John, That's where I was at a year ago.
While I respect Bob's viewpoint on not NEEDING more, that's not really the point, IMHO. None of us NEED even the cameras we currently have. All hobbyist pursuits involve spending discretionary income because the hobby (from knitting, to stamp collecting, to photography) brings us enjoyment and satisfaction. Put a price on that. I don't need those 24K gold knitting needles now do I? (just kidding, they're sterling silver... just kidding I don't know how to knit.) For those that bought an *ist D and then up through the K-series, that was not a need either. It was a want. It was done so because the newer model was perceived as better and therefore it was wanted. Same holds true regardless of brand and across brands. One needn't stay 'locked to brand' because of an investment in lenses. Yes I understand how one can be financially, or how one can feel that they are. I was for quite a while. That's certainly valid. Barring simply not having funds for new lenses/system, being locked in is more a choice and a mindset as it is a reality. Once simply has to sell their current gear, knowing it will fund at least a portion of the new gear and then gradually build up the lens collection to what one's satisfied with. John's correct when he states it's a matter of WANTING. It becomes fairly simple then. If your current brand of anything is not giving you what you want, then it makes sense to look elsewhere. I agree totally with your feelings regarding Pentax's lack of market presence. A list member who lurks shared these thoughts with me (slightly paraphrased): 'It costs a lot for Pentax to be in big box stores. For one thing, it's a bidding war for shelf space which the vendor has to pay. For another, all those demos that get trashed and have to be replaced fairly often belong to the vendor. Also, no questions asked returns are high when selling in a big box store. the vendor has to eat it. Finally, the big box stores demand lower unit costs because they are buying in bulk but whatever doesn't sell, the vendor has to take back. Pentax has no choice but to avoid them because it's a good way to lose money.' It's too bad Pentax has put themselves in this unenviable position. It's difficult to have a large R&D budget when one has placed themselves as a bargain brand and has essentially 'locked' themselves into their market position. I'd bet dollars to donuts that's why we don't see more competitive products at present, both in a higher MP APS-C body and a 24x36 body. The Sony NEX-7 announcement is what pushed me over the cliff. I had said I wasn't going to buy any more Pentax bodies or lenses after I got the *ist D. I did however. I'm not sorry about doing so, but each time it was funds diverted and put into Pentax that could have been spent elsewhere. I didn't need to move away from Pentax (I haven't totally, I still use some lenses), but since hobbies are discretionary, I decided to spend elsewhere, In reality it was as much Pentax leaving me as it was me leaving Pentax. Tom C. On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 10:18 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Message: 8 > Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:46:03 -0500 > From: John Sessoms <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Pentax? You know, I used to have a K1000. What ever > happened to them? > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed > > Correction: "What ever happened to Pentax?" > > From: Bob Sullivan >> John (and Walt too), >> >> This forum is my substitute for holding a new Pentax in my hands. >> I've bought everything mail order, sight unseen. >> That's a *ist DS, K-10, K-20, K-7, K-5 & K-5IIs. >> Once you are locked in by the investment in lenses, you're locked in. >> You go for the best price you can. And that's mail-order, >> even 5 years ago when the *ist D was in local camera shops. >> >> You're a hobbyist, not a pro. >> What do you NEED to do with that new camera that you can't do right now? >> No seriously, how is your current camera/lens holding you back! >> Stop falling for all the marketing hype and just shoot some pictures. >> >> Photography is a hard business to make money in. >> The successful ones I've seen are better salesmen than photographers. >> So just get over it...or wait for Godfrey's >> 'After the World's End Sale Days'. >> >> Regards, Bob S. > > Yeah, you can get better prices on-line. Wasn't my point. > > What do people look for on-line? > > They look for the brands they know about; the ones they've seen at > Walmart, Costco, Target ... or they buy from Walmart, Costco, Target or > once upon a time Wolf Camera/Ritz Camera (are there any camera chains > left?). Sometimes, they even shop at independent camera stores like the > two here in Raleigh. > > They may look at the camera in Walmart & look on-line at Walmart.com for > a better price and then end up buying from Amazon, Adorama & B&H. > > But they don't look at Nikon/Canon/Sony at Walmart and then go looking > on-line for Pentax. > > There's actually a couple of different things going on here from my > point of view. > > 1. People ain't gonna buy Pentax if they don't know Pentax exists. > > And without Pentax being in the stores, for far too many people Pentax > does *NOT* exist. Pentax needs more than just old fogies like us looking > on Amazon for the best deal on last year's discontinued model. At some > point too many of us won't be around any longer and not enough people > will know Pentax exists to keep the brand viable. > > When there's nobody left to buy Pentax cameras, there won't be any new > Pentax cameras. > > 2. I want certain things in a new camera. And I *DO* *WANT* a new camera > (I don't NEED a new camera, but I want one). Pentax doesn't offer > anything that even comes close to what I want. > > But, someone else does. Or at least they offer a camera that gives me a > whole lot of what I want, say 90%. > > The only real drawback is that none of my current lenses will fit it. > Replacing all that glass is going to be painful. But it's doable. > > How much longer does it make sense for me to wait to see if Pentax is > ever going to offer me a camera that comes close enough to what I want > that I should wait however much longer it will actually take to get one > into my hands. > > I'll make a little personal prediction here ... one year from today, > either Pentax will have introduced a Full-frame DSLR that's within close > enough shouting distance to the Nikon D600 or in 2014 I won't be > shooting with Pentax any longer. > > If so, I'll miss Pentax. I can't begin to say how much that's going to hurt. > > I hope I'll be able to console myself with a camera that gives me what I > want. > > -- 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.
