[gofour3]

The used market will always be there for me, so no reason to ever switch to another brand. I have tons of Pentax gear that will last me for decades. (I only shoot film, so most of it's already used)
Excluding NOS, I haven't bought a new Pentax camera since the 1970's and a lens since the '90's.

Phil.

[Theov39]

A Kodak Box Brownie?

[rdenney]

I have used a Canon 5D since about 2005 or so. It has never presented the slightest problem—just a solid, pro-grade camera. Lenses are just like everyone else’s—some are great and some are cheap. A few of the cheap lenses are great, but mostly you get what you pay for.

My 5D came with a 24-105L that has been superb, and extremely versatile for event and travel photography. The 50mm macro lens is sharper than the 55mm Micro Nikkor, and the 70-200 f/4 L has really excellent bokeh. The camera operates in the same general way that my Elan II did, and even that my T90 did.

My F-1 was as solid a pro camera as a Nikon F2, back in the day.

What Canon did to annoy their old customers was change their lens mount in a way that prevented backward compatibility. But Nikon did so, too—they were just more confusing about it. I can get an old pre-AI Nikkor to work better on my Canon that on my wife’s D300. Had Canon kept their flange focal distance short enough to adapt FD lenses, it would have been the perfect system.

Pentax has been a great house but they were slow to the market with digital technology. Even so, they got stuff right others didn’t, including (to name one example) in-body stabilization. I still use several Takumar lenses, adapted for my Canon body.

I wanted full-frame digital and Canon was there long before the others.

But for medium-format film, Pentax has always been the value leader. Only Mamiya gave them a run for their money, but they ended up trying to out-Hasselblad Hasselblad with interchangeable everything. I could give my non-technical wife a 645NII and tell her to just push the button and the pictures would be great. Out of film? Pull the insert out, put it in its opaque plastic holder, pop a fresh insert in and keep shooting. I had four 120 and six 220 inserts before we switched to digital. One reload session per wedding—after the altar returns when there is a pause in the action.

Our last wedding gig with film was in 2005. When she got her D300 and I got my 5D, film was superseded for wedding work. The 645’s went dormant, but I always hoped for a digital version. It just took about a decade to arrive and get down to a price I would pay.

I still use the 67 stuff, though the soon-to-arrive 645z will damp that down. The 67 will do things a ‘blad won’t, and it is portable in ways a Mamiya RB67 can’t be. I think of the RB 67 as an updated Speed Graphic, heh. Interchangeable backs were over-rated. It was cheaper just to have two 67 or 645 bodies. (I have two 6x7’s and a 67, plus a 645N and 645NII.) There’s really nothing like the 67, and the sheer mechanical elegance of that camera makes my heart sing every time I use it. And I have a Nikon 9000 scanner, so the 67 is not orphaned yet, even if Pentax disappeared.

So, let’s see. I have a pretty complete Canon kit, though not updated. My wife has a pretty complete Nikon kit, recently updated to the D500. I have a good 645 kit, which is getting better with the coming of the 645z. My 67 kit is complete enough for any gig. All of these fulfill different sets of requirements, with different sets of trade-offs.

None of them will do what my 4x5 camera will do, and most of that stuff hasn’t been made in years.

And I haven’t even started on the Second-World Junque. Or the Mamiya C system that I used for years but now lies dormant in my camera closet. Or the Pentax ME Super. Or the Nikon EL with the excellent little 75-150 zoom.

With the investment I have in other systems, I have not been tempted by the small-format offerings from makers not in the market when I built my kit. That means my first digital Pentax will be the 645z. I don’t think that means I won’t be using the other systems, though I certainly won’t be using them as much. If Pentax disappeared, I figure the 645zis good for a decade at least—after all—I’ve been using my Canon 5D for 13 years and it still does everything it did when new.

Rick “who has bought more gear than most but usually only after it has proven itself” Denney

[PDL]

If Pentax dies, I will use my current equipment until either they all quit or I end up dying and leaving the old broken cameras to my son to deal with.
I all else fails, I will go back to using film on my three Fujica bodies, my late mothers Nikon or my late fathers 4x5 monorail.

The act of wholesale abandonment is out of the question as I am retired and not willing to spend thousands of dollars on a new brand. If I win the lottery, then Phase One all the way. (I don't do video so I don't care)

[Theov39]

If Pentax disappears I'd probably pull out my old (2004!!!) Fuji S3 Pro which I still have stored away. It's incredible slow to handle but it's the only camera that has a color tonal quality that is similar to Pentax.

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro Review: Digital Photography Review

I used to shoot Nikon (both film and digital) so I still have quite a few good Nikon lenses but there is a clinical quality to Nikon digital IQ that I just don't like and, indeed, that was the reason I switched over to Pentax. The Pentax K200 then and now the Pentax K-3 is still the closest I can get to the old Fuji S3 Pro IQ and color tone.

[sunshiney]

I would probably get the Canon G7x Mark II and switch to vlogging. Haha!