First SLR was a Nikkormat EL. First dSLR a Nikon D40.
I jumped to Pentax for two reasons, more or less:
1. Nikon did not produce an upgrade for the D40. The D40x, D60 and D3000 are in some respects worse, and in no meaningful way better. The D5000 is a disaster, hamstrung by its dedication to live view and video, and the D90, like the D80, while a nice camera, would be a retrograde move for me as my collection of non-AI lenses would not fit... and I still wouldn't get a working meter with my AI lenses unless I stumped up $1200 or so for a large, heavy D300.
2. Nikon flubbed the AF-S DX primes. I was expecting AF-S primes to use on my D40, as of course AF lenses do not autofocus on that body. Nikon delivered, at long last, the 35/1.8 ... a cheap, plastic design with horrible fringing and downright ugly bokeh. Meanwhile, Pentax users had a selection of petite, beautiful DA Limited lenses to choose from, and, if they were of the mind, the stately FA Limiteds, that, of course, meter and autofocus on all Pentax dSLRs to date.
After the decision to abandon Nikon (I'm still keeping my best Ai lenses though, and nobody is getting their sticky hands on my FM2n...), I bought a K10D and have now ordered a K-x. More importantly, I've got a cupboard full of lenses:
Super Takumar 35/3.5, 55/2, 105/2.8, 135/2.8
Meyer 35/4.5, Pentacon 30/3.5, Fienmess 105/4.5 ...
SMC-A 50/2
DA21
and finally the two latest additions, the FA31 and FA43
The FA31 proved to be the game changer. It did the Vulcan mind meld thing with my K10... I mean, it just became one, you can't imagine the camera now without that lens on it. Stopped my LBA, as you guys quaintly call it, dead in its tracks.
It is better than any lens I have used to date, bar none, and of course Nikon has absolutely no answer for this. Your best bet would probably be the Zeiss 35/2, but you'd lose both autofocus and metering on any Nikon non semipro body, and that lens is available for Pentax anyway ... where it meters on any Pentax dSLR! Incredible, really.
Pentax has it's downsides. The "it just works" intuitive layout of Nikon cameras is replaced by a slightly more quirky and sometimes downright confusing control set, the menus are nowhere near as slick, and I'm pretty sure Nikon's metering and more significantly AF technology is superior ... but once learnt the K10D at least is a fine machine to use and I'm not regretting my decision at all.
Finally, the K-x is shaping up by all signs to be the D40 replacement Nikon should have made but didn't.
Last edited by rjm; 11-06-2009 at 04:47 PM.