I am beginning to think there is something odd going on around here. Strange magnetic anomalies, poltergeists, faulty charts, who knows?

A few weeks ago I showed a pic of some young ladies who had run aground a few yards from my boat. Today, in EXACTLY the same spot, a magnificent motor yacht came to grief.

What can explain this bizarre phenomenon? I have wracked my brains, consulted the almanacs, pored over the charts, and, at last, I think I have found a solution. I have concluded that boats great and small go aground there BECAUSE IT IS SHALLOW.

I am very proud of this insight.

Anyway, after a few hours, Old Father Thames took pity on the owners of the motor yacht, and it floated free on the rising tide. With luck, only minimal damage was done.

G

Nass, over the years, prices for manufactured goods have come down. Massively. Periodically, prices may need to go up or down to account for exchange rates and all sorts of other things.

At one time, Pentax appears to have attempted to compete purely on the basis of price. We may now be seeing a re-alignment. I don't know. What I do know is that after the present hiatus, prices will revert to their long-term downward trend.

G

Nass, the last thing we need at the moment is unpretentious middle-aged guys steaming in here from another Pentax forum and adding to the general whine.

Do you REALLY think that Pentax don't know that they will lose some sales by raising prices? REALLY?

Words fail me.

Some people appear to be unaware of two things. One; that a company must make money to survive, and Two; that a company has a right to charge what it thinks will best accomplish One.

The "Never mind the quality, look at the price" brigade are never going to get Pentax flying again. Pentax needs customers who value the brand for its strengths, not bargain-basement nutters chasing the lowest price. (Not that I am calling YOU a nutter, but you appear to be a man who fits Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic - one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.)

G

Hyper-program mode was introduced on the Pentax Z1 film camera, dropped on the MZ-S, and re introduced on the *ist D.

It involves two wheels, one before and one behind the shutter release. If the camera is in Program mode (Auto aperture AND auro shutter), turning the front wheel changes the shutter speed to whatever you specify, thus automatically changing the mode to Shutter-priority.

Turning the rear wheel alters the aperture, and changes the mode to Aperture-priority. And so on.

It's the quickest and easiest method I know of to change modes.

Nowadays, you can program the wheels to do pretty much whatever you want.

G

No worse than what? You're not using Pentax lenses.

G

Quite so. However, I imagine that the same strategy will be applied across the developed world, so it is useful to have confirmation of it from an official source.

In the UK, given the RPM angle, it would make sense for Pentax to sell at a discount to bricks and mortar stores.

Quite where that would leave SRS, I don't know. I imagine most of their Pentax sales are made over the Internet. So perhaps we are back to Sale or Return, or Sales on Consignment, both of which remove the need for stores to pay for stock.

Looking on the bright side, it's good to see Pentax addressing its visibility problem, and also, it's encouraging to hear of the return of rebates.

G

We should distinguish between two different things here.

First, Retail Price Maintenance, which allows manufacturers to set retail prices, was banned decades ago (with some exceptions) in the UK.

Second, colluding with others in a cartel to manipulate selling prices is also banned. Sadly, we know all too well that banning something doesn't mean it doesn't still happen.

G

That's extremely generous of you.

G

Photography is far cheaper than it used to be.

My first Pentax, a Spotmatic, cost a month's pay. Cameras are much cheaper now, as with all things electronic.

And film, or its modern equivalent, is now free. If you want to print an A4 colour picture, it'll cost a fraction of what it used to.

Yes, the economic situation is a bit grim at the moment, but in general most things are pretty cheap today.

G

You've found a local spelling mistake?

Nothing special - they're everywhere.

Somebody suggested buying from America. The problem with that is that American shipping charges can be very high. Many sellers are locked into a deal with a particular shipper that is cheap for local deliveries, but expensive for overseas.

G