Originally posted by magkelly Because buying used that means taking your chances on a DSLR sans any warranty at all that may or may not work as well as it could. Cameras with computer chips tend to wear out a lot easier than those without. You may buy a 4 year old camera, sans any real warranty of course, get a month's use out of it and one day that's it. The computer chip gives out and you basically have a pretty doorstop on your hands and you're out $300-500 and stuck because it would cost a small fortune to get it fixed.
Not everyone needs a camera that does video and high iso. Some people just want full manual mode, the ability to change out lenses, and a camera that takes excellent pictures. For some of us, students in particular, all those bells and whistles can actually be pretty distracting. Yet, we still need our camera to be a DSLR because many schools out there have gone fully digital and because using film to learn with is getting a lot harder and a lot more expensive depending upon where you live.
I'd personally kill for a $300, no video, no high iso, fully manual DSLR that's new, has a warranty and a decent sensor that has about 10-12 MP. Buying used that doesn't actually save you all that much money unless you're willing to settle for a camera that's half a dozen years old and that's got at most 6MP, a camera that could last you two years, or maybe two seconds....
I've actually looked and almost every camera in the 10-12MP range with a basic lens that's not at least 4 years old would still cost me nearly as much as a K-x, sometimes even more. On top of that you get a 60-90 day warranty MAYBE, so why should I go that route? Seems risky to me.
Still, I can't really afford the K-x I'd like to get either because $500 plus is a real reach for me. So here I am still using an older film SLR, and paying out the nose for film, lab costs etc. I'm not saying that's bad. I'm learning a lot and at least I can change out lenses and such, but it is more expensive and not nearly as convenient in the long run than using a DSLR as my main camera.
If Pentax actually had a no frills $300-350 DSLR I'd be on it like a hungry tick on a wet dog. But by "no frills" I don't mean a camera that's got less in terms of picture taking quality. I don't want the "worst" camera on the market. I just want a camera that has a few less "extras" but that can still shoot great pics. I still want Pentax quality at a slightly lower price tag, that's all.
To me that's what auto mode, video and extremely high iso are really, nice "extras." Sure, I'd like them but I can live without them and if it would save me a few bucks in terms of a truly entry level DSLR, I'd gladly forgo them so long as I can still buy new and get that warranty. They could make a quality $300-350 DSLR sans video and high iso that students the like would salivate over and not sacrifice a bit of the quality they're known for.
IMHO, it's about time they did. All those classrooms out there are going digital and all those ubiquitous K1000's are going to need replacing with something. Why not a brand new $300-350 Pentax? It's a far better choice than a $350-400 used Canon Rebel if you ask me...
FYI, I've actually been looking very seriously at a number of older Pentax DSLR cameras including the K10/20, K100/200. Go look at the prices here in the market and on sites like KEH for those used and tell me that just getting a K-x eventually isn't the more practical choice really.
I really wish I could just plunk down $450-600 for a new DSLR, but well under $300 is actually about my limit right now and I can't actually hardly find a decent used camera that's not from before 2005 that costs that or less. That's actually lot of money for me right now. I'm actually not too comfortable about spending hundreds of dollars for a used camera that likely might quit on me and that I won't have a warranty for. That DSLR, I'm saving like a miser to eventually be able to grab one as it is. Last thing I want to do is go used, and have it die before I even get half a chance to use it. I figure waiting till I can afford $500 is what I have to do, but it would surely be easier to get that DSLR if they made a new one that better fit the budget.
Film schools still demand you buy a K1000, or the plastic all manual SLR. What teachers need is a DSLR to replace them.