Nice pictures Brian, Peg, and BillT. I especially like the Colt.
No camera stores locally or nearby anymore. Had one here for decades, but it closed before the net took off.
I would suggest getting a couple of smaller memory cards rather than one large 128GB. All the eggs in the same basket thing.
I just bought a Pentax DSLR with crop sized sensor and haven't even used it yet or finished reading the owners manual. I was torn between that and an Olympus micro 4/3 camera. In the early 80's I bought an Olympus OM-1 SLR and three prime Zuiko lenses, and later a Zuiko telephoto zoom lens, used.
Had to do a lot of brushing up on the digital stuff, and have lots more to go. What I liked about both the Pentax and Olympus cameras I was looking at was that both had Image Stabilization (IS) built into the camera body instead of the lenses. Additionally both had some weather resistance built in and weather resistant lenses are available. Both had an operating range down to 14° F whereas many digital cameras are only rated down to 32° F. Weather resistance (WR) and colder operating temperatures may not be a factor for you in AZ, but dust might be. In Michigan the WR and lower operating temperature makes sense to me.
On of the reasons I wet with the Pentax over Olympus is that the Pentax is a SLR with an optical throug the lens viewfinder as well as a screen. Some cameras do not.
Additionally virtually all older Pentax K-mount legacy lenses will work on the DSLR Pentax cameras. They won't work in a fully automatic mode, but will work in manual mode. I think the only way the legacy OM Zuiko lenses will work on the current Oly camera are in manual mode with an adapter that Olympus no longer makes, but third party and aftermarket adapters are available for OM series Zuiko lenses to Micro 4/3 and OM to Pentax K-mount.
I may still get an Olympus micro 4/3 camera also.
Brian, what are your thoughts on the different sensor sizes, FF, crop, 4/3, etc. and using legacy lenses with adapters?
I had an OM1 I loved, too! In good light all sensor sizes will give you really good results. If you're using the camera in really low light (high ISO), or are making huge prints or are cropping a stupid amount, then larger sensors are generally better than smaller sensors.
Some people endlessly debate this camera vs. that camera, this sensor vs. that sensor. What they tend to not do is go out and take photos. Enjoy what you have. Pentax makes some fine cameras and lenses (as do Olympus, Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Sony, Panasonic...).
As far as lenses go, we still think of everything in terms of 35mm. With all the different sensor sizes out there, it gets confusing. For instance, a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera is considered a "normal" lens. About the same field of view as the naked eye. On a 4/3rds sensor a normal lens would be about 25mm, and on an APS-C sensor camera (your Pentax) normal would be around a 35mm lens. I could go into the math, but even my eyes glaze over when I do.
This is why most lenses are thought of in terms of 35mm equivalence. This makes it easier for our little brains to process. So that 25mm micro 4/3rds lens is said to be "50mm equivalent." This also leads to a lot of arguing and hand-wringing on the internet by people who spend more time arguing and hand-wringing than photographing. Come to think of it, camera people are a lot like gun people.
It ends up that if you like telephoto (bringing things closer) it's easier to do on a crop sensor camera. A 300mm lens on your Pentax will give you an image that would require a 450mm lens on a 35mm sensor camera. Cool, eh? Unfortunately, wide angle is harder to do with a smaller sensor for the same reason.
Legacy lenses on digital cameras. Cool, awesome, neat! Unfortunately those lenses are designed to be used with film, and digital sensors capture light a lot differently. Most analog lenses give pretty crappy results on digital cameras.
Sorry to blather on. It's late and I should be in bed now.
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