[eddie1960]

My first Pentax was a spotmatic back in 74, and I had a Zenit prior to that with the m42 mount, on and off over the years i've shot Pentax and returned fully with the MZ5 release
i own an Oly E300 too but that is only because i got it for a song when it was discontinued.
the release of the ds was what got me into the dslr age, just sold it last week and have a k10 still and my K7
For me this is the most user friendly brand the ergonomics suit me (I could adapt to others i guess but why?)

[OrchidJulie]

Pentax and I go back to about 1970 -- I still have several Spotmatic bodies, even an ancient no-meter Pentax body. Some of the good glass from those cameras survives, too (over time, LBA craziness settled and I traded some junk for better Taks). Eventually I moved on to a much newer Pentax film camera with AF and some other bells and whistles.

At work I had to use a couple of "company" digital cameras for in-house shooting... starting with a small SLR-like Nikon CoolPix that wasn't too bad (not the mini PS jobs you see today). It went into the abyss at some point when the boss replaced it with a Nikon D80. I "inherited" (for office use) the D80 when the boss was persuaded to purchase a "Leica" Lumix (a Panasonic in mufti) for himself. Absolutely hated the Leica, mostly because of the EVF, but other controls/features seemed alien, too. But the Leica got stolen, replaced with a P&S. I still use the D80 regularly, and while it's a fine camera I'm still (after years with it) not all that comfortable using it. Doesn't fit my hands that well, the controls are awkward, the menus sometimes baffling. Could use another lens or two, the 60mm Macro is excellent for some things but borderline useless for others. Even though I use it fairly frequently, it never "spoke" to me ("choose me!" "take me home!")

When I started thinking about having a digital camera of my own, I really did not give much (if any) thought to other brands besides Pentax. I had had Pentaxes for decades and they were (and remain) good cameras. I have the legacy glass from all of them, including Kmount AF lenses from the newest film camera. Budget considerations meant I had to set my sights on something other than a K5, alas, but I'm very happy with the Kr. "Bang for the buck", as they say -- other cameras in the price range didn't compare.

[LaurenOE]

Fail to understand why you needed to say that. But if you want to see the link to the ad that is played in Japan here it is ---->

Sorry...lost in translation...it was a joke. I think I will jump out of my chair the day I see a USA based Pentax ad on TV.

[eddie1960]

Sorry...lost in translation...it was a joke. I think I will jump out of my chair the day I see a USA based Pentax ad on TV.

it's old but I imagine Pentax underwrote this

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[eddie1960]

I think this was also on tv a while back (much newer than the Shutan one) - when did he i10 come out again?

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[DSims]

if you want to see the link to the ad that is played in Japan here it is ---->

Fun ad - thanks for sharing it! I'm sure a lot of other people wanted to see it too, since all we ever see here is Ashton with his Nikons.

[TomB_tx]

Bought a new H1a in 1965 while in college, because of the good reputation, and it fit my hands. Honeywell advertised in the same "professional" journals as Leica, and that influenced me too. After moving to Canon and Leica in the late 60s, got an ME when it came out as a carry-around, then LX as a "good" carry-around. Finally decided to try a dSLR a year or so ago after loving my Leica M9 rangefinder digital. Still had the Pentax film bodies and Takumar and SMC-M lenses, so tried the K-5.

[jimr-pdx]

I was introduced via idiot: a salesperson showed me it was pretty much useless to mount my SMC-M 40 on the K100d. His poor showing (and my lack of research) led me to sell the lens and buy an A200 from a different salesperson. That camera served me very well but Sony did not; when they reinvented themselves for the 3rd time in two years I grabbed a refurb K100d from Best Buy, and away I went . I came from SLR bodies from the film days and the M40 was my last link to my Pentax film past, but I've made up for that now and have a couple other SMC-M lenses in the bag or on the shelf.

[theunartist]

4 years or so ago, I was looking at things like Sensor Cleaning, Shake Reduction etc etc etc., mostly looking into the technical aspect of the Digital SLR world and where is was headed. I stumbled on a Pentax article in the Washington Post re: the K2000, read the fine print, saw it was backwards compatible, in body stabilization, dust removal, and did more research. Because I abhor PP as well as installing any software, the DNG option filled that bill and I knew if I'm going to use older lenses, in Body Stabilization was required. The rest is history. I am very surprised Pentax does not have more of the market, of the circle of photogs I hang with, I am the lone Pentax user, but each of them loves the manual lenses and some of the younger ones get to see a manual aperture ring for the first time!

