Pentax K10D, Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC Macro, ISO 1600, 1/8, f2.8@17mm
A recent sale of $20 film bodies at the Henry’s Outlet as they prepare to move to the wilderness of Mississauga has resulted in my acquiring a bunch of kit for almost no money over the last 2 months. Most specifically I’ve added a pair of Nikon bodies, a pair of Minolta Maxxum bodies, an OM body and a K mount body. This is WAY too much kit, especially since my use of 35mm SLR’s is actually down since getting the Bessa R. So some of this stuff has to go.
First on the list is the K mount stuff. I really like the idea of shooting Pentax. It’s good simple gear with great lenses. The practicalities continue to elude me, as the cameras are rough rather than refined, the lens selection plentiful but very limited in options and the two things I really like are available or usable in other mounts (Cosina SLR bodies, M42 Takumars). So my two K mount bodies are getting sold, as are the two lenses. I’ll keep my KA Adaptall-2 mount, but for now it’s going to be permastacked and functioning as a 4/3rds AD2 mount.
Next up is deciding what to do with my AF Nikon stuff. I’ve pretty much decided that the OM kit will stay as it’s small, inobtrusive and offers unique capabilities (Selectable spot metering on manual, mechanical body). As to AF kit, I pretty clearly prefer the more refined Minolta stuff over my Nikon AF stuff, the 700si in particular just fits my hand perfectly. The big kicker is do I keep the F2a. It’s big and clunky compared to the FM2n or FM10, but so well built and the viewfinder is gorgeous. Gonna have to cut somewhere though, 5 bodies and 5 lenses is a little ridiculous, 2 bodies and 5 lenses makes more sense.
