[Ratmagiclady]

I simply don't like blind fans...It's not bashing.

I dunno, OGL: The way I see it, I'm an old Canon shooter who thought a T90 was cool and whizbang but needed mechanical cranks. I *do* hear a lot of complaining about cameras with more computer and sensor packed into each than NASA fielded before like 1998.....that aren't even in hand yet.

Me, I'm still not fully- sold on this digital thing. Has its good points, but it seems like an awful pain in the arse, especially if people are gonna talk this way. Ye *Gods* I've spent more on this stuff than I ever had in my life and I *still* can't see what I'm doing till I scrape up *more* for some kind of monitor, and forget about printing. To me, a lot of this is like walking up to Mr. Spock and saying his model of tricorder is some kind of lame.

I mean, really, we *love* the details, really. Nothing wrong with that. But, when it comes down to it, a camera is a camera, and you 'get the shot.' I'm getting used to the new-fangled cameras, but what they *plug into* means a kid with an iphone gets stuff out while I'm dragging and dropping folders.


This K20 is still *sci-fi* to me. I skipped some time in this world from when I imagined 'SR' would have to mean some kind of magic gyrosope. Take a step back, is all. Make photos. (And if some company *really* wants to get in my good graces, it's not the cameras. It's the computers.)

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Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 10-04-2010 at 04:25 PM.

[stanleyk]

Ratmagiclady- Right on.

Opiedog- I'm not sure I'd get rid of a camera due to the marketing dept. It really should come as no surprise that Pentax has a less effective Marketing Dept than Nikon. That's probably not going to change. Did you happen to see the write ups on the Pentax K-5 tour in Japan. Very impressive and will probably sell a lot of cameras. I think there's probably some truth to the fact that given the size of the company Pentax is not focusing on the USA. Not much anyone can do about that. I'm abandoning Pentax but not because of the marketing. I've decided to keep the K7 and the DA Limiteds for one more year because I got more $ for some of my Pentax gear than I anticipated. The rest of the stuff is in the process of being sold. I just don't see much of a commitment to prime lens photography from Pentax and I really don't think the answer is trying to find some 20 or 30 year old lens on Ebay. That said, I would buy the camera equipment from the company that best fits your needs and not worry about the marketing end of it. Pentax is not going to go out of business. They sell a lot of cameras in Japan. They just aren't going to have the options that some other companies have.

[opiedog]

stanleyk,

good input.

it's a shame if pentax doesn't seem to want to focus on the US market, and no, i won't jump ship just because pentax's marketing is bad.

i'll get a camera that has the functionality that i need and most importantly, the support and backup from the manufacturer.

as i've mentioned in quite a few threads, pentax doesn't seem to have any vision or can't project their vision, at least not in the US market.

the japanese website description about the k5 was excellent. now, why can't all other pentax sites use the same material?

my kx still works great. i'd like to move up and the k5 looks very nice, but beyond the k5, what else is there? the 18-135? the 35mm f2.4? what's the plan pentax?


moreover, $1599 for the k5 is just waaaay too much, at least for me, for a body.
645D is very nice. how many folks can afford a $10k camera?

i had promised myself that photokina 2010 will be my deciding point.
no, pentax is not doomed, but i might just have to go elsewhere to move up.

[brecklundin]

I dunno, OGL: The way I see it, I'm an old Canon shooter who thought a T90 was cool and whizbang but needed mechanical cranks. I *do* hear a lot of complaining about cameras with more computer and sensor packed into each than NASA fielded before like 1998.....that aren't even in hand yet.

Me, I'm still not fully- sold on this digital thing. Has its good points, but it seems like an awful pain in the arse, especially if people are gonna talk this way. Ye *Gods* I've spent more on this stuff than I ever had in my life and I *still* can't see what I'm doing till I scrape up *more* for some kind of monitor, and forget about printing. To me, a lot of this is like walking up to Mr. Spock and saying his model of tricorder is some kind of lame.

I mean, really, we *love* the details, really. Nothing wrong with that. But, when it comes down to it, a camera is a camera, and you 'get the shot.' I'm getting used to the new-fangled cameras, but what they *plug into* means a kid with an iphone gets stuff out while I'm dragging and dropping folders.


This K20 is still *sci-fi* to me. I skipped some time in this world from when I imagined 'SR' would have to mean some kind of magic gyrosope. Take a step back, is all. Make photos. (And if some company *really* wants to get in my good graces, it's not the cameras. It's the computers.)

RML....one of my FAVORITE posters here who helped welcome me here to PF...ya always make me giggle a bit even when being "serious"...

For me, I need but one feature to be included in the K5 that was on the K20D but in a pretty primitive iteration. I am fairly happy with the K20D but do want the maturity of the features I use all the time as they exist on the K5. If HoyaTax decides to add this one feature back to their DSLR's and the K5 turns out to be as great as it looks, it will be my next body, one I am willing to buy into far sooner than normal for me, but it will also be my last camera body as it is likely going to outlive me by a long time. But even if that was not a fact of life, I would still buy it sooner, it looks that complete to me.

Now for the thread, perhaps Pentax gets "no respect" because they give their customers (retailers and consumers) none to begin with...and Hoya in the US, is known to give their customers (retailers in this example) no respect forcing retailers into very draconian/anti-competitive and one sided MAP/Retailer agreements or they cannot buy Hoya products to sell. Basically Hoya is into price fixing and seems afraid to compete in a free market. Why? Maybe it is because they believe it improves how people perceive the brand. This has been moved over to the Pentax brand as well. Of course soon after Canikon basically did the same thing...

HoyaTax needs to learn how to succeed in business in the US at least, but I suspect the EU as well, Germany especially, is to give your customers and potential customers true respect via being honest and letting the retailers be able to afford to sell the Pentax brand. If the retailers cannot develop good relationships with their own customer base, which is going to be a price thing at first, they have to loosen their control on selling of the products as well as being more accurate in the information provided.

[paperbag846]

I had a funny experience today. I went to visit a pretty big Canadian photo shop, and asked if they had anything by Pentax. I received a laugh, and was pointed to a awkward corner of the room where 2 (!) pentax zooms were buried amongst a pile of assorted point and shoots. One of those lenses was a kit lens.

If thats how a new customer would be introduced to the brand, I can understand lackluster sales in north america. Realistically, Pentax ONLY has presence on the interwebs in Canada.