[RMabo]

What are the lenses that are only available for the Japanese home market? Can you give specific examples? I can't seem to find any instance of this.

I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of that this was news for this forum that there are some lenses listed as available in Japan that are no available for order outside Japan.

Lenses like the A50 f/1.2 - has not been available outside Japan for years.
FA 20-35 f/4, not available to order outside Japan (some samples of old stock may still exist outside Japan)
FA 35 f/2 (discontinued outside Japan, but samples from old stock still exist in some places)
And others.

If I'm not mistaken, we even had discussions in this forum about how to order the lenses that are only to be found in Japan, and discussions about why this is the case.
It all started when the FA lenses were started to be discontinued, and many of them were still available in Japan. Now, most of those were truly discontinued when Hoya closed the remaining, and last, production facility in Japan, but a few seems to have survived and moved to Vietnam - like the A50 f/1.2.
Quite fascinating.

[imtheguy]

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.

On page one of this thread I urged everyone to start a write-in campaign to the Pentax office of their choice to get plans, answers and information possible or just as a show of consumer force. I just received my first response from the US office that held more questions than answers but I was happy to see that someone is home and gave me an oppportunity for a back and forth. I will not be posting the responses at this time least they clam up thinking its a setup.

I will say that they must have read some of the threads I linked them to because their questions reflected the threads. Among other things, they wanted to know why was I writing to THEM versus EUROPE about a 645D for a Paris pro? Boy do I have an answer for that.

Lets go, pester them, pressure them, let them know how many consumers they could lose or keep from their resonses to this campaign. I am not an organizer by nature but I feel strongly about pushing for something I want.

'nuff said.

[brecklundin]

Wow this is as controversial and anger producing as the removal of screw drive :P

I must say this has been very entertaining to sit back and watch lol

dude....I brought popcorn!!

And oh yeah, pass to the left

[brecklundin]

On page one of this thread I urged everyone to start a write-in campaign to the Pentax office of their choice to get plans, answers and information possible or just as a show of consumer force. I just received my first response from the US office that held more questions than answers but I was happy to see that someone is home and gave me an oppportunity for a back and forth. I will not be posting the responses at this time least they clam up thinking its a setup.

I will say that they must have read some of the threads I linked them to because their questions reflected the threads. Among other things, they wanted to know why was I writing to THEM versus EUROPE about a 645D for a Paris pro? Boy do I have an answer for that.

Lets go, pester them, pressure them, let them know how many consumers they could lose or keep from their resonses to this campaign. I am not an organizer by nature but I feel strongly about pushing for something I want.

'nuff said.

and there is the rub....will anyone even bother to read the emails and/or pass them up the food chain? To me that is the core issue here...Pentax has never been great at customer service but there were always signs of attention being paid to some extent. but the new HoyaTax reign of terror treat the customers like mushrooms has a lot of people just fed up...you can't get the same info from two people let alone a dozen difference people.

I say email anyone and everyone at HoyaTax, carpet bomb them (that is just a joke, send concise emails but do BCC everyone for whom you have an email address.

About Falk & blende....I feel we all need to remind them why this place was fun by not bickering about it all, not taking sides, just be constructive and offer them a hand in friendship because we all enjoy the brand and photography. Even if a handful of people send them notes of support nothing changes if the site does not, as a WHOLE improve the level of conduct to one akin to how you would behave in front of your grandma...I mean that...having fun is never a problem but this hyperbolic anger stuff is very disappointing.

I came here from regular posting over on another site dedicated to a different maker, but it's a site where all users are welcome as are discussions about every maker and camera. And while they have their share of dust-ups, never have I witnessed something like this, and it's not the first time a moderator here has had enough, for whatever reason -- doesn't matter if it was valid or not -- but I will say, this year there has been a change in how the site feels to me. Maybe it's me because my health has gone downhill and I see many things differently now, I don't know.

Still, earlier this year the site lost a fair number of worn down mods, there are many posters who made me feel very welcome who had been here for ages that I NEVER see posting anymore either. I don't feel many of them have moved camps brand wise either. I have a sense something has changed from the inside, not intentionally but as a result of something and who knows, or even wants to know, why? But we as users can help things by simply not being "those sort of people" and getting back to the normal complaining mixed in with genuine fun and sharing.

And again, let's show Falk, blende and everyone else who lurks that this is still the fun place it was just a year ago...or not, I have no interest either way...but to work it needs to get back to the photography and fun...even in the face of odd news. hey, from the look of things I am at the EOL in many things in life but Pentax is now added to that list because of some silly simple function I took for granted.

BTW, I have a perfect example of what is wrong here....yesterday I started a thread about something I genuinely had no idea about which crossed my mind when I was here on the site...I posted a tread with the question...the result? First commenter basically called me an idiot and waisting the time of everyone here for daring to ask what that person took to be something "everyone" should know...and this is not the first time I've seen it. And we are not talking teasing here, the follow-up comments showed that the intent was contempt when if it was such a problem it should have been a "...just don't comment if you don't want to help somehow..." Teasing is fun, to belittle someone is not. As we all say about Pentax, this is not the only toy in the chest to play with....

