[dhodgeh]

I had these wonderful Pentax lenses that would not work on anything else.....

Don

[jdmccol]

I originally started with a Pentax ME with assorted lenses. When I went digital, I used the Canon A20/A40 P&S cameras at first. I wanted something a little more, so I got a Panasonic FZ15. It was a great camera, but I found out that I had a need to take photos indoors without a flash. It was great outdoors during the day, but the noise levels at high ISOs were terrible.

Later, I decieded that I should make the jump to DSLR and looked around at Canon, Nikon, etc. - but settled on the Pentax DS. The compatability with older lenses was a plus and the fact that it took AAs was a factor. The Canon A20 that I had earlier used AAs, but the Panasonic used an expensive proprietary lithium battery. I wanted something that used AA's after that.

Jim

[Michael Barker]

I was influenced by internet postings to buy the K1000 as my first film SLR. I had a great experience with it. I considered buying the Canon 300D when it came out, but it was a bit too much money and compared to the film SLR the viewfinder, and feeling of quality, was horrible, so I waited for Pentax to release something in a reachable price range. When they released the DS I jumped on it.

[THarp]

I originally started out on an Olympus OM-G back in mid 80's. I've also at one point owned a Pentax K1000.

Since Olympus didn't have anything I liked in the DSLR arena, nor did Nikon, Canon or anyone else. I went with Pentax.

Not that it was my last choice, it wasn't. I first looked at Olympus since I use to love my OM-G, but finding nothing I like in Olympus any more except over pricing, I looked at the features of everybody else.

Pentax had everyone else beat by a long shot as far as I'm concerned.

AA battery (can buy a refill anywhere)
Quality kit lens, that has a decent focusing ring (Nikon's is like turning a filter)
Lower noise at higher ISO ratings.
Better backward compatibility with older lenses.

But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

[Sailor]

I bought a Pentax DSLR rather than a competitor primarily because I'm a captive of my assets. I had a bag full of Pentax legacy lenses, some of which (K 28/2, FA50/1.4, A* 85/1.4, for example) are too good to replace. I guess - when I think about - I bought a DS2 (and now a K10D) because of what I did about 30 years ago - get an MX (which was followed by lenses, an LX, an ME Super, another LX . . . . . and now, a K10D).

Jerry

[davemdsn]

Kind of all of the above. Loyal follower. Love the glass I have collected over the years. Better bang for the buck. Just plain fun to use.

[Wildfire_ja]

Pentax camera I've owned and still own in order..
K1000
K2
P3
Z1-P

Ohter cameras I have Used, Canon 630, Nikon FM2, Canon A1, Canon Rebel, Canon Elan IIe, Nikon N80, Nikon F4, Nikon F3.

While I have liked the other cameras... somehow they didn't 'Feel' right. What clinched it for me was the Z1-P. Still is the best feeling camera I have ever held. I always wanna keep that camera to my eye.... just feels natural there. Plus ... for 95% of anything I needed to do with that camera, I didn't have to move the camera from my eye while shooting. Then the over the top Hyper Functions. Any camera manufaturer who thought of that, is thinking of the photographer, not selling cameras. Yeah, sure you can set the camera to Av or Tv mode to get the similar effect. But why should you when you don't.

When I decided to go digital, the pentax choice became a matter of when, not if. Before buying the DS2 I'd Used a DRebel 300, Canon 10D and a Nikon D100.
Upon the release of the *IstD I saw it had the Hyper functions. I could'nt afford that model, so opted for the DS2... no regrets....

Until they released the K10D....

I gotta wait tho... can't financially justify another DSLR ... not for a while.

I will however continue to drool over the camera and envy everyone else that has one....

It must be a sweeeet camera to use.

All the new owners... enjoy.... knowing I'm always green with envy

[Branimir]

I had Canon P&S and realized that I need DSLR. I wanted D80 - Canon I could afford didn't feel right in my hands (I was very satisfied with my A70 - with what it could do).

Then I saw K10D and was pleasantly surprised. I thought *ist was their only dSLR. Pentax has no advertisement in my country.

After looking ad specs of K10D, I wondered why is D80 so expensive.

Then came reality check (a look into my empty wallet) and realized that it will be K100D (future tense, since I'll be buying it for xmas - maybe they throw in some good deal). The more I read about it and look at other people's pics, the more I see that this is The Camera for me.

K10D would be too massive for a lazy person like me, and too advanced. And because of the difference in price, I can start with my LBA early
And then, after I collect lenses and if appetite rises, maybe I will think about K10D. But I do not think it will happen anytime soon.

