Bruce Dayton

I Started photography at the age of 16. My father started me with a Practica SLR and 50mm lens. The camera was a fully manual match needle system. I learned the mechanics of photography with this camera. Later, I tried a Canon A-1 (didn't like the lack of match needle metering), an Olympus OM-1 (liked it quite a bit) and then found the need for visibility of metering in dim environments. My search led me to Pentax and the MX. This was just about my ideal camera. I took some of the New York Institute of Photography courses shortly after getting married with the thought of turning professional. In the end, this didn't work out and I embarked into the computer industry and became a programmer. After the MX, I eventually got a Super Program. I appreciated the TTL flash metering of the body and my wife appreciated the automatic modes. Years went by and I found myself once more interested in photography beyond a hobby. I have been very happy with Pentax so stuck with it as I used several other bodies (ZX-10, ZX-M, PZ-1p, MZ-S, *ist) and then switched over to shooting medium format as I started shooting weddings and portraits. For this work I chose a pair of Pentax 67II bodies and an assortment of lenses. I kept these until the *istD digital SLR came into the market. After some initial work with the *istD, I sold my medium format gear and started shooting Pentax Digital gear. As weddings have been a steady thing for me, I ended up with a pair of *istD bodies and an assortment of lenses. As soon as the K10D was released, I picked up one of them and have been very excited by the capabilities of this new body.