Pentax discontinuing 35mm SLR?

On speaking to a few dealers today, getting prices for a new MZs system, I get the impression that items such as MZs and 50mm standard lenses are on the point of being discontinued, with Pentax concentrating on digital

Does anyone else know anything, and in particular if this will result in a famine of goods, or knock down prices?

Hi,
I am only guessing here, but I would like to think this is dealer talk rather than Pentax. Pentax no doubt will respond to market forces and now that DSLRs are more reasonable (I can remember not long ago when they were few a far between and about £3k) they may consider dropping a flagship film body if the sales drop off.

A couple of months ago, I took my son back to Uni in Bath. Whilst I was there I picked up a brand new 1.7FA lens for £50 at LCE The reason the guy in the shop gave was that they had had it sitting on the shelf in the storeroom for several years and just wanted to shift it. Not long ago, the Dixons group still listed the MZs but now have very few film cameras. If this is typical, it is not surprising few dealers stock such items. Another point about the 50's is that this area is also covered by the Ltd 43mm (A Fantastic lens) so maybe they perceive there is no need for the Std 50s.

As to stoping 35mm film, I don't think it is likely to totally happen. If it were we probably wouldn't have seen the *ist.

As to a famine or cheap prices - who knows? If dealers have stocks and want to clear them, they may be a few more deals such as the one I got at LCE. On the other hand few dealers seem to keep Pentax, or indeed Pentax fit, on the shelf and so there possible won't be the stock to clear.

Regards
Kim

Confirmed today

Pentax have no MZs or 50 f1.7 left in their Belgian Warehouse. They have some 50 f1.4s left, bit dont hold out any hope of them making any more, or indeed other quality lenses for film

THIS IS THE END

I guess the 35mm *ist will have greater stocks, but no doubt that the future of Pentax is now digital only.

With pure digital there will be no more need for Pentax's legindary optics and particularly their high performance coatings.

I would advise GG and anyone else with MZs body to sell, hang on for a few months then make a killing on Ebay (dont expect too much for your Sigma lenses 'though).

Great shame, but I will now get an EOS 3 and L lenses to replace my Pentax MX and manual focus lenses. Off to the gym tomorrow to build up to carrying the Canon gear.

So long all

Kevin

What a bizarre post.

Good optics are just as important for digital as they are for film, so Pentax will continue to make good lenses, albeit for APS-sized sensors.

If the market dictates that film cameras should no longer be manufactured, then the consequences will fall on Canon just as much as on Pentax, so changing brand isn't going to help.

Although Canon currently markets a camera with a 35mm-sized sensor, it is unlikely to continue to do so for much longer. The quality and resolution of sensors continues to improve, and this will make a 35mm-sized sensor increasingly unnecessary. In the future, there are likely to be just two sensor sizes for serious cameras: APS and 4/3.

Bear in mind that the cost of producing large sensors is extremely high, and this difference will show up more as APS-sized sensors fall in price through economies of scale.

So, Canon, too, will soon cease to manufacture lenses for 35mm cameras. The writing is on the wall, for those with eyes to see.

There will of course continue to be a huge supply of second-hand lenses on the market. I love buying lenses from nitwits on Ebay who say "I'm selling because I've gone digital". Well, I've gone digital too, and because I bought Pentax, your lenses will work on my camera, and I don't mind buying them for a fraction of what you paid.

I just knew I shouldn't have opened my mouth

Kim

I actually came here to see if anybody has heard anything...and I find this!

The New York Mega sellers (B&H and Adorama) have been out of stock on most of the interesting lenses for a while.

I was in the market for an 85mm 1.4 and have been checking frequently for a while. I finally called Pentax USA and got zero information, which made me think they were hiding something!

I guess this is the end of 35mm as we've known it...

Oh well. I kind of wish they had the digital thing perfected before pulling the plug. (As a working pro, they are going to have to do better than 6 MP before I can trust shooting digital. It won't be long I hope!)

I'm not quite sure what the problem is here. There are loads of lenses and cameras on the second-hand market, so those who wish to continue shooting film will have plenty of equipment to choose from. As more people switch to digital, prices will fall further.

At the moment I suspect a lot of film fans are busy upgrading their equipment with items they couldn't afford before. This is bonanza time, and rather than bemoaning what is happening, I suspect many are rejoicing.

What is going to be more of a problem is that film will become harder to get. There'll be some film around for a long time, but the more exotic emulsions will disappear. It simply won't be economic to make them.

George

Whilst there is no doubt that the sales of film will reduce, and the sales of film cameras may well plummet, the runmours of the death of film are greatly exagerrated.

There is a place in our phtotgraphy for film and digital, depending on the final use of the pictures, and at the moment digital is winning for producing eBay pictures and Powerpoint photographic lectures and film is winning for landscape and architectural shots.

