[anomaly]

How is it that he is out of work with a back injury and yet still shooting a wedding?

[*isteve]

How is it that he is out of work with a back injury and yet still shooting a wedding?

Looks like he's in trouble with the social security guys as well

Shame the information was not entirely correct. I would find it easier to believe then.

[oxford_artist]

You wouldn't like to tell us in what way he wasn't entirely correct would you Steve?

[Jesus]

You must be the luckiest person in the world to happenstance ,, met the same guy again
and talk to him , too.

What a waste of time , you are

in this small world, i met someone who has used the k10d replacement. over a coffee, 'some' stuff, off the record, was shared.

paraphrasing our 45 minute conversation (the bits about pentax anyway);

re the k10d replacement:

Liveview? - yep.

Viewfinder review? - no expression, no comment.

14bit colour? / 14mp sensor? - just a smile, no comment.

FPS? - big nod, pretty fast, but not as fast as d3.

Screen? - gorgeous, very high res 3"

TTL/PPTL? - PPTL only

Any 'secret weapon'? - this sent him off on an interesting tangent. His take was that pentax is on the verge of some kind of beginning - aka Steve Jobs return to Apple - that they're going to use a precision campaign over the next 12+ months that'll build momentum/sales, for far less marketing money than big $ ads in glossy mags ever yield. Including aggessive poaching/recruiting of well known photogs from the n/c duopoly. The exception being marketing $ for the 'glass' - that's going into the standard streams for the first time.

he said the 'pro/serious amateur' orientation of design - makes the d300 look like a 'for dummies' camera - they're not trying to be all things to all people - which they'll continue, building image as a serious photographic tool (no money in p/s market - margins are too low).

n*kon (didn't mention c*non?) are going to sh*t themselves, because if they drop their prices to compete - they'll drop the perceived value of their products - ie 'brand image'. Pentax designers/engineers aren't as likely to be poached by n/c - because they have a lot of freedom atm - + fresh hoya merger $.

new weatherproof flashes? - didn't know.

secret weapon (had to ask again)? - when you see them (that was 'them', so I'm assuming more than just 'one'), you'll think, "god, how obvious", like all great design, it seems simple when you see the finished product - and n/c could/will do it, but they'll have to do it the long/hard/expensive way because the patents protect/apply to the most cost effective methods/options.

why was he chosen to test the new cam? - no Pentax experience but, plenty with the opposition - and time on his hands (back injury).

will he shoot pentax when it's released? - not until they get the new glass out. then, definitely.

why'd he talk to me? chance meeting, and i think he was busting to tell someone. or he's a great liar who carries around a brilliant k20d mockup ;-)

regrets - wish i'd asked him more pentax questions, but i was too busy asking him about how he got his business going and building/maintaining his client base. i did ask if he'd heard of ben kanarek, he hadn't - fashion isn't his thing

[Anastigmat]

n*kon (didn't mention c*non?) are going to sh*t themselves, because if they drop their prices to compete - they'll drop the perceived value of their products - ie 'brand image'. Pentax designers/engineers aren't as likely to be poached by n/c - because they have a lot of freedom atm - + fresh hoya merger $.

This little tidbit suggests to me that the Pentax K20D will have a 12mp Sony sensor, and it will be a direct competitor of the Nikon D300. He is right, Nikon would probably have to cut prices, but not by much. The D200 price was undercut by the K10D severely, but Nikon never cut prices much on that old camera. Nikon is a prestige brand, and it is able to charge higher prices than its competitors for cameras with similar specs. That is unlikely to change. I think Nikon's response to the K20D will be a D90, with the same 12mp sensor as the D300 and K20D, but with far fewer features than either. The D90 will likely cost about the same as the K20D and it will unfortunately probably outsell the K20D.

The K20D will get its share of awards, but the lion's share of the market goes to Nikon and Canon.

[*isteve]

You wouldn't like to tell us in what way he wasn't entirely correct would you Steve?

Sadly no - my lips are sealed.

[shades3k]

Sadly no - my lips are sealed.

You heard it here first ladies and gents! K20D is weather sealed

[offertonhatter]

You heard it here first ladies and gents! K20D is weather sealed

I would be VERY surprised if the K20D is not weather sealed, as that was one of the K10D's USP (and one of many reasons why I bought one)

Even now Canon are only half hearted about weather sealing, the 40D only has a couple of bits that are sealed - useless!........

[cajuncutter]

1st Weather seal
2nd 10mp
3rd Liveview

Those three things will determine my purchase. If the live view is missing and the camera cost more than the K10D I will just go with the K10D to save the money. I am a Novice so starting out the latest and greatest features may not even benifit me.

[roscot]

The leaks concerning the sensor, are consistently saying it is NOT the 12mp Sony, but a 14mp cmos made by someone else.

After the press release, if I'm wrong, please feel free to tell me "I told you so."

[jbcampbell]

I feel like i am watching an X-Files rerun ;-)
Conspiracy theories, secret meetings, and just enough info to make you ask more questions.

I just hope Pentax delivers.

[jeffkrol]

Google translator su**s, i'm italian, here a rough translation:


With Pentax/Hoya merger effectively starting from 12/3/08, a new path is opening for the glorious japanese brand. What's for sure is that Hoya, originally VERY interested in medical division, will take care of photographic one too. Confirmed by the first time ever worldwide Pentax press release in Dubai next 10 january. In that time almost surely we'll see the evolution of the very good K10d and K100d with 14mp and 10mp CMOS sensors and to try to understand next Pentax moves in market heavily saturated by Canikon. Then, maybe we'll know 645d destiny, new lenses roadmap, and Samsung partnership.



10 january???

Thanks for that... and very interesting. As a long time Hoya/Pentax merger basher this is as good of a place to say I maybe was wrong. Of course the stars sort of aligned for this: Med division not doing so hot, Camera div. feeling their oats probably helped a bit to persuade Hoya that they should keep the camera division, from a bean counters perspective...
Hopefully Hoya continues to find more then they bargained for. I still stand by my belief that Hoya really cared little for the camera division and, if things were "not so rosy" would have surely dumped it. I also still feel this was ALMOST all Pentax, except for the financial stuff
But why Dubai?????? Seems strange.

But why Dubai?????? Seems strange.

I agree, I guess that it is because Dubai is one of the hottest places (both literal and figurative) in earth now and they are putting dollars a go go to host all type of events to put their name in the map (even more).

[zntgrg]

Dubai it's quite "central" between Japan, US and Europe.

Then, why have 200 Ferrari, if you can't have a shoot with them

[mutley]

1st Weather seal
2nd 10mp
3rd Liveview

Those three things will determine my purchase. If the live view is missing and the camera cost more than the K10D I will just go with the K10D to save the money. I am a Novice so starting out the latest and greatest features may not even benifit me.

Just remember, the Samsung version GX-20 is supposed to have a flip-out screen as live view is for ease in shooting ground level without the head on the ground, or overhead.