[cali92rs]

For me, my grandfather gave me some lenses and a couple cameras. I sold my Nikon D90 and lenses to fund my new system. If i had to do it over again i wouldve probably kept both, but Pentax is a fine system and I cannot complain about its results.

[kiwi_jono]

The K-x beat all the options on quality, specs, price, and it used AAs. The backward compatibility to all their K-mount lenses and the kit with 18-55 and 55-300 cinched the deal. I wish they would offer the new models with the 18-55 + 55-300 combo, its a great setup right out of the gate. I still use the 55-300 regularly even with my MUCH more expensive lenses

These are the main reasons why I choose the K-x too.

Only other reason for me was the feel of the camera in my hands compared to the Nikon D5000 which I was contemplating at the time. Canon was not an option for me.
It probably silly but it would take a lot to convince me to buy a Canon DSLR after the way they provided no compatibility with FD lenses (not even an adaptor option). At the time I had a couple of FD lenses I particularly liked with my Canon AE-1 Program - kept using this camera for many years after rather than upgrade to an AF option.

[Bob from Aus]

Back in 1973 pentax had the best lenses with multi coating. The screw mount annoyed me, but I didn't have many lenses. Then I purchased a second hand ES. It was a lovely camera that I still have.

[TomB_tx]

I bought a Pentax back before the Spotmatic in the early 1960s because of the reputation and feel in my hands. Soon moved to Leicas as my main cameras, the added MX and LX and several lenses as "carry-around" cameras. Bought little more except another film Leica body until Leica came out with the M9 - the first digital that I really liked. I liked the digital convenience, and so bought a K-5 in order to use my old Pentax M lenses. Nice image quality (and still nice feel in the hands), but dismal finder for old lenses. (That's why I want FF!)

[Old Man]

All I can really say is, I fell in love with the PZ-1 when they came out in 1991. I have been in the Pentax camp ever since and will stay there. Still use the PZ-1 and still love it.

[todd]

I really wanted to buy a Canon 350D Rebel XT back in early 2008 when I first got interested in getting a DSLR and learning photography because that's what my friend was using who had been inspiring me with his photos. Despite his persistent Canon recommendation, it was out of my price range. My research at the time narrowed me down to the Nikon D40 or the K100D which were still way more than I wanted to spend but at least enough less than Canon to make me willing to pull the trigger. So I went to the local retail shop to compare them. I was already preferring the K100D before I went in because it seemed to be slightly better bang for bucks on paper (primarily because of the IBIS, which got my attention because my friend had just been raving to me about his expensive stabilized Canon lens he had just bought..) Then my hands on test sealed the deal because it seemed better constructed, and was less expensive.

[Kerrowdown]

Why did you choose Pentax?

Cos my F3's were full of sand, don't ask, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."

[rayallen]

Back in 1975 I bought a new SP1000 (still have it), then I bought a secondhand Spotmatic (still have it), then I bought a K10D (still have it). All the SLRs I have ever owned are Pentax.

I don't know how to buy any other brand! And I have no reason to try anything different.

[magkelly]

When I first started learning about photography my cameras were actually Fuji P&S cams. My Fuji S7000 was actually excellent for a P&S cam and I learned a lot using it but eventually I was ready for a camera that I could control more settings on. Couldn't afford a DSLR at the time so I decided to get a film camera to start with and save up for a DSLR. About a day later I was looking on CL to see what I could find and low and behold there was someone giving away a couple of cameras and a few lenses. I answered the ad, met the person and ended up with an old Nikor that was broken and an SPII that seemed to be working okay. The SPII absolutely fascinated me. I really liked the feel of it in my hands. I played around with it a bit checking it out but before I could even get into using it I got sick unexpectedly and went into the hospital. When I came out six weeks later it was to find my roommate had sold just about anything I had there that could be sold to pay the rent and support her drug habit (which I knew nothing of) and had then moved out and left me nothing but a few clothes, some dolls, and my cats to return home to. My SPII was gone with the wind...

Fortunately I had only been living with her for about two months at that point and I had a lot of my stuff in storage or she probably would have sold everything. As it was I lost most of my electronics including my computer, a few pieces of jewelry that had great sentimental value. I was ticked as you can imagine, but there was nothing I could do about it and I found another place, and eventually I got a new gently used Fuji P&S, an S7000 again. Next year I met a guy on the BART who turned out to be a pro photographer of many years standing. I was sitting there reviewing some photos I had taken earlier and he looked over at my screen.

