[Kerrowdown]

Watch him Tina. He's a charmer. The understatement is part of the schtick!

Tina and I have an understanding...

[Imp]

Never had anything but pentax.

[kchamber4]

Ricoh XRP SLR film camera, then a Pentax K-R which was stolen, then a Nikon point an shoot with a long telephoto lens and back to Pentax with my K-3. Thought long and hard about the Nikon 7100 or the D610, but just couldn't do it.

[manstanox]

When I was very little I enjoyed two Brownies - I still have the Six-20 'Brownie' C, alas not working. After a gap of a few years I graduated to my Dad's Zeiss Ikon II (C) - recently refurbished and still working happily. For my 21st I was given my first SLR, a German Edixa-mat Kadett - completely manual with separate hand-held Weston light meter and a marvellous Mamiya-Sekor 55mm lens (the one with the chromium front barrel). This also is still working well. Then the Pentax moment - an ME-Super in 1981. After 20 happy years, I explored digital with a small Fuji 6800 Zoom moving soon to a Fuji bridge camera, the FinePix S9500. This was a good much-used piece of kit but common sense reasserted itself and I went back to Pentax for a K-r (very nice), then an MZ-7 because it was available (neat job) then a K-5 IIs (wonderful) and just recently a used K-01 for extra fun. To complement all these cameras (all of which I still have) I enjoy several sets of lenses, an M42 set, and M-set, a later film set of F, FA J & FA, and now a digital set. I can't bear to part with any of it.

[MarkJerling]

My dad (who was always a miser) bought me one of those fold open kodaks when I asked for a camera one Birthday / Christmas (For me the events fall within a few days of each other)

[slipdm16]

I started out in photography class in high school using a Pentax K1000 of course. I went off to college and didn't have a camera because digital was too expensive. Fast forward a couple of years, I'd signed up for a semester abroad in Spain and for my birthday that year my parents got me a 3.2 MP Canon Elph P&S camera which I took all around Europe and other vacations until it ultimately died maybe 5 years later as a result of sand in it on a trip to the Caribbean. I got another 7.1 MP Elph for about 1/3 the cost of my original one, which lasted another 5 years.

Finally in 2012 just before the birth of my son my wife gave the go ahead to get a DSLR so I researched a lot, having friends who shot Canikon recommending each. I came across the K-30 and thought the blue one was the best looking camera out there and also happened to be WR (in light of a previous camera dying on vacation). I remembered growing up with my grandpa always using his Pentax binoculars to look at ships on Lake Michigan, I always thought they were so sharp! Anyways I found PentaxForums after buying it, developed a serious addiction to good glass, gave the K-30 and a few DA lenses to my dad and got a K-3 once I learned the ropes enough to appreciate it. I've since gotten a GR too (which I love)...

[atcoombs]

My first non box camera was a Pentax H1a, followed by a Spotmatic. Then it was many years of different brands and formats before coming back to a digital Pentax. The last non Pentax I had before switching back to Pentax was an Olympus C-5050.

[ivanvernon]

I shot a lot of film through Canon FD lenses--AE-1, A-1 FT, F-1, etc. Medium format, I shot Yashika-Mat and Mamiya RB 67 Professional. Then I picked up a Sears/Pentax outfit with 50mm f 1.2, Sears 135mm f 2.8, and Kiron 28 mm. The camera was sort of K-1000 with Sears name brand on the camera. I loved this camera and carried all over the world, well maybe over about 45 countries. That is how I learned photography, using the sweet 16 rule and learning how to estimate light with no meter--and film is 2-4 stops forgiving!

Using the K-mount Sears camera made the K-10 a natural when the digital age arrived. I could still use my three Sears lenses along with the 18-55 Pentax kit lens. I have not looked back since: K-10, K-20 (2 copies), K-7, K-5ii, and now K-3. I have rather more than the kit lens and the three Sears lenses nowadays, of course, and only need one more lens to make my collection complete, the FA 31 limited.

