[Clavius]

It seems like every two letter combination can mean something bad somewhere. The obvious solution is to use a non-letter, say an asterix (*). Oh wait...

Maybe a # or @ then?

[zeitlos]

I took the chance to post on Pentax Germanys Facebook Site today and they are doing a wonderful job there. The answer I got makes me confident that the new model won't bear the name "K-z" (for obvious reasons!!!)

[bobmaxja]

Imagine put wifi in camera and call it K-@ . That will be different. But how you say it . Depend on each language

[Clavius]

The answer I got makes me confident that the new model won't bear the name "K-z" (for obvious reasons!!!)

For Pete's sake, what a**hole is going to make a problem of the name "Pentax K-Z". A real uber-whiner is going to have to imagine the "Pentax" and the "-" aren't there. And after that they're going to have to pretend that they think the KZ is about some WWII camp. If a person goes through such lenghts to find something offensive, then such a person will find it in any kind of combo.

[JinDesu]

Imagine put wifi in camera and call it K-@ . That will be different. But how you say it . Depend on each language

It'll be the... k-i. Follow shortly by a lawsuit from Apple.

I took the chance to post on Pentax Germanys Facebook Site today and they are doing a wonderful job there. The answer I got makes me confident that the new model won't bear the name "K-z" (for obvious reasons!!!)

Care to share?

[gazonk]

I took the chance to post on Pentax Germanys Facebook Site today and they are doing a wonderful job there. The answer I got makes me confident that the new model won't bear the name "K-z" (for obvious reasons!!!)

Which means that.... the whole rumor thing may be a 100% fake (or simply that it will have different names in different markets, like the K-m/K-2000 or like the Canon x00D/Kiss/Rebel).

[Nasus]

Pentax Ger/AU/CH answered:

Leider zeigt Dein Post einmal mehr die negativen Eigenschaften auf, die das Internet mit sich bringen kann.
In einem der Foren wird über einen Nachfolger der K-r gesprochen. Auch wurde darüber geredet, dass sie dann eventuell K-s heißen könnte. Woraufhin einer der Diskussionsteilnehmer antwortete, er würde noch abwarten bis die K-y da sei.
Abschließend hieß es dann lediglich „...solange sie nicht K-z heißt…“.

Auf einer weiteren Seite, die auch nur Vermutungen anstellt, wurde die Kamera mit dem z im Namenskürzel „angekündigt“. Wie aber in einem anderen Forum schon diskutiert, wurde eine solche Namensgebung schon vor längerer Zeit als nicht nutzbar zur Kenntnis genommen.

Was bleibt sind eine Diskussion und viele Fragen, die eigentlich nicht sein müssten. Uns gefällt das auch nicht.

The underlined part states clearly, that they intended to call a previous model "k-z". But they didn't because Pentax Ger/AU/CH knew about the problems.
So these blurry images and rumors are OFFICIALLY DEBUNKED.
We will get some new DSLRs - but this rumor about a k-z ist nothing but fake.

[spade111]

It's difficult to argue for the use of culturally inappropriate branding - though I'm sure we can all agree that Pentax would not intend to insult or defame particularly. Obviously Pentax would not be championing the legacy of the concentration camps in Germany - and it might be that those who draw that correlation simply suffer a poverty of imagination. Maybe - with the foresight of experience - the possibility of offensive suggestions could be avoided altogether.

The topic is certainly interesting.


UPDATE: This message was taken slightly out of context and in effect sounds waaay more offensive than I had intended. I added italics to the "might" because it was meant as a sarcastic emphasis - rather than an overt and obvious dismissal of this point of view. I agree (as can be observed by the remainder of my argument - that cultural sensitivity is important.

[Na Horuk]

I don't think anyone is claiming that Pentax wants to say anything bad with its model name, but fact is that a name of a product has a huge influence on whether people will buy it or not. There are plenty of examples of this happening, particularly in the car industry (because it was one of the first where they released the same product name worldwide). And Pentax probably doesn't want to lose sales over something like that. Its simple marketing.

[gazonk]

and it might be that those who draw that correlation simply suffer a poverty of imagination. .

what do you mean? It's really very simple: going into a shop in Germany and asking for the KaZett is going to sound very, very awkward. They could just as well have introduced it as the Pentax Moth*****ker in the US.

[melander]

Imagine put wifi in camera and call it K-@ . That will be different. But how you say it . Depend on each language

K-at, or kat, with a speciall catmode. Pop-up flash in the shape of catears...

[Asahiflex]

[IMG]http://absolutelytrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/give-a-****-o-meter.gif[/IMG]

[zeitlos]

what do you mean? It's really very simple: going into a shop in Germany and asking for the KaZett is going to sound very, very awkward. They could just as well have introduced it as the Pentax Moth*****ker in the US.

Yep, that's the "interesting" part about this discussion. People who don't live in Germany think that the abbreviation "k-z" only evokes "strange connotations" to people being right wing radicals. They don't understand that it's an absolute "no-go". Selling a K-Nixxr in the US would not be a very clever idea either I suppose and be offensive and insulting to say the least. But I don't blame people from outside Germany for this "lack of sensitivity". Thankfully Pentax Germany is aware of this problem and takes care of it.

[Nacho_tyr]

may be neo-nazis are pentaxians

[Eulogy]

It seems like every two letter combination can mean something bad somewhere. The obvious solution is to use a non-letter, say an asterix (*). Oh wait...

Better yet, let's release cameras and just add Super to the en...darn it.

Maybe they could simply change the letter and redesign everything they've ever done lens wise, perhaps a Q mo...Gyah!

Y'know what...this is probably fake anyways. Mostly saying that due to the fact that no one is able to explain the blurry image(Seriously, was this taken by an APS film camera with dirt, sand and fog on the lens?). Then again, the fact that it's evenly blurry seems to imply falsity even more in my opinion.