[hadi]

I did see Canon and Nikon offering tons of gear when i was looking for a DSLR. Everything i researched kept bringing me back to the Pentax K-x due to the most bang-for-the-buck and feature packed camera. It offered things that weren't offered in Canon or Nikon's offerings twice the price of the Pentax.

as such, that is where i started forging into the pentax lineup. Went from K-x to K5 to K3 briefly, to K1, and briefly K1II. During this time, i did pick up the Sony A7RII as a side toy/backup. But I think I see myself sticking to Pentax so long as they keep producing full frame cameras and better lenses

[Cerebum]

Because I have a hat with Pentax on it

Value for money won me over. I am glad it did because no one else makes anything as cool as the silver KP, .... With the possible exception of Fuji


And olympus

[OldPentaxFan]

Initially (meaning back in 1978) it was for price and word of mouth recommendations.

After that it was the durability and handling of the film cameras that kept me with the brand.

Once I finally jumped into digital it was technology (K10D) and lenses that I had.

Since then it's the quality, price and features at the price point that I like.

[hadi]

Because I have a hat with Pentax on it

Value for money won me over. I am glad it did because no one else makes anything as cool as the silver KP, .... With the possible exception of Fuji


And olympus

if they weren't micro 4/3ds, i would have gotten an olympus PEN-f. My opinion, but that is the sexiest camera i've ever seen!

[Archimedes the Dog]

I think the title says it all. There are plenty of great cameras and lenses from many manufacturers, and Pentax obviously is not in the "popular club" that everyone and their mother seems to own. Why do you choose Pentax?

I had a Pentax KM and some lenses and followed the forums here, it seemed to make sense at the time, lol. Now I'm invested in even more lenses, so it seems harder to switch away.

[Grippy]

I moved to Pentax due to the similar specs to the Oly's that I started with, weather sealed, sensor shift stabilisation and great range of glass and not at eye watering prices. I've looked at some of the other more popular brands and what they offer for a similar price is less enticing.
Plus astrotracer sealed the deal for me

[Cerebum]

if they weren't micro 4/3ds, i would have gotten an olympus PEN-f. My opinion, but that is the sexiest camera i've ever seen!

I like the silver and black OM-D. I saw an ad for one in which it had a square lens hood on. Love at first sight, but like you say, M4/3

[Craigbob]

It's been a long strange trip to my current Pentax (K-1).

Back in 1980 I was given a MV-1 for my first camera as a christmas gift. I used that until it wouldn't work anymore. at that point my father (lifelong Nikon shooter) got me a Nikon 8008 and a couple of lenses as a replacement since he had some friends at Nikon who gave him a good deal.

When I married my 2nd wife she had a mess of Canon gear so I traded in my Nikon (pretty old at that point) for a Canon SLR and some lenses. I don't remember what happened to that camera gear. but I then joined the digital world with a Casio QV-1. When that died, I looked at the current state of DSLRs that was within my budget and would fit the needs of my shooting. I was starting to get into Astrophotography in a big way, and Canon lead the pack in that regard with low noise and image quality so I picked up a 20D, not knowing that 6 months later they would release the 20Da a camera geared for astrophotography.

I upgrade to the Canon 70D When the 20D wasn't able to provide me the image quality I wanted. By then I had a small collection of EF-S lenses.

Back in 2017 I began to find the 70D too limiting for the images I wanted to take. Knowing that my next move was to a Full Frame camera, I began to investigate the available options. I knew that if I stayed with Canon I'd have to get a whole new set of lenses regardless, so I looked at other brands. Nikon was my first choice, but due to my budget was out of the running as the body was almost twice what I wanted to spend, and I didn't want to get older tech. Around that time I heard about the Pentax K-1 so I decided to investigate this option.

I liked what read about it and loved the feature set (plus at the time it was the only FF DSLR with an articulating screen) that seemed to fit the type of photography I did, Astro, Macro, landscape and architectural photography.

