Yeah, Pentax has always been the common man's affordable camera. I still have my K1000 body, but haven't used it in decades. I was still using my ME Super up to ten years ago, but have now gone digital with an 6m istDs and six months ago I treated myself to an awesome 16m K-5IIs, which can leap over tall buildings in a single bound. It takes fabulous photos in all lighting conditions. What I like about the Pentax 35mm format digital cameras is that I have backwards compatibility to my older lenses, although I do have to use them in manual mode and lose the auto focus. Also, Pentax is compatible with other affordable lense brands, such as Vivitar.