[RiceHigh]

To be quite honest if I had visited this forum before purchasing a camera I would never have bought a Pentax as there is so much negative/wrong being said.

So, you mean you find yourself lucky in this case? ;-)

Never has it failed to focus in light so low that I wouldn't be able to manual focus

But I have my Pentax DSLRs failed to focus or too slowly in low lights that other Pentax film SLRs and other DSLRs of other brands could focus far better in those cases.

Never has it missed those fast shots.

I have missed quite some for years until I got my Canon, frankly.

Still no dust on sensor and the lens resolves better than any other kit lens out there - in fact it resolves and gives wonderful colours better than my Contax Zeiss 28mm lens

Dust on sensor can only be seen when you stop down considerably. As for old lenses, some of them are actually not so digital friendly.

Yes it does have its anomolies (just like any other camera out there) but for its price how on earth can you do better?

Answer: There is a latest Pentax DSLR called the K200D!

In fact my friend has a Canan 8mp 350D AND shot for shot the Pentax in jpeg mode trounces the pix taken with that camera - so much the friend is looking at now converting to Pentax

The 350D is cheaper and one-generation earlier. So, nothing is needed to compare here. If your friend had a 400D and compared, the story would be different.

Also Pentax primes are unbelievably well priced compared to the competition

Some are and some are not. There is still not a cheap 1.8 50mm prime yet, unlike what Canon and Nikon have.

So definately the K10D is the best priced performing DSLR out there period!

Um.. "Definitely"? So firm?

[Lowell Goudge]

I think there are 3 separate issues that I have seen, and I have contribuited to one of these.

these issues are:

- periodic quality issues with cameras / lenses
- functional issues / gripes suggested updates etc
- complaints by new users who don't have a clue what they are doing.

The last one is really bad because many of these people report issues, claim the camera is junk, don't post pictures, and then never respond again in a thread. Generally I think they don't want to admit they did something foolish. They are like hit and run drivers.

the first issue unfortunately is a fact of life, although some products (specifically it appears, lenses) seem to have more of a problem than others.

the middle issue is the one that gives the hottest responses, and most discussion because it somewhat emotionally based. I personally have bitched loudly about several issues.

The issues I have raised are performance issues, which are easily correctible in software, but which pentax has elected NOT to correct. I have been negative about the lack of response because I am truely disappointed by the approach of pentax in these issues. This does not mean that I am disappointed in the camera as a whole, and I generally state that aside from these points, that I am pleased with my cameras.

[dkittle]

RiceHigh, no offence, but I think you missed the point of this post :-)

I actually accidently fell into my Pentax. I had an ME Super but gave up using it in favor of point and shoots for many years. I returned from a trip to Spain and wound up dissapointed with my P&S pics - didn't have the DR I wanted and high ISO sucked (and 400ISO was tops on that Sony!). I grabbed my ME Super, bought a Tamron 28-75 for it and started shooting again. Wee!

Film sucked, though. I loved the look of the picks, but after years of a P&S I didn't want to wait :-) When I went shopping for a DSLR 18 months ago, I actually started comparing Nikon and Pentax. Nikon seemed nice and all, but I found the K100D was amazing - the controls seemed so much better than the Nikon. Well, I walked out happy with the K100D, was even happier when I traded up to a K10D 4 months later and have been happy ever since. There are bumps, but I love my kit.

[flyer]

I think there are 3 separate issues that I have seen, and I have contribuited to one of these.

these issues are:

- periodic quality issues with cameras / lenses
- functional issues / gripes suggested updates etc
- complaints by new users who don't have a clue what they are doing.

The last one is really bad because many of these people report issues, claim the camera is junk, don't post pictures, and then never respond again in a thread. Generally I think they don't want to admit they did something foolish. They are like hit and run drivers.

the first issue unfortunately is a fact of life, although some products (specifically it appears, lenses) seem to have more of a problem than others.

the middle issue is the one that gives the hottest responses, and most discussion because it somewhat emotionally based. I personally have bitched loudly about several issues.

The issues I have raised are performance issues, which are easily correctible in software, but which pentax has elected NOT to correct. I have been negative about the lack of response because I am truely disappointed by the approach of pentax in these issues. This does not mean that I am disappointed in the camera as a whole, and I generally state that aside from these points, that I am pleased with my cameras.

You forgot issue number 4: Rice High whining and bringing Pentax down at every opportunities.

[jshurak]

Also Pentax primes are unbelievably well priced compared to the competition

So definately the K10D is the best priced performing DSLR out there period!

Absolutely. People don't look at the positives of a situation enough. They focus on the negatives so much that they are seemingly blind to the positives...enough so that they pretend that they don't exist.

I love my K10D. But its not without its gripes. I would love a faster frame per second rate. Not for action shots. I find myself doing more exposure layering shots and being able to take more shots in a second helps ease the layering process later on. I'd also love to see a sync speed of 1/250.

That being said, the gripes are grossly outweighed by the positives. Built in SR, IQ, quality lenses, price....the list goes on and on. You just can't beat Pentax for the price.

[RiceHigh]

Um.. I think I still like my K100D and found that it is still acceptable.

But I just want a better Pentax DSLR from Pentax, which should have the highest and most updated performance but compact in size (like what the MZ-S offered in its days). Moreover, for what I don't like in the K100D mostly, like the underexposure issue and yellow light front focusing and sluggish AF, I don't find it has significant improvements in the current "flagship", i.e., the K20D.

Well, I am still waiting for a Pentax FF DSLR to come, all in all! But if the current issues that have been persistent for years still could not be removed. I don't think Pentax can suddenly make a proper FF body even if Samsung will make such a sensor some days later.

