Andy: > Thanks. Seen that and others plus magazines, etc. but usually they do not talk > about the camera as one that might be useful as a basic teaching tool. For > example, hardly anyone would recommend that someone buy a K1000 because many > pro cameras have more and better features, etc. a seriously underrated camera the K1000 (and the KX :-) http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistd/ reviews the Pentax Digi and notes that "The *ist D has a the same six megapixel (Sony ICX413AQ) sensor used in the Nikon D100, it has a Pentax K lens mount and supports K, KA, KAF and KAF2 lenses. It is also possible to use screw mount lenses, 645 and 67 series lenses with an adapter." nice to know that pentax is STILL maintaining customer loyalty through the mount even after all these years :-) These cameras handle well, are small and feel durable. The market has ignored them though as the advertising campaign has been less than Canon and Nikon's carpet bombing style but customers who have bought them have been quietly happy. I'd like to suggest they are a camera worth adding to your 'maybe list' ? ..and the > intent with these cameras would be to provide to one of the freshman classes a > basic camera that would not have all the features one might dream of but which > would provide the basis for instruction and learning about digital capture and > output, etc. Much like the K1000 ... but is the Rebel soo flimsy that students > will destroy them in a week? The lens so bad that it is useless? The capability > just totally limited so no exploration of digital "stuff" is possible? the Rebel is a fragile camera and I'd be wary of student handling. Having 2 Nikon D100's trashed already though, even a robust camera obviously is at risk Also of note is that given the fragile and high tech nature of digitals, they tend to *have* to be seen as disposable. Admittedly there are fewer moving parts but that doesn't count for much when put into the hands of a repairer for a quote :-( > It would be great (well, maybe not from an educational pov) to equip everyone > with the top of the line camera available every other week it seems. But is > there something that is more stable and which has the essence of what is > prudent to have to get to know the system? Is the Rebel close to this is sort > of the question. I'd suggest not. unless you are prepared to accept the diposable nature in which case cheaper may be better. We bought 15 Pentax MS-M's (the manual version of the newer film cameras) at my former college against my better advice, 2 remained serviceable after two years compaied to the aging fleet of K1000's, of which 16 remained of the 20 bought 15 years back. (One Nikkormat remained functional of the 15 bought) the main issue with the Pentax MZ-M's was inept handling leading to broken knobs from being forced, drops and trashed shutters from film chips or sticky fingers. none of the repairs were cost effective and replacement cameras were cheaper.. damn. there's little left available for low end users who want *robust* these days sorry dude karl
