On Mon, 24 Mar 2003, Lon Williamson wrote: > Chris, > As a salesman, how do you see the *ist being received > by the customers you serve?
Like anything, it depends on how much the salesperson wants to push it. :) People who shoot Pentax will love it. It's a much more current camera than the 5n, with many more features, yet without the unconventional styling of the Z-1p. I think people are going to be reassured by the more conventional design. Its small size can work for or against it, and again this depends on how the salesperson sells it. On one hand, it's the smallest 35mm AF SLR out there, and its small size means that it's light, easy to carry, etc. etc. People are accustomed to paying more for ultra-small good (cell phones, PDA's, digital cameras... pretty much any electronic device), so small can equal good. If the Pentax does everything the others do, and is smaller to boot, great! OTOH, people may associate small SLR's with the spectacularly unsuccessful APS SLRs, or with lower-end toys. The larger size of the F80 and Elan 7 might work in their favour, making them seem more like professional tools and less like a cute toy. Larger cameras can be more comfortable for some people (note the larger grip on the Rebel Ti), and heavier cameras feel better to a lot of people and can be more stable when handheld. Price will play a part, too. If the *ist is priced below the F80/Elan 7, it should do very well. If it's priced comparably, it's going to be a tough call. N/C have more advertising and marketing, not to mention a better AF lens line than Pentax. If the features are roughly comparable for a similar price, and the customer is happy with the range of lenses available for it, then it's going to come down to intangibles like the way it feels, how well it focuses, etc. Personally, I think it'll do very well. People who want a more advanced camera than the MZ-6 haven't really had an option except the under-featured (and old) MZ-5n, the discontinued and oddly-designed Z-1p, and the expensive MZ-S. The *ist looks like a great camera, and I think it fills a niche that has been sorely lacking in Pentax's lineup for quite a while. On a related note, after reviewing the *ist's specs, I can definitely see room for a model below it. Look at all the features they could leave off or scale down on an entry-level body: custom functions, user-selectable metering modes, user-selectable multiple AF points, DOF preview, 1/4000 shutter, 1/125 flash sync, 2.5fps drive, and so on. I fully expect to see a camera below the *ist in Pentax's lineup, whether it's the MZ-60 or a new *series model. Absolute entry-level cameras are bought because they meet a price point. People shop for these cameras instead of the more expensive ones because (1) they don't want a lot of features (just enough so they feel like they could assume more manual control in the future if they want, which they never do), and (2) because they want to spend as little money as possible. If Pentax announces 2 more *series models, I'd bet that one of them is below the *ist. chris
