Vic wrote:
>I certainly agree that the
> autofocus LX will never be made.
How can one agree on such things? It will be made or not be made regardless of whether
you agree or not :-)
>It may be fun to speculate about what it
> should or should not have but it will never be made.
Theres nothing new it these pesimistic opinions. We heard it all before: when the 43
Limted was released there could never never never never never be another Limited
lens.When the 77 Limited was released there would for always be just two Limited
lenses; never never never never never would there ever ever ever be three or even
more. It didn't matter at all that the director had uttered in public that the
customers could have high hopes for the future regarding more Limited lenses. It would
never never never never happen anyway! A "Limited" camera would of course never never
never happen. Such things cannot be!
When the rumors about a metal camera priced close to the F100 started the pessimists
said such things can never never never never never be! Pentax would never never never
ever release an slr more expensive than the Z-1p. According to the same people Pentax
would never never never release a digital slr ever for all eternity.
An LX with AF makes sense if Pentax have decided to cater the 35mm slr film market in
the future. Such a decision is probably been made; after all Pentax (and Nikon for
that matter; look at the FM3a) have a large base of K-mount users; many can be
cosidered conservative. Whos going to buy battery hungry, large, auto everything slr
that can shoot 5+ fps in the future? Nobody. People who want these cameras are going
to go digital. Whats left in the 35mm slr field, apart from the absolute entry level,
are going to be the traditionalists and connoissuers. The camera thats going to cater
this shrinking market are going to be suited for this market segment. The strong point
of film slr over digital is going to be size and battery consumption - look at the
MZ-S, FM3a and the upcoming LX(II) - all made to survive in a digital future. My guess
would be that Minolta and Canon wont bother with this segment anymore mostly because
they lack the customer base Nikon and Pentax enjoy.
>(as an aside: I believe
> the limited lenses some of us think are for the new LX are really going to be
> for the digital MZ-S Pentax is working on. They are the closest thing to
> 'retro' Pentax will get. I believe the MZ-S is the LX replacement that the
> president is talking about. It's how the company has been marketing the
> camera and to tell you the truth, in many ways, it is an autofocus LX.)
Absolutely not. The MZ-S is not an LX with AF. The director would never have said that
they wanted to make an LX with AF if it was already made; particularly not in an
article on Pentax future direction.
The Limited lenses are designed to achieve legendary status like some of the older
K-mount lenses; like the 85/1.8 and 30/2.8. They are going to be matched to an
legendary camera and the only camera that comes to mind is the LX. The Limited lenses
are made for a body of enduring quality - its no way they are primarily meant for a
transient digital body.
In case some people don't know the secretive japanese business culture; theres no way
a director of camera divison in uttering something along the lines of wanting to make
an LX with AF in an interview of Pentax future direction unless this camera exist and
gotten the final go ahead.
P�l
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