Case in point:
Pentax X90 vx Nikon Coolpix P100 vx Kodak Easyshare Z981. All major
controls are identically placed, zoom range identical, same size and
shape, differing only in details. The look like bastard brothers.
On 3/23/2010 1:24 PM, Tom C wrote:
I agree with the reality of commodity objects being nothing special,
but I disagree in part, because users, especially first-time users,
will form a perception of the brand nevertheless.
If I were the first time user of a particular brand and had a poor
experience, I'd shy away from that brand next time.
Three cases in point.
Sony high-end ear buds ($80)... after several months crackling noises
while listening to music.
Sony high-end noise-cancelling headphones ($200)... same issue.
I don't think my next pair will be Sony and if it is, I'll mail the
warranty registration card immediately.
Blackberry Storm.
Just abysmal performance and a torturous user experience (IMO).
I didn't go looking for Blackberries when upgrading my phone.
I'd be the same way with a camera. Well I was....
I purchased a Pentax Optio 750Z. Poor performance and lens elements
appear to be separating.
I won't be purchasing another Pentax P&S.
Any product a company sells can have either a positive or negative
impact on whether the customer will purchase that brand again.
A company should not sacrifice their reputation and possible brand
loyalty for short term profits on low-end products. It's
counter-productive.
Tom C.
On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM, P. J. Alling
<[email protected]> wrote:
In a commodity market nothing really. Everybody does the same thing these
days. Only the really top of the line cameras are likely to be anything
particularly special or peculiar to the firm who's name appears on the case.
On 3/23/2010 10:27 AM, Tom C wrote:
What's a reputation worth?
Tom C.
On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 5:50 PM, P. J. Alling
<[email protected]> wrote:
I'm pretty sure it's not actually built by Pentax anyway. There are a
number other cameras on the market in this class with the same general
shape
and control layout. It's probably a comodity produced in someone else'
factory, to Pentax's general specifications. Like most P&S digital
cameras
these days.
On 3/22/2010 2:40 PM, Margus Männik wrote:
Optio is I-10 like a fairy tale princess - a real beauty, but not too
smart. Not as dumb as Amazon reviewer said, just ... a bit retarded.
BR, Margus
Joe Wilensky wrote:
I really wanted to like this camera, but what a disappointment ... this
is the review I put up on amazon.com. I'm surprised there's nothing
else out
there yet on this camera at all, considering the interest it sparked
around
the Web when the design and images of it were released back in January.
But
there's only my review on the black one and (oddly and separately) one
person's review on the white one at amazon.com ...
"Wow, I wanted to love this camera ... the aesthetics/design got me as
soon as I saw the first images released back in January. I have enough
old
Pentaxes (including an Auto 110 Super) to really appreciate the retro
look,
styling and old-style logo. The form factor was actually quite nice,
with a
good balance, small but really nice right-hand grip, and a pleasant
grippy
texture. It was a bit light (plasticky) for its size.
But the picture-taking experience -- slow, slow, slow, at least by 2010
standards. I think the 2004 PowerShot I have is faster. Flash photos
were
terribly slow because of the preflash, which seemed to add an extra
second
and a half to the process. And images were soft overall, but softer as
you
zoom anywhere near the telephoto end. Noise and speckling was apparent
at
nearly all ISO speeds. As far as positives about image quality, in
bright
daylight, at 80 ISO (the sensor's base speed), images weren't bad and
the
lens did show good flare resistance.
Videos were technically HD, but at quality poor enough that it didn't
seem to be worth the higher spec. Zoom in video mode is only available
as
digital zoom, which degrades image quality immediately.
Sliding battery cover was very fragile and seemed prone to become
misaligned and I was very, very careful with it; I would always worry
about
its durability.
I didn't get to check out any of the really fancy features like pet
face
recognition. Human face recognition seemed to work reasonably well,
though
the photos weren't necessarily better exposed because of it. In fact,
basic
flash photos/snapshots seemed washed out, with very muted colors.
All in all, a very big disappointment. I knew it had fairly average
camera specs (fairly run-of-the mill point-and-shoot specs for a 2010
p&s)
with a cool design, but the photo quality was such a step backward from
anything else I'm using today that I had to return it."
Joe
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