[drewski37]

Just Wanted to say hi and I love taking pictures, but I never used a pentax how do they compare to cannon and Nikon ? I use a Nikon Coolpix 88 its a few years old but still takes some fantastic photos.....

[ElJamoquio]

Welcome!

Most of the people here use Pentax DSLR's which will have way more flexibility and image quality compared to the Coolpix.

[hcc]

Welcome to the Forum. This is a friendly forum with passionate people, Pentax fans, amateurs who have all in common to share a Pentax interest.

In my case, I wanted to move from P&S to SLR and I needed WR. Pentax was the obvious choice. In terms of IQ, Pentax is on par with Canikon IMHO and Pentax offer a wide range of superb lenses like the FA Ltd series and DA Ltd series.

I shoot a lot of outdoor situations including in fool weather. Most Canikons will hide as soon as there are a few rain drops or dust. I found often that I am the only SLR shooter in these harsh situations and that is a credit to the Pentax SLR WR.

Look forward to see/read your contributions....

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome, have a read of the camera reviews here on the forum, that my help you decide on a Pentax next time round.

[ivanvernon]

Glad you are coming on the Forum. Forum is filled with knowledgable people that are happy to share with you. Nobody wants to convince you to buy anything, but to help you find what you need for your own use. That being said, Pentax is the obvious choice for a wide range of outdoor photographers including birders and landscapers because of its rugged build and weather resistance. You can pick up fantastic Pentax equipment for little cost--say an old Pentax K-10 and 18-55 kit lens, all for probably under $200. You can learn your self up the scale from there if you want to go that route, and buy into K-3, perhaps the most recognized high-end cropped sensor enthusiast/professional camera on the market today for $1,500 including a decent lens to go with it.

Whether you are shooting a K-10 or K-3, you will find others doing the same who can answer questions, direct you to resources, and share photographs. Welcome . . . and looking forward to seeing some of your work.

[TER-OR]

Just Wanted to say hi and I love taking pictures, but I never used a pentax how do they compare to cannon and Nikon ? I use a Nikon Coolpix 88 its a few years old but still takes some fantastic photos.....

Are you looking to upgrade to a DSLR? The range for all manufacturers tends to overlap, depending on which tier you're comparing and how old the technology is. Pentax tends not to have as many models in production, and just three layers of DSLRs. Personally I think Canon and Nikon's APS-C cameras are getting outdated, as they focus on Full Frame bodies.

Generally speaking Pentax is concerned with compact weather resistant bodies. Many people find the build quality higher with Pentax than the similarly marketed competition. When you get to the higher end the Pentax autofocus tends to be a bit less sophisticated, though the K3 may have closed that gap.

Canon and Nikon have higher priced options and very expensive Full Frame options against which Pentax does not compete. Instead, following the size ethic, Pentax has stuck with APS-C sensors.

If you're looking at compacts, superzooms or bridge cameras then you've got some reading to do - there are a lot of options...