Good bye Pentax! Forever?

These discussions always seem to end up in conflict.

I like my Pentax cameras and in particular think the Z1p is the best handling & most effective camera I've ever used. When going digital the option of staying with Pentax was uppermost in my mind due to my investment in compatible lenses, however my confidence was dented a little by my initial inability to locate a D or DS for sale. Eventually I found a DS however and I've been happy with it so far.

Were I starting from scratch though I'm not convinced I'd have chosen Pentax again, primarily given the difficulty in location anything better than a DL to try locally.

If I was to start shooting professionally now I'd probably continue using Pentax kit - given I've already got most of what I need in terms of lenses. That decision would depend on what cash I had available to invest in kit, and what type of photography assigment I was targetting.

If I was starting from scratch as a pro I know exactly what digital kit I'd buy - and unfortunately it's not Pentax. The full-frame DSLR's that Canon have available now would settle the argument for me - I'd probably go with a 1DS MkII, 5D, 16-35, 24-70, 70-200 F2.8 zooms plus a couple of TC's and flashguns (about £10K all told - probably not far off what I've spend on Pentax kit over the years).

firstly i would like to say to simonsteph i wasnt having a pop at you and no offence was intended

the point i was trying (rather ham fistedly) was nikon in paticular have avery nasty habbit of hastily putting together a camera to be top of the pile (this is my opinion based on their past record) and then bringing out a second model thats better and cheaper as do canon

for example the F4 pro nikon around £1800 - £2500 when it was launched then about 3-4 months later the F90X appeared it was cheaper and better than the F4 (check out all the photographic press on that score) it was the same story with the F5 price £3000-£5000 when launch ten 3 months down the line the F100 came out and blew it away

canon did the same with the D1 graet camera massive price tag 3months down the line after smacking plenty of arse apperas the D60 which wipes the floor with its big brother and so on and so forth

please dont get me wrong i am NOT slagging the oposition it was more of an air of caution to simonsteph to just bear in mind when buying the market leading brand that thay do this all the time thay market a top of the range camera and then bing out a cheaper model with all the same bells and whistles but at half the price

PENTAX have never done this they launch the MZS flagship and then the MZ series of cameras but the lower cameras have less functions than the top dog

the *istd has a flash pc socket and fast auto focus the *istds is a bit slower and has no pc cord the *ist dl has fewer focus points and fewer metering points and so on

ONE THING I WILL SAY WITH THE OPOSITION IS THAT NON OF THE CAMERAS BY THE OPOSITION BELOW THE £1000 PRICE MARK IS FITTED WITH A SPOT METER IVE PUT THIS IN CAPITAL LETTERS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY VALID SELLING POINT FOR PENTAX USERS

enough of this now im off my soap box i just thought i should clear up the point i was trying to make thanks for reading

ali

Make that a true spot meter, Ali
Some have near-spot, but aren't. Canon has only just put spot metering in the 30D - before that it was reserved for the 1Ds and 5D.
All Pentax DSLRs have pucker spot metering
Matt

Matt, the word you want is "pukkah", as in pukkah sahib.

G

Aabhar, or is it Dhannvaad

No, it's actually Shukriya (Hindi)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pukkah

It's very encouraging that we can have a robust debate on this forum without the need for us to over-moderate. I see a very different story on some others forums (fora?) with moderators getting very over-excited.....

However, here we are, and well done to all for keeping things civilised!

Now, will the 10.2MP Pentax start to redress the balance? Will Pentax become one of the big players again? After all, in the days of the Spotmatic the choice was between Pentax and Nikon, and both marques were readily available for hire from professional suppliers.

Canon's strength has been the ability to appeal, regardless of the actual design or quality, and IMHO it amounts to excellent marketing skills.

Pentax's marketing skills have been unfortunately lamentable, but the products themselves are superb, especially the lenses which will give Leica and Contax a run for their money.

In my opinion, Pentax made a big mistake ceasing production of the *istD as early as they did. It still stands up well against other pro and semi-pro spec'd gear with its pro like functions 'n features. Instead, they decided to embark on a course of replacement, rather than suppliment. Istill believe that, had they continued production of the 'D', they'd still be selling them. It would be fair enough introduce the DS alongside it, then the DL alongside that (and their various MkII derivatives.

Numbers of sales for each model would be down of course, but I think overall, they'd be making a lot more money by selling a lot more cameras to a wider purchasing audience and its not that difficult to gear your production to expected sales. At least then, Joe Public would have at least three DSLR models to chose from. I'm pretty certain that if, for arguments sake, the DL was the first ever DSLR from Pentax, many of you would still be using film or would have switched makes to CanoNikon.