[btnapa]

Started out with Pentax MX with a 39-80 Sigma lens. The camera was stolen a few months later. A pro friend bugged me about getting into serious "real pro" system so he got me into Nikons. I stayed with Nikon for the next 15 years. My first digital DSLR was a Fuji S1 which was a rebadged Nikon body. It was a JPEG only 3MP camera which was ok for the times.

When it came time to get serious about a system! a friend who was the East Coast rep for Canon got a bunch of us into Canons. Canon CPS treated me like a king, although I was not a "high end" pro shooter. Their pro support is probably the best in the business. I stayed with Canon until a year or so ago. I never liked the focusing system or the flash system of the Canon. So when Pentax offered their super duper deal on a K5IIs and the three amigos, I jumped on it and sold all my Canon gear. I graduated to a K3 shortly after the switch and got a few more lenses. Currently, I am shooting product shots with my K3 and the lenses I have and the results are outstanding. My client likes the images and does not care what system I am using as long as the results are good.

The flash system on the Pentax was an issue until I came across the Cactus RF60 and the V6 triggers. Problem solved! I am using the the RF60s along with a pair of Pentax flashes and a few Sunpak 383s. A portable and powerful combo which has given me great results for my most recent assignment.

My upgrade path would either be a 645Z or the FF body when it comes out. For now the K3 is doing a great job for me.

[drypenn]

I started with brand "C", then considered brand "N", but grew weary of comparing "C" vs. "N" back and forth, and without further thought, just bought Pentax just to get over the decision posthaste.

Very happy. No regrets!

[JimD]

Kodak Brownie, Zorki 4 and in 1971 Pentax ( Spotmatic, a couple of MXs and K5 )

[screamiky]

I started shooting around 2008 using a Panasonic Lumix, but I don't remember which model. In 2009 I planned to visit New York for a few days during Christmas time, and so I decided to get myself a Pentax K20D which I loved since the very first moment. I remember that during the flight I read the entire manual, because it was my very first DSLR and I wanted to know everything . In the last five years photography grew on me and few months ago I switched to a brand new K-3.

[TinaS]

Watch him Tina. He's a charmer. The understatement is part of the schtick!

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

---------- Post added 11-12-14 at 09:10 AM ----------

Tina and I have an understanding...

Yep! Got my eye on you... lol

[AquaDome]

In the 1970s, it was my dad's Canonette or my mom's Brownie with expired 127 rolls she had bought and never used.
In the 1980s through 2000 or so, it was a Pentax K-1000 with a "nifty fifty".
From 2000 through 2012, it was various Sony P&S digital cameras; I was married to a photographer and all the nice gear was hers - strictly hands-off!
In late 2013, I bought a Canon EOS 70D and five lenses. I loved having the camera and lenses and possibilities, but I hated using the camera.
Then I bought a Nikon D7000 and a few lenses. I loved the quality, but the menu-system and row of buttons on the left gave me troubles (left arm mostly paralyzed).
Then I bought a Pentax K-50 for its light weight, ease of right-handed use, manual lens capability, and ability to turn off all the features - old fashioned K-1000 mode.
The K-50 was just so perfect that I bought a K-3 a couple of months later. I have since sold most of the Canon and Nikon gear.
There have been numerous film cameras which have come and gone, purchased for projects or as toys. Mostly old Pentax K-bodies, a few Nikon F bodies, and odd-ball 120/220/620 stuff. The ones that never left make an odd collection; more of a circus than a zoo.

[Daniel North II]

I started out using Kodak film cameras years ago when i was younger.My first digital camera was a Hewlett-Packard point and shoot. I moved up to Canon PowerShot point and shoots for years.I always wanted more control and decided to make the switch.I figured I would research as much as possible and buy a good DSLR. I held alot of cameras and liked alot of them too, but I have big hands and no Canon or Nikon would suffice. I kept coming back to Pentax because of all the features offered and could not resist.The K-30 had my eye for a while at the time and I did every comparison I could do. Well,needless to say, I bought the crystal red model and never looked back. I especially love the deep hand grip and the weather sealing too. Buying Pentax was the best decision and I love using old Pentax glass with it too. Awesome!