The *istD was a good start. It can easily meet the needs of most
wedding photographers, stock shooters, and magazine photographers. Its
small size has made it quite popular among Leica rangefinder users, and
its backward compatibility (yes it works just fine with K lenses) has
made it a good tool for many of us who own a lot of Pentax manual focus
glass. The *istDS seems to have been a commercial success, and even
improves on the D in some ways. It was obviously necessary for the
company to build a broad base of prosumer users before they go high
end. I too expect good products from Pentax. I see no reason to believe
that they're going to fold the tent and go home. But we've discussed
this several hundred times, and it's somewhat pointless to rehash it
all again.
On Jul 21, 2005, at 6:30 PM, Tom C wrote:
Yeah, I knew someone would come up with that argument. :) He
certainly has the right to not purchase or purchase what ever he
desires. That is none of my concern in the least.
As said earlier, the 645D would be a niche product, at too high a
price point for most, and for the majority of us on the list, at
least, would require the additonal purchase of a bunch of lenses.
My point is that Pentax has had ALOT of time to produce and compete
and is obviously a slow performer in turning out new products that are
not simply variations on a theme,and downgrades at that. His
expectations and assuring words that Pentax will deliver is only a
repetition of what Pentax has said, not what they have done... and
Pentax has not given us a sliver of an idea what the feature set or
specs would look like on these as yet unseen products.
So for the entire time period that Pentax has talked about producing a
DSLR, from the 'MZ-D' onward (about 5 years?), they have not produced
a DSLR that meets his requirements. That track record does not
inspire confidence that 'big things' are just around the corner.
Tom C.
I still cannot see it. He can talk for himself, but I think the 645D
may be right up his street.
BTW, the fact that, if I can have my way, I will never get a DSLR
does not mean anything about Pentax, or what I think about their
DSLRs. The fact that Pal does not have a Canon which does everything
under the sun, also means that he is putting his money where his
mouth is: at the bank.
Kostas