He said "May I see?" and I showed him. Apparently he was impressed enough with what he saw because he asked me if I had a portfolio. I said "Not formally, no." He then asked me if I'd ever considered doing it professionally and I said "I'd love to but I don't have the money for the equipment or the lessons it would take right now." I short of shrugged and then jokingly told him that I couldn't even afford enough memory cards to shoot RAW just then let alone a proper DSLR. He promptly reached into a bag, handed me two San Disk Ultra 512MB memory cards which back then were actually considered to have a lot of storage space and rather expensive besides, and then he handed me his card and told me that I should call him, that he could arrange for me to borrow a camera and have some lessons. Then he got up because evidently it was his stop and he got off pretty much leaving me speechless. (Which as you can imagine is not something that happens to me often!)

I put the card away and put the memory cards in my bag. I think it took me about 3 weeks to get up the courage to call the guy. I just didn't know what to think. I couldn't help but wonder if the guy was serious and okay or if he was somehow up to no good. I wondered if he was affiliated with the scam design school I'd dropped out of maybe? But eventually I called him and he invited me to meet him and his wife for coffee. I went and we talked and he looked at some photos I'd printed and eventually I wound up in this guy's master class for photographers. No charge. It was a class he ran to give back and he was actually very picky about who was actually in it. He only taught people like me who could not afford it otherwise and he only taught people that he felt had serious potential to go pro.

He first handed me an SPII to use for a weekend, then after that he gave me access to any number of cameras including DSLR cams. I got to borrow Pentax cams, Nikon cams, Canon cams, others too. Midway into the whole thing I lost my job, then got really sick and I had to leave CA. I was truly upset but there just wasn't much choice. I was just too sick. I couldn't find another job and I couldn't pay my rent. I had to go home and move back in with my family for a while. Try to get better. It was particularly devastating though because I'd just gotten better after being badly injured for two years. I'd had surgery and it took me a long time after that to be back to normal. I finally got myself out of that situation, got to go back to school in CA, gotten back to work, and there I was right back where I'd started. I was so ticked it wasn't even funny. It was like life just smacked me right in the face yet again.

About a month before that I had actually gotten a Canon AE1 and an SP off of someone online. They posted them as freebies and I grabbed them and took them to my teacher to make sure that they worked and to have them cleaned because he knew how to do that. The guy had also given me a 50mm Tak and a 105mm Tak as well as a 50mm for the Canon. My teacher cleaned the cameras and handed them back to me and I packed them in my carry on. He made me promise not to stop shooting and to stay in touch and he told he was going to continue to educate me even if meant we had to do it via web phone and texting, and he did. He did not give up on me. He found me a guy here to help me, another mentor, and between the two of them they saw to it that I learned what needed to learn to become a pro. It took quite a while but eventually I did go pro. Towards the end of my training someone on a board for classic cameras asked me what my dream SLR was and then then gave me an SPII that they had CLA'd. It wasn't the black SPII of my dreams actually but it was close enough, and I was thrilled to have it because in getting that camera back I got back something of what I had lost because of my roommate's callous behavior.

I eventually gave the AE1 away because I did not like it. But those two Spotties they became the backbone of my kit and I started saving up for my first DSLR which ended up being an *ist with some issues. Later I got a K-x. It's pretty much been Pentax since the very beginning with me. Like I said I got to use any number of cams in CA. I used Nikon, Canon, Pentax, but in the end there was no question that it was going to be Pentax for me. The Pentax cameras that I used they just felt right in a way that the other brands did not. I liked everything about them. The menu set up, the ergonomics, the way they took pics. Film or digital, I just felt Pentax cameras were right for me. I did eventually find another film brand that I liked, Yashica, and I actually own an Oly E-PL1 Micro body now but Pentax is just my brand. Pentax gear it's the backbone of my kit, as I said, and I would not trade any of it for anything else. Don't particularly like Canon gear, but I've got nothing against Nikon. If I had to choose a 2nd DSLR line up for work besides Pentax I'd choose Nikon over Canon but if I had a choice I'd sooner not go there. I'd rather stick with my Pentax gear and use that.

