[Adam]

As a Pentaxian, this past week has been very frustrating.

I had NEVER seen, a large company, with so much to gain, and after years of design and development by it's hard working employees.... allow marketing dept. to F$#& this up so bady....

• How/Who decided on the price of K-5?
• Is DPR in charge of your pricing?
• We still don't know what the price of K-5 is !!!!
• Do you have any one to proof read the press releases ?
• Is 645D coming to US or not?
• Who the hell approved those stupid "grade school level" videos?

Who is in charge? People SHOULD lose their jobs over this.

At least, put out a clarification on dates and prices, to save face

Their marketing is indeed pretty bad, but the info you're looking for is all readily available. Just give our homepage a visit!

Adam
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[ShadZee]

Adam, I wished you had not moved the topic... however, I understand.

There is NO information about pricing and availability of K-5 in the home page !!! How about 645D availability? Have you talked to Pentax US?

[mel]

I think their entire marketing strategy this time consists of Facebook postings.

[Wheatfield]

Adam, I wished you had not moved the topic... however, I understand.

There is NO information about pricing and availability of K-5 in the home page !!! How about 645D availability? Have you talked to Pentax US?

I'm pretty sure they've given a release date for worldwide distribution of the 645, and it doesn't matter what they say about the K5 price, people are going to find fault.
I've never seen as much sniveling from people as I've seen in the last week on this forum.

Take a deep breath and go watch TV or something.

[lithos]

Anyone here ever heard of the Mary Celeste?

[wlachan]

While I agree, the whole ordeal is a piss off, poor insight on PENTAX to just poop out another camera and seemingly walk away while still steaming to attract attention by itself.

Seems to be their way of doing business for well over 2 decades. It is a miracle they still survive, barely...

[seacapt]

The Japanese vacation schedule might just be a factor. It's "Silver week" here. Both Monday and Thursday were holidays. And Obon was a month ago, a week when Tokyo effectively shuts down.

But then, all of the other manufacturers are Japanese as well.

Is the K5 being built in Japan?

[johnmflores]

So let's get this straight. In the past 18 month Pentax has:

1 - released a breakout entry-level dSLR (K-x)
2 - released a market-changing medium format (645D)
3 - announced a highly-competitive APS-C (K-5)

I'm not going to defend the marketing arms of the various regional entities because I really don't know what kind of budget restrictions they are facing, but let's not put the cart before the horse. Pentax arguably has the strongest line of camera's that they've had in the last 10 years, maybe 20. That's nothing to sneeze at.

And putting Nikon and Canon aside for a moment, look at what the next tier of camera makers has gone through the last several years:

Olympus - a near-complete abandonment of the dSLR space and enthusiast market in exchange for EVF-driven consumer-targeted cameras. Olympus SLR/OVF devotees must be up in arms!

Minolta - merger with Konica, followed by acquisition by Sony, who have struggled mightily with finding a singular focus. Cheap and cheerful dSLRs? Full-frame? Tiny tiny? Which is it?

Ricoh - pushed to the fringes with point-and-shoots. The GR/GXR models are impressive, but it isn't winning any market share.

Leica - pushed to the brink of extinction until the most recent releases (M9, X1, S) saved their hides

At the end of the day, I'd much rather have a line of good cameras with so-so marketing than the other way around. I'd like both of course, but sometimes you have to choose.

[fearview]

Pentax right now is on auto-pilot. No one is at the helm.

i just cannot finish laughing read this post.

really ... funny..

[CWyatt]

So let's get this straight. In the past 18 month Pentax has:

1 - released a breakout entry-level dSLR (K-x)
2 - released a market-changing medium format (645D)
3 - announced a highly-competitive APS-C (K-5)

I'm not going to defend the marketing arms of the various regional entities because I really don't know what kind of budget restrictions they are facing, but let's not put the cart before the horse. Pentax arguably has the strongest line of camera's that they've had in the last 10 years, maybe 20. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Very good points. Pentax has a great range of cameras and lenses.

Not a 'full' range as such, but I can't help thinking, if you want FF or 600mm f/4s, shoot Canon/Nikon, because they have them right there to buy.
They say a bad workman blames his tools, and no doubt there's some photographers (/gear collectors?) who seek comfort from thinking their shots just need that new camera/lens to make the cut. At the same time, I also think Pentax needs some new gear (eg fast sealed standard prime).

Agree the marketing is small/non-existant. And also agree this may be due to budget (like the after-purchase service?) which is unfortunate. I can't help thinking if the qualities of the Pentax line were trumpeted from the highest mountains, more people would shoot Pentax as it is a viable option for most shooters.

[interested_observer]

Well after what happened in Germany, this apparently is befitting.....

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/115769-pentaxs-third-n...n-channel.html