On Monday, March 10, 2003, at 03:40 PM, KT Takeshita wrote:
1. *ist is indeed an "entry level" body. It has to be considered a P&S camera with a mirror box(!).
2. But "entry" cameras from major brands are all very well featured these
days. So you cannot judge it an entry level from the feature set alone.
I'm not judging based on feature set alone. My list of features was simply to counter Pal's argument that the *ist would not attract owners of K and M lenses any more than the MZ-60 would. The *ist is incredible value for the money, but a $300 camera is simply not going to take the place of a $150 camera. Now, if this is going to be the entry level model in the new *ist lineup - by which I mean the lowest priced model - it means that Pentax no longer intends to sell an SLR to anyone unwilling to spend at least $300 plus the cost of a lens. Now this may be true and I think warrants some analysis. Could it be that Pentax intends to sell these people a digital P&S instead?
I just see someone walking into a store an asking for a basic upgrade to take better pictures than they get out of their film P&S. If their options are a Minolta Maxxum 4 for $170, a Canon Rebel G for $180,or a Pentax *ist for $300 - what do you think they are going to pick? Now imagine the answer if they could also choose a $150 Pentax MZ-60? Or maybe Pentax wants salespeople to push the advantages of a small digital camera to these people and leave the SLRs to the more serious customers?
-Matt
3. *ist is designed to be able to "grow with" novices who acquire more skill.
4. What differentiate the entry level body from upscale ones is the way it
is made. It may not satisfy all the minimum requirements usually observed
for the upscale models in terms of tolerance and other elements.
But I personally think it is an excellent camera for the money, better than
any entry/mid level MZ camera Pentax produced in the past. If you look at
the AF/AE features, *ist has everything you wanted and should work very well
in the day to day shooting. Whether it has the same "feel" (texture, weight
and finish etc) of upscale model, I doubt it but not many people would care
about those.
From the price I heard in this list, it seems to be an incredible bang for
the money.
OTOH.....,
Insistence by Pentax that the first *ist is indeed an entry level model,
superior AF/AE system Pentax have developed and from the look of the photos
of the machine, all indicate....... :-).
Just my speculation.
Cheers,
Ken
