newbee

[jimrodman]

Hi everyone I have just joined this message board.

I injoy photography as a hobby, and use a Pentax Spotmatic film camera.
I would like to move over to digital, photoing.
Looking at a Canon sx100is / s5is camera.

Is there someone that has knowage about coverting my SLR Pentax camera (with screw mount lenses ) over to bayonet mounts? I have seen an enter level Pentax K110D???
Thoughts about this way of going, good , bad , indifferent.

jim from Ontario

[AlexMonro]

Hi Jim, and welcome!

I believe there are adapters available to enable you to use your M42 screw mount lenses on the K110D. You'll also need to set the K110D to the correct mode to support stop down metering. Pentax probably have the best support of any manufacturer for old lenses. Also, due to the sensor of the K110D being smaller than a 35mm film frame, the field of view will be reduced, giving the effect of multiplying the focal length by 1.5 - the so-called "crop factor". You might want to invest in a new wide angle lens if that suits your style of photography. All in all, looks like a good move for you, but you might also consider the K100D, with built in Shake Reduction.

The Canon S5IS is a good all round ultrazoom, though can be a bit noisy in low light. The SX100IS doesn't have any form of viewfinder, just the rear LCD, which I regard as a serious limitation. The Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) of the S5IS is fine for static shots, but the lag can make following moving subjects a bit more tricky than you're used to with the Spotmatic.