Sorry its taken me a while to report back from the Salon de Photo in Paris, which was a very interesting event for many reasons. I spent a subsequent week touring Provence and then have been worked off my feet since coming home.
Anyway, whereas I have nothing new to add to the rumours I can reiterate some of the positive vibes around the Pentax camp. Firstly, Hoya have made a good impression on the Pentax management and they are looking very upbeat. Far from treating the camera division as some lame duck they have been busy trying to shorten the supply chain, improve component supplies (like lens blanks) and basically help Pentax improve both quality and efficiency.
I have also heard from some of my friends in the A&M business that Hoya are determined to set a benchmark in Japan for a successful takeover. This is no bunch of asset strippers. Pentax is far safer with Hoya than they were with Sparx. They are very aware of the "mistakes" many companies make when buying out smaller firms - messing with their brand image, imposing the wrong management structures and pissing off the original staff so they all leave. Instead they are very cognisant of what the Pentax camera brand means in Japan and I think they all take it as matter of personal honour to nurture it and ensure its survival. They are a craftly and competent bunch at Hoya, and I am also making an educated guess but I think they have got rid of some of the stuffy old conservatives and given some of the more imaginative and "in touch" managers and engineers a lot more freedom.
There is also a tangible air of excitement about the new cameras to be announced in the new year. Its true the new cams were delayed, but primarily because they were given the go ahead to make improvements. They have also had a good chance to evaluate the opposition, and I suspect this has lead to some of the desire to make a few last minute changes but I cant confirm that (the D80 definately altered some of the plans for the K10D). Questions I asked were met with polite smiles and "you are going to be VERY pleasantly surprised" but that was it
However I can confirm its not using a Sony sensor*! I can also confirm that they have largely sorted out production and supply issues on lenses, and the factory is coming up to full speed (dont know if Hoya helped there but apparently a lot of problems were with suppliers so you never know). There are also a lot of new lens design proposals NOT on the roadmap so I am hopeful for some longer tele lenses. Much will probably depend on the success of the near term strategy. Next year will be a big year for Pentax, possibly even more so than 2006, and Hoya have given their full blessing to the strategy so for now, Pentax fans, time to relax and look forward to the future.
(*I also had a chat this week with a local dealer (who is now a Pentax pro dealer as well as Nikon) and we were musing about the source of sensors. His suspicion is that Nikon may need to look for other markets for their new sensors to offset the cost but I am leaning more towards the new sensor being a Pentax design manufactured by someone else (probably the same people that make Nikons custom sensors). My money is on Sanyo who already make all of Pentax's and Nikon's small digicams (and just about everyone elses too apart from Sony, Canon and Fuji). Whoever they are, if they are supplied with the masks, its relatively simple to make multiple sensors on the same line provided they use the same blanks. In fact the more the merrier).
I did get the chance to play with some other cameras. The D300 is impressive - it feels for all the world like a D200 but IQ is supposedly far better especially at high ISO. Yes, more MP and lower noise is possible and then some. Target was the 5D apparently. God is this thing fast though. You could fill up a 4GB card in a minute or two with no problems! In fact it may indeed be the replacement for the D200 but believe me it smokes the D2X as well. I did not get the chance to pick up the D3 - I could not get near it for the crush! In fact the Nikon stand was mobbed. The pendulum is definately swinging back Nikon's way.
By comparison, the Canon stand was pretty quiet. I had no problem playing with a 40D. Its quiet, fast and, er, exactly like a 30D except with a larger LCD and more FPS. I cant help feeling slightly underwhelmed by all the latest Canons. They are just like the previous ones and improvements only really exist in terms of small numerical increments. The only thing that strikes me as a real benefit of the 40D over the 30D is the extended highlight range, which is actually pretty useful, but thats about it IQ wise.
Same with the Sony stand (almost deserted). I had plenty of time to pick up the A700 and I have to say its easily the most comfortable camera I have ever held in my hands. The grip design is perfect and controls are very well placed. Build quality is very very nice. But having tested silent lenses all day (including on the Pentax stand) the Zeiss lens sounded like a dentists drill by comparison!!!! The 16-60 is a very nice lens! Still no-one has copied the K10D exposure modes or layout, and none of the cameras mentioned except the D3 have the same class of sealing so the K10D is still a quality act.
But the highlight of the day was finally meeting Ben and being invited into the "inner sanctum" of the Pentax stand for a coffee and a chat. I spent over an hour with him and would have loved to have stayed longer and chewed the fat but I was on a tight deadline to get round the show and meet some friends later on and he had a job to do for his sponsors.
So what was he like? You would not be in the least surprised by his enthusiasm and energy. I'm sure he won't mind me saying he's spring loaded, loves what he does with a passion and is as focused as a laser beam. I was expecting a real character (and he is very gregarious) but I was quite taken aback by his modesty and generosity. He made me feel incredibly welcome and at ease and we had a really interesting chat.
Unfortunately, he obeyed his NDA to the letter but he was practically bursting at the seams in the process
He seems very happy in his new home, and very close to the head of Pentax France who I also met briefly. Ben also had a jealous look at my 43 and 77 ltd's and decided he wanted to get some for his own use. So far Pentax have been keen for him to use their new gear but I can tell he was itching to try out the 43!!
Of course many of his photos were hanging up there as well, and I can only say you have to see them in print to really appreciate them. I spend a lot of time in studios, but after looking at his work very closely and talking to him for a while about his style and approach I have to admit I am quite in awe of the guy. Its not just having the imagination to know what you want to achieve, the devil is in the detail and its the fine execution of the detail that makes the whole concept work and separates the masters from the wannabes. The biggest surprise is how much he uses the 12-24. That was a real eye opener.
Its all made me rethink a lot of the "conventional wisdom" I relied on in the studio and encouraged me to be a lot more creative and adventurous and - perhaps the most important thing - to have a vision of what I want and work backwards to develop techniques to achieve it, rather than relying on knowing what works and reproducing the same old stuff. I've also rethought the contents of my camera bag and approach somewhat. Wider lenses, portable strobes, coloured monolights, and more location stuff. Oh my poor credit card!
Thanks Ben - at least you convinced me I can break out of the rut even if you proved I have a mountain to climb