[montman]

@andi
No Joke! I live in a small town in Colorado , so when I went to California on a vacation I made it a point to stop by a large camera store. I heard Pentax was going to have an Event at Sammy's camera so I thought this would be a good place to check out some Pentax equipment in person. Hurray me they had a used m 50 1.4 and that was it, nothing else. So why does a Camera Company hold an event at a Camera Store that does not even sell their gear?

[Christopher M.W.T]

Just mailed with Ned. He's doing fine and working hard to get everything ok for Photokina it seems.

Wim

Any answers on what's going on behind the scenes, everyone here is dying to know

1. DFS
2. Manual video controls
3. Teleconverters
4. Upgraded P-ttl / flashes
5. Is anyone in Japan listening?

[Nass]

re-DFS, I've now had multiple reports that the K-5 doesn't do it on bulb above 30s.

[Christopher M.W.T]

re-DFS, I've now had multiple reports that the K-5 doesn't do it on bulb above 30s.

It's strange, people on this forum cry out for word on accessories, improvements etc. Someone on this forum finally get the ear of someone in the know and with some possible pull whether it be Ned, or someone at Photokina and instead asking important questions and sending across important feedback they seem to disregard.

If anyone who does their market research and R&D actually followed the forums and user feedback this wouldn't be an issue.

[Blue]

It's strange, people on this forum cry out for word on accessories, improvements etc. Someone on this forum finally get the ear of someone in the know and with some possible pull whether it be Ned, or someone at Photokina and instead asking important questions and sending across important feedback they seem to disregard.

If anyone who does their market research and R&D actually followed the forums and user feedback this wouldn't be an issue.

A couple of Pentax Imaging people have lurked here some. However, they spend more time at DipReview. I wonder if part of the reason the U.S. market got quasi abandoned by Japan was the 2 big lawsuits that Honeywell hit Pentax with in the 80s and 90s and won. The 1st one was for something like $138 M over the focusing system in the ME F. When Pentax and Honeywell parted ways, it went down like a bitter divorce.

[Pål Jensen]

A couple of Pentax Imaging people have lurked here some. However, they spend more time at DipReview. I wonder if part of the reason the U.S. market got quasi abandoned by Japan was the 2 big lawsuits that Honeywell hit Pentax with in the 80s and 90s and won. The 1st one was for something like $138 M over the focusing system in the ME F. When Pentax and Honeywell parted ways, it went down like a bitter divorce.

That was Minolta, not Pentax....

[opiedog]

Any answers on what's going on behind the scenes, everyone here is dying to know

1. DFS
2. Manual video controls
3. Teleconverters
4. Upgraded P-ttl / flashes
5. Is anyone in Japan listening?

Don't forget....

tethering!

[Blue]

That was Minolta, not Pentax....

Actually, Pentax lost an earlier lawsuit over the ME F and Canon the AL-1. The Maxuum stuff came later and then Pentax and others got sued after Minolta. Pentax has been hammered at least twice by Honeywell.

[uccemebug]

Actually, Pentax lost an earlier lawsuit over the ME F and Canon the AL-1. The Maxuum stuff came later and then Pentax and others got sued after Minolta. Pentax has been hammered at least twice by Honeywell.

That's the modern American concept of business: lawsuits for profit. And the world wonders what happened to America's entrepreneurial spirit .. I saw the results of a survey the other day that pegged the US at #3 behind sleepy little Canada and Denmark in entrepreneurialism. Japan was at #29, mind you.

[Blue]

He's back to blogging. Here are some K-5 and DA* 300 samples . . .


NED BUNNELL

[Chwisch87]

Well I guess this confirms that the K-5 will be sticking to the 1600 price for the near future. Ned is right about it being better than the D7000.. but its still 400 dollars more and IMO not 400 dollars better. While we all know Pentax is fining shedding its economy brand image, I can't justify a K-5 until it matches the D7000 in price.

[lesmore49]

That's the modern American concept of business: lawsuits for profit. And the world wonders what happened to America's entrepreneurial spirit .. I saw the results of a survey the other day that pegged the US at #3 behind sleepy little Canada and Denmark in entrepreneurialism. Japan was at #29, mind you.

We maybe be sleepy but we have the best set of govt. regs in the world....note no banks went out of business here...and little...hardly, we are the second biggest (physical size) country in the world.

Population wise...we are small......but I like it that way...and it looks like many in the world want to live in Canada.

[sjwaldron]

Population wise...we are small......but I like it that way...and it looks like many in the world want to live in Canada.

Illinois in the USA is cold enough... I want to go south, not north just for that reason! Or I'd rather pick Hawaii out of all other options, but I don't know how feasible that is.

[opiedog]

Well I guess this confirms that the K-5 will be sticking to the 1600 price for the near future. Ned is right about it being better than the D7000.. but its still 400 dollars more and IMO not 400 dollars better. While we all know Pentax is fining shedding its economy brand image, I can't justify a K-5 until it matches the D7000 in price.

IMHO, both cameras are a good tie. d7k has some things k5 doesn't have and vice versa. As for the DXO scores, it's very close and as many folks have mentioned, it's really a tie.

What does the k5 have over the d7k that's worth $400 more (US)?

SR
better magalloy
better sealing
more raw buffer (awaiting fw update)
better HDR implementation
5 user modes (albeit via menu vs 2 direct)
2 level virtual horizon (vs 1)
7 fps (vs 6)
NR for each ISO
iso 80-51.2k
pixel mapping
etc...

What does the d7k have over the k5?

twin SD slots
af/manual video controls
1/250 flash sync
GPS input
39pt AF/ (probably) better AFc/tracking
Tethering
Aperture coupling
Spot meter on selected AF point
2 direct user modes
Adjustable Low shooting rate between 1-5 FPS
Flash covers 16mm wide angle
selectable 12/14 bit raw
save/load camera settings to SD card

etc...

in the end, it depends which feature is more important to you. Also look at the entire system as a whole.

for me the k5/kr are really nice bodies, but where are the updated accessories, like lenses? 18-135 DC and 35 f2.4 are nice, but is there SDM II in the pipeline?

Is the k5 worth $400 more than a d7k, no, at least not for me. lucky you folks who have the prices in your country at close to even.

[Christopher M.W.T]

It's annoying that when people had the chance to ask Ned about better accessories, tethering, manual video they simply forgot *sigh*