Does Pentax need a CHEAP DSLR......??

Little boy cameras , have avoided making any entry level full frame.
Instead they have allowed their older offering a7 o fall in prce to entry level
An intresting strategy

No I wouldn’t! This was a ‘see if I like it and learn how it works’ purchase but there was some bug in the machine which bit deep and led me to the K1 and more lenses. But apart from the offspring of superstars how many get a Leica as a first camera?

Not having a Leica is the only thing that stops me
from being a good photographer


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The era of the cheap Pentax dslr is gone I think. APSC is their low end and served with the K-P which is targeted at the more discerning photographer (think left of field tourist with a set of DA Limiteds).

K-3 equivalent will return for those looking for range and faster response (More action oriented).

K-1 series is their 'Enthusiast' level so FF and the most popular zoom ranges covered. Reference primes are due soon to act as halo products and put a line in the sand opposite Sigma and potentially Zeiss.

Professional in the Pentax world is served by the 645 series.

Pentax have never played the class game like Nikon or Canon where features where withheld or restricted between the various ranges and worked on providing a minimum control model and functions (think Pentaprism, dual control wheels, screw drive motor in camera, shake reduction, etc) across all lines to allow a Photographer if he or she wished to start at APSC and work through to 645 using nearly the same control model even if the cameras themselves change massively in cost / size.

Theres a strong theme coming through here suggesting that an 'entry level' model was the starting point for many into DSLR photography, and that the sub £500 price point (including kit lens) was the budget barrier in the main. Also that what Pentax had on offer at the time (older stock, end of line possibly) was of a higher build quality and offered more for the money than the price equivalent Canon & Nikon alternatives. The kit lenses have always played their part here also, with the Pentax ones punching above their price point as well.

So that was the route into the brand if you were able to get into a shop and try things out side by side with the competition. That was how it was for me with the K7 and 18-55WR, which back in 2012 for £499 (clearance price, but with as new guarantee) was a lot for the money ..... it had been compared in side by side reviews with the Canon 7D, which was considerably more expensive, and there was nothing on the shelves from Nikon which came even close for less than £800.

Of course I was not buying entry level, but was attracted by the higher end features and value for money. I have to wonder if today in the same position would I choose a K70 or K50? Probably not, because I was comparing the K7 to higher end Canon film SLRs in terms of what sort of features I wanted (that was my reference). But I still think for someone starting out those lower end Pentax models would feel better and clearly offer more for the money than the Canon & Nikon options .... but this does really depend on going inside a shop .... I doubt that the same result would come through from browsing online.

What I find interesting nowadays is this move upwards for everyone. The K1 accelerated this trend ..... I mean that you now see people on forums asking questions about and having problems with cameras that they clearly do not need. You see beginners buying models that are targeted at experienced enthusiasts and pros and struggling with things, or expecting to achieve great results with the camera set to auto-everything, just because they have the top camera. Often they are also the people who don't want to read any books or study up on anything.

This is a debate as much about price sensitivity as model choice. Maybe the way forward is some hybrid pricing model possibly based on mobile phone contracts and car leasing?

Some £ up front, so much per month, pay the balance or hand the body back as a trade-in after 2 years? An enterprising dealer could look at a body and lenses bundle, so the buyer is invested in the lenses, and tied into the brand, and, as with mobile phones, also has the option of a new model body on a regular basis?

That’s actually a damn good idea.

Business software wise we’re seeing a lot of that going on at the moment. SaaS Software as a Service models are similar, in that someone else hosts the servers, keeps it going, and you just log in and use it.

Adobe started down this path also, for a more photography analogy, whereby you pay a flat rate monthly/annually, but benefit from any new developments that occur during that period.

Agree lenses are the big piece new buyers skip over, so it’s the bodies that it’s more attractive to guarantee you stay current with. New buyers are obsessed with camera specs and the latest and greatest, but the budget afterthought lenses bring the overall package down.

Camera and lens hire/leasing has been available for years especially for AV. Possibly one of the 1st leasing markets along with photocopiers.

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Is that 40 just in the M range? Bear in mind a number of K lenses continued to be made during the M period - the K series 28mm f/3.5 Shift was officially listed until 2004!

It was a total number which included some K and some M designs. Of course, soon some A designs began to appear as well. So it is a fluid number, so it will depend on exactly when we look and do our count.