Sent this before, but it didn't seem to make it.
J
------- Forwarded message -------
From: "John Forbes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Tom C" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Financal Condition of Pentax
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 12:14:15 -0000
I take your point, Tom. I am guilty of judging you by association.
However, I happen to believe that the message put out by Pentax users can,
does, and will, have a profound effect on the future success or otherwise
of the brand, or rather, the mount, as there are now two brands using the
K-mount for digital cameras.
Your argument that one person doesn't make a difference (which I think you
put forward on a previous occasion) is an argument for not voting in
elections, or for not doing anything which requires collective effort.
On the contrary, provided enough people do something, they can have an
enormous influence.
I'm not saying we should mislead people. But I do think it is sensible
(to preserve our investment) to present a positive image to the world.
And there is much to be positive about. Samsung has embraced the K-mount,
and Samsung is on its way to becoming the world's largest electronics
company at a time when still cameras are on their way to being subsumed
into the world of electronics, just like movie cameras before them. There
was a time when Pentax, Nikon, Minolta, et al, made cine cameras or
camcorders. Now it's just Somy, Canon, Panasonic, JVC, Hitachi, Sharp,
and, of course, Samsung. The fact that the K-mount has been sponsored by
a major electronics company is therefore very significant.
What's also good news is that further developments in sensor technology
reinforce the idea that there is no need for a 35mm sized chip in order to
produce better than 35mm quality. This makes it more likely that the
dominant chip in the future will be smaller than 24x36, and within the
image circle of DA lenses. So not only is the future of the K-mount
looking pretty good, so is the future of DA lenses.
John
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 06:23:31 -0000, Tom C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
John,
With all doo respect... :-) Your categorization of Rob Studdert and
myself as doom-mongers is way off-base. We are not predicting the
future... we are not predicting or saying or proclaiming that Pentax
will 'bite the dust'. What we are doing is observing the long term
trend and stating that it does little to inspire confidence.
Many of us have much invested in Pentax. For my part, and I think I can
safely say this for Rob as well, if I did not have a considerable
investment in Pentax gear, and I were just starting out... or almost
just starting out... I would not buy Pentax... others don't consider
gear an investment... so I'll also term it as "outlay of capital".
Anyway... I would say we know where each other stands on the matter...
but you continue to either accidentally or deliberately miss the big
clues, that I (we) are not prophesying doom. We are however observing,
and saying that we lack confidence that Pentax will perform in the way
we hope in the future. It's as simple as that.
Tom C.
From: "John Forbes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net
To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net
Subject: Re: Financal Condition of Pentax
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 05:02:04 -0000
James,
You've now heard from the two remaining doom-mongers who frequent this
list. A third has gone off in a rage, but we are fortunate that we
can still enjoy Rob's photographic erudition, and Tom's incomparable
puns.
Pentax is a company with several irons in the optical fire, which has
enabled it to survive at a time when other camera manufacturers have
had to call it a day. At the same time, it is not a huge conglomerate
like Canon, with unlimited financial resources, and it suffered a
major blow when it was forced to abandon its first digital SLR, the
MZ-D, because the Philips sensor proved to be a failure.
However, Pentax fought back with a camera, the *ist D, which (with its
derivatives) compares extremely well with the competition, and has
developed a new range of lenses designed for the commonly used APS-C
sized sensor. Several of these have won high praise, especially the
16-45mm zoom.
Contrary to what others have written, Pentax has a clear strategy
which has been articulated by its management, and which is supported
by a lens road-map which it published a year ago. As a result, we
know that this year Pentax will produce a sixth new "DA" (digital)
lens, along with a digital 645 for the Medium Format market and a
higher spec K-mount DSLR body. The latter is the subject of great
speculation concerning its pixel-count and other features.
Recently Pentax announced an agreement with Samsung, which is the
world's fastest-growing large electronics company, that will enable
them both to sell many more K-mount cameras and lenses in the future.
In the opinion of more optimistic souls than Tom & Rob, this virtually
guarantees the future of the K mount. Samsung is comparable in size
to Canon and Sony, and is growing much faster than either. Unlike the
other two, which have become staid and complacent, Samsung is hungry,
and has already, within three months of joining up with Pentax,
produced a re-badged Pentax under its own name.
The whole camera industry is in a state of flux as cameras become just
another form of computer input. The mystique has gone, and it is
almost inevitable (IMHO) that within the next five years all the old
camera makers will either disappear or become divisions of major
electronics companies. And of the major players in that industry,
based on past performance, Samsung seems likely to emerge as the
dominant one.
Nobody can predict the future. But it is pretty certain that K-mount
cameras and lenses will continue in production, and that the range of
K-mount camera bodies will increase substantially.
The future is bright for the K-mount.
John
On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 03:09:11 -0000, Rob Studdert
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 20 Jan 2006 at 16:06, James Fellows wrote:
Hi,
I have been off the list for a couple of years. I am hoping to jump
into
the DSLR world soon. Using a Pentax DSLR seems to be the way to go
based on
the lenses and flashes I own. But now I hear Pentax is in rough shape
financially and I wonder if I should not invest in Pentax if they
will be
out of the DSLR market soon. What does everybody else hear.
Like otters have said there is nothing wrong with buying a Pentax
DSLR right
now especially if you intend to employ older lenses however their
future as a
DSLR camera company is far from certain. They are profitable at the
moment
however they have just entered into a financial arrangement with a
company that
could potentially swallow them up and no matter how positive you are
you will
never see financial figures like those being produced by Canon at the
moment.
So if you are looking at buying a very usable DSLR now then Pentax is a
relatively inexpensive option. If you are young and looking to pour
money into
a kit that you definitely wish to be able to update and build on into
the
future then you may have to consider pushing your purchase in another
direction.
http://www.canon.com/ir/annual/2004/p01.html
http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/information/200505241.html
Rob Studdert
HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA
Tel +61-2-9554-4110
UTC(GMT) +10 Hours
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/
Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
