[reh321]

MY computer is malfunctioning at the moment, so I didn't get to finish the above post. My recollection of the above image is that it was shot in AF.c with 9 point tracking. When you do so in MF, a red light flashes when you have the subject in focus. So there is help from the camera for people with bad eye sight. And even though you are shooting MF, you have assistance well beyond that capabilities of any MF focussing screen I ever saw on a film camera.

I don't disagree with you concerning your comparison of modern "focus confirmation" to old focusing screens.

I've never been great at following motion - with manual focus, I would prefocus on a spot and hope the subject would reach that point, but in the last few months, the KP + 55-300mm PLM combination has given me the ability to reliably follow motion for the first time.

[carlwood]

I've tried several of the Adaptall PK/A adapters on my 31A, and they all have a little bit of slack. I've just sort of adapted to it, I guess. I have 4 long telephoto lenses - 3 of them Tamron Adaptalls - and have made thousands of snaps and I've learned almost subconsciously to accommodate a little weirdness.

I'm currently using a K-3 II and before that the K-5 II. Most of the time I use the 31A for backyard birding with an old Velbon tripod and Slik pan/tilt head. Shake Reduction is on, and I did a test with SR on/off and found that ON yielded more sharp photos.

The mallard photo was hand-held, lens at 430mm-ish and wide open. I was sitting down, so good stability.

Thank you verr much for that info - it helps to know how others are working with stuff.

[normhead]

I don't disagree with you concerning your comparison of modern "focus confirmation" to old focusing screens.

I've never been great at following motion - with manual focus, I would prefocus on a spot and hope the subject would reach that point, but in the last few months, the KP + 55-300mm PLM combination has given me the ability to reliably follow motion for the first time.

People don't seem to realize what a game changer the 55-300 PLM is. Lately I'm having trouble getting to use mine, my wife always has it. The same wife who despises my 18-135, so if you're going to try and say she's not discriminating, don't even go there. The 55-300 PLM takes fast auto-focus to a new level, and to some degree illustrates the point that it was the lenses creating the "slow AF" perception, not the cameras. At least for the K-3 and later. The 55-300 PLM lets you cheaply experience what the Pentax AF can be, without investing in the newer really expensive DFA lenses, all of which as far as I can tell are faster than their older lenses. The number of people complaining about Pentax AF who haven't bought this lens is disappointing. If they were as committed to fast AF as they claim to be they'd own one. After all, Pentax isn't going to make any more super fast focusing lenses if the one inexpensive one they made doesn't sell. This is definitely a "vote with your wallet, not your mouth" situation.

I bought into the 55-300 PLM based on the AF speed, I just wanted to see what the camera could do, but the IQ of this lens for a lens of this price and configuration is incredible. I wonder how many more times we are going to hear from people complaining about Pentax AF, who don't own and have never tried this lens. It's dis-heartening given the effort Pentax obviously put into speeding up and improving the optics of this lens how little it's appreciated. It doesn't matter what Pentax does, some people just keep repeating he same old $#it.

[Wheatfield]

Going mirrorless is indeed expensive. For the price a mirrorless system with lenses, I can get a 24" professional Canon printer, and a top class 4K display, a 4K projector and still have $4K left for one month for flying and traveling in two different countries. When I come back , I can print posters, share beautiful images on display / wall size. Instead, if I buy a S1R and lenses I stay home and can post 800 pixel wide images of my ugly neighborhood on the net, and Panasonic won't even spend a $2 stamp to send me a thank you letter. Camera systems these days are a rip off. And we are lucky that Pentax didn't increase prices as much as competitor did. No wonder why camera sales continue to fall, increasing prices just encourage people to use their phones even more.

One follows the other. Leica isn't expensive because they are really good (although they are really good), they are expensive because they only sell a handful of cameras per year, so all that R&D and tooling has to be paid for by a smaller unit number.
Being good and rare allows them to have cachet appeal, something they learned early on and used to their advantage to stay afloat after the Japanese camera makers started flooding the market.
Sure, you could have a Nikon, or a Pentax, or any of a dozen me to Japanese cameras, or you could stand out with a Leica. That's how they marketed themselves, and it worked.

This is why I am not unhappy with Ricoh selling rights to the D FA* 50/1.4 to Tokina. Sure, Tokina is selling it as a third party lens for less than Pentax is selling theirs for, but every Tokina 50mm Opera lens sold underwrites the price of the Pentax lens. I suspect if Ricoh had kept the lens to themselves, we would be paying $500.00 more for the big 50.

We are going to see more of this. Cell phones keep getting better, and as they do, they nibble away at the camera maker's market, and consequently, their income. Real cameras are going to get real expensive as the low end camera market gets gutted by increasingly improved cell phones. In order to keep some distance between them camera makers and cell phone makers, the camera makers are going to have to go increasingly upscale.
And that translates into lower volumes of evermore expensive camera gear.
Get used to it.

[Wasp]

This just came in: big price drops on Sony full frame cameras. The first shots in a price war?