(Prior to this I did dabble with Film SLR/TLR's)

[monochrome]

It was a blind date arranged by my KX. Etc.

[Blue]

Sheer Luck! In May 2008, I was looking at Nikons at BH. I accidentally ran into the K200d and K20d. Since I had been into Pentax, SLR for 30 years, I thought I would give the K200D a try. Then in Sep, I added the K20s.

[bigted]

This has been a really interesting thread. I too wasn't aware of any advertising for Pentax. I chose Pentax in part because of the lack of advertising. Nikon and Canon seemed to saturate the ad world and that's a turn off for me. I am sure I have missed out on a few nice things because I shun heavily promoted things, but I have also found some gems as a result too.

I started looking without a true preference. I found a review for a K-r while I was surfing the net. I was lusting after a DSLR, but my health was (and still is) poor and I wasn't working. Disability payments were not consistent. I was fighting to keep my car loan covered and my works' disability plan kept threatening to cut me off. So I was not really thinking a camera was in the works. I had been saving for a while but I thought it was so far off from happening I had no clue how much I needed or what I actually wanted in a DSLR. So back to the K-r review. I drooled, it did what I wanted and the US review suggested it was less than what was in my savings account. Could it be, could I actually get a DSLR so soon? I thought maybe it's a fluke, you know you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I googled Pentax K-r and spent hours glued to my computer. Sure enough, many more reviews supported the initial one. The backwards comparability of the lenses and that the old ones from my film days could be used with it, was one of the things I liked. I located one at my local camera shop and went out to have a look and to handle it. At this point my car loan insurance was going through a change of definition and while returning to work wasn't medically supported, buying a camera while my car loan may not be covered didn't seem a wise decision. I liked what I saw. I also asked could the store could show me a Canikon that could meet the specs for the money. No of course was the answer not even for another $200. As hard as it was, I walked away and waited for the insurance company to tell me if they were going to continue to cover the loan. Within a week they said they would and I bought the K-r. Ironically not long after,the works' disability insurance put me through the wringer for 6 months, but I fiercely hung onto my K-r. I would rather starve than give it up. It has given me so much joy. On the days I feel good, I can go out capture the world around me and on the not so good days I can enjoy the shots I have already taken.

[alamo5000]

This has been a really interesting thread. I too wasn't aware of any advertising for Pentax. I chose Pentax in part because of the lack of advertising. Nikon and Canon seemed to saturate the ad world and that's a turn off for me. .

We all know that Ashton Kutcher is SUCH a professional photographer...you would think Canon could find someone with actual credentials to pimp their products....

[Dma110]

I was shooting Nikon. Manual focus. Was looking to switch to auto focus. I had a friend who was the Pentax sales rep for Arizona. He offered me a part time job as a demo rep. I had played with auto focus Nikons, Canons, and Minoltas, but wasn't sold on any of those. The first time I demo'd for Pentax, I held the Pz1. Love at first sight. Got it, then the Pz1p. In 2006, I got fed up fighting getting film thru airport security w/o getting it x-rays and switched to digital. I stayed with Pentax to be able to use my lenses.
In love with Pentax and won't ever switch

[i_trax]

How in the world did you "bump" into a K-x? I've never seen another one in the wild. Did a co-worker own it?

yes virtually I was rushing through my Campus and I bumped into someone ( I work at Uni so it could be a co-worker , student or just a visitor) taking photo with a new Pentax K-x with Sigma 17-70mm 2.8-4.5 Macro.I briefly apologised for ruining potencial masterpiece and we had a short chat , I did get a chance to hold K-x, it just glued to my hand , ergonomically perfect.Short time later I had a new K-x with used Sigma 17-70 and they are still always with me in my backpack with 4x Eneloops and 4x Energizer Lithium as a back up, never let me down. I recon the K-x and K5 deserve a place in some kind of Photographic Walk of Fame as being significant steps forward in DSLR design, development and history.