So, actually, it was :
1. Price
2. Other (a gut feeling and research)

Branimir

[Menno]

I was looking for a small camera with a very good viewfinder and long battery-life, low price, fast (poweron/write/review) and sturdy. Looked at several digicams and then came the *istD. It was very nice, but too expensive. But when the DS was announced I knew this was the camera for me. Tried it out at the Photokina 2004 and bought it the first day it was for sale. It has been with me on quite a few travels now and I'm still very happy with it! Would like to have the SR of the K100D, maybe next year..

[PeterAM]

I bought my first Pentax (Spotmatic) in the 60's. Got it because it was much smaller than the Nikons. Still have it and several screwmount lenses. Got a Super Program in the early 80's, so as to get a brighter viewfinder; still have that and some more lenses. A year or two ago, got a manual body (ZX-M?) to back up the lenses, then decided to go digital and got a DS. Early this week I got a K10D.
Why? Always preferred the size, build, quality of the lenses and the fact that Pentax has never abandoned it's long term customers by changing the lens mount. Each camera over a more than forty year period has lived up to expectation and held up well
In the final analysis, it's only a tool and the pictures are as good as you take/make them You certainly don't need to pay a lot more simply to be one of the C or N lemmings

[jnorth]

I bought my first Pentax (Spotmatic) in the 60's. Got it because it was much smaller than the Nikons. Still have it and several screwmount lenses. Got a Super Program in the early 80's, so as to get a brighter viewfinder; still have that and some more lenses. A year or two ago, got a manual body (ZX-M?) to back up the lenses, then decided to go digital and got a DS. Early this week I got a K10D.
Why? Always preferred the size, build, quality of the lenses and the fact that Pentax has never abandoned it's long term customers by changing the lens mount. Each camera over a more than forty year period has lived up to expectation and held up well
In the final analysis, it's only a tool and the pictures are as good as you take/make them You certainly don't need to pay a lot more simply to be one of the C or N lemmings

I'd only have to disagree with a minor detail. Their first or second mainstream autofocus body left a bit to be desired in a couple aspects (SF1). The next one, SF1n was a little more capable of working as designed but a little less feature rich.

I started my Pentax life at the Super Program, and have no other regretts except not owning more gear than I have. My wife of course would say otherwise.

[Technosavant]

Well, I don't have my new K100D yet, but it should show up in a few days.

I was looking for a DSLR; my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 was a decent enough point and shoot, but a vacation to Disney World showed me that I really needed a bit more capability in a camera. My brother owns a Nikon D50. I cross-shopped the D50 and D40 and Canon Digital Rebel XT, but it basically came down to either the Sony Alpha 100 and the Pentax K100D.

So, why the K100D? Several reasons (in no particular order):

1) I have an old ME Super, and it still takes fantastic photos. I have several lenses for it (most of them cheaper, but good enough), and the ability to use them on the new body would be nice.
2) Ergonomics. The K100D just felt better in the hand.
3) In-body stabilization. That's why it came down to the Alpha 100 and the K100D. All of these cameras were within a few hundred bucks of each other, and I just couldn't see going without shake reduction. My brother bought a Nikkor IS lens, and I really don't want to pay for those.
4) Price. Including the rebate for the body and the DA 50-100 lens I also ordered, that $100 back helped quite a bit. Some of you might wonder why I didn't look at the K10D (the Sony Alpha is a little closer competition for that), and it comes down to the K10D was going for about MSRP anywhere I looked. The Alpha was going for less than that. On top of that, I figured that the K100D would be a good match for my skill level (if not outpace me); the K10D would have been overkill by a fair amount.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it and getting back into photography a bit. I'm a bit rusty.

[WMBP]

Just got my K100D. My reasons:

- price
- shake reduction
- AA batteries
- SD card
- lots of lenses to choose from
- excellent trade reviews of the K100D
- excellent reputation of Pentax brand

While price was important, the reviews were very important for me. I bought the K100D rather than the slightly less expensive K110D because I wanted SR. And if the reviews of the K100D had been less enthusiastic, I would probably have considered a Nikon D50 or D40.

This is my first DSLR. My first decent digital camera was an Olympus Camedia C3000; and since then I've owned the Canon PowerShot S1, S2 and S3 IS. So far, I'm liking the Pentax VERY much.

[dave sz]

I'm about to buy mine for the SR, the fact that I can get a ton of second hand lenses for pretty cheap, and it makes me laugh when all the canon fanboys tell me I'm making the biggest mistake of my life by not going with canon or nikon...........

[spillway]

I was all set to buy the Canon Rebel Xti in October. I started visiting some forums and heard rumblings about this revolutionary K10D. I'm sooooo glad I waited.