"John Turco" wrote in message
...
I bought my K100D in September of 2007. At the time, and ever since, I've
occasionally handled Canon and Nikon display models, in stores. They're
surprisingly light and shockingly plasticky, from everything I've seen.

In fact, one of them (I forgot which brand) had a fairly large zoom lens
attached. Even so, the entire body/lens combo was practically weightless.

Nice combination then if you have to carry it around, and don't intend to
use it as a hammer. None of my Canons has yet broken down on me (from 1DS
level down to IXUS and video) but the only Pentax I ever bought packed it in
with *very* little use. Perhaps bad luck, but didn't impress me much!


(I own a Pentax "K100D" and have always been impressed with its fine
feel and sturdiness.)

nikon and canon have always had a better build than pentax, especially
on the higher end bodies, except perhaps for the pentax lx film slr.

Really? I'd read that Pentax's optics are the equal of Nikon's and
Canon's, at the very least. (Not that it truly matters, anymore, as Pentax
has been reduced to relative obscurity.)

Exactly, the real problem with once big manufacturers like Pentax, Olympus,
Minolta etc is they come and go at whim, often leaving their users stuck
with lenses and accessories and no upgrade path. All have produced some good
camera's and lenses over the years, but the only ones I'd bet my money on
being around in 10+ years are Nikon and Canon.
Too expensive to swap all my lenses and flashes every few years :-(

Trevor.