First - I'm pleased, that so many want to contribute to answering my questions.
Secondly: 10 or 15 years ago I'd tell a beginner, that it is easy to get excellent second hand lenses for Pentax K-mount. But that's not quite true anymore. ((I've been looking for a Sigma 100-300 EX 4.0 for months - impossible to find one for Pentax. And some focal lengths, made by Tamron, are not offered for Pentax at all :-( I can buy new Pentax lenses, but they seem to be quite expensive - and the best ones are hard to find second hand)). So, today I'm not so sure anymore about what to say to beginners. But I actually have friends and famuily members, that have chosen Pentax because of my photographs :-) I guess that the best advertising is showing fine photographs. Remember the Pentax (67) calendar ?? I geuss the new AA filter is a uniqe feature, not offered by other brands. And I think Pentax bodies gives me more features/better ergonomics and user interface, at lower cost. I guess I own perhaps 50 lenses or more for Pentax K-Mount. So, I could never afford to change brand myself, unless I have to (Pentax goes belly up - or I win the lottery can afford to get Phase One equipment). And Yes, the mentioned kult status - and the fine forums, like the PDML, is quite a uique Pentax thing too :-) Regards Jens -- Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. On Oct 20, 2013 05:28 "Boris Liberman" <bori...@gmail.com> wrote: > Oh, the reason is pretty simple, Cotty. > You see, Pentax is all but virtually non-existent in Israel. You have > to > actively want to break barriers to buy Pentax. Newly announced cameras > arrive with months of delay here. The international warranty means > nothing to local service centers. To get your camera serviced by Karat > (the one I've been praising) - you either have to be in close vicinity > of Big Tel Aviv or you even have to pay to messenger service to have > it > delivered there. Or you have to deal with shops with rather gray > reputation(*). > > Ultimately, being a Pentax owner means that from the start you have to > overcome some very serious inconveniences and/or silly logistical > issues. > > In fact, I wouldn't recommend Olympus and/or Panasonic too. I mean I > would, but I would repeat time and again that the person who asked for > my advice would have to start by figuring out who's giving the service > and what do people say about that specific company. > > If I lived in Great Britain, France or United States - then I would > certainly give a different answer. > > (*) A friend of mine bought Canon outfit from one such shop. We went > for > shoot. Focus was all over the place, the exposure was decidedly > over-burned too. I suggested to him that he requests for his gear to > be > serviced. Ultimately they said that the camera and lenses were withing > specified tolerances... Bullshit, if you ask me. > > On 10/19/2013 9:16 PM, Steve Cottrell wrote: > > On 19/10/13, Boris Liberman, discombobulated, unleashed: > > > >>> How would you convince a beginner to get a Pentax? > >> > >> I wouldn't. Sorry. In fact, even a beginner has some idea as to why > >> they > >> would want to get into photography. So I would probably ask them > >> and see > >> what kind of result they're after. Because, say, if they're not > >> going to > >> print bigger than 10x15 cm or if they're going to look at the > >> photos > >> only on their computer screen, I wouldn't suggest a DSLR for them > >> to > >> begin with. > > > > Boris, I find this odd. > > > > Why not recommend Pentax? For a beginner, the product line-up is > > ideal. > > > > Something like the MX-1 can give a better experience than just a > > cheapshit point n shoot. > > > > If they want to get into using different lenses, then a Pentax DSLR > > is > > ideal. They will get better value for money - even pointing them to > > (say) DP Review reviews (there an echo in here??) will confirm > > Pentax > > status as such. Sure, some will be swayed by wanting Nikon or Canon > > on > > the front - but a lot won't - and in fact you'd be surprised how > > many > > want to avoid the heard instinct. Pentax still does carry a certain > > charm as a 'cult' following. A lot of people like that. > > > > So what if they don't want to print - even at all? The point is they > > can > > be creative and make some amazing pictures using some simple > > lenses. > > > > In the old days, anyone wanting to do some better photography - > > students > > included - would pick up an SLR camera. Why not a DSLR? > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
