Kiwi Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Timaru |
Firstly - thank you Adam and team for a lot of time and effort in the interview and then putting the video together, I appreciate your effort, and it is very helpful to see and hear the responses from the Pentax Ricoh representatives.
I read a few camera forums and commentators, and if you were to believe what is written on internet forums then every camera manufacturer is doomed, missing the market, has irretrievable holes in their product line, and will naturally fail in a few years.
The Nikon guys worry and fret about the focus problems on the D800, the lack of a top end replacement APS-C camera, lack of communication from Nikon, lack of diversification, losing market share, not implementing a mirrorless camera strategy well, missing tech shifts, lack of decent new lenses, too slow to provide lenses, and being too locked into a shrinking compact camera market.
The Canon guys worry and fret about the Canon Full Frame strategy, that Nikon has a much better camera in the D800, the holes in the mirrorless strategy, missing changes in technology, the emphasis on video and not stills and on it goes.
The Leica guys worry and fret about the new M, lack of direction, dilution of the brand, not enough people buying into the brand, the cost of lenses, lack of hybrid viewfinders, that Fuji is eating up their market at less than half the cost, that the X2 didn't progress far enough, that the EVF (rebranded from Olympus) isn't as state of the art as Sony.....and on it goes.
What Pentax guys worry and fret about is well demonstrated in this thread - and if it all sounds reasonably similar to the concerns of forums for other camera makers then that is because it is. Let us summarize these concerns:
The Pentax guys worry and fret about no full frame camera option, lack of sensor update to current state of the art APS-C, lack of feature x, y, or z that some opposition camera has, slow flash syncing, slow adoption of cutting edge technology, lack of new full frame lenses, lack of new limited lenses, lack of fast lenses, lack of waterproof lenses that are limited and fast, that Pentax is too slow to iterate, that the Pentax mirrorless strategy (K-01 and Q) isn't mainstream and doesn't match the m4/3 cameras or Sony NEX, that autofocus silent motor lenses still have problems, that the Pentax MF camera hasn't been updated recently - and so it goes on.
What is apparent from this quick analysis is that every camera system has a range of issues, misses, perceived problems, lack of response to trends, lack of lenses etc. For each camera system those committed to that system know the intimate details of the problems, and the internet and forums such as this magnify those issues.
I chose to buy into the Pentax system with no legacy lenses and a choice of all manufacturers back in March of this year - I purchased a K-5 - and I have been very happy with the performance on the camera and associated lenses. I had selection criteria that included image quality, small size, water proof, interchangeable lens, small lenses (for travel), optical finder, legacy lenses (inexpensive and fun to use), high quality lenses, minimum APS-C
The reasons I chose Pentax over Nikon, Canon, Leica, Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji, Sony or Ricoh were as follows:
APS-C for mix of image quality, image size, dynamic range etc - ruled out Olympus and Panasonic m4/3
Water Resistant for Travel - ruled out Leica M, Ricoh, Fuji, Nikon D7000, Canon 7D
Small size/weight - ruled out Canon and Nikon full frame cameras, Canon 7D
High APS-C Image Quality - basically Pentax K-5, Canon 7D, Nikon D7000 and Fuji X-Pro 1 fitted criteria
Optical Finder - ruled out most mirror less
Small lenses - Pentax limited lenses rule the roost here (and m4/3 but IQ, Optical Finder and WR dropped them)
Legacy Lenses - Pentax, Nikon and Leica have extensive backwards compatibility
Having worked through this type of evaluation grid I ended up seriously considering the Nikon D7000, Pentax K-5, Fuji X-Pro 1 and Leica M9.
The Fuji got dropped for a whole number of reasons, including lack of WR, AF speed issues, lack of legacy lenses etc. Leica for cost, no AF, lack of WR.
Pentax K-5 verses Nikon D7000 - there are plenty of comparison reviews, and I have read a many of them - in the end I think the K-5 is the better camera - WR, small lenses, better design, menu and layout (and yes I have previously owned a Nikon D200 DSLR).
The point of this long post - for all it's perceived faults, product line holes, lack of development, lens development etc etc - Pentax still makes very good and competitive camera's, it still has a wide range of very good lenses, there are excellent third party lenses available, and all in all Pentax offers a good mix and range.
There is now no such thing as certainty in forward product roadmap - stop wishing for it
If you want the latest and greatest in full frame DSLR then go and buy the Nikon D800 - I just hope you don't get one of the 10,000's that have the LH focusing problem (factory set it seems) - which will then drive you nuts for months.
Just be advised that within the next 12 months someone will produce something different or better and then the angst will start again.
My suggestion to myself and everyone else is when you are sure that you have shot all the pictures you ever can, at the maximum quality / best composition you can, using the camera's features to their maximum then it might be time to consider a new camera.
The issue is seldom with the camera and lenses, and no amount of new gear is ever going to fix that.
Ross
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