter! my eyes aren't all that good, and i lost my glasses, so it really helps.

doesn't have multi-level focusing like the canons' do. manual mode is little annoying to me, since i'm use to a really old manual camera. i'm use to turning the dials.

great camera, esp. for the price. i shopped around for a long time....and this is the best bang for the buck. it's comparable to much higher priced camera's. a buy you won't regret!

Customer Service

none yet, but i agree that the pentax's website isn't to great or helpful on info.

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25 year old nikon (took awesome pictures)

features, ease of use, compatibility with some older lenses

cannot uses M-lenses, viewfinder is somewhat dim, non-metal mount,

I borrowed the other cameras years ago and wanted to try something different. This one is of cheaper build, but has quality. Not for the pro, but would serve well as a backup Pentax. Very user friendly and easy to learn. I mostly use aperture mode and manual, when using a 283 flash, and I'm pretty well satisfied with the results.

Customer Service

haven't needed

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EOS 650, Maxxum 9000i

Very light and easy to use, with more creative controls as you grow as a photographer.

Few accessories such as teleconverters.

As a beginning photographer, I feel that this is a great camera. As I advance, I feel that I will probably switch to another brand such as Nikon or Canon. This is because of the lack of accessories that are needed in outdoor photography.

Customer Service

Haven't needed yet.

Similar Products Used:

none

Lightweight,
Metering system is easy to read.
Max shutter speed 1/2000 sec
Can be used as point-and-shoot for the "Can you take a picture of us" times.

auto flash tends to pop up when you don't need it. Lens cap can be tricky to reinstall. Hunts while focasing.

I am very pleased with this camera. The lens quailty is very high. It has the abilty to be used by an amatuer and or a pro with a turn of a dial. Just bought a Sigma 70-300. Nice combination. This is my first SLR camera and seems to be a good choice.

Customer Service

None yet. We all hope that we don't need it, right.

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Minolta X-700

EASY controls, nice LED screen, user-friendly light meter & viewfinder display, nice arrangement of full auto & semi-auto controls for beginners. EXCELLENT VALUE FOR THE BEGINNER PHOTOGRAPHER!

Light meter & viewfinder display sometimes difficult to read in bright light; would like to see more metal in lens mount.

I chose this camera after exhaustive research made while attending an introductory photography class last year. I settled on this model because of value (price paid included Pentax 35-80 f/3.5-5.6 lens), light weight (for backpacking trips and general easy carrying), and flexibility of use. I've used it in all conditions, including Northern Michigan winter camping trips and it has performed flawlessly. The autofocus works great, there is a nice variety of shutter speeds, and the Pentax accessories are of similar high quality.
Most of my shots are taken outdoors and I work almost exclusively on manual mode. The other modes (especially the "green mode") can offer you some assurance when handing your camera to a non-photographer in order to get yourself in a frame.
This camera takes GREAT pictures and I've been quite happy with it. As I grow into more serious photography (i.e., spending big bucks on a pro-SLR) it will likely remain in my bag as a ready and able back-up.

Customer Service

Not an issue.

Similar Products Used:

Old Minolta manual SLR (borrowed).