Thanks for the excellent summary, Mark, and welcome home! Did anyone from Pentax say anything about changes in marketing and distribution? Historically their marketing has been terrible; they improved their advertising a lot around the time the K10D was introduced, and then dropped it all. Their dealer network has become pathetic.
Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Mark Roberts <[email protected]> wrote: > I just got back to Boston after my > trip to NYC for the Pentax K-X > intro. It was a cold and wet ride, but not *extremely* cold > or wet. I > think Triumph misnamed the Sprint because that bike's > definitely a > marathon runner (though a very, very fast one)! Best > motorcycle ever, > IMHO :-) > > The intro was held at the International Center of > Photography on 6th > Ave at 43rd street and it's definitely worth a visit if you > get the > chance. Their current exhibit is on the work of Richard > Avedon, who is > not one of my favorite photographers - but that's probably > all the > more reason to have a look at his work, I thought to > myself. I was > quite surprised at how much of it I liked. The thing is, it > was all > his really *early* stuff that really seemed good to me. The > exhibit > had the photographs grouped by time periods and the later > the year the > less I liked his work. He seemed to have figured out what > sold, at one > point, and then stopped experimenting and growing. In his > later work > he seemed to be imitating his own "Richard Avedon style" > (though very > well!) I once read an article that suggested that Liza > Minelli has, in > effect, become a Liza Minelli impersonator; I think Richard > Avedon > became a sort of photographic equivalent of that. > > All the prints looked fabulous, by the way, but > particularly the > earlier ones, to my eye. I doubt Avedon was a darkroom kind > of guy so > I wondered who did his printing. Whoever it was did a > superb job. > > The first person I met at the event was Gordon Lewis, who's > writing > the K-7 review for Mike Johnston and TOP. There were very > few people > there who were primarily photographers, as opposed to > industry/retail > people and journalists, and he somehow immediately pegged > me as a > shooter and just walked up and started chatting (he > introduced himself > as just "Gordon" and I didn't find out until later that he > was the > Gordon writing for Mike). He's a really nice guy, clearly > smart and a > damn fine photographer (which you know already if you've > seen his work > accompanying the K-7 review). > > Pentax had the event catered very nicely and all the food > was kosher, > which, given the number of Adorama and B&H people > present, was > probably a good idea. Sparkling water, soft drinks and a > very passable > Sauvignon Blanc were also available. I'm normally a > cabernet drinker, > but I made an exception for Pentax :) > > The first part of the formal presentation was all about > Pentax and > Hoya's relationship and how being part of Hoya has changed > -- and will > change -- things. The white K-2000, which Hoya decided to > sell without > market testing (through focus groups and the like), is one > example. > They are clearly working on shortening development time and > reducing > time to market. They also want to make Pentax's product > line more > logical and organized, so I expect we're seeing just the > beginning of > this process. Another thing they stressed was keeping > control of > inventory and product delivery. They made a big deal about > this and I > got the impression they've already foreseen and planned for > the > management of the multiple-color options of the K-X, making > it easy > for retailers to get the ones they want. > > You've probably read as much as you want to know about the > K-X by now > so I'll just say that it's a very impressive little piece > of kit. > Clearly aimed at a beginner moving up from a > point-and-shoot, rather > than the kind of photographer who's on the PDML, but at > $650 with a > kit lens it really is an astonishing value for the money, > IMO, and > hitting the market in October (black) and November (colors) > is just > right timing. They reported that Pentax looks to break even > this year > or possibly turn a small profit. Actually quite remarkable > in the > current economic climate. > > After all the planned presentations there was a Q&A > period. Mostly > uninteresting questions, but one did try to inquire about > future, > higher-spec products (and they clearly meant "full-frame" > even though > they weren't willing to use those words). The Pentax people > kind of > side-stepped that one by saying that their next camera > slated for > release is the 645D, in the spring of next year. I spoke to > some of > them in *private*, and while they wouldn't comment on > full-frame or > future camera development, there was an acknowledgement > that the > environment has changed - even since earlier this year. > (Cough - Sony > A850 - cough) My totally subjective, completely personal > *opinion* is > that Paul Stenquist's 2011 date for full-frame will prove > about right. > Maybe we'll see an announcement in late 2010 (when the Sony > 850 will > be retailing for ~$1500) One would note that the new K-X > appears to > use a Sony sensor (unconfirmed), so Pentax doesn't seem to > consider > themselves locked into one sensor supplier. > > After the formal presentation I chatted with various Pentax > people and > was really happy to meet several with whom I've only > communicated in > email or just heard about through other people. I got to > chat with > President Ned Bunnell for a while. I can tell you that the > impression > he gives in his blog is accurate: He's a serious > photographer and he > really cares about what he does. I filled him in on the > details of > next year's PDML Annual and the gallery exhibition in > Chicago. > > I'd also like to note the attitude of most of the other > people present > at this event. It's the first time Pentax has ever done > anything like > this (and did you notice that the embargo was only broken a > few > *hours* before deadline, rather than days and weeks?) and > most of > those present were either from various web and print media > or from > retailers. But you could tell that the overwhelming > majority of them > were really pulling for Pentax, a relative underdog in a > field of > giant corporations. There's a genuine affection for > Pentax's history > and accomplishments in members of the press and in > long-time retail > operators like B&H. That this isn't often apparent in > media coverage > belies the cynical myth of press bias and corporate > co-option so > prevalent in popular culture. There are a lot of "friends > of Pentax" > out there and it was nice to feel them drop their guise of > professionalism just a *little* for the evening to let is > show. Their > enthusiasm for the new K-X and marketing strategy was, I > think, > genuine. > > I was honored to be invited to this event, but I think it's > more a > measure of the work the *rest* of the PDML did in making > the > photographs for the PDML Annual that made it possible. Keep > up the > good work for the next one and maybe I'll get invited to > future > product announcements at great photo art galleries! > > And maybe they'll also have a red wine at the next one. > > -- > 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.
