[clackers]

Maybe there's something in this idea that Pentax owners also like Saab's.

Yes, Pentaxians don't seem to be 'Me, too!' people.

[cxdoo]

Yes, Pentaxians don't seem to be 'Me, too!' people.

Ahem, I'd say, contrary to Saabians(?), Pentaxians are on the cheap side of not being 'Me, too!' people.


I never understood the appeal of SAAB. But then for me a car is a tool to bring me from point A to point B, so there's that....

[house]

Saab 9-5 2.3T

I do however consider owning a car a personal failure of mine

It means I couldn't find work/housing a walking distance away and to money/time poor to always use taxi/public transport.

[bilybianca]

I'd be happy if people are at bit cautios about mentioning SAAB and Pentax together. SAAB went belly up whilst accusing people for being stupid, not buying the best car ever made. They simply wouldn't face the fact that the cars weren't selling!
Pentax is a camera brand of very, very good cameras. Let's not talk it down to sweet memories of the past!

Kjell (formerly SAAB 99 and 900, now Opel Astra)

[jonlg]

I'm astounded how many Saab or ex Saab owners there are amongst the Pentax community - maybe because we're all people who appreciate sound engineering (and both Saab and Pentax are very engineering-led companies) plus we're people who don't follow the herd. The herd buy Canon and Nikon because it's what they think pro's use and because they offer a comprehensive 'system'. One of my Canon owning friend's objections to Pentax is that in his view they don't offer a sufficiently broad 'system' but frankly I dispute that. Unless you are a professional sports or wildlife photographer you're never going to buy a Canon 500mm F4 lens or a 400mm F2.8 so the fact Pentax don't (currently) offer one is neither here not there. It would be like saying you won't buy a Ford because they don't race at Le Mans!

The fact is that people buy into Canon and Nikon because they are 'systems' and then spend the rest of their life shooting with an 18-55mm kit lens and maybe a cheap 70-200 zoom - it's a farce really.

jonlg

PS Interesting to hear of your land rover experiences because in many ways they echo ours - absolutely sublime cars let down by reliability - the same could be saidf for Jaguar too in my experience, indeed the Jag was so unreliable it made my TVR look like a Toyota!

[redrockcoulee]

I'm astounded how many Saab or ex Saab owners there are amongst the Pentax community - maybe because we're all people who appreciate sound engineering (and both Saab and Pentax are very engineering-led companies) plus we're people who don't follow the herd. The herd buy Canon and Nikon because it's what they think pro's use and because they offer a comprehensive 'system'. One of my Canon owning friend's objections to Pentax is that in his view they don't offer a sufficiently broad 'system' but frankly I dispute that. Unless you are a professional sports or wildlife photographer you're never going to buy a Canon 500mm F4 lens or a 400mm F2.8 so the fact Pentax don't (currently) offer one is neither here not there. It would be like saying you won't buy a Ford because they don't race at Le Mans!

The fact is that people buy into Canon and Nikon because they are 'systems' and then spend the rest of their life shooting with an 18-55mm kit lens and maybe a cheap 70-200 zoom - it's a farce really.

jonlg

PS Interesting to hear of your land rover experiences because in many ways they echo ours - absolutely sublime cars let down by reliability - the same could be saidf for Jaguar too in my experience, indeed the Jag was so unreliable it made my TVR look like a Toyota!

Although I do own three SAABs none of them are on the road replaced by very generic silver RAV4s of first and second generation that are all over town. In my defence my sister offered me her RAV at wholesale price and it is 14 years newer than what I was driving so I took her up on that.

SAAB also had a very poor owner with GM who knew not how to market them or even what models to make, hence the lack of hatchbacks with the 9-3 and 9-5. GM and Hoya are similar in what they wanted from the companies, and if GM was better managed they might have found a stable better buyer for SAAB but at the time GM was doing the backstroke in the deep end of the pool and had to grab a lifeline. The SAAB products about to be produced when GM bailed were the best ever and should have been sucesses. SAAB was farily sucessful in certain markets, NE and Colorado in the US, the UK and more so in Canada than adjacent parts of the US. Pentax is also more sucessful in some markets than others, for example better in Canada than the US and better in Japan then elsewhere.

The 645Z is more expensive than what I paid for any of my SAABS but never once did I have one that was not at least 10 years old. People bought SAABS because they did what they wanted from a car, Pentax cause it does what they want from a camera. Having said all of that I am not going to switch to Canon just because I now drive a Toyota RAV.

Ivan who owed 1980,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988 SAABS although several were free

[PDL]

Now that this thread is really off topic:
My experience with Saab was to drive the brand new 1977 Saab owned by the Head of the University of Wyoming's Department of Anthropology from field school to his home. He, along with his late wife, took their camper trailer out on the road to check in with other field sites throughout the state. Fun drive, 40% on interstate 30% on twisty two lane highway through Wheatland Canyon and the rest on high prairie mostly straight line roads.

As for Jaguar, my wife bought a 2002 X-Type in November of 2001. We still drive it today with well over 120K miles and going. We have had to have the air conditioner compressor, wind shield (wind screen) a oxygen sensor replaced, the drivers side (left) seat controls don't lift and it tends to burn through low beam headlight bulbs with some regularity. Other than those few issues, it has been a very reliable machine. However, the X-Type was designed and manufactured while Jaguar was owned by Ford so maybe that is why the historic issues did not really occur with that model.

On topic - I will not be purchasing a K1, 135 format is not a burning requirement for me. Some of the people I shoot with brag about their "Full Frame" cameras being the best thing since sliced bread but in my observation they still have issues with focus, exposure, level horizons, framing and composition. By itself "Full Frame" does not make you a better photographer, it just gives you more sensor area.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL

[Kunzite]

Yet another update, this time the subject is the D FA 24-70mm F2.8ED SDM WR.
And... there's a (resized) ISO12800 image.

[ffking]

just wondering how you can have sharp silhouettes using astrotracer - but I suppose movement very small in relation to 24mm wide-angle - stiill, ythey seem determined not to tell us anything we don't already know

[repaap]

Let us see when they'll show some pictures taken with 70-200...Now these samples are quite good, especially that milkyway shot.

[DoubtingThomas]

Yet another update, this time the subject is the D FA 24-70mm F2.8ED SDM WR.
And... there's a (resized) ISO12800 image.

That first shot looks like Queenstown, New Zealand but I could be wrong...Any Kiwis that can confirm?

[ffking]

Any Kiwis that can confirm?

they're all in bed, I think - but looking at Google images, I think you're right

[Franc]

they're all in bed, I think - but looking at Google images, I think you're right

and they confirmed the build in astrotracer.

[ogl]

That first shot looks like Queenstown, New Zealand but I could be wrong...Any Kiwis that can confirm?

It seems to me you could be right

It means that the photos are made in September-November, 2015.

[RonHendriks1966]

That first shot looks like Queenstown, New Zealand but I could be wrong...Any Kiwis that can confirm?

I would say you are on the right track.....

https://www.google.nl/search?q=queenstown&client=tablet-android-samsung&prmd...h&q=queenstown