Originally posted by WorksAsIntended I would not call Canon the MCDonalds of camera market. I had recently a chance to see a few shots by the 28-70 f2.0. The other companies will have a really hard time beating those!
The 28-70mm f2 lens is superb. I shoot with it each time I have a paid job but I'm not going to buy it because it's very cheap to rent it and is heavy enough that I know I wouldn't use it for other things than paid jobs.
That being said, that lens is more like a statement which has nothing to do with photographers on a budget. A lot of people won't buy other lenses than 18-55mm, 50-200mm (or 70-300mm) and maybe a cheap 50mm f1.8. For this market it's a big battle and each company use different strategies and marketing campains to make people buy those cameras. Are those entry levels bad cameras? With good lenses, a little patience and proper technique you can get amazing results.
But, those cameras are not called entry level cameras for nothing either.
Pentax is far away (in the good way) than it was 5-6 years ago when I used Pentax. At that time there wasn't a full frame on the roadmap, there wasn't modern lenses like the f2.8 trinity, there wasn't third party manufacurers like Yongnuo, Cactus or Godox who are making the life of strobists a lot easier now, etc. Yes, Pentax it's still a niche brand, but at least today there are more choices for different type of photographers than what we had 5-6 years ago.