Originally Posted by tparker
(snip) It's Pentax. It has a long history, but the top contenders these days are Canon and Nikon, hands down. What does Pentax have now that is superior to Nikon?
Of course, since this really isn't a contest, there are no contenders. Both (Nikon D40 and Pentax K100D) are fine cameras, with both nearly equal in image quality, performance, and standard features. However, since I now consider shake reduction (image stabilization) a necessity well beyond mere convenience, that would be the deciding factor for me. Since this is built into the K100D, versus only available with some Nikon lenses, the Pentax would clearly have to be my choice.
Buffer memory. Continuous shots aren't up to par with the D40.
Since you'll seldom be presented with
good photo opportunities exceeding the capabilities of either of these cameras, this specification is, for all practical purposes, insignificant.
Lens quality. Nikkor glass is great, but I'm mostly unfamiliar with Pentax lenses.
And since there are minimal differences in quality between brand-name lenses built today, this is also fairly insignificant. In spite of what some might say, it's virtually, if not utterly, impossible to distinguish between images taken with a modern Canon, Pentax, or Nikon lens.
I posted a thread back in January when I really began researching these two cameras. Obviously, I still haven't come to a solid decision
If you haven't reached a decision after nine months of research, I seriously doubt there is anything that can be said at this point to truly facilitate that.
stewart