Welcome, Graydon! Impressive first post. You seem intelligent, informed, and thoughtful.
How will you -EVER- fit in -here-??? Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW --- On Tue, 2/17/09, Graydon <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Graydon <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: FF pentax DSLR > To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 7:26 PM > On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 06:42:27PM -0500, JC OConnell > scripsit: > > Pentax has offer camera systems that keep up with > > the photo marketplace, not just their own current lens > lineups... > > Oh, God bugger a moose. > > Not only does Pentax not have to do that; Pentax can't > do that. They > are small; they do not make their own sensors. They do not > have deep > pockets. They are quite capable of noticing that full > frame digital, > while cool and interesting and all, isn't where the > money is, too. > > If Pentax wants to move off their current value > proposition, which is > one of really excellent value for money, they have about > five options: > > - go niche in a sensor-partner independent way, > concentrating on > ergonomics and lenses for that niche. (Small, light, > weather sealed > cameras; this looks like what they are already doing. > Note that this > reinforces the value-for-money proposition.) > > - go niche with a particular sensor partner; if the sensor > partner has > deep enough pockets, they can pull a Lecia and introduce > a new camera > with a lens lineup. If not, they certainly can't do > it themselves. > Otherwise, trade the sensor partner lens design expertise > (which is the > one thing Pentax really has to sell from a camera > perspective) for > electronic design expertise. This scenario leads to a > Samsung K-mount > full frame and Pentax staying in APS-C. It also involves > Samsung being > willing to spend stacks of cash on niche cameras. (If > it's not a cell > phone camera, it's a niche camera.) > > - make a play for upmarket position with medium format; let > Sony, Nikon, > and Canon fight it out for the full frame market, while > gnawing on it > from the top (Digital 645 for the same betwixt-5-and-10 > kUSD price > point as the top-of-the-line pro DSLRs) and bottom (APS-C > DSLRs.) > Probably don't have the capital to try this on their > own, though I > should love to see them try. > > - leverage the sensor partner; Samsung is one of the very > few surviving > chip makers still doing memory, and memory is the nasty > front edge of > chip fab technology. (Memory is generation 0; current > CPU processors is > generation 1, GPUs/budget CPU/embedded/etc. is generation > 2.) If you > can get a couple chip fab generations ahead of your > competition, you can > do all sorts of interesting things with your sensor that > lets you say > "cheaper! better!" in an effective marketing > way, should you stumble > upon some effective marketing types at a career fair > somewhere. > > - go home and make endoscopes; selling things to people who > are readily > swayed by marketing babble is difficult and bad for the > soul. > > > No one knows what they're going to do; the various > execs at Hoya > probably don't, given the interesting state of the > global economy. > > In the meantime, is it possible to have fun, take good > pictures, and > learn something with an APS-C camera? Why, yes, yes it is. > > Is doing so observed to cause the organ of generation to > fall right > clean off, shrink, or otherwise collapse in shame, despite > brothers-in-law, bosses, or poker buddies with full frame > cameras? > > If such a sad thing is observed to occur, well, the fault > is not likely > in the camera. > > > ...uh, hi! > > Had a K20D for not quite a year; my third camera and first > DSLR. (The > predecessors were an Konica/Minolta A200 and a Panasonic > LX2.) I like > it very much, and am still only an egg when it comes to > photography. > > Anyone got any advice on the minimum shutter speed for > getting small > songbird wings to freeze? I'm kinda hoping it's > below 1/1000 of a > second somewhere. > > Thanks! > > -- Graydon > > -- > 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. -- 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.
