Carnpo Loc: North Carolina

A friend gave me a Sears KS Super II. aka Pentax. Nothing fancy but a nice compact SLR with a cool factor (Sears Branded). Unfortunately while loading 2nd roll of film the shutter locked up.

dave_roe Loc: Rome Italy

Have shot Pentax from film to digital. It is still the biggest bang for the buck.

I would not give up my K1MII even if the focus is not the fastest at times. For low light it is an excellent rig. Behind that I still shoot with a K3, K5 and a K20d as backups. I gave away a K7 and a K10d to family members when they got into photography and they are still in use on a regular basis. Still have a K100d I loan out for those who want to see if photography is something they want to do.

Pair any one of them with the 31mm limited, the 60-250mm and the 100mm and you will get excellent results. Currently finding some of the old manual lenses still work well with the new camera releases. Own way too many lenses but it is nice to have a choice when it comes time to run out and just walk around and shoot.

As to the new APS-C coming soon....... no idea why I would need it but with Pentax I am sure they will find a way to pack something inside that will make it worth a purchase. Only problem is it will have to be hidden as the better half thinks I have way to many cameras and lenses already.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

My 1st 35mm camera was a Voigtlander Prominent with 35, 50 and 100mm lenses from the Navy PX in 1958. Soon I noticed trouble with cutting off heads and feet so visited a pawn shop where I acquired a much used Asahi Pentax with 50mm and 135mm lenses. I had made slides with the Prominent 100mm of a local alligator so tested the Pentax 135mm on the same guy. The sharpness of the Pentax was amazing and spelled the end for the Prominent.

venkatesh_eng

The Pentax PZ-1P with 28-105 zoom lens back from the film days was a great camera and lens.

Bison Bud

I started photography with a film based K-1000, then started with digital on a Canon T1i. However, I purchased a used Pentax K3 digital a couple years back and still think it was money well spent. This was a big step up from my T1i and it has performed admirably. My only complaint would be it's low light performance, but it's really not that bad even though it could be better. Frankly, I got a lot of camera for the $400.00 I spent on it with features like dual SD card slots, Magnesium alloy body with weather sealing, a bright/clear pentaprizm viewfinder, a shutter rated at 200,000 clicks, and the ability to use my old film era lenses (which really sold me on the deal). Frankly, for the features and performance, I can't think of a better bang for the bucks out there and would recommend considering Pentax, especially used, to anyone looking for value and performance. Yeah, there is newer and more capable equipment out there, but spending thousands on a new body and possibly more on lenses and accessories makes no sense to me when my K3 does everything I need to do and does it well for only $400.00. Frankly, I'd put my K3 up against anything in that price range and well beyond. Good luck and good shooting to all.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

My experience with Pentax was limited to the Pentax 645. I used the camera for weddings and my b&w shots. I had three lenses for it, all of them excellent.

ELNikkor

I had a Spotmatic, specifically for the small spot metering box at the bottom of the frame; wore it out. All my other bodies at the time were screw mount Sears & Chinon. Got the Pentax Super Takumar 17 semi-fisheye for rainbows & extraordinary depth of focus shots. Still have that lens, very sharp, built-in filters.

Sergey

I owned MZ-10 (I think it was marketed as ZX-10 in the US) before I switched to my first digital Canon 20D. I loved that Pentax. It was an impulse buy - I was on the business trip in London and saw a photography store and decided to check it out. I was reading about different cameras in magazines but wasn't really planning to buy anything. After playing with that Pentax in the store I just couldn't leave it there and bought it even though I couldn't really afford it (oh, the power of the credit card!). After using a Zenith (a Russian made camera that feels like tank and weights like tank) for many years Pentax felt like a magical toy. It even survived a 3 ft drop and 10 ft roll down the mountain slope. I still miss having lens release button on the right, where Canon has DOF button. After all these years of using Canon I can't get used to that button being on the left and feel awkward changing the lens and afraid to drop it.

Mitzis

Started serious digital photography with a Pentax K10, which I still use a a backup. Now use a Pentax K3. Never could have afforded a Nikon or Cannon of equivalent capability. Main problem is a lack on lens options.

I am now retired so have no plans to upgrade the DSLR. Still do a lot of nature photography with them for my own pleasure.

polyman

I've been a fan of Pentax cameras ever since seeing David Hemmings in 'Blowup' way back in the sixties.

trackmag

As a Navy journalist in the late '60s and early 70s Yashica was the official camera. Loved it and bought my personal camera at Navy Exchange at Norfolk Naval Station in '68. Great cameras. Been a Nikon guy ever since buying a used one is late 70s.
I know a guy that has a 7100 Nikon that has taken more than 200,000 images with it in last two year. No issues at all. This is in a commercial operation. Nikon should use him in their commercials.

Nosaj Loc: Sarasota, Florida

I’m a long term Pentax user for both DDLRs and lenses. I have a small P&S for kick/around. I’ve been looking into mirrorless and checked out the Canon, Nikon, and Fuji models. Also looked in to Lumix and Sony ones. I will stay a Pentax user even if I don’t go mirrorless. The Canon and Nikon DSLRs are all very worthy Cameras. But, for for the same costs, the Pentax models in similar price ranges provide excellent feature sets, image quality, and reliability. For example: their modest end K70 blows away the 5xxx Nikons and 3xxx Canons. Also, the high end full-frame K1 m2 Blows away their Nikon and Canon counterparts for features, performance and price. Main problem with Pentax: lack of marketing and promotion. Ricoh is mostly interested in big copy systems.

Rhinophoto Loc: Davis, CA

My uncle, Jack Cannon, was a professional travel photographer in the 1950's and 60's. In spite of his name, he always used Pentax cameras. He took me on a trip to Yosemite in the early 1960's, and he always had two Pentax cameras with him - one on a short neck strap with a shorter lens, one on a longer neck strap with a longer lens.

Mike

sean.lang

I still have my Honeywell Spotmatic SLR. Haven't used it since I bought a 5 meg Sony Cyber-shot which still performs. Now i have too many cameras/lenses.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

I shot pro assigned photos with our Pentax back in 1966 at Expo'67, Montreal. I loved how comfortable the camera felt in my hands.
Today, I have a Pentax body in my collection K1000. W 50mm f2. Interested ?
Peter