Pentax versus the Rest

But the problem is that anybody coming into the hobby wants the cool camera, they want to be like their mates, like the journalists and pro photographers. As for their viral marketing, yes it worked up to a point and if they had a killer camera at the end of it then fine but just look at the comments now both here and on Pentaxforums .. not different enough from the K20D being the main one (it seems 90% of Pentax users dont want video). I just think they have to sell high volumes of the K-7 at a loss to get people interested. A D300 competitor at half the price would really stir things up for Pentax.

Do you think they were thinking "stupid pentax user, there cheap anyway"?

It could have well been something like that as I was using a Giottos monopod for most of the day and I saw one of the Canon crowd mouth to his mate something about the bloke with a monopod then his mate after a few second delay as if to not be looking at me deliberately turn round and muttered something else...probably wanted my K20D?

Rob, bit off the subject (sorry) but were you using your 60-250 at Duxford? How did it do, love to see some pictures

Greytop, if you have a look at the photos thread the Gnats and the B17 were taken with the 60-250mm, there are more of course which I might put on later if there is more requests All in all I was very pleased with the IQ of this lens and I would say the quality was almost as good as my DA*300mm.

I won't be looking to get a K7 just yet, maybe if airshow photography was my living but when Chris has one I might just have a look at it anyway and have a play with it.

Clearly so, but it you were a marketing bod for Pentax carrying out a customer profiling exercise you wouldn't be too far off the mark if the first thing you put down was raving luddite.

I still await the final specs with interest but it appears that the K7 ticks all my original requirements, namely significantly better high ISO performance vs my K10 and a movie mode with autofocus.

In my view the latter creates a whole new category and could make this camera a big, big commercial success, defined as attracting significant new customers with or without existing dslrs.

However, I am increasingly worried that the packaging is all wrong, in particular as regards the kit lens. A screw-driven kit lens that generates an inordinate amount of noise during focusing will mess up sound recording on videos for the non-pro market, where Pentax need - and have the opportunity - to make big inroads to survive. This means a lousy customer experience, which is most certainly not my idea of clever marketing.

Bottom line is I think this looks a potential killer product, but I am highly uncertain whether Pentax can be entrusted not to cock up the marketing.

I think it looks a potential killer product as well .. but to Pentax users (mainly those of us that still have the K10D).

I had nothing but Pentax gear for about 25 years before changing to Nikon about 6 months ago. I did have a Z1 and Z1P which could bang out quite a few frames a second on film so that wasn't lagging compared to other film cameras.

When I bought my 1st digital SLR and *istDS it felt really slow in operation compared to all the cameras I'd ever had which was disappointing but it worked ok so I wasn't too bothered as it could do about 5 in RAW format before clogging up so if you timed things ok it was fine. There were times when faster with a bigger buffer would have been good but that will always be the case no matter what the speed.
When I tried out my 1st Nikon a D50 the continuous shooting speed wasn't any better and the buffer was smaller but the camera was much more responsive.

I took my DS to Duxford a few times ( for the tank days ) and I didn't give a toss what other photographers thought of my DS. The DS with a 100mm macro was a great bit of kit, briliant photos.

Anyone who judges a photographer by his make of camera really is missing the point.

If I hadn't bought a D300 I would definitely be looking at the K7 and would probably buy one. If they hadn't taken so long in bringing it out I'd probably not have switched at all. Shame as I like the Pentax feel and ergonomics much more than that of Nikon, so much so that I ended up buying an old LX a couple of weeks ago to take on holiday to Japan.

Now that I've changed I'd consider switching back to Pentax but I would be wary of the Pentax auto focus which was the main reason I switched. A K7 with the 43mm Limited and maybe a 77mm Ltd would be ideal if the focus was spot on. It would be expensive to switch back however as I've got used to the Nikon 35, 50 & 85 lenses and it would cost a huge amount to replace them with 31, 43 and 77mm lenses.

