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As 2012 comes to a close, let's take a look at the highlights of this year in the Pentax world and on our web site!
Products
We'll start by looking at Pentax's camera systems. While Pentax hasn't delivered the breakthrough products that many enthusiasts have been hoping for (i.e. a full-frame DSLR or new high-end APS-C camera), overall, it has been a great year, and Pentax is doing better than ever. Most notably, the Pentax K-30, launched this June, has proved to be a very successful upper entry level DSLR.
In addition to becoming popular thanks to its intuitive user interface, superb image quality, and weather sealing, the K-30 ended up winning the iF Product Design Award just last week! If you're a beginner that has a budget of around $650-800, we can highly recommend the K-30 as a first DSLR or as an upgrade over older Pentax cameras. The K-30 competes primarily with the Nikon D5100/5200 and the Canon 650D, and we've recently posted an in-depth comparative review of these three cameras in case you're still trying to decide on what to get.
Another noteworthy camera is the mirrorless Pentax K-01, launched in February. Thanks to its K-mount, the K-01 was the first mirrorless camera to natively support DSLR lenses. At first, the K-01 didn't get too much attention among photographers due to it's bold design and $749 price tag, but after being reduced to just $316 in November, it's been selling like crazy! At this price it truly is a steal, considering that its image quality is almost on par with that of the Pentax K-5 and Nikon D7000 at a fraction of the price.
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Finally, Pentax should also be commended for the expansion of the Q system: now that the 15-45mm (~80-250mm eqv.) telephoto zoom and the K-mount adapter have been launched, the Q has become a much more versatile camera, allowing photographers to use it for much more than everyday snapshots. Pentax will be stressing that one should look at the entire system, and not just the Q camera body, when deciding to get a compact mirrorless. On top of that, now that the Q has fallen in price by up to 75% (from a launch price of $799 to approximately $250), it has become a much more attractive option for many Pentax fans outside of Japan.
Pictured above is the Pentax adapter which allows you to put K-mount lenses on the Q. This will turn just about any lens into an extreme-telephoto lens, allowing you to easily capture great tele or macro shots.
Lastly we'd like to mention the K-5 IIs, which is the first APS-C DSLR to feature a sensor without an optical low-pass filter. This bold launch will show Pentax whether or not a filter-less camera will do well among enthusiasts. Overall, we believe that the K-5 II was launched to keep a Pentax enthusiast DSLR on the market with minimal R&D costs, allowing the company to work on other, more significant cameras in the mean time. But that's not to say that we don't like the K-5 IIs- don't miss our review of it!
Events
This year was the first year in which we offered live coverage of Pentax trade shots as well as excluside interviews with Pentax representatives.
Pictured above is Albert Siegel (representing PentaxForums.com) interviewing Mr. Hiraku Kawauchi at CP+ in Japan. In September we also interviewed Mr. André Dierickx and Mr. Shigeru Wakashiro at Photokina in Germany.
Finally, this year we published the first World Pentax Day book which featured the best of the World Pentax Day event held in February. Expect another event to be announced shortly!
You can also expect us to kick off the new year with coverage of the next CP+ show, so stay tuned!
PentaxForums.com
Over the course of the past year we've made many improvements to the site, ranging from new sections to silent enhancements and bug fixes. One of the key behind-the-scenes improvements was an overhaul of the forum search system. You can now search for common words as well as keywords of arbitrary length (i.e. searching for just "q" will show threads related to the Pentax Q), which we hope will improve overall forum browseability.
In terms of major site features, the most recent addition was our Pentax Sample Photo Search Engine, which allows you to search for sample photos from any modern Pentax camera or supported lens.
Several months earlier we launched a series of dark forum skins, offering enhanced readability for those two prefer dark backgrounds. The dark skins can be selected using the style selector, linked to in the lower-left corner of all forum pages.
Last but not least we'd like to talk about photo uploads on the forum. We've tweaked the system so that you can upload photo straight from your camera without losing the embedded EXIF data. EXIF will now be shown in attached photos, member photo albums, and the user photo gallery.
On top of these enhancements, we've increased upload quotas for all of our users, and Loyal Site Supporters will now enjoy unlimited forum attachments!
Reviews
This year we posted over a dozen in-depth reviews, and we already have many more lined up for the first few months of 2013. We are only a handful of lenses short of having reviewed every Pentax lens currently available, and once we accomplish this, we plan on focusing on third-party lenses.
In addition to expanding our in-depth reviews, we have also improved the categorization of the third-party lens database and added more entries to our Pentax camera database and Pentax lens database.
Special Thanks
We'd like to extend a special "thank you" to B&H photo (the latest Pentax retailer, located in NYC) for working very closely with us to coordinate Pentax deals, promote the brand, and sponsor giveaways over the course of the past year. We would also like to thank Pentax Ricoh for their appreciation of our site and the their time at Photokina and CP+.
We'd also like to thank you, our members, for supporting PentaxForums.com and remaining loyal to Pentax. We'd like to wish you a Happy New Year and we hope to see you around next year! Expect some great new features and content to be added to the site in the coming months, so stay tuned!
blandin
Just bought a new K5 for less than six houndred pounds - its a hell of a camera for the money. Just as chuffed as when I bought my MX slr thirty years ago.
