[From1980]

My initial thought is I would not sell all my Pentax gear tomorrow even if someone offered.

Why? The glass. I have certain Nikon and Pentax lenses which have a certain rendering quality not replicated by the other.

Got to agree here. Only seldom has there appeared a rival quality lens line to compare to all the old Pentax glass I have in both build and rendering. But any other brand was always prohibitively more expensive and their camera bodies offered nothing else I was interested in. Selling everything I have would net only a fraction of the gear in a different brand for no practical reason. Not interested in action or video either. I'll stay Pentax.

[fsge]

I thought about churning tens of time mostly due to lack of long macro, I fixed it in getting an FA* some months ago so I am now set.
I am happy with my current glass and wouldnt buy much more except some bits here and there, moving to another brand would cost too much at this point.
Using a k-x and K5ii, I am waiting for K3iii for years to get a better AF and more pixels. 60% of my lenses are APSC ones including excellent sigma 8-16 that I am using extensively. Would KP had better grip and battery I would have one already.
I also bought a RX100 when I need pocket size material and make videos, wife loves it : get the best of 2 brands is something many pentax users do.

[PJ1]

Several points


1 I would not sell except to buy into Pentax again. I like my Pentax gear and the benefits of both the K and Q mounts. If that makes me somewhat eccentric I am happy to take that tag.


2. 98 per cent plus (taking a wild stab) of camera users out there are NOT Pentax users. So Pentax is the "low hanging fruit". A writer who rubbishes Pentax is only affirming the choices of the majority of the readership


3. Someone called Thom Hogan has an opinion. Why should I care?

[Sandy Hancock]

Well, if someone were to offer to buy all of your Pentax gear tomorrow for what you've got into it, what would you do with the proceeds? Would you buy another Pentax system, or use it as an opportunity to switch brands?

To specifically answer this question (because it would also involve getting my money back on my 645 system), rather than the question in the thread title, I would briefly consider another system (probably Nikon), but in the final analysis I'd still stick with Pentax.

I like the cut of their jib.

[photolady95]

Well, if someone were to offer to buy all of your Pentax gear tomorrow for what you've got into it, what would you do with the proceeds? Would you buy another Pentax system, or use it as an opportunity to switch brands?

Not going to happen. I'm also a hardcore Pentaxian. You'll only get my Pentax gear when you pry it from my cold dead hands!

It suits me, does what I need doing and I've practically grown up with it.

[Trickortreat]

Im staying with Pentax because it currently has the lightest DSLR with a usable OVF (not some smallish pentamirror kind) - the K-S1 and some light primes (DA 50mm 1.8 and da 35mm 2.4). Im just a bit disappointed that Pentax is throwing it all in into FF and forgetting that the crop users were the ones that kept it alive.
So if Nikon or Canon offered a lighter alternative to my kit in form of a lighter D7xxx line or a lighter 80D with appropriate primes, I would jump ship without hesitation.
I just don't like carrying heavy stuff around and like to travel as light as it gets.

[k1man]

Why do *I* stay with Pentax.

"Stay" is an interesting word, and if I were to expand on what that means, it would be absorbed in other meanings. I will never "Leave" Pentax if I use the same definition. Cameras in my hands have changed as I have worked my way up the professional ranks. Pentax has shown me that there are many things not available to me that other cameras have that make my workflow easier. I am doing media creation every single day, and a Pentax camera is less and less part of that professional workflow. I own a staggering amount of Pentax gear, and there is not much more I *could* own except for the really exotic legacy glass or some of the more specialized pieces of equipment.

Tomorrow I am heading to the UK for another shoot/gig, and it will be the first time I have not had any Pentax gear with me. Not even adapted lenses.

It's less about me "leaving" Pentax, as Pentax not keeping up with my professional workflow tools. I LOVE my Pentax gear, and I sincerely hope that video is worked back into what is important to Pentax.

There is nothing more enjoyable than my Pentax gear, but I can only take and work with so much on my journeys. For now, my Pentax gear is idle...but I still consider myself a hardcore Pentaxian.

I like travel, bikes and taking snaps, not hardcore at anything these days but good luck to you and your path in this world, kind regards ian

[Rondec]

Thom Hogan has had negative opinions about Pentax for ages. He doesn't think about them much, but when he does, it is to ask the question "Why are they still around?" So I would say to take what he says with a grain of salt.