[uccemebug]

and there is the rub....will anyone even bother to read the emails and/or pass them up the food chain?

About Falk & blende....I feel we all need to remind them why this place was fun by not bickering about it all ... having fun is never a problem but this hyperbolic anger stuff is very disappointing.

But we as users can help things by simply not being "those sort of people" and getting back to the normal complaining mixed in with genuine fun and sharing.

And again, let's show Falk, blende and everyone else who lurks that this is still the fun place it was just a year ago...or not, I have no interest either way...but to work it needs to get back to the photography and fun...even in the face of odd news. hey, from the look of things I am at the EOL in many things in life but Pentax is now added to that list because of some silly simple function I took for granted.

There are three things I can add here.

First, it's clear that Hoya's Pentax unit is changing course. Pentax as a marginal player has struggled for years (I know people will jump all over that statement, I suggest everyone save your breath) and forum members here are dismayed to see what they saw as a firm that catered to their very small niche now changing.

Second, when the correspondents at the show make statements like "who can understand those Japanese" it's not helping in the slightest. Japan is a country isolated by geography, custom, and language. I can refer you to some of the effects that this has had on business in this country over the past twenty years in a comment I posted on one of my photos:

2010.09.24 English OK - uccemebug's Album: Single in September - PentaxForums.com

In short, non-Japanese users are mystified by what they see from Hoya and it's not helping their angst over the change in direction for Pentax. My advice here is that this may change if there's a new marketing element coming into play but one shouldn't expect a Japanese firm unused to retail and unused to foreign clientele to start speaking their language (figuratively or literally).

Third, times are tough and I know that many members are dealing with drastic changes in their lifestyle. For instance, two years ago I was a VP at an investment bank that no longer exists. I've spent the past eighteen months working on a new business, and yesterday I learned that my last option for investment is not interested. Like many people here, I'm looking at a new year that will be once again worse than this year.

In summary, we're living in interesting times all 'round. But it's no real excuse for anger and fighting, people have to look at the context and make peace with what they can't change.

BTW, I have a perfect example of what is wrong here....yesterday I started a thread about something I genuinely had no idea about which crossed my mind when I was here on the site...I posted a tread with the question...the result? First commenter basically called me an idiot and waisting the time of everyone here for daring to ask what that person took to be something "everyone" should know...and this is not the first time I've seen it. And we are not talking teasing here, the follow-up comments showed that the intent was contempt when if it was such a problem it should have been a "...just don't comment if you don't want to help somehow..." Teasing is fun, to belittle someone is not. As we all say about Pentax, this is not the only toy in the chest to play with....

Yeah that was weird and out of line. I learned from you asking that question, and I thank you for doing so.

[jon.partsch]

There are three things I can add here.

Thank you, Michael, for your voice of calm and reason. I am really disappointed by all the venom and angst on the Forum in the last several days. Maybe you are correct that it has a lot to do with the economy. I can imagine that it is really stressful for some members to think that they might have to spend some serious money to invest in another system if Pentax doesn't give them what they need. I would say to all those members, please take a deep breath - we don't know for sure what the availability of lenses will be, and we don't know for sure the performance and final specifications of the K-5. It's not worth getting heated about until the "chips are down".

Pentax has to change direction to be successful and continue to live on. Maybe that means focusing on the Japan market or the Japan/Western Europe market for now. Maybe it means focusing on compacts and entry-level DSLRs. It's nothing personal against the pro and semi-pro shooters here, it's just business. There are savvy people working in business development and marketing at Pentax to be sure, but maybe "you" are not the customer they are interested in attracting right now. Please, lets not put down the Japanese, Pentax and it's employees, or each other. Civil and respectful criticism is okay.

Japan is a country isolated by geography, custom, and language. I can refer you to some of the effects that this has had on business in this country over the past twenty years in a comment I posted on one of my photos:

2010.09.24 English OK - uccemebug's Album: Single in September - PentaxForums.com

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1200291#ixzz10ld56OLS

What a wonderful picture, Michael. I have very much enjoyed your reflections on life in Japan, as an expatriate, in these forums, and I'm very sorry to hear about the difficulties with your business. I hope you are able to find that cheap film body you are looking for before you leave Tokyo.

Cheers,

Jon

[johnmflores]

This thread needs a unicorn.

[Blue]

This thread needs a unicorn.

[Blue]

I am fully with you. I also did not quite understand, why the original thread was closed.

People here do not seem to realize, that Photokina is the No. 1 market place for the photographic industry. So it does not come as a surprise, that a Pentax rep on the booth may be better informed than a sales clerk even in the Tokyo showroom...

Up to date almost information I got at Photokina turned out to be correct and not only regarding Pentax, which as a brand played a minor role in my professional life.

