John, I'd tend to agree, with the caveat that Pentax really needs BOTH the flagship and the low-end model. The latter comes first, which is why replacing the K100D Super with the K200D was a near-disaster for Pentax since it removed them nearly completely from the low-end market (due to both the high price and the lack of competitive spec at its pricepoint). But having a flagship pulls in a lot of sales even when they aren't buying the flagship. As big a market as Soccer Moms are, they aren't a primary market yet for DSLR's, the primary market is still the 18-35 Male. Until there's a purse-sized DSLR with a big zoom, Soccer Moms aren't going to be a primary market for DSLR's and they will continue to prefer the far more compact moderate zoom P&S's.
-Adam On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 4:01 PM, John Celio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think "nice" really hits the nail on the head with regards to this new > camera. It's going to be perfect for people who want simplicity and > nice photos. > > Despite all the grumbling from people who say Pentax needs a high-end > camera, this sort of thing is what Pentax REALLY needs: a small, > affordable, entry-level camera with simple controls and features so that > Mrs. Soccer Mom can pick it up and photograph her kids. > > All the research and industry newsletters I was able to read back at > Reed's said that the Soccer Mom type (they used different terms) is > really key for the photography industry, and if you ever go out to a > place where lots of families are gathering, you'll see how true this is. > I visted the new California Academy of Sciences yesterday in San > Francisco for the sneak-preview, and probably 90% of the families I saw > with children and dSLRs were shooting Canon Rebels or low-numbered Nikon > cameras. I saw a handful of older men and one pro-looking woman with > higher-end Canons and Nikons, but the low end truly dominated the crowd. > Oddly, I saw no Sony dSLRs, but did see one KonicaMinolta (or Minonika, > as I like to call them). > > This just goes to show where the money is, and where a business like > Pentax must place their emphasis in order to turn a profit. As much as > some people want a Pentax version of the 5D or better, Pentax wants to > stay in business. > > John Celio > > P.S.: for the curious, here are some of my photos from the new Academy, > most shot with a D-FA 100 on my K10D: > http://www.neovenator.com/special/index.php?dir=academy/ > > > -- > http://www.neovenator.com > http://www.cafepress.com/neovenatorphoto > > > -- > 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. > -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- 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.