I'm still half expecting to get a version 2.0 firmware release for the D when the D2 comes out that will address some of the annoyances that we have in the current firmware. They did it for the DS so why not the D? Our irritations are so well documented that they ought to pay some attention. Then again, D2 sales might suffer . . . so maybe they won't.

I for one will be very keen to 'test drive' the D2 (or maybe K1000D or even Dot-matic , nah, maybe not) as soon as its available here, and I'm not really expecting to be able to much before 1st qtr 2007, if not later. AF540FGZ production/delivery delay is my justification for these thoughts.

Finally, from me anyway, I'm intrigued to know why the original poster has purposely withheld the make and model of his new purchase. I'm not interested in what it is, just why he hasn't told us. I find it odd, that someone is prepared to 'fight' for a particular corner, and yet not tell us who we are 'fighting', metaforically speaking.

"Finally, from me anyway, I'm intrigued to know why the original poster has purposely withheld the make and model of his new purchase."

I reckon he bought a Nikon D50 'cause it was cheap and is now too embarrassed to tell us...

And really absolutely finally . . . The full frame (35mm) Contax N something or other (N1 I think) is a 6MP camera and only a very few short years ago cost something like £4500.00 for just the body. The sensor apparantly cost Contax £2500.00 or some such huge amount. I'm sure that if I were a pro, and had bought one of those a couple of years ago, I wouldn't allow any nonamecompanyoragency to dictate to me that they will not use my images, I'd resize them. If they really want a pic, they'll buy it, and it's not beyond the wit of man (as has been described earlier in this thread) to 'confuse the enemy' by resizing an image by a mere 15% or so. A parallel scenario might be to walk into a camera shop having the intention of buying Pentax, and the salesperson trying to sell some of his enormous stock of CanoNikon kit. If its a 'really' professional shop, they might try and convince the purchaser that stock agency's don't take images from 6MP cameras any more

Have a great weekend each 'n all.

The Free Dictionary can't even spell "pukkah". I have to conclude that it is worth every penny you pay for it, and no more.

I'm not even going to look up "Verandah", for fear of what I will find.

G
(An old Raj-wallah, just about to pour himself a chota peg, as soon as the clock strikes 6:00)

That's because by and large the debate has been of a technical nature, with no (okay, maybe a touch of ) recourse to personal offence.. just like grown ups really. Someday I want to be one, and the Mrs agrees.

BTW, from http://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?sid=&f=10&t=10723&start=...
Good old Google..


Cheers

Liam

Wrong!! I thought the fact that i've got a 10.2mp camera would give you a clue that it is not a D50.

Simonsteph, can I ask you a straight question ? That's not the question. This is an opportunity for you to give a straight answer, rather than a cryptic 'keep them guessing' one. I've posed the question in a previous post but now I'm asking it directly to you.

My question is, why have you conciously chosen to withhold the make and model of your new camera from this forum?

Once again, I have zero interest in what you have bought and I don't want to know. I am more curious about your apparent 'denial' of your new love. Of course, if you have got hold of an early release of a *istD2, then I do want to know.

I respect your choice to keep it from us, which I'm certain you will continue to do. . . I just don't understand it. Enlighten me, and perhaps some others here.

YAWN in that case then you had your wallet slapped for £1149.94 for a nikon D200 at 10.2 meg (i get 25% off that price so £900.00 to me) so all youll need now is a second morgage for the pro nikon lenses youll need to justify the 10.2 meg capture after ll theirs no point have such a large capacity unless your using top lenses

which is a shame realy i would have gone for the fuji at half the price £679.99 and got 12.34 meg instead and then spent the other £500 on accsessories

oh well never mind i just hope for your sake thay dont release the D30 to quickley thats the same spec at £589.99 i think its been marketed at ................................oh and thats 10.2 meg as well

cheers for reading
ali

p.s. can we talk about somthing else now

I eagerly await an answer to that question too but alas... silence. I am guessing the last post by ali is his reason for the secrecy. Maybe Simonsteph did not want to get into a battle over prices and value, feature comparisons, and general Nikon xenophobia because he knows he is heavily outnumbered here on this Pentax forum.

As we all know, Pentax has historically been slow to bring their products to market but it is usually worth the wait in most cases. Simonsteph can't wait so I cannot see the problem. Other manufacturers are continually improving and raising the bar so if he wants to change now, go ahead and good luck to him.

I am with George however and find Simonsteph's posts quite troll-like where he seems to delight in throwing out something inflamatory then sits back and watches the fur fly. Fortunately this seldom happens on this forum and that is what makes it good. On the other hand, it's sure fun to see George vent once in a while.

As for Ali’s request to talk about something else now…go ahead Ali post a new topic.

Cheers to all... and you too Simonsteph

Drew