On Jan 12, 2010, at 5:41 PM, Mark Roberts wrote: > P N Stenquist wrote: > >> On Jan 12, 2010, at 3:34 PM, Mark Roberts wrote: >> >>> P N Stenquist wrote: >>> >>>> But while other makers offer FF as flagship models, APS-C is by far >>>> the largest market segment and will remain so unless the price of >>>> sensors tumbles. If Pentax can achieve leadership in APS-C, they'll >>>> be >>>> successful. That seems to be the strategy. Other than long lenses, >>>> which can go both ways, Pentax lens releases continue to be APS-C >>>> only. That suggests that a FF strategy isn't part of their future. >>> >>> To the contrary: If Pentax doesn't have a FF camera for the APS-C >>> users to trade up to (or fantasize about trading up to) pretty soon, >>> they're going to be in biiiig trouble. The people at Pentax *are* >>> aware of this. >>> >> We'll see. I heard some things to the contrary from a reliable source >> just the other day. > > Your source is either kidding you or himself: In a year *someone* (my > money's on Sony) will have a FF camera for around $1600. The $1500 > price point won't be far behind. (That's what the ist-D sold for when > it was first released.) Of course I've been wrong before: I predicted > a sub-$2000 FF camera by mid 2010 and that camera came 8-9 months > *earlier* than my estimate... > >> To draw some parallels, Mini survives as a marketer of small cars, >> without having flagships. VW had it's best years when it stuck to a >> segment. You don''t have to be full range to sell successfully. What's >> more, APS-C will continue to improve. There will always be an upgrade >> path. FF isn't absolutely necessary in that regard. > > The marketing of cars and cameras is too different for a meaningful > comparison, IMO. And it certainly looks as if we are reaching the > limits of APS-C (especially when high-ISO noise levels are becoming > such a fetish for some). > > If there were an adapter available to put Pentax glass on a Sony body > I'd own an A850 already (well, there is an adapter but it introduces > an optical element between the body and lens and it looks > disconcertingly cheap). >
Well, I hope you're right, but I still have my doubts. Time will tell. In the meantime, I'm more than happy with APS-C,, but I certainly wouldn't mind having more crop room. Better is always better. Paul > -- > 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.
