[OldPentaxFan]

I was still in college (1978) and on a pretty tight budget. The options were Minolta, Nikon and Pentax (I don't recall why I didn't consider Canon at the time). Price won out then but I've stuck with Pentax through the original K1000, an ME, an ME super, the MZ-S and the K10. (I still have the K1000 and use it on occaison, even though I have the MZ-S .)

The ease of use and comfortable feel of the cameras in my hands has kept me with it all these years, not to mention the great pictures these cameras have helped me take.

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Last edited by OldPentaxFan; 11-05-2012 at 02:49 PM. Reason: correcting typos

[ivanvernon]

Well, I do not have the Sears "Pentax" camera any longer, gave it to granddaughter for photography class. I am sure she looked a sight with about half-dozen film cannisters taped onto the straps of this old camera! I always thought it was a rebadged Pentax, particularly because it had the K mount of current day Pentax cameras. I still use some of the old Sears K mount lenses on my K-10 and K-20 digital cameras. I have not used any other Pentax film cameras except the Sears one, so have no real basis for comparison. Anyway, it was a durable old war horse, and served me very well for 15 years of travel, maybe 150,000 miles and maybe 300 rolls of film from African safaris to the Great Wall of China, from the Royal Palace Museum of Thailand to Lake Geneva in Switzerland. It taught me how to take photos the old fashioned way--use rule of thumb for sunshine and shutter and adjust up or down depending on your judgment of condition, no light meter, just hypothesizing! I never got any photos really off by more than one or maybe two stops, and then generally inside of a building when lighting judgment was off somewhat. That has carried forward somewhat, and one reason I have no problem using my "crippled" K-10 which will not auto-focus or set aperture. I do all of that on the old legacy lens and come up with passable results. For a manual shooter, digital is a marvelous invention--you can see your misjudgments right on the spot and take another stab at the same scene. Thanks for the information.

[Na Horuk]

I read a bunch of reviews for a week or two, and then finally decided on the K-r because it was the best bang for buck at that price point.

[audiobomber]

I read a bunch of reviews for a week or two, and then finally decided on the K-r because it was the best bang for buck at that price point.

Good point! I should have mentioned that I researched all competing entry-level DSLR cameras at DPR and random other sites before selecting the K100D Super. I remember there was a particularly good review at IR and it was a "Dave's Picks" winner for its category. IQ was better than the Rebel, and the DA 40 was crippled (no in-body motor). In the end, SR became a must-have for me. It helped that the camera was on sale locally for $450 with 18-55, and I was able to feel the solid build quality first hand.

[bdparker]

I studied B&W photography in my last year of secondary school in 1984, on a Pentax K1000. It wasn't until I travelled the East-cost of Australia (Melbourne to Cairns) that ignited my passion again for photography and I realised I need to move away from the P&S format and get into the DSLR realm. It took about 3 year of online research and comparison between all the major players (with my prior knowledge in Pentax), That I chose the Pentax K-7 as my starting point. It may have sounded like a big step to take, but with a tight budget and always looking 5 year ahead in terms of upgrades I took the plunge. Beside, my brain cells are digitally savvy and it wasn't going to be too much of a learning curve.

The three thing that did sway me were (1) Weather seals, (2) IBIS, (3) back-wards compatibility with the lenses I learnt with, and I have never regretted my choice.

[Docrwm]

When I decided to upgrade from P&S I read as much as I could about dSLRs. I had shot with Minolta SLRs mostly in the 1970s&80s and some with Nikon when using others equipment. A friend through HS and College had a Pentax SLR and loved it. Anyway, the reviews and number crunching led to the K-x about 2.5 years ago. The fact that Pentax supported all the K mount lenses and that they were stabilized was just astonishing to me. It's performance was the key but the clincher was the combination of getting top ergonomic ratings and taking AA batteries! The 2 lens kit (55-300 and 18-55) was rated highest and came in at <$700 with Eneloops Nothing that Nikon or Canon had could touch the combination of performance, stabilization for all lenses, and cost.