As regards pricing, its a wonderful world of bargains out there!

I agree with you John, tha's why I am about to buy an expensive new autofucus 35mm system. Just a shame it can't be Pentax.

You know, after the shock of seeing the beginning of the end, there also seems to be a new beginning here...

I know I said they would have to better than 6.1 MP, BUT, maybe not.

If you have not been to Norman Koren's websight, check it out. What a cool guy. www.normankoren.com

Maybe 6.1 MP is the ticket, and with the new DA 14mm and all the gear I've already got, I'm away with the mixer.

What a great situation. Digital AND Film in the same bag with the same great lenses.

I've got a *ist D on order. What an epiphany. I feel sorry for the person buying the Canon, I don't think he has thought this through thouroughly...

And another thought: Maybe the out of stock situation could be the result of the *ist D generating some serious interest in Pentax's great glass that Pentax had not anticipated...

Reading some of the other forums, a few people have commented that upon buying a Pentax D, they added 4-6 new lenses to their kit!

If this is true, then I could see Pentax not anticipating that and getting caught short.

I know I've been seriously looking for a 100mm 2.8 Macro now that the ist D compliments everything I've already got.

It would be pretty bone headed of the company to introduce a camera that is fully compatible with their FA lenses that people are actually buying and then quit making the lenses...

Time will tell.

Maybe they will cut back massively on 35mm film bodies, but Pentax makes great medium format film equipment (Nikon & Canon do not). If Pentax wants to drop making 35mm film lenses, that would be silly, but there will be little impact for us. Along with Pentax, I've found great results from the Tamron SP series lenses and I'm sure the Sigma EX series and Tokina AT-X Pro ones are great too.

In the worst case, if your lens is discontinued, your camera doesn't stop performing so I don't see why anyone would switch camps so fast.

I have both a film and a digital camera and I am having a great time buying all this equipment, especially lenses, that I could never afford before from people who have gone completely to digital.

The main problem I have with my digital camera, is that the focal length capabilities are from 39 to 190mm (35mm camera equivalent) which is good for most things, however I like photographing architecture (<28mm) and wildlife / sports photography (200-500mm), so I use my film camera. I can always scan the slides into my computer and play with them there. OK the resolution still isn't that great on film scanners (circa 3.5Mpixels), but it is getting better and it is still good enough to print to A4 size.

When Digital SLRs come on to the second hand market then I may change, but for now, it isn't worth it to me. So long as I can get film I am happy.

Gazen

I think film scanners are capable of producing A3 prints without too much trouble. Our Nikon Coolscan IV produces 34.5 MB RGB files (2920 ppi) and the newer Coolscan V improves this to 4000 ppi.

Our 12 MP digital camera also produces 35 MB approx RGB files, and quality wise there does appear to be parity between the two.

I find the thought that Pentax will discontinue 35mm lenses let alone film bodies (this soon) is absolutely crazy.

A) 35mm lenses....

Sooner rather than later all the big brands will have 35mm sensors in most if not all their digital lines. Canon have proved it can be done and any canon user who doesn't have a 1Ds says "I want one" bar perhaps wildlife and sports photographers who benefit from the crop factor. There are a huge range of people out there who want to use a true 12 - 20mm lens on their cameras and get that beautiful wide angle. Why would the companies decide that we're not able to shoot wide angle any more?
Pentax have recently released their 2 macros. After putting out a number of "digital only" lenses, they have turned around and made the new ones completely compatible with 35mm SLRs. This seems to suggest they realise the benefit of doing so rather than "it was cheaper for us to put in the extra stuff to make it compatible with both".

B) As for the film bodies, yes I think it will happen but not just yet. There are a zillion people out there who want to run an SLR but either can't afford to go digital or aren't happy yet with the results from digital.
Pentax are still one of the brands who put out a SLR which has a lot of features at a good price. Look at the other brands and see the comparison. Most will not give you fully manual let alone things like DOF preview etc.
Another point is that I believe Pentax have quite a few followers in the Avian photography area. The *istD is incredibly slow and noisy when put against the FPS rate of their film bodies. Until they can guarantee and 8 - 10 Mp camera with quiet mechanics, quick and accurate AF and 5FPS shooting with a large buffer (the Canon 20D has a buffer of 50 odd images if used with the right CF card), they'd be silly to discontinue film bodies.

As for me, I shoot with the *istD, MZ-5n and P30. The ability to shoot with all my lenses on the *istD and MZ-5n is fantastic. I use my FA-D18-35 on the MZ5n almost all the time now and get the "450mm" by using the 300 on my *istD. Best of all, I've been buying lenses all over ebay and I don't care if they're M, A or AF versions. No other company can do that for me.
Whack a M series prime lens on an *istD and the results beat my bosses 20D with L series lenses.

Good on ya Pentax!