Pentax lens advertisements in Japan

JPT · 04-28-2016, 07:23 PM - **2 Likes**

Pentax has had these advertisements in all the camera magazines for the past few months. They feature a Pentax user with their favourite lens and a picture. When you go to the URL shown, you can see a few more images from the photographer. The slogan says "I'm a Pentaxian!" Here are the two they've done so far for the FA77 and the D-FA150-450.

The link is here: PENTAX Pentaxian | RICOH IMAGING This is not a bilingual part of the site.

There are a few things that I thought were interesting about this campaign.
- Pentax seems to be trying to respond to the perception that they don't have enough good full frame lenses, so their advertising is being targeted at promoting the lens line up and not the K-1 so far. Of course there are other promotional activities around the K-1 as well, but I haven't seen any print advertising yet.
- They are adopting the term "Pentaxian", which I have not heard in Japan before. In fact I hear people saying "Penta Fan" for the similar meaning, so it surprised me when I saw that written in western lettering.
- Since they are highlighting the FA77, it seems rather unlikely that it will go off the market. We regularly hear scare stories that this is about to happen, but they are normally second-hand information from a distributor or forum poster somewhere else in the world. Here we have the company itself actually investing money in advertising for the lens, so I can't imagine it will be discontinued any time soon.

**darylk** · 04-28-2016, 07:29 PM

Interesting. I happen to own those two lenses...just need the K-1 to go with them ;-) .

elementdtlop · 04-28-2016, 07:32 PM

what i dont like about them advertising the fa 77 is that they may not have plans to redo the fa limiteds as dfa's not that they would have plans to get rid of them altogether. WR dfa limiteds would be awesome and, unless they were more expensive and they continued making both, it could knock down the price of the current limiteds which would be nice.

**darylk** · 04-28-2016, 07:41 PM

Originally posted by elementdtlop

what i dont like about them advertising the fa 77 is that they may not have plans to redo the fa limiteds as dfa's not that they would have plans to get rid of them altogether. WR dfa limiteds would be awesome and, unless they were more expensive and they continued making both, it could knock down the price of the current limiteds which would be nice.

Based on my recollection of a previous post from Asahi Man, this year will be the year for releasing new full frame zoom lenses and next year will be the year for the new primes. I suspect that this advertising is intended to encourage existing Pentaxians who own film era primes, including the original "three amigos", to purchase the K-1 without reservation/concern regarding compatibility and image quality/performance.

Daryl

**UncleVanya** · 04-28-2016, 09:15 PM

Just as devil's advocate... NONE of the limited series DA or FA is WR today other than the one zoom. What makes you expect that will change? I would expect DFA primes like the 100 Macro WR to come out but I wouldn't expect that Limited series to be WR. Not sure why but maybe just because I see a Limited as an object of maximum quality with no spare money for things like WR.

Again - I could easily be wrong.

**jatrax** · 04-28-2016, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by JPT

They are adopting the term "Pentaxian", which I have not heard in Japan before.

This is interesting. And the term "Pentaxian" was on a sign at CP+ in February. I thought it odd then that it would show up on an official Pentax sign. It is shown in this video:

You Tube

04-28-2016, 07:23 PM - 2 Likes	#1
JPT Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Tokyo Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,821	Pentax lens advertisements in Japan Pentax has had these advertisements in all the camera magazines for the past few months. They feature a Pentax user with their favourite lens and a picture. When you go to the URL shown, you can see a few more images from the photographer. The slogan says "I'm a Pentaxian!" Here are the two they've done so far for the FA77 and the D-FA150-450. The link is here: PENTAX Pentaxian \| RICOH IMAGING This is not a bilingual part of the site. There are a few things that I thought were interesting about this campaign. - Pentax seems to be trying to respond to the perception that they don't have enough good full frame lenses, so their advertising is being targeted at promoting the lens line up and not the K-1 so far. Of course there are other promotional activities around the K-1 as well, but I haven't seen any print advertising yet. - They are adopting the term "Pentaxian", which I have not heard in Japan before. In fact I hear people saying "Penta Fan" for the similar meaning, so it surprised me when I saw that written in western lettering. - Since they are highlighting the FA77, it seems rather unlikely that it will go off the market. We regularly hear scare stories that this is about to happen, but they are normally second-hand information from a distributor or forum poster somewhere else in the world. Here we have the company itself actually investing money in advertising for the lens, so I can't imagine it will be discontinued any time soon.

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04-28-2016, 07:29 PM	#2
darylk Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Blue Hill, Nebraska Photos: Gallery Posts: 494	Interesting. I happen to own those two lenses...just need the K-1 to go with them ;-) .

04-28-2016, 07:32 PM	#3
elementdtlop Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 97	what i dont like about them advertising the fa 77 is that they may not have plans to redo the fa limiteds as dfa's not that they would have plans to get rid of them altogether. WR dfa limiteds would be awesome and, unless they were more expensive and they continued making both, it could knock down the price of the current limiteds which would be nice.

04-28-2016, 07:41 PM	#4
darylk Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Blue Hill, Nebraska Photos: Gallery Posts: 494	Originally posted by elementdtlop what i dont like about them advertising the fa 77 is that they may not have plans to redo the fa limiteds as dfa's not that they would have plans to get rid of them altogether. WR dfa limiteds would be awesome and, unless they were more expensive and they continued making both, it could knock down the price of the current limiteds which would be nice. Based on my recollection of a previous post from Asahi Man, this year will be the year for releasing new full frame zoom lenses and next year will be the year for the new primes. I suspect that this advertising is intended to encourage existing Pentaxians who own film era primes, including the original "three amigos", to purchase the K-1 without reservation/concern regarding compatibility and image quality/performance. Daryl

04-28-2016, 09:15 PM	#5
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,407	Just as devil's advocate... NONE of the limited series DA or FA is WR today other than the one zoom. What makes you expect that will change? I would expect DFA primes like the 100 Macro WR to come out but I wouldn't expect that Limited series to be WR. Not sure why but maybe just because I see a Limited as an object of maximum quality with no spare money for things like WR. Again - I could easily be wrong.