I liked the fact it had the same sensor as the Nikon D810 so I knew IQ would be good. the icing on the cake was with a lens it was 1/2 the price of the Nikon or Canon 5dMkiii, and had 50 years of lenses I could buy for relatively cheap to fill out lens collection.

The choice was made and It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

[Rondec]

I assume it's about the new RF lenses (let's be honest they look to be top level glass, if accordingly expensive), the A7Riv with its gajillion pixel count or the Nikon Z with its... wide mount.

Honestly, nothing that makes our Pentaxes (or previous Canikony, Fuji or Oly gear) obsolete.

I think the interesting thing about other systems is the (faster) lenses they offer and maybe slightly smaller size of the gear. But honestly, every time I think about it, I just take a look at new lens prices for these cameras and it fixes those thoughts.

Just to replace the lenses I have currently with Pentax would be seriously expensive with any of these systems and there is no way I consider lenses like the 85 f1.2 or 28-70 f2 from Canon. If I'm just going to shoot with f2.8 zooms and primes, then Pentax is good enough and I already own those lenses.

[rod_grant]

Value, quality, ruggedness, feel.

edit; OOPS I Forgot IMAGE QUALITY.

[Serkevan]

I think the interesting thing about other systems is the (faster) lenses they offer and maybe slightly smaller size of the gear. But honestly, every time I think about it, I just take a look at new lens prices for these cameras and it fixes those thoughts.

Just to replace the lenses I have currently with Pentax would be seriously expensive with any of these systems and there is no way I consider lenses like the 85 f1.2 or 28-70 f2 from Canon. If I'm just going to shoot with f2.8 zooms and primes, then Pentax is good enough and I already own those lenses.

The gear isn't really that much smaller, when considering apples to apples. The Nikon Z 16-50 is indeed 16 and has VR, but it's also almost the size of the DA 18-50 RE without weather sealing. On full frame comparing what we actually can see, the Nikkor Z 24-70/2.8 S is 2 cm longer and 50 g heavier than the DFA and the RF is even heavier than the Z.

I'm not even talking about the price because I would have a heart attack just seeing the RF cost a salary and a half

[bkpix]

I bought a K20D on the recommendation of Mike Johnston's blog The Online Photographer. Mike later dropped the line because he was cantankerous about not having the exact focal length lens available he wanted. I stuck and was soon seduced by the K-7/K-5 line and its amazing feel in hand, along with some brilliant lenses (especially the Limiteds). I now shoot a pair of KPs, which have dazzling image quality and wonderfully compact form, but don't feel near as good in hand as the K-5 did. Hoping the up and coming crop body will solve that.

[UncleVanya]

I had lenses and experience in both Pentax and Nikon systems but the best deal was on Pentax (used Craigslist find) and I had better more modern lenses in Pentax as well. As I bought more into the system there was an inertia but also the lack of IBIS in Nikon was a huge turn off.

[Pentikonian]

I shoot several brands currently. As for Pentax, for me, ergonomics. K-1 feels like it was made for my hands. Better than any other brand I have been able to put in my hands. Easy menu, WR, and some unique lenses like the FA Limiteds. It's just a joy to use.

[kadajawi]

When I got into cameras, I was going for ergonomics, value and manual lenses. Pentax delivered on that. These days I shoot Pentax and Panasonic, though if I had the cash I would shift to Panasonic completely. That's because my needs and interests have shifted away from what Pentax is able/willing to offer. Too bad, because I like the brand.

What I still care about is that it feels right. Pentax does. To a certain degree Olympus and Fuji too. Sony doesn't, Canon doesn't. Nikon... sort of? Panasonic is all over the place, as they have all sorts of types of shooting covered. But the G9 felt just as right to me as did my K-5 (and more so than "lesser" Pentax). It feels like a camera designed by a photographer and not by the marketing department (Canon) or lunatics (Sony).