RiceHigh, no offence, but I think you missed the point of this post :-)

I actually accidently fell into my Pentax. I had an ME Super but gave up using it in favor of point and shoots for many years. I returned from a trip to Spain and wound up dissapointed with my P&S pics - didn't have the DR I wanted and high ISO sucked (and 400ISO was tops on that Sony!). I grabbed my ME Super, bought a Tamron 28-75 for it and started shooting again. Wee!

Film sucked, though. I loved the look of the picks, but after years of a P&S I didn't want to wait :-) When I went shopping for a DSLR 18 months ago, I actually started comparing Nikon and Pentax. Nikon seemed nice and all, but I found the K100D was amazing - the controls seemed so much better than the Nikon. Well, I walked out happy with the K100D, was even happier when I traded up to a K10D 4 months later and have been happy ever since. There are bumps, but I love my kit.

[Oldschool]

Well, I am still waiting for a Pentax FF DSLR to come, all in all! But if the current issues that have been persistent for years still could not be removed. I don't think Pentax can suddenly make a proper FF body even if Samsung will make such a sensor some days later.

I hope they develop a FF camera. I can't wait for all those DA lenses to go on the used market.

RiceHigh, as usual, you missed the point of this thread. As dkittle and others stated so well, most of us are very happy with our cameras. My K100D fulfills my need very well. Sure there are features we'd all like to have, but no camera is perfect. Just check some of the other camera forums (fora?), dead battery syndrome on the D300, many complaints about focusing on the 450D, etc.

Some people are just negative because it makes them feel important and the internet gives them a perfect forum for their views. They can remain annonymous and see what kind of reaction their negativity provokes.

Just my $0.02. I'll keep taking pictures.

[shutterpuppy]

I like most (not all) of my pictures with a lot of contrast, I also crop and adjust tint etc later on using various editing software programs. I can't think of any camera that will take a picture and without doing some tweaking, be ready for the photo gallery or album. Even the 6mp k100d i had for a few weeks,out performed many other cameras with 8-10mp sensor and the 3200 ISO shots (wish they added it to k200d) were still fantastic when printed 8 x 10 with very little noise.

My .02 and raise ya a nickle
Barry

[heatherslightbox]

All the negativity without a point gets me down. I start looking at C&N, wondering if maybe I should consider switching. After a while, I finally come back to my senses and remember why I went with Pentax in the first place--the cost/feature set is the best and the great lens lineup. Who else produces such cute little primes that are small enough to fit in a pocket? Concievably, if I already had what I want to get in the way of primes, I could simply just toss 2 or 3 of them in my fanny pack, throw my camera over my shoulder, and be ready for a day of shooting. Besides that, who else has the backward compatibility in lenses that Pentax does (heck, I can use lenses that are older than me!)--nobody that I can think of.

No camera is perfect--just ask my dad who had to send his Canon XSi back to Canon for repair after having had it for less than 2 weeks. I'm sure that people who use other mounts have their own gripes with their camera's features, like noise, ISO, etc.

My only real gripe with Pentax/Hoya is the marketing end of things. They need to toot their own horn more and they need to be loud about it! In the meantime, it's up to us to continue to spread the word that Canon and Nikon aren't the only choices out there and that Pentax deserves consideration, too.

Just my 2 cents...
Heather

[Zewrak]

My only real gripe with Pentax/Hoya is the marketing end of things. They need to toot their own horn more and they need to be loud about it! In the meantime, it's up to us to continue to spread the word that Canon and Nikon aren't the only choices out there and that Pentax deserves consideration, too.

I hear this alot, I don't see why though. Could you explain why it is important to you?

[Gerry]

What I find interesting is that the people knocking the camera have rarely ever used one and are just parroting something they've read.

Regards, Gerry

I think that it is my turn to play devil's advocate.

I have been observing for some time how some arguments develop in these forum (including those where I have been involved). Of course it doesnt include all the cases:
Subject A praises Pentax for something that can be considered true (weather sealing, SR, ergonomics, compatibility, good compact and cute primes...).
Subject B extends praises to points were Pentax is not that strong or is not as strong as it was (AF-C, low-light AF, prices...)
Subject C differs with more or less "politeness"
Subject D differs from C with more or less politeness
Subject B trashes subject C
Subject E trashes subject A,B and D
War.

Of course, there are also cases of pure trolling and fanboyism but those are more easy to identify. Dont they?

BTW, and this has been discussed before. Pentax is NOT the king of compatibility. Pentax IS/was the king of respecting customer prior inversions. I think that they are 2 different things.

[ll_coffee_lP]

I began with an *Ist DS because of size and cost - then moved to the K10D (which I now have 2 of) because of cost, feature set, ergonomics, and because I was very pleased with the *Ist DS.

I toot the Pentax horn whenever I can and am very happy with my equipment and lenses.

I've also never met a Pentax user who was "uninformed" (for lack of a better word), but have come across many canikon users that have an expensive camera only for status sake.

I like Pentax just the way it is...and will continue to use their products.

c[_]

P.S. Gotta go.....gonna actually take some pics with my camera, because that's what I have it for.

P.S.S. Pixel Peepers....lol

[nakey]

BTW, and this has been discussed before. Pentax is NOT the king of compatibility. Pentax IS/was the king of respecting customer prior inversions. I think that they are 2 different things.

is this in regards to the EOS mount having a 3rd party adapter for pretty much everything?

how do you define the difference between compatibility and prior inversions?

[flyer]

Pentax is the KING of compatibility. When Olympus and Canon want to use "classic" lenses, they have to use PENTAX.