[raz-0]

Thanks for the info, hope its all true.

Now then, this wedding guy, whomever s/he might be signed a NDA with Hoya/Pentax right? He is in Australia and he has/had a back injury.

Isn't this type of detail enough to find out who's been talking and therefore he will no longer be trysted by Pentax and might have even broken the NDA.

DEpends on the NDA. Assuming that he wasn't breaking it by taking it out and using it in a public setting, I'm guessing he's probably safe.

What did he admit to. P-TTL? Hardly a suprise.

higher FPS? Anyone with a tape recorder, video camera, stopwatch can tell you that just watching it in use. If you are letting people out in public with it, it's not going to remain secret.

3" LCD? Also something you are going to be able to see in public use.

[SCGushue]

Yup thats what he's saying

Oh and the new camera will come with racing stripes!

Chris,

Do we get to choose the color???

Stephen

[SCGushue]

So, Jesus (if that is your real name), you've never seen someone, then seen them again? If you've lived a life without ever experiencing coincidence, it must be a life barely lived.

My life's always been blessed with coincidences... if you live in synch with your purpose, your intention attracts these situations. Either this will blow by you, or you'll know what I mean.

As for the conversation, my main interest in him wasn't that I originally saw him shooting a new pentax camera - new ones comes and go, much as it was a novelty.

What really got me was that this guy commanded a crew of photogs like he could do it in his sleep. Finding out how someone goes from zero, to running a high-end photog business, with passion, is what we spent most of the time talking about. As for identifying him by mentioning his back problems - to quote him, he said "let's just say I have a bad back", which for all I know, was a euphemism for something else... christ, who knows?

Since then, I've seen some of his work (through a close friend in Toowoomba who used to run Showtime Advertising in Sydney, who knows his stuff, and his web presence). I'm no expert, but to my eyes, his portfolio was breathtaking. If he was lying to me about the pentax stuff, I could care less, it's everything else that he shared that has changed and inspired me, far more than anything else to this point in life - photography wise.

And if you think I write this for the attention, all I can say is "Jesus!"

Well, what you wrote here certainly would make me wish to fly down and have a beer or two (though I like wine much more) with you. I totally get what you are saying here.

It is nice to see someone passionatly inspired. Not by a camera or tool, but another individual with talent and a willingness to share. What many aspiring photographers do not understand is that success within this field is often tempered with isostatic loss somewhere else in life. Success within the discipine of photography means extreme commitment and to a large degree sacrifice in some other aspect of one's life. Some people are willing to make sacrifices for a career while others are not. Beyond that is a belief in your ability and the ability to deliver and plan your carrer.

To me it is not surprisng at all that your path crossed with this photographer again at all. And perhaps it was no accident that you made sure you met him again in pursuit of an insight into the mind of a confident and talented professional.

Ignore the flack from the few. In the end it matters not.

Take care and continue to share as you will.

Stephen

[lithos]

I could dig into this - but I don't see why the hell info on the new Pentax would be released to someone in Australia, let alone Queensland, let alone Brisbane/Toowoomba.

Photographers are a dime a dozen down here. Would take a while.

Dubai makes sense. It's a country that's realised its gas will run out, and has used a lot of the money from its resources to expand into other areas - tourism, international business, shipping.

Also, if Pentax has booked the Burj al-Arab, by jiminy will the press go crazy over the launch.

[123K10D]

Well said. Totally unwarranted and baseless comments. He doesn't know you or anything about your life.

When the press conferences are held and all the speculation is over I'd like to see this guy's web site. I think it should remain anon until then, his NDA should be protected for now. Would you share it with us then?

I'll shoot him an email in a couple of weeks, with a few hundred more questions. In there, I'll mention this forum and see if he wants to share his wisdom (like Ben K does). Out of respect, I won't post a link to his work, he can do that himself, should he choose to.

The excitement that he had about what's coming out from pentax really made me think that it's got to be something really special (not just some incremental release to keep up with what's been released by others). No clue as to what, but you can sense from what Ben K writes, that it's something worth getting excited about.

I hope so. I like pentax... they're quirky, but in a good way.

[123K10D]

I could dig into this - but I don't see why the hell info on the new Pentax would be released to someone in Australia, let alone Queensland, let alone Brisbane/Toowoomba.

Photographers are a dime a dozen down here...

Photographers like him aren't. His only equal, that I have seen, is my friend who ran Showtime. Many can get good, even great, but these two were born so gifted, it's both humbling and... depressing. And, he's not from Brisbane. But he was there on the weekend, so maybe that will help you track him down

[WendyB]

DEpends on the NDA. Assuming that he wasn't breaking it by taking it out and using it in a public setting, I'm guessing he's probably safe.

What did he admit to. P-TTL? Hardly a suprise.

higher FPS? Anyone with a tape recorder, video camera, stopwatch can tell you that just watching it in use. If you are letting people out in public with it, it's not going to remain secret.

3" LCD? Also something you are going to be able to see in public use.

From one who knows, I sincerely doubt that this beta would "ever be allowed to be visible in a public setting". The NDA is just that tight.

Sometimes its unavoidable, Let me tell you a "story" and I mean a "story"

I was on Lakeshore drive very much “alone and in what I thought was very private setting” late this afternoon shooting some canvasback ducks with a Tamron that was just acquired attached to a very special something. Up came wandering another photographer armed with his EOS40D equipped to the nines with an impressive array lenses.

We began chatting and he was curious about the Tamron lens I was shooting with. He thought it was a Canon mount but noticed it had a different barrel grip. Very foolishly without thinking I handed him the special something, thank God it is not branded. He fired off a few shots and all he could say was WOW, "who makes this?” Adeptly taking the special something back out his hands, before he had a chance to un-mount the lens to take a peek inside. I quipped "I borrowed it from my brother and I do not know who makes it."

Holding that special something close to my person and quickly dissolved out of sight.

It is a wonderful "story" anyways

[jgredline]

Well. there is a lot of chatter on the K20D but does anyone know when we will actually be able to buy one?

[WendyB]

Well. there is a lot of chatter on the K20D but does anyone know when we will actually be able to buy one?

When its ready

[Mr. The Guy]

he's still here???

Block him, and stop quoting him or we STILL have to see his comments, making our blocking futile.

[RBellavance]

So, what do we make of this now that the K20D's officially announced ?

Is it just me, or does the camera the WendyB and 123K10D's interlocutor refer to seem to be a different beast than the K20d ?

Do either of you care to comment now that the NDA is lifted ?

[Jonson PL]

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

Thanks for your follow-up info. If it was shared ‘off the record’, possibly you should consider what would be fair to pass on to us. Though I’m happy to read more, since I found your first report, from the wedding, interesting. And likely, he was experienced enough to know what could be talked about, and what not.


The Pentax releases seem fairly fascinating, not always what is expected; but surprises us with new things.