Note to Pentax Marketing:

[laissezfaire]

go to:
Pentax Digital SLR Cameras :: DSLR

look at the drop down menu on the left and try to see if you can tell the difference between the K200D and the K2000. Can you?

as mentioned by others here:
type in "DA*" into a web search... the "*" cannot be used as a search term!

Just start calling it DA STAR in all written communications (and use the logo on the lens body, it looks great)

Here's my take on the Pentax franchise:
Quality - yes
Technology - yes
Features - yes
Value - yes
Marketing - needs some improvement

I would like to point out that PENTAX Photo Gallery is fantastic, as is the Pentaxian website. Too bad the main imaging website wasn't designed by same people.

[k100d]

LOL ... hahaha i see what you mean
K200D
K2000

the * thing was way before people got into using computers and the internet. the first * lens i think was the M* and that's from 1981. google can actually find it tho so maybe it's not a problem anymore, at least on Google

[kunik]

I did not get what you meant at first... but now I get it. Its one of those things where if you know what it is supposed to say it makes perfect sense. I can just imagine someone who does not know the brand looking at that and scratching their heads

[creampuff]

Personally I find it most silly to name the Pentax K-m as the K2000 for the US market. Aside from the confusion with the K200D when fonts with small point sizes are used, it also has the possibility for confusion that the K2000 is somehow related to the K1000 film camera, which it is not even remotely connected.

Whoever in Pentax USA who decided on the K2000 moniker seriously needs to get their head checked. It goes against everything I know about brand positioning and differentiation.

Pentax should move away from any association with the K1000. Just call the new camera the Pentax K-m. A unified model name for all geographical markets. What is so difficult about that?

[thibs]

Originally Posted by creampuff

Personally I find it most silly to name the Pentax K-m as the K2000 for the US market. Aside from the confusion with the K200D when fonts with small point sizes are used, it also has the possibility for confusion that the K2000 is somehow related to the K1000 film camera, which it is not even remotely connected.

Whoever in Pentax USA who decided on the K2000 moniker seriously needs to get their head checked. It goes against everything I know about brand positioning and differentiation.

Pentax should move away from any association with the K1000. Just call the new camera the Pentax K-m. A unified model name for all geographical markets. What is so difficult about that?

Canon does the same: Rebel / 300D, Rebel XT / 350D, Rebel XTi / 400D

Brands did that for quite a long time...

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by thibs

Canon does the same: Rebel / 300D, Rebel XT / 350D, Rebel XTi / 400D

Brands did that for quite a long time...

Even some called kiss digital or whatever. Really gross to listen to.

[RBellavance]

Originally Posted by thibs

Canon does the same: Rebel / 300D, Rebel XT / 350D, Rebel XTi / 400D

Brands did that for quite a long time...

All the more reason not to do it, then

Serisouly, I also think they should have stuck with K-m. K2000 always makes me think of Knight Rider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider)

[Art Vandelay II]

Originally Posted by laissezfaire

I would like to point out that PENTAX Photo Gallery is fantastic, as is the Pentaxian website. Too bad the main imaging website wasn't designed by same people.

I actually think their Pentax SLR site is the best SLR system site (Nikon & Olympus also have nice sites). However, Sony is more interested in selling you things than informing you on theirs, and Canon hasn't improved their site in over 5 years.

It's just that ridiculous marketing * concept that is the problem. Why use that instead of a letter like Canon does with their "L" line? Also, why does the same camera need 2 names? Why not just use either K-M or K2000 worldwide?

Funny stuff here::
YouTube - Bill Hicks on Marketing

[alohadave]

Originally Posted by RBellavance

All the more reason not do, then

Serisouly, I also think they should have stuck with K-m. K2000 always makes me think of Knight Rider (Knight Rider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The only problem with that is that there was already a KM model. Most web searches will disregard the '-' character. It should have been K2000D to remain consistent with the current naming format.

Fuji does the same thing with their P&S cameras. S5200/S5600, S3100/S3600, etc. It really messes with things like Flickr camera stats.

