The price reductions aren't just on K3 either. I notice that both the K5s and the K50
have also been reduced...so that can't be bad. As northernmonkey said it is probably mainly to boost sales figures by the year end together with the end of the free lens promotion at end of March and also i'm guessing clearing shelves ready for K60/K600 presumably late spring early summer.

Have you considered the Sigma 120-400 for £480 at SRS? I'd love this lens myself as the extra 100mm reach would make all the difference both for wildlife and at airshows.

I've heard of Calumet, knew they had several outlets in the UK and have visited their website from time to time, mainly to check their prices to hire lenses and DSLRs..at one time in particular I was thinking of doing this myself as a local business venture. I'm very surprised that any enthusiastic photographer HASN'T heard of them.

This being said, and sad though it is for the people who have lost their jobs I think its main significance is that it is yet another 'hit' taken by the photo industry. I believe the more choice and variety out there the better for the consumer...once any industry finds itself dominated by a two or three resellers the customer usually loses out. Its hard enough to make decent profits in this business as it is, anything that weakens the industry or reduces the number of outlets makes it more likely that
one or more manufacturers will pull out which over time reduces choice again...

Just found the title of that video...

"The Coming 2014 U.S. Retail Apocalypse"

If you type that in a search engine it comes up along with a few similar things.

Its only about 4 -5 minutes long but quite informative.

Funnily enough I was watching a short video this morning entitled something along the lines of "Retail Armageddon US 2014"..basically a retail guru over there (I think) has put together a list of recent closures and imminent closures of US retail chains..there were 10,000's of job losses already announced with thousands of store closures across many different retail sectors. This was going to have a significant effect on the US retail scene. He reckons that within the next 15-20 years HALF of all US retail malls will have closed.

Interestingly only part of the 'blame' is laid at the door of the internet...most of the damage is being done by the 'shrinking middle classes' who are not getting wage increases but are expected to pay higher and higher food and utility bills thus squeezing their disposable income..same as over here really.

Doesn't bode well for the likes of photo equipment resellers though, although in the short term it does put downward pressure on retail prices as these items will increasingly be seen as 'luxury' and therefore not essential to household survival.

Headlines like this do increasingly mean in my view that by the end of this year at least one of the major camera body manufacturers will have pulled out.

Whilst i'm loosely on the subject...i notice it has just been announced that from April (I presume) DSLRs will replace compact cameras in the governments Consumer Prices retail index as sales of compacts have fallen. This is good news for us because it likely means that DSLR prices will at worst be stable or might even fall. My theory being that the government is not likely to include anything in its basket of goodies that might lead to an increase in official inflation figures.

I would have thought it was technically possible to infect anything that had access to the internet whether wired or by WiFi.

Viruses and other nasties have already been sent through the air wirelessly and can infect phones, tablets, etc. If a tablet can be infected then presumably it can pass on the 'infection' to a camera or other device that connects wirelessly to the tablet.

At the moment Pentax are a bit behind in the connectivity stakes (until the next range arrives) so it's more likely to be an issue for users of the other makes.

This whole subject matter will increase in importance though and we will likely see cases in court before the decade is out that hinge on whether or not 'incriminating'images, information etc was knowingly downloaded or was 'put there' by persons or governments unknown deliberately to 'set someone up'. This has already happened on peoples PCs and is one reason why Linux is becoming more popular as an alternative to Windows.

It's different John...reminds me of a scene from Doctor Who from a parallel universe
(if you know what i mean?). Figures look like they have been cut out from magazines and 'pasted' onto the street.

I wouldn't want to hang it on my wall but its good in an experimental way.

karlo

All accessories...not just batteries are where Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for example Pentax, Sony, Panasonic, Kodak, Canon, Nikon...
make their real money...the cameras are just the vehicle to the real profit which is why OEMs fight 'tooth and nail' to convince people that cheaper must mean less safe or poorer performance. Sometimes this is true...but not automatically so. Like I said, do your research first and you should be able to save a useful amount.

On a similar note. About 6 or 7 years ago I spent about £130 for a Polar running watch with chest strap that picks-up your heartbeat and sends details to the watch. I also spent an additional £50 for the wireless footpod that measures distance run...£180 give or take. Came with a 2 yr warranty which was good and overall have been very happy with it most of the time..the chest strap is a bit unreliable as the contacts oxidise and really only lasts about 2-3 years before it needs replacing
at a cost of about £35. Batteries I change myself every 18 months or so for a cost of about 50p rather than theirs which are about £5-£6. I recently lost the footpod
on a jog..but that's another story.

Imagine my surprise then to find that Lidl were selling something very similar...the watch and chest strap for about £40 ! With a 3 yr warranty!! (this about 2 years ago when the Polar was still the same price as it had always been).

Just goes to show how much 'you' are paying for 'the name'.

Didn't realise they were shipping the K3 with that lens, just assumed it would have been the better lens that came with K5 series.

karlo

Non OEM batteries are absolutely fine so long as you do a bit of research first. Preferably try and find some online reviews from people who have used them for several months without issue. Some will be slightly higher capacity than the OEM, others slightly less, although allow about a 10% margin of error as manufacturers do tend to round up their figures.

Make sure the battery comes with a warranty, usually 12 months but can be 24+ and ideally the supplier should have a UK returns address and UK phone number. Try these out before purchase if you aren't sure. Get the supplier to confirm compatibility in advance with your proposed equipment.

Having taken these precautions you are far more likely than not to get a great value product at a massive saving. Not to say that occasionally you won't get a 'friday afternoon job' but this happens even with expensive OEM. Most of these batteries come from just a handful of factories anyway..OEM on the production line one week, relatively unknown selling at 25% of OEM price the next...

Batteries are extremely profitable for OEM..Gross profit can be over 500%...its the
power equivalent of printer ink.