Originally posted by abmj I've read the "pros dissing Pentax" thread and had a bit of a laugh. I shot high-end Canon for 30 years in my film days but am at a more laidback place now during semi-retirement. For the switch to DSLR, I couldn't justify the expense - particularly for good glass - that Canon entailed and went with Pentax. I am very happy with that choice despite the occasional sneer from my former Canon compatriots.
Now, my topic. During the recent Worldwide Photo Walk, I joined 40+ area photographers for a fun day of shooting followed by a group lunch and wrap-up. In that group, I saw exactly zero Pentax DSLRs - aside from my own. I found myself "justifying" my choice not to go with Canikon during good natured discussions. Not so much distain but more "why in the world would a serious photographer NOT buy Canikon??"
Are we really that sparse out in the world?
Wow, 273 pages and growing...guess this is a big deal. I feel compelled to join the marathon.
When I was starting out as a pro (film days) I had a Minolta system with 4 bodies and 6 lenses. At the studio, clients would commonly question why I was shooting with Minolta (in a doubtful way). When all of my 35mm cameras were stolen, (my Pentax 645 was spared), I decided to join the crowd and bought into the Nikon system. After that, no one harassed me about my equipment. It's all perception, bias, and lots of ignorance.
I would not say Pentax users are rare, but rather uncommon. A few years back I met Magnum photographer, Eli Reed, and he loves and uses Olympus.
My son was set to go on a Study Abroad in Nepal, when the earthquake hit. Instead he ended up going to India and he was the only student with a Pentax (K50). Having seen the FB page from all the other students, his images really stood out (just using his two zoom kit lenses) and his classmates noticed that.
I think it's good when owners are proud of their systems and want to share that pride. But it is ignorant of anyone to put down the choice or system of someone else. All camera makes have their pros and cons, and ultimately it really comes down to the photographer.