I stay with Pentax because they are one of the only brands still focused on giving a top end still photography experience. Using pixel shift it is possible to get close to medium format quality from a full frame camera. For all of the negatives, the K-P has some of the best image quality of any APS-C camera out there. Pentax continues to make tough, weather sealed, ergonomically-excellent cameras.

I stay with Pentax as well, because of the glass that I have. Lenses like the DA 15 and 40 are tiny jewels, while the DFA zooms are huge, but they all seem to perform well and give excellent results.

If someone offered to buy my gear, I would politely decline. I have tried video and while I continue to shoot short clips of my kids doing things, it is easier with a camcorder or even my phone and editing it is anything but enjoyable -- for everything else, Pentax cameras and lenses are about perfect.

[Andrea K]

PENTAX is the best in objects rendering and perceptual colors. They have the ability to put in the picture what your eyes see and your brain remembers. With the digital age this seems not evaluable but you have to spent many time on the pc and there isn't the pixie dust tool in LR.
Apart from this, I participate in courses and workshops where I'm the only with a PENTAX and I see many frustrated people because Canon / Nikon and others, to build a big cameras and lenses lineup, cripple the gears and raise the costs. Best value for money? It's not enough, it's a photo-philosophy.

[iheiramo]

I bought into Pentax for the best still image IQ for the money. By then I didn't even understand how much better ratio you get with vintage lenses. Now you never get me to leave Pentax. I hate video, Pentax AF good enough for me* and current lenses cover my needs, so none of the weaknesses are a problem for me.

But someone offered to buy all my gear for what I paid for them. I could let K30 with aperture block failure to go together with DA18-135 which I don't use and use the money to buy K1ii. But all my M series primes are still worth what I have paid for them during last 2 years, I still need them all for my Single In Challenge project, as I haven't even finished my APSC round with them, and it would take time to gather them again. Also, I got my K5 so cheap that I probably can't find an other at that price. Financial gain I could get is not enought to compensate the hassle selling would cause, so I would have decline offer and keep my current gear.

* Catch in focus work great in good light with my current bodies. By reports the sensitivity in poor light should be much better with K1ii and that should fix the only complaint I have.

[Lord Lucan]

I started with Pentax in the 1980s as having seen other brands demonstrated to me in the shops Pentax seemed the least quirky. From what I've heard the other brands can still be quirky. I only considered changing when Pentax did not introdude a FF DSLR, but lost interest in Photography for a time instead. I jumped at the K-1 as I could use alll my old glass again. If I wanted video I'd buy a video camera.

[WPRESTO]

Trying to piece together when I actually purchased my first Pentax, which was also my first 35mm camera, and it must have been 1958, so I'm at 60 years with the brand.

[parinya-ekparinya]

Well, if someone were to offer to buy all of your Pentax gear tomorrow for what you've got into it, what would you do with the proceeds?

If I can make a profit, I will definitely sell.

Would you buy another Pentax system, or use it as an opportunity to switch brands?

It depends on how much money I may earn from selling the gears. Rather than restricting myself to any particular brand, I will look for the best bang for my buck.

Here's my list of preferred features:
1. compact APS-C sensor size body: 35mm format is probably too heavy for me. It is true that 35mm mirrorless body is lightweight but the lenses are still heavy.
2. good image quality (dynamic range, noise, resolution, etc.): I believe all the modern models are more than good enough
3. durable and weather-sealed camera body
4. have a good selection of weather-sealed lenses
5. great ergonomics camera body
6. both body and lenses shall be affordable in term of the price!!
7. good autofocus
8. in-body image stabilization
9. high customizability
10. long life battery

Well... from what I can see, only Pentax may satisfy most of my requirements at the moment.

[iudex]

.
I've read Thom Hogan's blog for years. I respect him a lot. In his blog today he had a thread entitled "I See Dead Mounts". He placed the Pentax K and Q mounts in the lowest category (on-life-support).

In spite of Canon, Nikon, and Fuji recently announcing exciting new cameras, I'm not planning to sell my Pentax K-1's because they still do everything that I want from a stills camera.

But I'd have to be blind not to notice that some of the best, long-term contributors here have recently jumped to other brands (Kenspo, loveisageless, Graham, and others).