Ben

Except it was a German vendor sales sheet that was actually mentioned. Their seemed to be plenty of confusion among the Pentax entourage across the board. I'm still in shock and awe of that new black version of the X1 unveiled by Leica.

[Blue]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the possible loss of the FA Limiteds, if there was an adequate substuítute. But there isn't. The only fast lenses currently in production are the DA 50/1.4 and the DA 200/2.8. The recent 35mm is as slow as the whole bunch of DA Limiteds.

This is the real problem for me. Pentax makes nice little toys - but I do not need toy lenses, I use fast lenses all the time. And then there are the quality issues which plague quite a few current lenses, especially those few, which one may consider to be "fast", like the DA 16-50.

The FA series yielded the last lenses, which I consider to be useably fast. Higher ISO and SR are no substitute for a large aperture. And diminutive lenses may be cute, but that doesn't mater to me. As it looks now, I stick with my 40 lenses and won't add much to it in the future.

Ben

This is one of my key contentions about the FA ltd series and that is the speed. This would be like Canon suddenly dumping 40% of their L line.

[brecklundin]

who knew love letters to Pentax lense could make a girl so horny?

[sjwaldron]

There are three things I can add here.
and forum members here are dismayed to see what they saw as a firm that catered to their very small niche now changing.

I've spent the past eighteen months working on a new business, and yesterday I learned that my last option for investment is not interested. Like many people here, I'm looking at a new year that will be once again worse than this year.

I'm not sure what niche people were thinking they cater to... There is an old advertisement where a Pentax Spotmatic is used by a young woman as she travels around and plays around and photographs pretty much everything in sight. I think the size of pentax and colors fit *one* of their target demographics and always have (young women).

The other niche is rugged WR, which has been with Pentax since the LX it seems. Although they must have stopped for a while until they released the K10D.

Since I started using Pentax I now see them as:
1. comparatively small
2. comparatively solid build
3. comparatively focused on photographers (ergonomics, large PP rule of 3rds VF for example)
4. rugged WR and cold resistance (more recent)
5. comparatively nice solid build line of prime lens (FA LTD being the issue at hand)

What I find a bit odd about the K-5 is that it is a 7D like machine gun camera and not something more like a mini 645D. While the K-5 feels like a me-too camera right now, I'm wrong because the K-7 is actually the reason Nikon came out with the D7000 and Canon came out with the 7D I think. It's just that Pentax probably didn't have the resources to get a K-5 out 1.5 years ago. So K-5 is Pentax's evolution of the K-7's revolution.

Is the niche the FA limiteds? I guess Pentax could see full frame as a unprofitable niche and APS-C as the standard now (them thinking FA LTD being for use with FF). That being said, I could see their reasoning if they actually do get rid of them in the short term. If I could buy a 31mm LTD with WR, I would buy it right now without a thought. Otherwise I'm still on the fence about buying a current FA LTD at the current price. I would also buy a FA LTD if Pentax had FF.

------------------------

I hope you can manage with the new business. I too am spending a lot of my time (when I have motivation) on entrepreneurial things after losing a work contract in my case.

Lets go, pester them, pressure them, let them know how many consumers they could lose or keep from their resonses to this campaign. I am not an organizer by nature but I feel strongly about pushing for something I want.

I think it's a good idea to contact them. Stating what you like about their current lineup and requesting things you feel they should offer. I don't think pestering them will help matters though. Probably just irritate them and make future contact difficult.

[rparmar]

You probably must have had a poor copy because all my magical shots on the FA 77mm happened between f/2 to f2.8.

After thousands of shots I can give away the game and say that f/2.4 is the magical aperture. There. Now you know the secret. If you appreciate it and want to help a starving artist, I have a donation button on my blog.

.They do need to fix those things, absolutely, but... A company that would stop production of one of the best telephotos ever made - the FA 77ltd - would have lost it's soul.[/B]

Agree completely. I do not regret for one second my participation in the "FA Limiteds Are Dead" thread. If we can't show our passion and commitment to some of the best lenses ever made then we are not photographers.

No, the DA Limiteds are not good enough. We demand the best. And I demand Pentax make another set of three FA Limiteds to demonstrate their commitment to photographic excellence. FA24, FA28 and FA135 please.

[builttospill]

...If we can't show our passion and commitment to some of the best lenses ever made then we are not photographers.

No, the DA Limiteds are not good enough. We demand the best. And I demand Pentax make another set of three FA Limiteds to demonstrate their commitment to photographic excellence. FA24, FA28 and FA135 please.

I agree 100 percent. The DA Limiteds aren't comparable to the FAs. I'll second the request Pentax produce new FA Limited lenses, however I don't think 24, 28 and 135 would work because they're "normal" lengths. The 31, 43 and 77 are unique lengths so Pentax needs to continue the tradition and produce the FA 143 (the 43 is in the middle of 35 and 50mm, the 143 is in the middle of 135 and 150mm) and some odd length for a super-wide.

[Impartial]

Fa 23?