>>> Notice the trend of so many to say what they have is 'good enough'? >>> Pentax loses. Notice the trend of so many to wait a year or more until >>> there's massive price cuts on the newest model Pentax camera? Pentax >>> loses. Notice the trend of so many to purchase used gear as opposed to >>> new? Pentax loses. Then there's those that put there money elsewhere >>> because they're not getting what they want from Pentax. Pentax loses. >>> There's nothing wrong with any of those actions and all are >>> justifiable. Still - Pentax loses. >>> > IMO - every other camera manufacturer has to deal with those exact same > issues, and to be honest I don't think that they are limiting factors. I > just checked on ebay - there are over twice as many used Nikon and Canon > lenses there then Pentax. I didn't check bodies but I assume there are a > lot more used DSLR's of those brands simply because there has been a > more active upgrade path. The more people upgrade the more used bodies > there are for the bargain hunters. And Pentax (sadly) does not have to > deal with the "problem" of Sigma, Tamron, and TOkina making lenses that > compete with them - though I wish Sigma would kick out a few of their > macro lenses in the K Mount. > > A robust used market is the sign of a healthy brand, IMO. But a brand > that tries to live off its used market is in trouble. Back in the 90's > the buzzword with Pentax was that there was this huge vast reserve of > used lenses and since there was great backwards compatibility with > Pentax you could tap into those old lenses. It was a bargain hunter's > brand. It was a great argument at the time given that Canon and Nikon > had respectively scrapped or significantly modified their lens mount a > few years earlier. And even though I supect that at this very moment > some dim-witted blogger cum photo gear reviewer is repeating that line > about Pentax, Pentax's legacy glass advantage has largely faded. Canon > and Nikon have a couple decades of used gear compatible with their > systems now, and their used market is better than Pentax's, and if you > are a bargain hunter you would be better off trolling in their waters > and not Pentax's. > > I don't know how the Pentax brand will be resurrected but I keep hoping > that Ricoh has a plan... > > Mark
I meant to respond earlier Mark. I agree that every camera mfr. has to cope with somewhat the same issues, in regard to a certain percentage of potential customers waiting for price drops... or potential customers buying used instead of new. Without checking my figures, I'm sure I'm not wrong in stating that N/C have 70% of the DSLR market. Pentax has at best 5%, and I suspect less. Unfortunately it's a tough uphill climb... and even I, when purchasing the PZ-1p, looked at upgrade paths. I went with Pentax because I simply was too cheap to spend an additional $800 for a Nikon 8008s with an add-on flash. I thought I'd use my manual focus lenses on it. That was next to never. I thought I'd follow an upgrade path to a 6x7. I did, at the same time as I bought the *ist D. That was foolish... :) I also agree that the legacy lens advantage is pretty much non-existent. Tom C -- 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.
