Bi-Latrel Pricing....

It's maybe not the best timing for price rises with the current financial shenanigans.

Best regards

WOW - this is the first time I've ever bought at the right time!! As a long time Nikon user I bought a K-5 at the end of 2010 and had a happy year with it before returning to Nikon as I could'nt get the right longer lens I wanted. Hated the D7000 and ended up with a second hand D300 and little D3100. The D300 just got too big and heavy and the budget Nikons are nice but fiddly...and I loved my K-5. So this week I put my Nikon stuff on ebay and bought a nice new K-5 with 18-55wr and second hand 50-200wr....must have missed the price rise by a day!

I too had a poor time with the D7000 (Sensor grease thrown from a badly lubed shutter mechanism) and sundry other problems that Nikon wouldn't admit too at the time!
I found the handling sub par being a Nikon user/Fanboy for 25+ Years and having owned pretty much everything they'd produced, it was a disappointing Camera on many levels...

Pleased you got your kit before the increases

I suppose if everyone follows suit then the Pentax price rises may not seem soo bad?

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2163476/mistake-le...

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/this-sucks-worldwide-sony-lens-price-increase-com...

And the K-5 is still cheaper than the D7000! Nikon packed a lot into the D7000 but somehow, especially after using a K-5, it did'nt quite do it for me. The first one had to go back as it backfocused every lens [I've never had that sort of problem before and usually try to leave well alone, but trying to get the adjustment right was a nightmare]. Second one was OK but again, I never quite trusted the 'improved' focus system - I'm sure it was me but just was'nt happy. Picking up and using my new K-5 was like welcoming back an old friend - for me this is the best DSLR body ever [others I'm sure will disagree!!]. Surprised at how good the 50-200 is too.

I'm quite tempted by this route myself. You have a lot of info about your choices on your blog, for which many thanks - very helpful. As for Pentax, well, sigh: if they stay with the pack, though not ahead of it, then OK I suppose but if these price hikes are a prelude to repositioning themselves as a bling brand for WAGS and wannabees, I'm out.

The only thing that has happened here is that a few prices have increased, so I do think all the worry is a bit out of proportion. I would be glad of what I'd already bought and mindful to watch prices carefully and judge my time for what I wanted to buy next.

There will be offers, cashbacks, incentives, just as there always were. And no doubt exciting new products as well.

As an aside, I don't really think Olympus are the shining example of how to do things at the moment. They have just announced a "slimming down" of their range, following all the financial revelations and prosecutions of recent months. I hate to think how depressed we could be if that had been Pentax.

So by comparison, extending a few price rises to the mean end of the Pentax world is just possibly a bit OTT?

I don't think anyone is calling this the doom of Pentax just what it means for some of us regarding our decisions to buy Pentax gear.

Olympus as a company is not a shining star by any means however people care for the kit the price and its merits.

Equivalent MFT primes are much much cheaper now (14mm about 130£ compared to 450+ for a 21mm, 45 1.8mm 230 compared to 500+ for the 70mm) and so on. The price increases would have gone unnoticed if they had not been that dramatic.

Given that third party manufacturers like Tamron and Sigma have almost stopped producing their new glass in Pentax mount then I am wondering how are you planning on stopping people from abandoning the brand let alone bringing new people in.

Yes am happy for the lenses I have and for the prices I paid for them but as I said if I was buying now it would be a very hard sell and it seems I am not alone in this.

It's always a hard sell for anything, and for all makes. Ask the guys in Jessops and similar stores...and they might mention the hours of talking to people and then the, "Yes, that's definitely what I want, I'll come back later." Indecision is rampant and the slightest thing will unnerve many buyers. Selling ain't easy.

I'm fortunate in that I know exactly what I want and what it will do for me. I realise not everyone does, but hopefully they will gain something from all our discussions here on pentax User and they will get a selection of differing views.

Then, I'm afraid it's down to we pays our money and makes our choice.

Nope. My decisions are made based on the previous round of price increases as well. Almost every lens costs double or more now to what it did three years back. If you find that palatable, well, you're a richer man than I am. I snuck in and bought the Limiteds, DA12-24 etc. that I wanted to. But I cannot in good conscience recommend others to do likewise at this point. People look tome for good advice, not for brand name cheerleading.

And from every manufacturer!

There are four camera models in the current Olympus MFT line-up, so a slimming of the range is exactly the right thing to be happening! The question you should be asking is "How happy would Pentax users be if they had four models to choose from, with different features and price levels?"

As for slagging Olympus corporation, I am no fan of any company, so that comes with the territory. But please remember that this type of FUD is exactly how Pentax is slandered in comparison with Canikon. I took a stand against that and will take a similar stand against smearing Olympus products now. The products are made by dedicated engineers, designers, and photography lovers. Tainting them with the immoral actions of the board room is simply unfair.

On a more general note:

The best way to get better Pentax products, the route all true fans would take, is to demand better products and criticise mistakes. To continuously accept every stupid Pentax decision does the brand absolutely no favours.

It is a lot easier, however.

Sniping aside, what's the matter with where the LV button is?

I actually agree strongly with the following...

... but on this point, I don't see a problem with the LV button placement.

SD card door is very poor, though, compared with the K10D and K20D, IMO.

Yes, the card door is a very cramped design. Ironically, this has been corrected on the diminutive Q, where the design is similar but the spacing is much better.

On the subject of the LV button, I don't see a problem with it either. It falls naturally under the thumb and seems perfectly convenient. I haven't actually heard of this being an issue.

Ok John, fine if we are playing with words lets play with words, Pentax has now become 'harder' (not 'hard') to sell than previously.

When I came into the brand last year there was a list of advantages that only Pentax could claim. Every single of the other brands were ticking some of the boxes but none all. This year there are plenty of worthy alternatives and without the price rises Pentax would have a hard time persuading me but with the price rises it is out of the question. Doubt I am alone

There is no intention on my part to play with words, just saying what I think.

Has Pentax become harder to sell? It's not easy to find evidence one way or another without knowing sales figures and getting proper feedback from suppliers. I would be quite happy to stand on an exhibition and sell Pentax to people, in the broadest sense of the word. I wouldn't want to be an individual supplier for anything these days, always having to be the lowest price and probably struggling to make a decent margin.

Actually I did mean the door, not the card compartment.

I'm not that bothered about the way the card can be a bit tricky to get out. If I push it in to unlatch it, and then let it 'ping' out, enough of the card emerges to grab on to easily enough.

It's the door itself I'm concerned about. One, it's not secure enough - it's come open a couple of times removing the camera from a bag. The previous design with a proper key was much more secure.

And two, the latch will wear over time, and become even less secure.