"Why Pentax and not Nikon?"

That was the question I was asked today whilst taking a few shots. The guy, a Nikon user, seemed perplexed that I hadn't purchased a Nikon

I replied:

In body stabilisation, effective for any lens I mount
Amazing legacy lens support
Weather sealing on bodies within my price range
Great ergonomics
Pancake lenses (had to show him the DA 21mm as he didn't know what I was talking about)
Great value for money

He still couldn't understand why I hadn't bought a Nikon. I stopped talking to him.

I think it may just be that anyone who thinks a given brand of camera is necessary for capturing EM radiation and possibly that EM radiation looks at the marque of a camera before travelling down the lens just doesn't quite 'get' what photography is really about.

C

I chose Pentax because they use all capitals in their logo. Unlike either Canon or Nikon.

What an idiot. Canon also make great cameras too.

Now I've heard it all

Jack.

And the decider between SONY and PENTAX was?



C

I chose them for pretty much the same reasons as the OP. Plus the K-m was the best camera around for the money at the time I bought it.

All manufacturers offer much the same modes and image quality is probably pretty similar, but all Pentax bodies will work fully with all of their current lenses (unlike Nikon) and they never make the base model feel crippled or cheap. The K-m feels solid and well made, as though they've just left a few features out rather than skimping on the build quality. The fact that any K mount lens will fit, work, and benefit from shake reduction just makes life so much simpler than Canon or Nikon users who seem to have to choose legacy lenses incredibly carefully.

I onli learned the first 23 letters of the alphabet?

Yet my Nikon works with every Nikon lens since 1977 and all AF Nikon lenses since 1986. How far back do we need to go?

The majority of buyers will not be buying a new Pentax body to use with a legacy lens.

Regards

Does your Nikon also stabilise those old lenses?

When I said "Amazing legacy lens support" it stretched further than just being able to fit the lenses on the camera.

discounting the fact that by the time I bought my first DSLR I already had a number of K fit lenses, it was because at the time the Pentax entry level model had the best viewfinder of any entry level DSLR.

In my professional days 35 years ago there was no such thing as anti shake, stabilized lenses, vibration compensation and whatever other names they have for it, I managed pretty well then, but I will say that when you can see the anti shake lenses working in the viewfinder it does give you a little more confidence in the photos you have just taken,

Jack

I bought Pentax mainly for the weather sealing .. which seems a bit strange now I come to think of it because I was living in Spain at the time.

I can see the advantage to this, from a visual point of view.

However, I was using a Nikon at odd times today, and have to say the whine the VR makes when it's active drives me up the wall. Am I the only one that can hear it?

Dan

Don't use Nikon so can't comment, sorry,

Jack.