[sjwaldron]

I sent an email to Pentax Japan in my not so impressive Japanese. The response was pretty much marketing speak, but here it is.

This is the response I received (with my poor translation back to English, anyone with more skill please feel free to correct in your own post):

(my name)様

ペンタックスインターネット問合せをご利用いただきまし
てありがとうございます。

- Thank your for using the Pentax Internet enquiry.


お問合せいただきましたカメラとレンズにつきまして、回
答いたします。

- This enquiry was received by the camera and lens desk?


FA Limitedレンズは、今は販売中止の予定や情報はありま
せん。ご安心下さい。

- Right now there is no (edit: plans and news) of suspending the sale of FA Limited lenses. Please continue to have piece of mind. I asked them about that rumor... just to see what they would say.

また、400mmくらいの望遠レンズやリアコンバーター（テ
レコンバーター）のお話は貴重なご意見として伺います。

- again, 400mm (approximate) telephoto lens and rear adapter (tele-converter) talk/opinion is valuable to us. I told them about my current activities of going out in extreme conditions and photographing birds. I even included a link to this photo and talked about how important and nice their WR is (haha). I had mentioned that I have the biggest thing Pentax offers in the USA (DA* 300mm), but felt I need a bit more range somehow.


これからも多くのお客様のニーズにお応えできる製品作り、
サービスの提供を目指します。

- After this, also Pentax wants to try and fill the needs of as many users as possible. I mentioned a few miscellaneous things like how I feel they should try to communicate with their foreign users a bit better, as lately there has been a lot of miss information about topics that are important to users (eg. Pentax company outside Japan) of their higher-end gear.

今後もペンタックス製品をご使用くださいますよう、よ
ろしくお願い致します。

- Thank you for using Pentax. Please treat us well in the future. I had mentioned I was a Pentax user since the *ist DS.

That's it. My goal was to give them some direct user feedback, whether they take any of it to heart is up to them. It's just my way of trying to help them help me.

---

Last edited by sjwaldron; 09-26-2010 at 12:59 PM.

[r0ckstarr]

Screenshot of actual email, or it never happened.

But, good news is that the FA's aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

I sent an email to Pentax Japan in my not so impressive Japanese. The response was pretty much marketing speak, but here it is.

This is the response I received (with my poor translation back to English, anyone with more skill please feel free to correct in your own post):

(my name)様

ペンタックスインターネット問合せをご利用いただきまし
てありがとうございます。

- Thank your for using the Pentax Internet enquiry.


お問合せいただきましたカメラとレンズにつきまして、回
答いたします。

- This enquiry was received by the camera and lens desk?


FA Limitedレンズは、今は販売中止の予定や情報はありま
せん。ご安心下さい。

- Right now there is no news of suspending the sale of FA Limited lenses. Please continue to have piece of mind. I asked them about that rumor... just to see what they would say.

また、400mmくらいの望遠レンズやリアコンバーター（テ
レコンバーター）のお話は貴重なご意見として伺います。

- again, 400mm (approximate) telephoto lens and rear adapter (tele-converter) talk/opinion is valuable to us. I told them about my current activities of going out in extreme conditions and photographing birds. I even included a link to this photo and talked about how important and nice their WR is (haha). I had mentioned that I have the biggest thing Pentax offers in the USA (DA* 300mm), but felt I need a bit more range somehow.


これからも多くのお客様のニーズにお応えできる製品作り、
サービスの提供を目指します。

- After this, also Pentax wants to try and fill the needs of as many users as possible. I mentioned a few miscellaneous things like how I feel they should try to communicate with their foreign users a bit better, as lately there has been a lot of miss information about topics that are important to users (eg. Pentax company outside Japan) of their higher-end gear.

今後もペンタックス製品をご使用くださいますよう、よ
ろしくお願い致します。

- Thank you for using Pentax. Please treat use well in the future. I had mentioned I was a Pentax user since the *ist DS.

That's it. My goal was to give them some direct user feedback, whether they take any of it to heart is up to them. It's just my way of trying to help them help me.

Hey, thank you for that info. THough not directly translated, you did a very good job of hitting main and important points there.

