To be perfectly honest, I ended up with Nikon by accident. My first SLR was a Minolta X-700. It was a woderful little camera. At least for the month or so I owned it. It was stolen when my car was broken into. My next camera was a Pentax SF-7. This one was not so great. At the time (1987) Nikon cameras were quite expensive. I thought only pros could afford one. Being an Airman in the Air Force stationed in Germany, I was not exactly rich either. In 1988 when the FA was discontinued the BX had a huge sale. A brand new Nikon FA body for less then $300. I could not resist and got one. 13 years later, after being dragged thru the Saudi Desert during the Gulf War and many other adventures, it still works! I was perfectly happy with it until about six months ago. My boy who is now two years old, was starting to get really mobile. I just could not keep up with his antics with the FA. So, I was in the market for a new autofocus camera. I tryed all the usual brands/models, but settled for the F-100. The reasons being:
1) I like the feel of metal,
2) I can use all the lenses I have for my FA,
3) My FA never let me down, I believe the same kind of craftsmanship went into the F-100.
I guess I would consider my experience a lucky accident.

Tom R