Howdy!!

[Outofocus]

Just wanted to stick my nose in here and say hello!
I'm glad to have stumbled across this forum. Digital photography is still pretty new to me, but I'm about ready to jump into it with both feet. Gotta admit though I'm stuck between a rock and a hard spot tying to decide between a Pentax K20D and Canon EOS 40D. Either side of my brain can make a case for either one of them. Leanin' toward the Pentax though and hoping this forum can give the nudge I need!!
In the meanwhile I'll just remain,

Outofocus

[Tom S.]

If you search the web, you will find supporters of both. An awful lot of this is subjectivity. The old "So and so owns this, so it must be the best". To be objective, I will offer some thoughts that I don't think anyone can dispute.

Canon offers better availability. What I mean is walk into any photo store, and you'll find their products. To a certain degree, the web negates this advantage, but if you want to physically handle/inspect an item before purchasing, the advantage is Canon's.

Pentax offers better pricing/value. By this I mean that not only are their current compatible products usually cheaper (sometimes a lot cheaper), but because Pentax has backward compatibility on their lenses, you have a lot more to choose from, at excellent prices. The exception to this is third party lenses. Sometimes retailers sell third party lenses cheaper for Canon mounts than Pentax mounts because they sell more of them and thus get a better discount on them. Note that I said sometimes, because it's not always the case.