So they clearly say FA ltds are alive. Good. I feel a bit better now.

[sjwaldron]

Screenshot of actual email, or it never happened.
But, good news is that the FA's aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Screenshot attached to this post...

As you can see, I use Linux.

Attached Images

 

Thanks, that's good news! However, I wonder what's going on since I believe falconeye and blende8 got such information from Pentax representatives.

[Ubuntu_user]

As you can see, I use Linux.

Very nice...

[brecklundin]

Hey, thank you for that info. THough not directly translated, you did a very good job of hitting main and important points there.

So they clearly say FA ltds are alive. Good. I feel a bit better now.

Is that right and based on the literal xlation of the actual Japanese accounting for any idioms used (I have no clue on reading it so... ) the Pentax email says they definitely not DC'ing the FA Limiteds? The OP indicates in the xlation that the response is "...Right now there is no news of suspending the sale of FA Limited lenses..." which is vague and gives Hoya an out for saying the person was not informed as of yet. While I hope it's the case, it's the whole poor communication thing all over again. I guess it's the sense of being "managed" by Hoya rather than getting candid answers. It's this sort of thing that caused me to leave a rather high paying job with an E&R 500 company as their corporate IT Director...I am not one to play the politics of business so I also have a difficult time accepting it though I still realize it's part of the "game"...

In fact maybe Hoya has decided to only market the FA Limiteds in Japan and Asia in general dropping them in other markets. Who knows...I guess it's all about how they sell. I don't care because I have mine already.

So, at least there is some info but it still seems like less than a statement from HoyaTax in either direction. So, the game continues...time to forget it and take pictures I suppose...

[goubejp]

Thank you, it cuts a nasty rumour about the FA limited; I wonder what are the intentions of the guys who spread these kind of rumours.
Very impatient as you to have a 400 mm Pentex; I have a FA*600 but the 400 mm will idealy complement it when some hiking is needed. I'll post some pictures in another threads - by the way I have posted several bunch of bird pictures on dpreview
Tired of photokina bashing threads; flycatcher season with FA*600: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Bird shots with FA*600: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Regards

[sjwaldron]

Is that right and based on the literal xlation of the actual Japanese accounting for any idioms used (I have no clue on reading it so... ) the Pentax email says they definitely not DC'ing the FA Limiteds? The OP indicates in the xlation that the response is "...Right now there is no news of suspending the sale of FA Limited lenses...".

You are right in that the Japanese says "ima wa" ( 今は ), which means approximately as of "right now". It's a marketing response basically... They did say in the second sentence to please have piece of mind with their response.

I forgot to mention that I said in the email that having a full frame camera with the K-7's body would be a perfect partner for the FA 31, 77, and 43mm LTD lenses. I'm trying to work here by the power of suggestion.

[Nass]

sjwaldron: well done. Thank you.

[imtheguy]

I also sent a message to Pentax yesterday due to the continued concerns that keep popping up; from giving samples to the few pros who participate in PF.com and address the future for the rest of us. I gave them links to certain threads at PF.com just to see if anyone is home. I have no expectations of my long winded request getting addressed but it cost me nothing to try and I will continue sending the same message.

How about 999 members join me in hitting their support and product info message screens, emails or blogs with requests to address issues, not make a new lens tomorrow, just acknowledge the issues for a start. A plan comes next.

If YOU were in a decision making postion and your mid-managers told you that thousands of new requests are flooding every office weekly, wouldn't you at least want to know what the topics are? Wouldn't it stay on your mind as you make decisions? Enough volume will get noticed even if publicly the issues cannot be addressed, maybe internally they will.

Lets take some of this energy used to complain to each other and complain daily to the Pentax office/department of your choice.

'nuff said. I need to resend my messages to Pentax.

[brecklundin]

hehehe...good point on the "...peace of mind..." comment. Remember the name of this person so in the event it's not the case we can get out the tar-and-feathers and over night them to Japan!! But as I mentioned I have my FA set soooo, either way I win.

