On 7/15/05 5:13 AM, "Sylwester Pietrzyk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Konica Minolta has just announced cheap DSLR with built-in image > stabilisation: > http://www.dpreview.com/news/0507/05071503kmmaxxum5d.asp > It seems that only Pentax has left now with no stabilisation option of any > kind for their system. Is there any chance we wil see it in any form in the > future? Hi, There are several sites in Japan that are run by "pro" photographers. Some of these are blogs. They usually have privilege of knowing about new cameras way in advance of public announcement by way of being invited to the previews for selected few. They are often asked to test those cameras. I read one of them regularly as he is writing camera (and lens combination) reviews (and I like his funny writing style). He was also recently invited to a Nikon factory in Thailand where the new D50 is being manufactured, and this was way before D50 was announced. Once in a while, he hints what's coming but only in a very suggestive ways because he is obviously bound by the non-disclosure agreement. A week or so ago, he briefly mentioned about IS, again with a proviso that he cannot disclose much. In short, he was saying that; [every (or most?) camera maker has been developing the IS. Not many are doing the one built in lenses. He is looking forward to the announcement by these makers one after another from this fall to the next summer.] That's all he said, but I am sure that major camera makers are going to announce the IS one way or another, as it seems that this is becoming almost a "requirement" in the market in order to survive the fierce competition. "In-camera" stabilization makes sense, and it is particularly effective for marketing Pentax as there are so many K lenses around which suddenly becomes "image stabilized". Pentax of course are well aware of the compatibility advantage of the K lenses (I am sure the reason for their using better viewfinder in their DSLR in spite of the cost disadvantage was because of huge number of K mount manual focus lenses in the market. Can you imagine using those MF lenses in Canon viewfinder ? :-). Also, as they are sticking to the in-camera drive motor for AF (a long shaft running thru the barrel of lenses), it is probably difficult to incorporate the lens mounted IS like Canon's (but you never know, Pentax might go for USM irrespective of IS :-). So, if you logically view the competitive situation and if Pentax are serious about their future DSLR (I am sure they are. It is the matter of life or death), I would believe that they are one of those makers mentioned by this particular pro that have been developing the IS. So folks, let's see if above mentioned "pro" was telling the truth :-). Cheers, Ken
