[pentaxus]

For me it is ergonomics. The cameras feel better.

[turbo_bird]

I don't really have any experience with other brand cameras, but my brother in law got a free Nikon D7000 recently. I was asked to explain how it works to his girlfriend, because I'm the photographer in the family. I know it's an older camera, so not really comparable to the newer ones they sell, but I was thoroughly confused by the menus and settings, and never even bothered with the silly scene modes. Also, it felt like a kid's toy compared to the Pentax cameras I'm used to. All plastic and flimsy feeling, it certainly didn't feel like the semi premium camera it was claimed to be when it was new, even compared to my very dated K10D. I'm not serious enough about photography that I'm worried about having the latest and greatest, and with the first version K1 I bought recently, I've never had to look at a manual to figure out anything, at least not yet. I even managed to fumble my way through figuring out the astrotracer fairly easily. I could probably be happy with a K1 for the rest of my life, even though that won't help Pentax (Ricoh) survive as a company.
Kristian

[redpit]

I don't really have any experience with other brand cameras, but my brother in law got a free Nikon D7000 recently. I was asked to explain how it works to his girlfriend, because I'm the photographer in the family. I know it's an older camera, so not really comparable to the newer ones they sell, but I was thoroughly confused by the menus and settings, and never even bothered with the silly scene modes. Also, it felt like a kid's toy compared to the Pentax cameras I'm used to. All plastic and flimsy feeling, it certainly didn't feel like the semi premium camera it was claimed to be when it was new, even compared to my very dated K10D. I'm not serious enough about photography that I'm worried about having the latest and greatest, and with the first version K1 I bought recently, I've never had to look at a manual to figure out anything, at least not yet. I even managed to fumble my way through figuring out the astrotracer fairly easily. I could probably be happy with a K1 for the rest of my life, even though that won't help Pentax (Ricoh) survive as a company.
Kristian

Great example you gave Kristian! The D7000 was my first DSLR and after having it more than 18 months I was still having problems to find into the menus various settings After acquiring my K-5 I was really impressed on how much better the camera felt in every way from holding it to shooting with it. In fact it was the camera that made photography a joy again for me as the D7000 was a good camera (in papers) but so much troublesome to use. What impressed me even more was that despite the 2 cameras having the same Sony sensor, the K-5 was producing clearly better results as the Pentax engineers had made their miracles! So switching to Pentax was the best thing to do and an easy decision after actually owing and comparing 2 products belonging to the same category and aiming at the same buyers.

[biz-engineer]

I see a lot of comments about Nikon and sensor developments, but most people omit the fact that most Nikon cameras use Sony sensors.

How do we know which sensor was designed by Nikon and which was not?

[Ian Stuart Forsyth]

How do we know which sensor was designed by Nikon and which was not?

From memory
These are not made by Sony
D4s, D4, DF Nikon design
D7100, D7200 Toshiba
D3S, D3 Nikon design
Dx2 Nikon design
D2H Nikon Design
D700 Nikon design
D5200 Nikon design
D3100 Nikon design
D3200 Nikon design
D5 Toshiba Later purchased by Sony
D6 Nikon design

[biz-engineer]

These are not made by Sony

D800/D800E,D810 were made by Sony (I guess, I can't prove it), and the D850/Z7/Z9 / dual gain/ designed by Nikon, I guess, these sensors aren't found in any other camera that I'm aware of.

[Ian Stuart Forsyth]

D800/D800E,D810 were made by Sony

From my understanding the D800- D810 was designed by Sony and was given a exclusive use for a limited time do to Nikon footing some of the bill in the design costs

D850/Z7/Z9 / dual gain/ designed by Nikon

Dual gain is licensed to Sony from Aptina and from what i gather Nikon has no part in it
The D850, Z7 D500 and D7500 are all Sony sensors manufactured to Nikon speciation's and are not off the shelf sensors

[StiffLegged]

I might feel a little jealousy towards those with extensive experience of other brands and models, but I don’t. I’ve only had a heft of a relative’s budget Canon dslr of similar age to my K-7 but my Pentax was top of the range in its day and both feels and handles like it, so comparing a Rebel is like comparing a shopping trolley to a BMW and just as pointless. I also shoot with A series glass which is much heavier than today’s polycarbonate af lenses so feels very different.