Good luck on the FF option...I know a lot of folks would love it...I would probably be seduced as a studio camera if I could afford two bodies, I kinda like the crop factor of the APS-C for outside shooting because it's like having a 1.5x converter built into the camera. But for inside studio kinda shooting (I just do a lot of product shots so nothing special) it really does not matter but I sense a FF non-crop sensor might offer a bit different look to things I shoot. And since distance is not an issue then it might be worth the cost. Anyway, that is wandering OT, sorry...just thanks for sharing what info you did get. Time will tell...

[brecklundin]

I also sent a message to Pentax yesterday due to the continued concerns that keep popping up; from giving samples to the few pros who participate in PF.com and address the future for the rest of us. I gave them links to certain threads at PF.com just to see if anyone is home. I have no expectations of my long winded request getting addressed but it cost me nothing to try and I will continue sending the same message.

How about 999 members join me in hitting their support and product info message screens, emails or blogs with requests to address issues, not make a new lens tomorrow, just acknowledge the issues for a start. A plan comes next.

If YOU were in a decision making postion and your mid-managers told you that thousands of new requests are flooding every office weekly, wouldn't you at least want to know what the topics are? Wouldn't it stay on your mind as you make decisions? Enough volume will get noticed even if publicly the issues cannot be addressed, maybe internally they will.

Lets take some of this energy used to complain to each other and complain daily to the Pentax office/department of your choice.

'nuff said. I need to resend my messages to Pentax.

very solid point...if nobody takes the time to send the comments to Pentax Japan and only comments here, well, it ends up the same as pounding sand. Gotta send the emails to Pentax Japan and nowhere else or maybe find a way to CC other Pentax distributors (as in Pentax US really seems to be only a distribution hub) as well...and keep on the blogs, comment on any Pentax social networking sites, if they exist.

hehehe...good point on the "...peace of mind..." comment. Remember the name of this person so in the event it's not the case we can get out the tar-and-feathers and over night them to Japan!! But as I mentioned I have my FA set soooo, either way I win.

Good luck on the FF option...I know a lot of folks would love it...I would probably be seduced as a studio camera if I could afford two bodies, I kinda like the crop factor of the APS-C for outside shooting because it's like having a 1.5x converter built into the camera. But for inside studio kinda shooting (I just do a lot of product shots so nothing special) it really does not matter but I sense a FF non-crop sensor might offer a bit different look to things I shoot. And since distance is not an issue then it might be worth the cost. Anyway, that is wandering OT, sorry...just thanks for sharing what info you did get. Time will tell...

Well, his or her name is Mr. or Mis. Ono, the sender of that e mail . . . . He (she) even left a phone number to call although that may be the customer service line. Maybe I ought to call this guy.

[sjwaldron]

Good luck on the FF option...I know a lot of folks would love it...I would probably be seduced as a studio camera if I could afford two bodies, I kinda like the crop factor of the APS-C for outside shooting because it's like having a 1.5x converter built into the camera. But for inside studio kinda shooting (I just do a lot of product shots so nothing special) it really does not matter but I sense a FF non-crop sensor might offer a bit different look to things I shoot. And since distance is not an issue then it might be worth the cost. Anyway, that is wandering OT, sorry...just thanks for sharing what info you did get. Time will tell...

Thanks.

Actually I'm kind of selfish in that I want both a APS-C and FF camera to get the full use out of my lenses as possible. Like you said, APS-C is nice due to the built-in crop factor at times, but I'm missing some things I could do with a FF body I think. I actually like artistic vignetting. I like APS-C, but I like the idea of FF too...

I don't actually own any of the FA LTD crew yet. The lens LBA in my head says the 31mm LTD should be my next purchase, but there are a few points that have kept me from buying it.
1. It's not cheap, so there is a lot of internal debate involved.
2. I think having a FF body would give my a serious reason to buy the lens.
3. I'd much rather prefer a WR version of the 31mm LTD (with screwdrive and hopefully the same size of course). If the FA LTD doesn't exist in any form in the Pentax lineup, I'd be pretty sad as it is something I want to eventually get.

So if Pentax is going to discontinue the FA serious, I seriously hope they are doing it to make them WR.