Nikon or pentax

[Dhalevi]

What should I buy?
Nikon d3200 with 18-200 lens
Or the same lens with pentax k50?
The only reason I think Nikon is because of the brand.. Is that true?

 

[DB_Cro]

If you ever intend to upgrade your camera body, or have an interest in buying new, better
lenses then Nikon.

 

[limr]

Pentax will give you more value for the money, and lenses will not carry the name-brand price premium but the glass will be just as good.

 

[tirediron]

Pentax will give you more value for the money, and lenses will not carry the name-brand price premium but the glass will be just as good.

Pentax has ALWAYS been the best bang for the buck in cameras, going back to 1970 and earlier. Their glass has always been very good or better, and their prices moderate. As Limr mentions, you don't pay Nikon, Canon, or Leica prices, but you get very, very good glass, and the best thing is, there's a TON of old, used glass, which is still very, very good and available for a song. The only reasons to NOT consider Pentax are: Slightly limited lens selection in the "extremes" - you can't get a 600mm f4 tele-prime, or an 8mm fish-eye, and the accessory market isn't quite as good, that is, you won't find quite as many third-party options, but... with their prices, who needs 'em?

IMO, for the average consumer looking at this as a hobby, family photos, etc, Pentax is THE choice.

 

[Dhalevi]

You didn't leave me any choice after your comment.. Pentax it is.
Thanks

 

[gsgary]

The Pentax 85mmF1.4 is a super lens and knocks spots off Canon and Nikon and is still expensive for an old lens

 

[nerwin]

The only Pentax I'd get is the 645z.

I think Pentax makes good DSLRs and they are quite tough..but most of the cameras stores I've been to, don't sell them. The ones that do, I really didn't like how the camera felt in my hands and maybe because I'm so use to Nikon's layout. I dunno. Most DSLRs as of today are quite good so either way you go..you'll be quite happy I think.

 

[jaomul]

I have Nikon, but I would have bought Pentax except no where near me sells them. I don't want to buy everything online

 

[nerwin]

I have Nikon, but I would have bought Pentax except no where near me sells them. I don't want to buy everything online

Its a shame really. I think Pentax deserves to be sold in more stores.

 

[goodguy]

I always think ahead, Pentax makes good cameras for sure but I always saw my end goal as full frame and for now Pentax doesn't have full frame camera so just for this reason I would already go with Nikon, gettin stuck with crop sensor for me was never an option, same reason why I would never get Fuji (if I was into mirrorless).

 

[Village Idiot]

Selling all your gear and purchasing equivalents from a different brand because the brand you were using doesn't offer anything in the way of price or performance sucks. How do I know this?

 

[limr]

Pentax announced its first full-frame earlier this year: Life in a glass case: We peer at new Pentax full-frame DSLR

 

[goodguy]

Pentax announced its first full-frame earlier this year: Life in a glass case: We peer at new Pentax full-frame DSLR

Very interesting, I heard rumours but this looks like the real deal, weird that Pentax getting into full frame DSLR when it looks to me like the market slowly is moving to mirrorless, seems like they know something we dont, maybe there is still a lot of promise in DSLR compared to mirrlress technology.

 

[Derrel]

I have Nikon, but I would have bought Pentax except no where near me sells them. I don't want to buy everything online

Its a shame really. I think Pentax deserves to be sold in more stores.

Pentax never really made the transition to the 35mm autofocusing SLR era with enough momentum to carry it forward in to the digital era. At the absolute height of the 35mm manual focus era, which ended basically in the 1986-1990 period, Pentax had some absolutely wonderful products in cameras and lenses, but the transition to autofocusing was a period of MAJOR consolidation of sales for Canon, Nikon, and Minolta...Pentax and Olympus fell by the wayside during that difficult transition period, and then Minolta sunk hundreds of millions of R&D into the APS film fiasco, as well as got hit with huge patent infringement penalties...thus beginning the slow death spiral for both Pentax and Minolta...Pentax is now owned by the Hoya company, and Minolta sold off its camera and lens businesses to Konica, which sold out to Sony. As a result of this long, 25-plus year slow downward spiral, the retail presence of Pentax has suffered terribly. Their sales are just so small that retail, brick-and-mortar dealers are far and few between; on-line sales are simply a better avenue for smaller players in a market where the good themselves are expensive...a d-slr body costs a LOT more at wholesale than many retail products, and dealer inventory budgets are stretched tight days. Target and BestBuy just cannot afford to stock Pentax, as well as all the other brands, so losing just those two,specific retailers means a huge loss of in-store product availability.

 

[sashbar]

I have Nikon, but I would have bought Pentax except no where near me sells them. I don't want to buy everything online

Its a shame really. I think Pentax deserves to be sold in more stores.

Pentax never really made the transition to the 35mm autofocusing SLR era with enough momentum to carry it forward in to the digital era. At the absolute height of the 35mm manual focus era, which ended basically in the 1986-1990 period, Pentax had some absolutely wonderful products in cameras and lenses, but the transition to autofocusing was a period of MAJOR consolidation of sales for Canon, Nikon, and Minolta...Pentax and Olympus fell by the wayside during that difficult transition period, and then Minolta sunk hundreds of millions of R&D into the APS film fiasco, as well as got hit with huge patent infringement penalties...thus beginning the slow death spiral for both Pentax and Minolta...Pentax is now owned by the Hoya company, and Minolta sold off its camera and lens businesses to Konica, which sold out to Sony. As a result of this long, 25-plus year slow downward spiral, the retail presence of Pentax has suffered terribly. Their sales are just so small that retail, brick-and-mortar dealers are far and few between; on-line sales are simply a better avenue for smaller players in a market where the good themselves are expensive...a d-slr body costs a LOT more at wholesale than many retail products, and dealer inventory budgets are stretched tight days. Target and BestBuy just cannot afford to stock Pentax, as well as all the other brands, so losing just those two,specific retailers means a huge loss of in-store product availability.

Pentax is owned by Ricoh