Great write-up Mark. Thanks for taking the time. I have no deep reasoning behind this, but I think Pentax could sell a bunch of these K-X's The whole package makes for an attractive little camera, and everyone to whom I showed the Japanese site really liked the colors. ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Roberts [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:03 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Back in beantown! ...and a further NYC report (long)
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.