If someone were to buy all my Pentax gear tomorrow, I'd use the money to by another Pentax K-1 body. I'm stayin with Pentax for the long term for two reasons -

1. Pentax does pixel shift better than anyone else
2. Adapted Zeiss ZF and Leica R lenses perform brilliantly on Pentax bodies

Well, if someone were to offer to buy all of your Pentax gear tomorrow for what you've got into it, what would you do with the proceeds? Would you buy another Pentax system, or use it as an opportunity to switch brands?

Very actual topic for me, so I add my 2 cents.
Pentax was my first DSLR. I chose it mostly because of great value for money, since it offered more features compared to entry-level competitors from Canon, Nikon (and Sony at that time). Only later on I actually started to like the brand. I appreciated the great ergonomics and handling (e.g. two rollers), when I started to do more landscape pictures and travelled I appreciated the weather-sealing a lot. And I appreciated the lenses, designed specifically for APSC, that allowed them to be small and light.
But as the years went on I bought most of the new lenses and was ready to buy more. But there were not enough new lenses, sadly. I am not the type who appreciates old legacy lenses (OTOH I loved the newest HD DA lenses) and I expected new modern glass (if not completely new, at least re-worked older lenses, like 16-50mm, 12-24 or 17-70mm). The same applied to camera bodies. I appreciate Pentax for being small and compact, so I had no interest in huge and heavy K-1. And since Ricoh focused on FF, the APSC line became a bit neglected. This applies to lenses as well as bodies. I had a K-5 IIs, which was an amazing camera, but I felt the K-3 wasn´t actually a worthy upgrade (e.g. the sensor was actually worse, with lower dynamic range), so I have waited for a new flagship APSC... and waited. But it is 2018 and there is no K-3 II successor. The same with APSC lenses, a focus on FF lenses is logical, however for us APSC shooters it meant no new DA lenses. The long awaited 11-18 hase been in the roadmap for years and when it finally came, it was delayed and you still cannot buy it now. So I saw no future in Pentax for me and started to look around.
I wanted a system that has the same philosophy I loved with Pentax, i.e. great APSC cameras with dedicated APSC lenses (FF is too heavy and big for me, whereas the M4/3 would be a downgrade in image quality, alhtough I respect M4/3 in all other aspects). And a smaller and lighter system meant mirrorless. So only 3 choices remained: Canon EOS M, Sony E and Fuji X. Canon is not taking it´s own system seriously and makes only lowend bodies and almost no lenses. Sony has great bodies, but not enough lenses (and their focus on FF means neglecting the APSC line). So the only producer truly dedicated to APSC was the Fuji. And I liked the Fuji style, old-school, mechanical, yet still a modern ML camera. And even more I like their lenses: the most thorough APSC lens system, all of them new /i.e. designed for modern cameras, unlike many of Pentax lenses) and majority of them with great optical quality. So exacly the philosophy of Pentax in tha past: great lenses made solely for APSC, what allowed them to be small and light.

So I sold all my Pentax gear and bought a Fuji X-T20 with 3 lenses (standard zoom 16-50mm, wideangle 14mm prime and the lovely 56mm portrait lens with f1,2). The image quality is comparable to the K-5 IIs, but with less waste (live liew allows for more precise exposition) and less work behind the computer (majority of pictures are great as OOC JPEG, only some need RAW development). And the system is much lighter and smaller (the body with the ultrafast 56mm is as heavy as K-3 body only). Plus I can look forward to great lenses that are in the lens roadmap (many nice looking lenses like the 33mm f1,0).

[BigMackCam]

So I sold all my Pentax gear and bought a Fuji X-T20 with 3 lenses (standard zoom 16-50mm, wideangle 14mm prime and the lovely 56mm portrait lens with f1,2). The image quality is comparable to the K-5 IIs, but with less waste (live liew allows for more precise exposition) and less work behind the computer (majority of pictures are great as OOC JPEG, only some need RAW development). And the system is much lighter and smaller (the body with the ultrafast 56mm is as heavy as K-3 body only). Plus I can look forward to great lenses that are in the lens roadmap (many nice looking lenses like the 33mm f1,0).

It's great that you've found a system that works for you. Pentax isn't for everyone, and despite this being a brand-specific forum site, I think most members here accept that. Life's too short to continue shooting with a system that doesn't meet your needs. Fujifilm makes nice equipment, and whilst it's not for me, I can understand why it suits a lot of folks