Originally posted by Nuke64 but I have a few questions.
1) I live in Charlotte, a major metro area, but no one sells Pentax around here. Is that common? I would really like to put my hands on one before I buy one.
2) The other contender for me is the Nikon D5000. One of the things I do not like about the D5000 is how long the autofocus takes in Liveview. Is that an issue for the K-X?
3) How much of a loss is the lack of autofocus points in the viewfinder?
Thanks
1) Pentax doesn't have a big presence in most camera stores in the US. In fact a lot of dealers will tell you that Pentax is going out of business. This is not true. Pentax is doing very well and is on the up swing. As far as buying your camera, buying it online at a reputable dealer like Amazon, Adorama or B&H will save you money over buying it from a brick and morter store.
2) Live view is slow to focus no matter the brand. I don't know how the two stack together though. If you want fast focus, regardless of make/model...shoot through the viewfinder.
3) If you are stepping up from a point-and-shoot I don't think that you will notice a difference between seeing the AF points or not. The camera still focuses fine. The AF points just tell you where the camera is focusing. I always shoot using the center AF point (It's always the most accurate) using the Focus-Recompose technique . I believe the KX will still beep to confirm focus.
Also, the KX has the best low-light performance in it's class.