[thibs]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay II

It's just that ridiculous marketing * concept that is the problem. Why use that instead of a letter like Canon does with their "L" line? Also, why does the same camera need 2 names? Why not just use either K-M or K2000 worldwide?

Funny stuff here::
YouTube - Bill Hicks on Marketing

The * is fine for me as long as it does not make part of the camera name (-> *ist serie). It is quite obvious what * means. 'L' doesn't mean anything per se.

I agree on the 'one name for all market' thing, I'm not surprised at all by such decision however

[lithos]

Remember, Carl Zeiss has the T* coating, coating noted for being almost as good as Pentax's SMC.

The "*" in a search enging is a wildcard for Boolean-based search engines.

It means it'll search for anything prefixing or suffixing the phrase its respectively attached to.

For example, putting "DA*" without the quotes into google, you'll probably get answers consisting of sites that have words that start with "DA".

Dunno why Pentax doesn't work with it.

[drewdlephone]

Originally Posted by creampuff

Personally I find it most silly to name the Pentax K-m as the K2000 for the US market. Aside from the confusion with the K200D when fonts with small point sizes are used, it also has the possibility for confusion that the K2000 is somehow related to the K1000 film camera, which it is not even remotely connected.

Whoever in Pentax USA who decided on the K2000 moniker seriously needs to get their head checked. It goes against everything I know about brand positioning and differentiation.

Pentax should move away from any association with the K1000. Just call the new camera the Pentax K-m. A unified model name for all geographical markets. What is so difficult about that?

Actually, I think that was the whole point. Pentax sold the K1000 for twenty years because it offered what nobody else had an interest in anymore: the basics. Relating this new budgeteer to such a legendary piece of equipment might get people's attention.

I do agree, however, that you can barely see a difference between K200D and K2000.

[kmccanta]

Originally Posted by lithos

Remember, Carl Zeiss has the T* coating, coating noted for being almost as good as Pentax's SMC.

The "*" in a search enging is a wildcard for Boolean-based search engines.

It means it'll search for anything prefixing or suffixing the phrase its respectively attached to.

For example, putting "DA*" without the quotes into google, you'll probably get answers consisting of sites that have words that start with "DA".

Dunno why Pentax doesn't work with it.

Of course if you put "pentax DA*" into the search engine...

Search Results

1.
Shopping results for pentax DA*
Pentax DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED Lens $219.88 - J&R Music and ...
Pentax DA 50-200mm f4-5.6 Zoom Lens 21567 $278.14 - Buy.com
Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 ED AL (IF) Lens for ... $667.81 - Amazon.com
2.
Three new Pentax DA star lenses: Digital Photography Review
Three new Pentax DA star lenses: Pre-Photokina 2006: Pentax has posted some very brief information about three new digital-only DA* (star) lenses which ...
Three new Pentax DA star lenses: Digital Photography Review - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
3.
smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mm F4 AL[IF] SDM: Digital Photography Review
Jun 3, 2008 ... smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mm F4 AL[IF] SDM: Pentax has launched a consumer-level standard zoom lens for its range of digital SLRs: the slightly ...
smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mm F4 AL[IF] SDM: Digital Photography Review - 20k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
More results from Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ »
4.
Amazon.com: Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Ultra Compact Lens for Pentax and ...
Amazon.com: Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Ultra Compact Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo.
Amazon.com: Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Ultra Compact Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo - 276k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
5.
Amazon.com: Pentax SMC DA* Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Wide ...
Amazon.com: Pentax SMC DA* Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo.
Amazon.com: Pentax SMC DA* Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo - 300k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
More results from Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more »
6.
The Online Photographer: The SMC Pentax DA 35mm ƒ/2.8 Macro Limited
I began to do just a few basic trials today with the new Pentax SMC DA 35mm .... Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The SMC Pentax DA 35mm ...
theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/04/the-smc-pentax.html - 60k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

So what happens when you want all the info on Canon L series lenses and you put L in the search engine...???

Geez I wish people would stop propogating these myths without even checking ... you dont need an episode of Mythbusters to figure this one out...


BUT I totally agree about the names and the drop down on the pentaxslr.com site... the K20D can also be confused with the K200 ...