Very nice...second one for me...love the deep contrast and black background.

Both encountered within about 10 minutes whilst out with one of my sons doing some Field Archery. It was quite a pleasant afternoon until the fox.







K50/SMC M 75-150

Great set George. Nice to see a healthy sprinkling of 'people' shots as well which i do enjoy ...they add something extra.

regards

Karlo

Some original compositions there Peter...I like them.

Karlo

They need to fix those potholes at that bend before a car completely loses it.

Cracking shots Mag, really impressive. Hard to pick a favourite as several stand out for me.

regards

Karlo

Greetings Joao,

welcome to the forum and looking forward to seeing some images from your beautiful city.

regards

Karlo

The 'Pentax Rebuttal' as mentioned above doesn't really provide for much optimism regarding what most of us have considered 'core' Pentax over the past decade or so.

On the contrary, in my opinion it justifies the initial concern generated by the first articles penned.

What Ricoh are basically saying is that from now on instead of the vast majority of their Research and Product Development going on their consumer DSLR lines, in the future they will be spreading their resources over three separate and distinct target markets: -

1. Existing Consumer DSLR but aimed primarily at higher end products where they can charge much more for 'added value'...a euphemism for higher profit margins on dearer products. This does bode well for K-3II replacement but as many of us have already suspected it will be a £1400 - £1500 APS-C 'enthusiast' offering with wide appeal but limited affordability for most of us.

2. Big increase in Theta 360 video products for Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality markets...obviously where the money is now apparently, but of absolutely no interest to me personally from a enthusiast photographer point of view. Other people may well be more pleased by this?

3. Industrial/ Commercial imaging products aimed at businesses, government, military ...again totally irrelevant from a 'traditional core market' viewpoint.

So in a nutshell...not totally devoid of reasons to be cheerful but Pentax as many of us know it will probably change out of all recognition, and I can't really see medium term (3-4 years) that the DSLR side of the business will still be around as i don't think it will be able to generate sufficient profit from an ever dwindling product line-up.

Usually 'no smoke without fire' (in a stock market related context) so I do think there is something to this rumour. The Pentax KP is vastly overpriced in my view and would appear to be the first Pentax consumer DSLR priced to return bigger margins...great if customers can be persuaded that it is a good deal...the danger is that they just price themselves out of their core market which I see as enthusiastic amateur/semi-pro.

Unlike Canikon they don't have a large Pro base thay can sell overpriced kit to. When the time comes to renew a DSLR body that used to cost £300-£350 now one is looking at £550- £700...I for one won't be able to justify making that jump for what is basically just a hobby...lenses seem to be staying at higher prices for longer as well. If you blink then you miss the price promotion...crazy marketing seemingly devised to wind up potential customers.

By concentrating more on Business to Business (B2B) they will undoubtedly be able to sell higher margin products and probably be able to keep alive the Pentax/Ricoh brand in imaging devices field, but I suspect the consumer side will fold. Whilst there may be a huge market in used PK fit lenses, unless one is prepared to go back to film bodies there won't be many DSLR bodies around to use them on as they don't seem designed to last more than a handful of years before becoming uneconomic to repair.

Wait a few more days, can't believe that Pentax won't be doing some deals over Easter weekend. Some of their stuff is starting to look quite pricey now.