I'm Pentaxian, always was, always will be. Have been ever since I first picked up that first SPII. There's a totally hokey scene in the Chaplin film with Robert Downey Jr where he sees the tramp's hat and he picks it up and he suddenly has an epiphany and creates the character. It's silly, but I get it because that's how I felt kind of when I found that first SPII. It just clicked and losing it just about killed me. I was so upset. I was just not completely happy until I had finally gotten one back. It was always there in the back of my mind, wanting that SPII back. I've had a thing for SPII's ever since, particularly black ones. I still totally covet an Asahi black SPII now. I actually wanted my teacher's SPII (which was Asahi, pristine and black btw) so bad it hurt. Of all his cameras that was the one I wanted the most. An SP replaced that first SPII and I liked it too, but that SPII that I eventually got? That was truly MY camera, from the moment I held it in my hands. I would never sell Queenie. Not in a million years. She might not be black but she is beautiful and she absolutely made me into a total diehard Pentax fan.

I talk about brand loyalty as if it's the brand that matters but ultimately it's not. The camera that did it for me just happened to be an SPII, but it wasn't the name on the camera that got me. It was how wonderful that camera felt in my hands that did it for me. It was the feel of the camera, the way it looked, and worked. At this point I've probably played with just about every camera brand out there, and I like some cameras from other brands. I'm not going to deny that but I always come back to Pentax.

Photographically speaking Pentax is home.

[tclausen]

magkelly, wonderful - and moving - story. Thanks for sharing.

My own story is a lot less interesting: used Olympus OMs until that company gave up completely on SLR photography, then looked around....realized that I needed the Pentax 31mm Ltd, and thus had to figure out getting a body on which it'd fit....which turned out to be the MZ-S, at the time. Several Limited's later, and the istD came out and - as they say - the rest is history.

[snofox]

Anyhow though, I'm curious to know how many out there have switched from canon, nikon, or sony to Pentax and why? Also, are there any out there that shoot with Pentax AND one of the others?

Bought a Spotmatic in 1972 and loved it to death, so when I wanted to get interested in photography again, I went for Pentax. Bought a K200D and a K20D and still shoot with both of them. Last year I bought a Canon G1X as a stop-gap while waiting for Pentax to come out with a tilt/ swivel screen, which I need now (my back seems older than I am) and was amazed at how good that camera was. When Pentax failed to come out with the tilt/swivel screen on a dSLR, I bought a Canon 60D and shoot mostly with my two Canons now. I am extremely happy with them, but I still use the Pentaxes especially for studio work where I can control the angle and height of the shot.

So although I am officially a two system shooter, it's beginning to look as if Pentax will never produce a dSLR that meets my needs, and that saddens me.

[Drake Avenue]

I was initially planning on getting a Nikon D7000.. but one night i went to dpreview.com and while researching the Nikon, I happened across their Hi-ISO multi camera comparison graphic. And waaaaaaay over in the corner, I noticed one camera had SPECTACULAR high ISO performance.. the Pentax K5! I had never even heard of it before! I started researching the Pentax line-up, I found this forum, and the rest is history.

Needless to say, I am the very happy owner of a K5iis

[Rondec]

I started with a Pentax *ist film camera, mainly because of the small size. It was an OK camera, a little plasticky, but held up well for quite awhile. I stayed with Pentax because I had purchased a number of lenses along the way and it was easier to stick with the brand than leave.

That said, I have appreciated: reasonably priced weather sealing, IBIS, small size for lenses, good ergonomics, and frankly, I like shooting a brand of camera that not everybody else does. I know some people post here and say things like: "I feel so different shooting a Pentax camera, when all the professionals shoot Canon or Nikon." Who cares what everybody else shoots, anyway? The question is what I can do with my camera and lenses. End of story.

[Kenntak]

I did a lot of research a couple of months ago before I bought my first good camera. I ended up choosing the K-30. What sold me was the weathersealing, the pentaprism viewfinder, IBIS, the design of the camera, the availability of WR lenses for a reasonable price, the great quality for the price, the Pentax community on this site (you people are so helpful and knowledgeable) and on DPRreview, and because I guess I am a bit of a "rebel." I feel I made the best choice.

[Sandy Hancock]

Originally: I had K-mount lenses from the late 70's and the K-10D had a pretty good feature set for the price

Now: I am addicted to Pentax glass, ergonomics, shake reduction, weather sealing and build quality.