I ' m on the same hunt for information about Mt Hood here in Oregon . Looking to do the Tilly Jane trail myself . <| sep |> Pentax actually it started out as Asahi Optical has been making opticscameras or almost 100 years . In the 60 ' s and 70 ' s they were the leading camera brand . Canon and Nikon have better marketing Pentax still does not really believe in marketing very much , so that is why you have never heard of them . They are essentially run by engineers and photographers . Yes , I have purchased through the forum before . The gear is in general well cared for , by the folks on the forum . I find it better to purchase through the forum than from ebay or craigslist and I have done both before . Pentax was purchased by Ricoh about 5 years ago . Pentax is profitable , but still reasonably small . Here is a bit of history .