Sony Just Slashed Its Mirrorless Camera Prices by Up to $1,000

And for those who have been thinking about joining the dark side, this makes it very difficult to remain loyal. I mean, full frame goodness for the price of a top of the line crop frame? Hmmm...

[Larrymc]

This just came in: big price drops on Sony full frame cameras. The first shots in a price war?

Sony Just Slashed Its Mirrorless Camera Prices by Up to $1,000

And for those who have been thinking about joining the dark side, this makes it very difficult to remain loyal. I mean, full frame goodness for the price of a top of the line crop frame? Hmmm...

What this actually means is that Sony's here to fore pricing model for some of their new cameras was was bound to create problems for them. Its like an auto manufacturer "slashing" prices which creates doubt in a customer's mind whether they the customer are getting a good deal on a car with essentially the same features as competing brands being sold at more "fair" prices. Now camera buyers are going to expect lower prices up front and will not buy at those higher prices but wait for the discounts.

[normhead]

What this actually means is that Sony's here to fore pricing model for some of their new cameras was was bound to create problems for them. Its like an auto manufacturer "slashing" prices which creates doubt in a customer's mind whether they the customer are getting a good deal on a car with essentially the same features as competing brands being sold at more "fair" prices Now camera buyers are going to expect lower prices up front and will not buy at those higher prices but wait for the discounts.

Is anyone else think "they are getting desperate?"
It certainly looks like a desperate attempt to generate some cash flow.

Sony A7r 3 $2, 598
Pentax k-1ii - $1,796

Not even tempting for what I want an FF for.

[biz-engineer]

Is anyone else think "they are getting desperate?"

What they do, as I saw this week, is 1000 euros cash back by Sony. If you give back your current camera that isn't a Sony, Sony give you this much price reduction for the purchase of Sony camera and a lens. Sony buy market share, then they'll claim 2% growth. In a press release last year, Sony exec. said they would grow the market, but what they are actually doing is paying forward to buy market share.

[normhead]

What they do, as I saw this week, is 1000 euros cash back by Sony. If you give back your current camera that isn't a Sony, Sony give you this much price reduction for the purchase of Sony camera and a lens. Sony buy market share, then they'll claim 2% growth. In a press release last year, Sony exec. said they would grow the market, but what they are actually doing is paying forward to buy market share.

I wish I hadn't practically given away my K20D. I only got $100 for it.
I could have taken my $1000 off, then sold the Sony stuff "new in box." and then bought some more Pentax stuff.

I'd get a deal, some Sony lover would get a deal, we'd both be happy.

With all due respect, it still seems like a desperation move to me.

[Larrymc]

Is anyone else think "they are getting desperate?"
It certainly looks like a desperate attempt to generate some cash flow.

Sony A7r 3 $2, 598
Pentax k-1ii - $1,796

Not even tempting for what I want an FF for.

Yes indeed its desperation and they are trapping themselves. They can't go back up now or not give a rebate customers will expect one before they buy. Their only way out is to introduce a new model with more and better features but then with the current state of the market how do they generate sales of a brand new model at higher pricing. They are digging a big hole trading future sales profits for current sales..

[normhead]

Yes indeed its desperation and they are trapping themselves. They can't go back up now or not give a rebate customers will expect one before they buy. Their only way out is to introduce a new model with more and better features but then with the current state of the market how do they generate sales of a brand new model at higher pricing. They are digging a big hole trading future sales profits for rebates.

I think more likely is that they are dumping inventory they can't sell pretty much at cost, hoping to make money on new lens sales etc. It's a very Sony-ish gamble that has seen the end of many Sony product lines.

You have to wonder, with their aggressive market tactics if they actually generated enough money last year for continuing the same level of R&D.

Unlike Pentax users who want a small supply of new stuff to compliment their old stuff. Sony users seem to require a constant supply of new stuff.

[bobmaxja]

Remember Sony is not a camera maker but a consumer electronic company first.

[normhead]

Remember Sony is not a camera maker but a consumer electronic company first.

That explains all the closed out Sony product, that was here one day, gone the next. Any product has competition to perform. The funny thing is, if Pentax were dropping prices like this, everyone would say Pentax is doomed, it's the last gasp, You can say Sony is a consumer electronics company, but so is Ricoh. It's not like they are different from anyone except maybe Nikon.

[Wheatfield]

Remember Sony is not a camera maker but a consumer electronic company first.

I think people forget this sometimes. Sony has little sense of continuity or long term product support, things that are of supreme importance to the camera industry.

[Lord Lucan]

Over recent months I've had conversations with about half a dozen family and friends.... Several of them have already invested in compact cameras, tending to go for Sony because of brand recognition. . .

Perhaps I getting old in that my brand recognition of Sony is "What the heck is a TV and audio company doing manufacturing cameras?". Oh, and the root-kit dirty trick that they played on their customers a while back*.

As others have said, Sony would seem to have come from a consumer electronics culture where everything is thrown away and replaced every 2 or 3 years. OTOH, at least back when Pentax and Canonikon started, it was expected that a good camera would last your lifetime (my father's cameras did), and while those days have gone I would still rather buy a camera from a company with that cultural background.

* Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal - Wikipedia