Wszystkiego najlepszego w Nowym Roku 2013!
Adamowi, adminom, moderatorom:
niech ich wielbłądy mają wełnę, a owce niosą daleko...
(pl)
Happy new year to PF team and all pentaxians .a special thanks to Adam.
I much appreciate the great effort this year/2012/and keep on in 2013.
After returning to photography after 25 years with my new K5 plus all my old lenses, this forum has provided such a wonderful insight into current day photography. Keep up the good work.
Happy New Year to Adam and everyone at Pentax Forums. This is a wonderful site and I truly appreciate all of your hard work.
Thanks for such a great site ... "Bonne année et bonne santé" from France!
Thanks for all the excellent work on the forum. A great new year to all. Happy shooting and posting!
From the Netherlands, Wim
Thank you Adam, all the moderators and members for a great site.
The info you provide is much appreciated !
Happy 2013 from Connecticut !!
Thanks Adam and the PF team for such a wonderful job in 2012.
Best wishes from Cape Town to all here for a very happy 2013!
Happy New Year from Sweden! My 2012 Pentax-year brought me the DA Limited 21 / 35 Macro and 70, as well as the Pentax Q when it got cheap, and the legacy Super-Multi-Takumar 28/3.5 and 135/2.5. I must say that the DA70 is my most used and favorite lens of them all.
as a new member enjoy the community feel of this forum. All the best for 2013 and keep those shutters working. My new drakroom is almost ready for testing. Digital has its place but long live film too!!
Very Happy 2013 to all the team for Pentax Forum
Thanks for doing such a great job with PF - I truly enjoy the forum. Happy New Year to all!
This year I just used my Pentax gear at all moment, since jobs untill hollydays... For next, I'm expecting news from brand cause I intend always to up grade body and lenses.
I would like, too, to hear about Pentax comming to Brazil, offering technical assistance and support for pentaxians, for sure a big market if Pentax want increase!!!!
FELIZ ANO NOVO e UM ÓTIMO 2013 para todos os usuários PENTAX.
Bought three Pentax cameras and a bunch of glasses this past year. Really enjoying them and this site. Keep up the good wook, Pentax and PF!
This year I bought the k-01 and the fa 100mm macro. Boy, I'm so glad I did. The image quality of the k-01 is superb, far better than my kr. Not to mention the looks of that camera, my wife and my friends all envy me every time they see it. The fa 100mm macro is legendary. Above all, this forum contributed to the most important conclusion: Pentaxians are quality people :) Happy New Year to you all !
As a long time Canon user who made the switch this year I just want to say Thank You. This forum and Pentax cameras have made this year so much fun. This forum has proven to be an invaluable resource.
I have bought 2 brand new Pentax cameras, 1st was the KR, second was the K-01, both have had problems, the KR had a problem with pre-set functions in the 1st year, took 3 weeks to fixed it, the K-01 was 1 week old and had problem with the main power shut off and stays off, i sent it back to Pentax service in AR, but it has been 6 weeks now and the camera is still not fixed yet?, for that reason i think Pentax has bad in quality control and warranty service, i personally not going to buy Pentax again. My Pentax camera is out for service more than time i have in hand for photos shoots.
A disappointed customer
I have enjoyed this forum. At my age and the condition of my eyes that make it difficult for me to peer through the eye-piece of the SLR, I think the mirrorless may be right for me so I am hoping for the next upgrade of the K-01. I am still snapping on with my K10D, I-10, W90 with love. Hope for more new products to come! Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Happy New Year guys. Me, my K10D and all my old Takumars are still out there taking photos. Thanks for the inspiration and information you guys have provided over the years.
happy New Year to you all ...
Une année de bonheur et de joie pour vous tous !
Quite new to the forum but have been made most welcome.
Thank you for that and Happy New Year to you all
Happy New Year! :)
To all Pentax Forum Moderators, Adam, Ole and all active members.
Thank you for your time and hard work. Your inputs made me decide, after 2 years of looking closely at the market, to go for Pentax. Bought the K5 IIs and I do not regret it.
Happy New Year!
happy New Year to you all to.
thanks for this year.
Happy New Year to all at Pentax Forums, Pentax needs more honest reviews and a raising of the Company Profile which you guys have done - many thanks.
Pentax is still the best value in the DSLR market, more people should know, the highlight for me this year is the Pentax Q, now my most used camera. A price drop on the Q to K converter would be nice.
Designed by Photographers for Photographers is how I see Pentax.
Happy new year, and thanks to everyone for making Pentaxforums such a helpful and enjoyable site.
I have really enjoyed being a member this year. Thanks for all you work, and have a Happy New Year.
I'm so thankful for the many wonderful and informative things you provide!!
There's no better or other Pentax place I want to be!!
Thanks for being around, Pentax Forums.
Great to have you around!
As someone new to Pentax in 2012 I want to say thanks to Pentax Forums.
The amount and level of knowledge and information provided by the users, admin and site overall has been a real added bonus to getting into photography and specifically Pentax!
Happy New Year and hope everyone (and Pentax) has a great 2013!
HNY!!!
Side Note: I want one of those Sigmonsters...
You forgot to mention the 2,000,000 post milestone ;)
But otherwise a great year for Pentax and PF alike...thanks for all that you guys do on the admin side of this excellent resource.