None of these thoughts even occurred two days ago when out making photos: light, colour, composition and weather were the main preoccupations, which is as it should be.

[Lowell Goudge]

How do we know which sensor was designed by Nikon and which was not?

I looked here

List of all Nikon DSLR cameras and their sensor manufacturer/designer - Nikon Rumors

[Jonathan Mac]

Beside image quality which can be quite subjective, whatelse do you feel Pentax S/DSLR is over others in the design and operations ? I can think of one simple thing it's the lens release button ! It is located at the right side of the body which easily accessible with the same hand holding the camera, without the need of change hand or put down on the table that allows quick lens changes, most of the other made can't do that.

Strangely I just mentioned this in another thread. K-mount cameras and Fujifilm X-mount cameras have the lens release button where it's easiest to operate - bottom left looking at the camera. The old Minolta SRT cameras I have are a little worse at the top right, but it's not too bad there. Canon and Nikon have them in pretty-much the most inconvenient place possible.

[y0chang]

Pentax have great ergonomics. I really didn't appreciate this until I used other bodies. Other bodies have terrible button placement for important buttons like ISO or AF-ON, and require you to go diving deep into menus for simple functions like say setting a 5 shot bracket rather than 3. You can tell Pentax engineers use their cameras and look on how to improve them.

[Mundj]

For me the things that standout are:
Backward lens capability
Better quality build than same priced competition
Excellent ergonomics
More bang for your buck
And lastly Pentax while having to use older sensors provides the photographer with more options, I.e. TAV mode in the K-7 gave us auto iso lSO before the competition, Astro Tracking and Pixel shift in newer cameras.

[BarryE]

You can tell Pentax engineers use their cameras and look on how to improve them.

Yup, I think that too. Better to be on board with a company that seems to have a genuine love of photography, than not.

Many of the comments here have been about the intangible and subjective feelings using Pentax gear engenders. It's hard to get across to others, perhaps until they've had time to try it, why many of us think this. Of course reviewers would never attempt to convey this, partly as it's not objective and secondly they often have an agenda to fulfil.

I do sometimes get frustrated by lenses I wish were available, but I can honestly say, I've never felt any frustration about how the cameras perform.

I've just upped my commitment further this morning by buying a HD version of my favourite 77 Limited. Why? Well, it has better flare resistance, but mainly it is such a lovely combination with a K-1. I went for silver, coz I thought it would be different, and though generally I couldn't care less what my camera gear looked like, there is something in this 77/K-1 that is different and special that I wanted to capture.

[E-man]

Since the only non-Pentax DSLR I own is a Nikon D50 that belonged to my dad, I don't really have a lot to compare with my Pentax cameras. Yeah, my Samsung GX20 doesn't really count since it's a Pentax K20D in disguise. That said, the ergonomics and user interface are greatly superior on any of my Pentaxes, along with the user interface, which is far more intuitive. I took the Nikon out for an afternoon in a park shortly after I got it and it was such a pain to use, I've pretty much left it alone ever since.


The best 'apples-to-apples' comparison I can make between the D50 and any Pentax I've owned is the *istDL I briefly had at the beginning of my Pentax journey, as they're built around the same 6mp sensor. Beyond that, the two cameras couldn't be more different. The Nikon is bulky and its menus are arcane at best. Figuring out how to do even the simplest stuff is a total pain. The *istDL, on the other hand, was almost completely intuitive, right out of the box. I really didn't have to give much thought to the controls and instead could focus (no pun intended) on what I was seeing in the viewfinder. This served to quickly reawaken my photographic eye after several years away from shooting. Both cameras came with the same limitation of only accepting 2GB or smaller SD cards; but unlike the *istDL, Nikon never offered a firmware update to correct this shortcoming. As a result, my remaining 2GB cards are now resting peacefully in the bag with the Nikon.

[loyalt]

As others have mentioned, the ability to use ALL of the old lenses, the weather-sealing, the quality of the glass, the feel of it in hand, the "true-ness" of color capturing, durability and the pro-quality of the recent DLSR's are all the reasons I love and keep using Pentax. Faithful since 1983!