>From: alex wetmore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Pentax needs to please SOMEBODY with its cameras and lenses, or nobody > will buy them. I'd suggest that loyal pentax users who still own lenses > without A settings and cameras without AV dials would be a likely group > for Pentax to sell future cameras and lenses to. If the stuff isn't > backward compatible, why not just buy a Canon like everybody else?
>They are backwards compatible with the *ist D with the latest >firmware. It isn't as nice as using them on a ZX-5n, but it really >isn't that bad. The *istD is backwards compatible, if you count an operating mechanism functionally identical to that on the original Spotmatic, and the lack of P or Shutter-priority modes. WE may not find this inconvenient, but the average buyer is probably going to find it offputting. I don't know if the firmware patch works for any of the newer film cameras that are likewise mechanically deficient. So far nobody has put out a firmware patch to allow mechanical switching of the apertures on the new ringless lenses on, say, an MX. >My local camera shop has sold a couple of bodies to longtime Pentax >users since I showed them how the firmware upgraded body works with >them. Well done! I suspect I'd be a lot more gung-ho about the *istD if I had the kind of great Pentax K-mount glass that a lot of the people here clearly do. *istD plus A*135/1.8 would give me something that NONE of the other manufacturers has! I'm assuming that Pentax is starting to ship cameras with the revised firmware and software? > I myself wonder what has taken the 9MP cameras so long to come out. >6mp cameras seem to meet the needs of most users pretty well. They >make good 8x10 and somewhat larger prints. The files are a somewhat >reasonable size. But if somebody comes out with a 9MP DSLR for $1500 next week, everyone will buy that. After all, 9 is bigger than 6. Nikon is getting KILLED in the market for its lack of a higher-resolution DSLR. >I wouldn't want a 9mp camera because I wouldn't want to deal with the >storage requirements of files from a 9mp camera. Storage space gets cheaper all the time. Plus, most modern cameras can be set to shoot at a lower resolution to save storage space. My 6MP D100 spends most of its life set for 3.3MP because I don't usually need the quality for what I do with it, and I do need the extra shots on the card. DJE
