Because my mother told me to.

[imtheguy]

My first SLR was the D60 and a couple consumer lenses. It lasted 4 days before I dumped it all on the Ritz counter and said either take a shot thats a good as my bridge cam here (Panasonic FZ30) or give me a refund. They tried but had to admit failure. So I bought a K20D sight unseen from NewEgg for the outdoors appeal, in-body SR and ability to play with 30 years worth of lenses. No regrets...none. After 78,000 clicks it looks and feels new.

I also surfed this forum for a bit before the buy and was astounded by the information and help I got compared to other places. So in a sense, PF.COM sold me on Pentax.

[mikemike]

Because the K-x came in my favorite color...




Black

[extravagrant]

It was on sale on woot

[Arpe]

Small size for same features.

[Boris]

It was back in 2002. Our older daughter (at the time the only child) was just about 1 year old. Simple point and shoot camera won't do it. So my wife and I embarked on "which SLR camera to buy" journey. I don't remember why, but Canon was out of the question. Perhaps due to price issues. The ultimate choice was between Nikon F80 and Pentax MZ-5. I remember that we downloaded the brochures from the web (oh yes, it was already possible at that time ). And although the actual number of controls was the same, it seemed as if Nikon has twice as many. So we chose Pentax. At the last moment I found about MZ-6 and went for it. I remember the process was properly long and mentally excruciating. My wife did not shoot too much with any of the cameras that went through our household since then.

So, in principle, we (I?) chose Pentax totally at random.

[JohnBee]

Price and convenience!
When we switched into Pentax, we has three systems on the go(Nikon, Canon, Fuji).
Granted Fuji and Nikon were the same mounts, but... my wife and I found ourselves innondated in mountains of gear with little to no compatibility between systems!

So along came Pentax to the rescue.
Since my wife shot Pentax back in her film days, the brand was familiar to her.
And so we went out to a local dealer and tried one on for size(K100/S).
She loved it and and I was thoroughly impressed with the feel of the camera. However it would not replace my D200 w/5FPS at that time.
Soon after this, the K200 and K20D was released.
At which point I was so impressed that I sold off everything we owned and commited to the wonderful duo.
We bought into some excellent glass(it was cheap then) and walked off with money to spare. This made owning a Pentax a wonderful experience.

Today... these times have all but passed.
While Pentax glass can still be seen as somewhat of a bargain, I would most likely not buy into it under the current price system. However, this sort of plays a double role as I find myself feeling as though I had a once in a lifetime opportunity by buying into Pentax in a time that would never again exist. Which makes me very reluctant to let go of my Pentax glass today.

I look forward to the K-5 and K-r as they are innevitably poised to replace my trusty K20's and K-x.

[Tonto]

1) Weather-Sealing

2) In-body shake reduction

3) The lenses

4) Price

5) To be different

On the money with me too!

I'm from NZ so always side with the underdog
I was looking at Sony when I used to work there then they brought out the A230 range which just felt weird! I almost went for an A550 but it didn't support eye-fi which was what I really wanted. Then I saw a review comparing the A700 and the K7 and I always loved the A700s weather resistance and excellent screen and veiwfinder but was just a tad too big...so here I am!

[Reportage]

Using pentax actually forced me to learn principals of photography. Now i am confident with any 35mm dslr. And in less then a year of ownership, have covered national events as well as community events including sports. Thing is pretty lonely in a pit full of canon and nikon.

and here i am at the Launch of Halo Reach with the hardcore guys who queued to be among the first.

[Banitess]

Thing is pretty lonely in a pit full of canon and nikon.

Too true. Flickr: banitess' Photostream

I used a K1000 as a serious hobbyist during my student days before career and family took over my life. Re-entered the world of photography in Sept 2009 when my wife gave me a Canon SX20, which had just been launched. I liked the SX20 but within months knew I had to have a DSLR. Did some research and almost fell for Canon, Nikon marketing hype. The shop I went to was filled with Nikons and Canons but had a K200D that was on sale, the last item leftover from the previous shipment. I gave it to myself as a Christmas gift in Dec 2009.

[GaryH]

I guess I was destined as a kid to own Pentax. My Dad owned serveral Pentax cameras. From the H1 to Spotmatic and Spotmatic II to the ESII. When I was able to afford my first camera, I looked no further than Pentax. Bought a MX then a Me Super, Super Program, and ZX50. After digital came out, I went with a Fuji S7000 for awhile. I liked the camera but really missed the versatility of the SLR. My Camera was stolen in 2007 and I decided to get the K10, then the K20 and KX. I have always liked the Pentax IQ and the smaller bodies than their competition offers. Their system might be a limited at times but I do not feel like my lens arsenal is missing much. There are always other lenses to want but not necessarily to need.

[hcarvalhoalves]

I'm just a hobbist that likes to shoot outdoors, but my reasons to get K-x were:

1) Shake Reduction included
2) Auto Focus motor included
3) Great high ISO performance - I can't and dislike to shoot with flash
4) Compatible with a lot of lenses - I'm in Brazil, being able to buy used gear is a necessity
5) Great lenses available for a bargain
6) It takes pictures - that's the bottom line for me. besides technology, great pics still depend more on the photographer than on the gear.

[Naturenut]

I got my K20D because I wanted something to grow into that I could afford. The entry level Canikons in the same price range (when I got my Pentax last fall) didn't impress me either. Felt like plastic toys w/uncomfortable grips.

At first I thought I jumped too far ahead of myself (never had any camera that wasn't P&S, film or digital), but now I'm SO happy I did. I've learned tons and the K20D is really rugged. I wouldn't change to a Canikon now unless I could afford a full-frame model that is built as well as the K20D.

[Matjazz]

I went for DS because it's small, uses AA and has Pentaprism. This article also helped a lot.

[northcoastgreg]

Pentax was initially chosen for me when, years ago, when I received a K1000 as an Xmas gift. Being dirt poor for years, I could never afford to switch to Nikon or Canon, although I toyed with the idea of getting a Canon rebel when they first reached the $500 price point. But the cost of replacing the lenses was too much for me, and as soon as Pentax released a sub $500 digital camera, I left film for good. In the last year, with more discretionary income at my disposal, I've been exploring some of the high end Pentax glass and have developed such a strong taste for it that I wouldn't want to use anything else.