[Lord Lucan]

If he'd had a KX for about 40 years it was part of the rollout of the bayonet mount Pentaxes, which also included the K 1000.

It did not quite include the K1000. The Pentax bayonet rollout only included the K2, KX and KM. Then Pentax was caught short by the move to small cameras (led by the Olympus OM1) and they set about designing the M series and soon dropped those three K's. However they used the K series tooling to aim for the top and bottom ends of the market by the upgrade of the K2 to the K2 DMD, which with its accessories was a pitch at the professional market, and a downgrade of the KM by stripping off features to create the K1000, which achieved the goal (for a time) of being the cheapest big-brand SLR on the market. The K2 DMD and the K1000 thus came out a year later than the K2, KX and KM.

[beachgardener]

There are some who will have difficulty with EVFs

Yes there will be. OVF rules man !!!

[24thNomad]

The only time I have ever ran into someone with a Pentax camera was actually about a month ago. I was hired to shoot a music festival and I ran into a lady who was using a silver K-70. I was also using a K-70 so I had to talk to her about it. She was even using a lens that I have (Sigma 18-250 HSM). I have ran into a hand full of people who recognized my brand and talked about how they used Pentax film back in the day. But yeah, I have only ever seen another Pentax camera in person once. It's 70% Canikon, 20% Sony, 5%, Fuji and 5% everything else, from what I have seen.

I'm totally okay using a rarely used brand. Always makes for a conversation piece lol.

[yucafrita]

Today I saw a woman with a K-something watching the Berlin Marathon. In fact, my wife spotted her. With my MZ-S, we were two. Last year a tourist with a K-3 in the Berlin metro. Are we rare? Absolutely.

[Alex645]

Update on my current tally of camera makes used by student photographers in my fall semester classes:

Digital: Canon 39, Nikon 17, Sony 1, Lumix 1, Pentax 1 (K70)
Film: Canon 5, Pentax 3, Nikon 3, Konica 1. (two K1000, one Spotmatic)

Total: Canon 44, Nikon 20, Pentax 4, Sony/Lumix/Konica 1.

[Lucky-Luc]

Update on my current tally of camera makes used by student photographers in my fall semester classes:

Digital: Canon 39, Nikon 17, Sony 1, Lumix 1, Pentax 1 (K70)
Film: Canon 5, Pentax 3, Nikon 3, Konica 1. (two K1000, one Spotmatic)

Total: Canon 44, Nikon 20, Pentax 4, Sony/Lumix/Konica 1.

You mean 7 for Pentax.

[Alex645]

You mean 7 for Pentax.

Nope, just four.

(2) K1000, (1) Spotmatic, (1) K-70.

[BigDave]

And again, my class starts up, 7 students in all, 4 Nikon, 3 Canon. Let's see what the winter class will have!

[Alex645]

And again, my class starts up, 7 students in all, 4 Nikon, 3 Canon. Let's see what the winter class will have!

In my classes Pentax's are rare, but not extinct, although the AF film SLRs heavily favor Canikon.

About two months prior to the semester starting, I email an updated info sheet (to the high school students and their parents) recommending what Canon, Nikon, and Pentax have to offer and the pros and cons.

In class, most the Canikons are entry level Rebel and D3000 series DSLRs. The nicer Canikon like the 80D or D7200 are usually loaned to the students and belong to the parents. The one kid who has a Pentax is the envy of the class.

"Okay everyone, this is how you adjust your ISO. What's your highest? Raise your hand....6400? 12,800? 25,600? 51,200? We have a winner, the K-70 at 102,400." Necks turn to the K-70. Same thing happens with the one kid that doesn't have to convert to DNG, or has dual wheels, or has SR, etc.

[deus ursus]

"Who can adjust shutter and aperture in 'P' mode?"

[barefootdesigns]

Would you believe fireworks? More than 10 years ago I was taking pictures at a fireworks display and someone was shooting them with a dslr handheld with flash. I wonder how they turned out. Would the flash have brought the shutter speed up enough to give a usable result? I'd try it myself, but I don't want to incur the loathing of everybody within 500m...

grhazelton, while I'm no pro, I've shot fireworks from the hip on various occasions with good luck. I even did it with a point-n-shoot with good outcome--no flash, special filters or other stuff, just hand held. I'm tough and can handle the loathing. Sorry for the duplicate and a couple I wanted to remove, but can't seem to.
Here are some of the pix:

[Lucky-Luc]

Nope, just four.

(2) K1000, (1) Spotmatic, (1) K-70.

Digital: Canon 39, Nikon 17, Sony 1, Lumix 1, Pentax 1 (K70)
Film: Canon 5, Pentax 3, Nikon 3, Konica 1. (two K1000, one Spotmatic)

Total: Canon 44, Nikon 20, Pentax 4, Sony/Lumix/Konica 1.

Sorry about that ,I thought that the two K1000, one Spotmatic were separated from the 3 Pentax

[CapitanXeon]

I've never ran across anyone who had a Pentax, anywhere on Spain. The only Pentax i came across are the ones that are on my signature, the K-m i bought a year ago second hand with 14k shots with a 18-55 WR at 100€ (which now belongs to my girlfriend, @gelogela_ on instagram, she does quite a good job with it despite having never used a DSLR before), the K-5 I use now that I bought to an italian studio with 45k shots without lenses at 250€, and the MZ-50 that came free with a pair of AF lenses i got for 20€ each.

I'm actually very okay with using Pentax and as far they don't drop of the business, i'll stay with them. People gets astonished with things i take for granted like in body stabilization or fully sealed body, that seems rare on Canon/Nikon. Last but not least, the reliability that shown the K-m is over what i expect over ANY electronics (remember i disassembled it like 5 times? Yes, i'm that guy who stroke the board with the flash cap and still works), Heck, it even had traces from salt water (not mine, i'm not that dumb)

The last time i went to the circuit along with my gf, much more of the same, a lot of canons, nikons, and photographs running like there was no tomorrow when the winners of the race opened the champagne bottles. One of them stopped shooting afraid of the moisture, so there we go.

I've done some estimates before, i spent like 400€ on camera gear, that new would have cost near 3500€ if not more, and never did a conversion to, let's say Canon. It would ramp easy to 5k sure.

[barthovis]

New K-1 owner here. Wanting to go full-frame (from my Nikon DX bodies), and willing to consider all options, I researched for probably 2 months. Approached it from every angle, until my head hurt. I thought the K-1 was the best body from early on, but having to buy new lenses held me back (I have a lot of Nikon lenses, so why switch brands?). I currently have only 1 Pentax lens (100mm macro), and am still using my Nikons when I need a wider angle. Will be adding Pentax lenses (at least 2 more) as funding becomes available. No regrets - the results I'm getting from the K-1 and 100mm are amazing. I still have a lot to learn about using it.

[dubyam]

New K-1 owner here. Wanting to go full-frame (from my Nikon DX bodies), and willing to consider all options, I researched for probably 2 months. Approached it from every angle, until my head hurt. I thought the K-1 was the best body from early on, but having to buy new lenses held me back (I have a lot of Nikon lenses, so why switch brands?). I currently have only 1 Pentax lens (100mm macro), and am still using my Nikons when I need a wider angle. Will be adding Pentax lenses (at least 2 more) as funding becomes available. No regrets - the results I'm getting from the K-1 and 100mm are amazing. I still have a lot to learn about using it.

As you gain experience with the K-1, I'd love to see a thread on your comparison/contrasting of the two systems in your use.