>> My analogy was not about price, it was about image, prestige, >> perception in >> the market place. Sure a FF DSLR will cost more than one with an >> APS-C size >> sensor. If the Canons, Nikon's, Sony's of the world offer FF >> DSLR's, then >> Pentax must also. If they do not, they will relegate themselves >> to a 2nd >> tier camera company, and it doesn't matter who loves their camera, >> or how >> much it satisfies their current needs. > > Unfortunately, they probably thiink they have history on their > side. How > many generations behind the curve they were with film cameras? > Four? Five? I > know the film SLR line was a bad joke from the late 1980s onwards. > But somehow, they managed to soldier onwards. > If they think they can pull it off again, bully for them, but it > would be > nice if they at least tried this time.
Pentax has been all about value for dollar for a very long time, not about "leading edge" or "most popular". When I sold Pentax equipment in 1972-3, that's what it was billed for. Solid, practical, sensible designs, good lenses. The LX, magnificent though it might have become, failed. The K1000 succeeded on that basis for decades. Several tens of thousands of photography students learned their chops with it. The medium format cameras did the same. A shocking number of great photographs, books, exhibitions etc have been made with the 6x7 and 645, but they never get the press like the Hasselblads. I never owned or used a Pentax 'til the introduction of the *ist DS. I was attracted to it for the value for money, the excellent DA14 lens, and its simple, basic competencies. I think it is a true classic in the DSLR world, like the K1000 was. Now they come out with the K10D. A camera that, for $750-800, has more features, build quality and core competencies than most of the competition for double the price. It's gotten awards left and right in the marketplace. It produces superb photographs. The DA series of lenses are excellent quality, the DA* lenses are state of the art on design and quality. For a second rate company, they do pretty well. G -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
