Originally posted by Raylon How much money are you going to throw into lenses? Also, what kind of lenses do you want? Want big zooms? Pentax goes bye-bye for that. Want wides and good primes? Well you aren't going to find WR of those for Pentax either, just the 18-50 WR which is good but not great. Ever want a flash system? Pentax is ok, Nikon is amazing.
And to honestly compare ruggedness situation of the cameras. Say you go hiking, and you drop the D7000 on a rock from 4 feet, its going to break. But the plastic may be the part to break, not some vital internals. So if its just the plastic, its a cheap fix. But let's say you drop the K-5 from 4 feet on a rock. It's going to break too, no doubt about it. But you probably just broke either the magnesium body or some vital internals . So it's going to have to be fixed also with a big pricetag. Nikon support here in US is a lot more available that Pentax's due to the huge fanbase. Just some things to think about.
Although I'm not experienced with lots of different DSLRs, I have to say that I don't agree with your logic. By your logic I should get the cheaper constructed camera because both WILL break in the same situation (which may or may not be true). I've read (and seen photos) of some of the full magnesium alloy Nikons taking some pretty brutal falls and although the outer casing cracked, the magnesium alloy casing and internals survived and the camera continued to function normally. Granted, those situations might've been "luck" but it was the magnesium alloy case that saved the camera from expensive repair costs. Plastic wouldn't have fared so well.
In regards to lenses, I'm not looking at getting anything really spectacular or anything. I'm just a hobbyist at this point. I'd likely get the WR lenses covering 18-200mm then a few primes or something (that I don't mind aren't WR). In the future, I might want a flash system but I'm sure what's out there will be fine for my needs.
If I outgrow all of that, I'd assume it's because I'm going to make a serious profession out of it . Which, at that point (several years down the road), I probably won't have a problem investing in an entirely new setup.
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At this point, my plan is to get the K-5 body in 3-4 weeks and just stick with my K-X 18-55mm kit lens until the following month. Then I'll probably pick up the 18-55 WR and 50-200mm WR unless the 18-135 WR actually turns out being worth the hefty price. Then the following month I'll look at getting one or two lenses like the 50mm 1.4 or 1.7, etc.
One thing I'm not looking forward to is the fact that the K-5 will need the base grip attachment so I can use AAs with it. I loved that the K-X used AAs and I bought a bunch of eneloops so I'd like to be able to keep using those. $200 for the base grip is kinda *ouch though, lol.