I was surprised to discover today that apart from this cameraphone pic taken last September I don’t have any shots of the Pentax K100D without my face attached to it.

I tried to be very Buddhist and non-materialistic about the whole thing, but I did feel some pangs when I sold my Pentax digital gear today: Pentax K100D body, four lenses, the flash, and various accessories such as batteries, SD memory cards, and the remote control. I sold the whole kit-and-caboodle to a good home nearby — another Pentax enthusiast, actually — and now my very first DSLR can be enjoyed by someone else. I’m still a Pentax user at heart since I’m keeping my K1000 and its manual-focus lenses (also shared by the Chinon CE-4). I’m not ready to part with my film cameras!

I told the new owner the Pentax K100D has seen quite a bit of the world during the 23 months in my possession, especially considering I haven’t shot with it for the past six months since I bought the Nikon D300. In 16 months, it’s travelled to Iceland, France, Morocco, Spain, England, Norway, Germany, Nova Scotia, BC, Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, and around Ontario. It’s been in a lot of aircraft, including a helicopter! It’s not ready for retirement yet, but it’s definitely seasoned.

Nobody forgets their first, I don’t think, not even their first DSLR!