[Jasvox]

Also, I used to love to go to "Hard Hearted Hannah's" to hear Jazz, go to "Congress Street Station"for some college band rick and loved "Crossroads" when Erok Trio was tearing it up.

[ryan s]

I take the underdog and and "hard way" attitudes a lot. Customization is also something I like to do. It sets stuff apart from everything else out there. I chose Pentax because of its options for the price. It just so happens I'm also now rooting for the underdog

Kia's have better options than Honda's? Pass me some of that good stuff....

My Accord is now 10 years old and at 144,000 miles. The key? Maintenance, even after 2 crappy owners :ugh:

[*isteve]

It's only been about six weeks since I chose the K10D over the D80. My decision was based solely on features. But I often find myself choosing the underdog. I think it's because the underdog has to try harder to compete. I think that if people would properly research things, they would see that the most popular of anything is rarely the best.

I drive a Kia. It had better options than the Honda or Toyota, and it was a lot cheaper.

I use Linux. It's just a better OS, and it's free.

I type Dvorak. Why would I want to type on a random matrix of letters (qwerty)?

Who's with me?

If we were all with you we'd be conformists

[Trawlerman]

I don't see that using a Pentaz has anything to do with being a conformist / non-conformist.

Some of us here have been using Pentax kit for a lot of years and still use Pentax digital stuff because of our legacy glass. I was introduced to Pentax through a 3rd party manufacturer, Ricoh who used the k-mount extensively in their products. I moved up to Pentax marque kit because I wanted the real deal and thats what I have got.

I don't see that for the average man that there is much difference in choosing between the various manufacturers. Many people just buy a camera with a kit lens or two and are satisfied with that. Myself I have a couple of digital bodies and a couple of 135 bodies that get used regularly. I have pretty much all the glass that I want/need and i'm a happy Pentax shooter.

FWIW, I know a Canon user who has a 30D and a 400D, around 5000 UK pounds of worth of Canon L lenses and can't shoot to save his life. Owning a Canon or Nikon or a Pentax for that matter does not automatically make you a good photographer, just a Canon/Nikon/Pentax owner.

You want the best? Go with Leica, their glass is probably the best in the world! Just my opinion. You probably didn't want it but there it is anyway.

[Lowell Goudge]

If we were all with you we'd be conformists

does that mean we are all conforming non conformists?

I got into this the same way as Trawlerman, i started with Rikoh XR-2s and moved to Pentax as my system grew.

[dosdan]

My non-conformist attitude was expressed in this Feb 2008 post:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/21346-why-i-chose-pentax-dslr.html

Dan.

[simons-photography]

My non-conformist attitude was expressed in this Feb 2008 post:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/21346-why-i-chose-pentax-dslr.html

Dan.

yea I took the same view pentax give you more for your money and are not spending money left right and cetre on adverts, I had a canon scanner and it was disgusting it broke down after about 100 scans and the graniness of its film sacanning was much higher than my current epson that has a higher res too so that put me right off canon

[Dr_Watso]

who dosent like the beatles?

Me. Especially the early stuff.

[nanok]

i shoot pentax, because it works for me, i use opensource, because i would rather use an abaqus than windows, and i believe once we had open standard hardware, there is no way back (hint: apple). i drive a mazda hatchback because i like twisty country roads and am bored to death of driving on the highway (i am aware i would also enjoy a 911 for that, but the wheel of a 911 i could buy with what i payed for the mazda would hardly compete, would it..), so no, i guess we are not conforming with you. to each his own. the main point i see is that there is a very slim chance of any pentax owner having bought without knowing what they want and why they buy (though i think there are exceptions with the k10d, mainly because of price to performance ration, and awards, it is the proverbial nobrainer, always haa been), this is also true of some nikon and canon users, but i dare to say, not the majority (i might be wrong). so, shortly: a pentax owner is one who did their homework, and is more likely to shoot than to pixel-peep. more likely to care about the end result than about "how many shots per second per mAh per drop of sweat per ...", or about the badge, or more concerned with what he can do with the camera, than what the damn brochure claims. maybe this is what we have in common? i doubt an attraction for the "underdog" is it, i, for example, can hardly see how linux is an underdog, it is top of the hill, all the way (technology, capabilities, value, future, you name it), it is more an ability to see the bigger picture, maybe.

now, to the point: "need to know programming to use linux"? huh? wellcome to the 21st century, my friend: try linux today, and enjoy the rest of your life using your computer, instead of fixing it. programming.. /me walks away chuckling

[Bokeh]

I am going to express my non-conformity by not replying to this tread...wait....oh crap

[rparmar]

bokeh: nice avatar

[rparmar]

^
|
|
that's me being nonconformist by ignoring the subject of the thread

[rparmar]

Or not... aaaaaaargh!

[heatherslightbox]

I shoot Pentax because it's the best bang for the buck in terms of the price/feature ratio.

When I bought my last computer, I wanted to get a Mac, but my husband wouldn't let me because he didn't know how to fix them. While he still runs XP on his PC, he has seen the problems that I've had with mine running Vista. Next time I get ready to buy a computer, it may very well be easier to convince him that getting a Mac would be a wise choice. Just recently, my office got brand new PCs...loaded with XP...our IT people don't want to go to Vista at this point.

I'm pretty conventional when it comes to cars--I drive a Toyota. If I didn't drive a Toyota, I might very well drive a Ford like most of the rest of my immediate family.

At least among women, I tend to be a nonconformist, as I'm a low-maintanence person when it comes to my appearance. I subscribe to the KISS principle--easy hairstyle, easy makeup, simple wardrobe, short unpolished nails, not really into jewelry. I'd much rather my husband get me a new lens than a piece of jewelry if he wants to buy me something expensive.

Our differences make our world a more interesting place.
Heather

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

When I sold my Konica system in 1984 an bought my Super A and Program A with the first two lenses, it was certainly mainstream. Canikon may have taken the pro market, but in the camera clubs in Sweden Pentax was certainly the most popular camera system at that time. So one by one the fellow members in the camera club back home converted to Pentax, my father retired his Yashica M42 system and got himself a Pentax, and I took all my savings from the summer job the year before and walked into the camera shop. Eventually my mother and brother also got Pentax cameras.

So not a non-conformist at all in this sence (does not help that I had a Unix computer as long as 2004).

The question is more why I stayed.
It's not that I have not tried other systems. I worked with Nikon and Hasselblad systems in my military service and learned to like or at least respect them. But they were both very heavy compared to my Pentax gear (not to mention that they were too expensive to me). And they lacked a certain feeling that appeals to me, and keep on appealing to me (knowing that it does not have to appeal to everyone). Not all Pentax cameras does. They built several repelling cameras in the 90's. So I did not buy them.

This does not mean that I'm also annoyed by certain canikonians who picked their gear either because a) they don't have to pay it b) they don't need to worry about money c) they have a credit card d) they assume that the most expensive is the best or e) the most heavy cameras are the best or f) all the real photographers use it. But this was not a problem when I at the age of 16 converted to Pentax. Not until a few years later did I meet professional photographers who did not take my Pentax seriously just because it was small and not labeled Nikon.