As being the one that started this thread I just want to add a few things...I'm not trading my kit in for any of the other brands as I still believe that Pentax cameras produce the best images and having seen some of the images on another forum that were taken on Sunday using other makes I would be disappointed with the results. Since my first SLR being a P30T which I still have and was a 21st birthday from my parents I have always been pleased with the images and build quality of the Pentax brand.

I wasn't relying on the FPS speed solely on Sunday and used it only when required, the rest of the time I tried to get the right picture at the time of capture which may have given me the edge over the Canikony users

A friend of mine is looking at buying his first DSLR and despite my best efforts to promote the Pentax brand he has his mind set on a Canon 500D...

Maybe so but that is the way things work, just look at the kids with their designer clothes and trainers. Offer anyone of them a free jacket with a (for instance) Marks & Spencer label and they would laugh at you .. offer them the same exact jacket with a louis Vuitton label and they would snatch your hand off. It's how the majority are brought up these days.

The D300 body is expensive but nowdays the price of Pentax primes seems very high compared to Nikon considering the FA35 and FA50 have been discontinued and the only short primes are the DA70 and FA77 so even if the K7 was cheap by the time you've bought some primes the cost would be similar or perhaps the Pentax would even be dearer. I'm talking about fast primes here as the pancakes are cheaper but slower. I just took these prices from Camera World Chelmsford as an example.

Nikon 35mm F1.8 £189 ( a bargain )
Nikon 35mm F2 £265
Pentax 35mm F2 discontinued ( I didn't like my Pentax one much )
Pentax 31mm F1.8 £699 (how much ? the only limited I didn't have)

Pentax 35mm F2.8 Macro £289 ( if you dont mind slower but you do get macro )
Tokina 35mm F2.8 Macro £360 ( so Pentax version £100 cheaper )

Pentax 40mm F2.8 £220
Pentax 43mm F2.8 £370 ( I did love this one )
Nikon no exact replacements

Nikon 50mm F1.8 £110 ( bargain )
Nikon 50mm F1.4 screwdriver focusing discontinued
Pentax 50mm F1.4 screwdriver focusing discontinued

Nikon 50mm F1.4 HSM/SDM £310
Pentax 55mm F1.4 SDM/HSM

Nikon 85mm F1.8 £315 ( I love this one )
Pentax 77m F1.8 £560 ( overpriced, my M series 85mm was better )
Pentax 70mm F2.4 £330 ( It was nice and small again no better then "M" lens)


So what I'm trying to say is that If I replaced my D300 and Nikon 35mm F1.8, 50mm F1.4 and 85mm F1.8 with the K7 + 31,43 and 77mm limited lenses then the Pentax solution might be a lot dearer depending on the price of the new K7 body.

I will have a look at the K7 however just in case, I do find the D300 a bit heavy.

Well we had Chris from SRS on the forum today saying that all thing Pentax are due a price rise come June 1st so its going to be even worse soon.

Pentax becoming even more elite .

But I would like to support what JohnMcD is saying, different people used to say that Pentax gives excellent quality for less (than C,N), I think this view should have been slightly updated some time ago and John shows that very well.

Anyway, lets hope they get their act together, spend some heavy money on advertising and get the Pentax name out there a bit more.

Nikon have always been cheap on AF primes. It's the manual AIS lenses that are expensive and always have been.

50mm f/1.4 £600
35mm f/1.4 £1230
28mm f/2.8 £615

shim

But the big question is, how do the Nikon AF primes compare to the Pentax primes?
Price is one thing, but when they are not as good then the more expensive lenses may very well be a better investment.

Nikon make very fine lenses, but, just like Pentax, some are better than others. Pentax lenses, or at least the exotic ones, have always tended to be a bit more expensive than Nikon. There's no big deal about it, the quality of both marques is exemplary.

In my view, Canon is the one to avoid.

Please go on and explain what to avoid in Canon.