If Pentax had maintained the all metal quality, all mechanical precision of the original K series cameras, then this would be a very small list representing the users of some very pricey gear.
Camera manufacturers these days, unless their plants are entirely in Germany or Sweden and their pricing in the elite category, tread a very delicate path between the high wages of technologically advanced nations, and the low skilled labour-force of nations newly developing their industrial capabilities. In other words, the skilled Japanese workers who made Pentaxes in the '60s and '70s now draw as much wages as present day Hasselblad and Leica workers. If Pentax manufacturing hadn't changed, its products would need to compete in the Hassselblad and Leica market sector. That ain't gonna happen. The reality is that Japanese camera makers have moved their plants for all but prestige products into neighbouring, lower waged nations. Simultaneously, the expensive mechanics of cameras has been stripped away in favour of electronics, a process which is ongoing. Some may see the whittling away of the mechanical elements of K-mount as a 'death of a thousand cuts', but it is inevitable that within a decade the only mechanical parts of a lens mount will be the mount itself and the locking pin. However, how many of us believe that Pentax could survive a radical shift to that state-of-affairs, like Canon's move from FD to EOS? regards, Anthony Farr ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lon Williamson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Let's see if I understand this. > > 20 years ago we had a K mount with accurate aperature. > Then we had the KA derivatives that were accurate only without using A. > Now we've got KAJ which is accurate using A, and is about as good as K. > > Progress and improvement is a marvelous thing. > >
