[boriscleto]

Yep.

I'm not sure about celebrity endorsements, anyway.

Did Alicia Keys, John Mayer and the Black Eyed Peas really help Blackberry?

What's a Blackberry?

[Imp]

That isnt the main issue..its to package in total..Not appealing to most younger people

Me! I'm a senior in highschool. Love my gear. But I also bought pentax in part (15%?) because my parents had some manual glass
I convinced a friend of mine to get Pentax too, K-50 with kit lenses. The main convincing factor was features per cost. But now he's gotten somewhat interested in video, and that aspect of Pentax is disappointing. I.E., he was surprised there was not even a headphone jack! (yes, i know that's been added)

And here is the main core to my problem. Younger people doesn't want old lenses, corky and nerdy solutions etc. They want something that is fast, easy to use, have good video and looks good. I work with this on a daily basis..So i see this all the time.

I don't want old lenses. I have some, and enjoy them, but they would not be what I would go out and buy - I've only had autofocus and I'm used to it
And yes, I want good video. And IF Pentax had good video, THAT would make me go out and buy old glass, because of their great focusing rings.
Looks good, fast, easy to use - I think we're fine here! IMO. Except the K-s1.

[lithedreamer]

What's a Blackberry?

Tasty.

---------- Post added 02-09-17 at 04:59 PM ----------

That isnt the main issue..its to package in total..Not appealing to most younger people

When I was sixteen and bought my first Pentax, this is what helped me decide:

• I liked that Pentax wasn't Canon or Nikon, it was something different.
• I liked the idea of IBIS once it was explained to me. The other cameras I was looking at were Canon, Nikon, and Fuji. None of them offered SR in-body.
• The Pentax had more megapixels than the other cameras I was comparing it to at the time. It doesn't matter as much to me now, but it was something that was easy to measure and compare.
• Most of all, I liked being able to pick among a few different colour schemes for the body (and the display colours). It helped me pick up a white K-x, then a red K-30, before setting for a 'bland black' K-1. It's not the end of the world, but it started conversations with strangers, and it helped me get emotionally attached to the cameras.

[jonlg]

Clackers - I don't disagree that somebody like you or I who knows how to set up the camera can get good sction shots but it seems to me that even independent review sites consistently say that Pentax autofocus systems trail the Canon and Nikon equivalents for action/moving targets. If I was in the market for a new camera and didn't know anything about the brand that would pute me off - thus it is something they need to address.

If Pentax are now as good as Nikon/Canon then they have a perception issue
If Pentax autofocus isn't as good then they have a technical issue

Either way they do need to address it.

Brg,

Jonlg

[clackers]

If Pentax are now as good as Nikon/Canon then they have a perception issue

Well, I think that's it, Jon, and reviewers like Tony Northrup and the DPR crew trivialized or botched their attempts on this topic. I even told the DPR guy when he joined this forum and posted about it.

Actual togs here demonstrated how wrong they were, but the public of course never saw those threads - I posted full sequences of pics, including using the old K-x with the slow 55-300 kit lens. See here:

Pentax K-1: continuous sequences of subjects moving towards the photographer - AF.C - Page 3 - PentaxForums.com

Is it possible to autofocus correctly with a Pentax? - PentaxForums.com

Pentax AF for Sports and Action - PentaxForums.com

Ricoh seem to have chosen not to spend thousands on marketing countering perception probably because their modelling shows the revenue that comes back (in Western markets, at any rate) wouldn't equal the expenditure.

So scuttlebutt about the brand will be allowed to pass, even if damaging.

C'est la vie. If I'm shooting Pentax, I'm clearly not worried about running with the herd.

[Zygonyx]

Good point, but where's "Thom", snorkling with a key-mission & looking after dead-end DL ?

[ffking]

Do they even know about The Beatles, those... youngsters?

never heard of retro-hip?

probably not, I just made it up, but a lot of kids are delving through the archives - mine (21, 19, 16) have Beatles on their ipods - and the 60s are still seen as cool here at least- they learn about them in history!

[x4rd]

And here is the main core to my problem. Younger people doesn't want old lenses, corky and nerdy solutions etc. They want something that is fast, easy to use, have good video and looks good. I work with this on a daily basis..So i see this all the time.

Pentax needs to be sexy, and by sexy I mean better distribution and more marketing activities, fast and relatively cheap primes (85, 50, 35/1.8) - mostly young people like me are asking about those type of glass and something about 18-135 (many of my friends use this one lens as a lenscap of their N's). HUGE and I mean HUGE issue is video capability - everyone now thinks to upload something to Youtube which could be at least decent quality.

Therefore, I think that young enthiusiast are looking to the Fuji because of their lens lineup and now (after the XT-2 was announced) increased video capabilities. Pentax tends to not look on this type of feature and for me - it is loosing around 2 or 3% of the market (because of many manual primes which can be later used in a videoshoot).

And of course - I agree in everything that Kenspo said. In Poland the problem is also visible.

[deus ursus]

What's a Blackberry?

It was(?) a mobile phone used by high profile people. Barack Obama used one. I believe it was pretty advanced, but lost in the competition with iPhone and Android phones.

[Rondec]

Just a minor point about in lens motors is that the name a brand sticks on their in lens motors doesn't really tell you much about the in lens motor. The DFA 15-30/24-70/70-200 are all listed as having SDM motors, but I can tell you that their motors are considerably faster than the SDM motors in the DA *55 and DA *16-50. I'm sure the same is true for other brands.

Having an in lens motor could mean faster performance, but it often doesn't, as many of those motors are fairly small and if the focus throw is long enough (like the DA *55) it is going to take awhile to achieve focus.

Focus in video is not something that works very well and I would much prefer that Pentax would enable focus peaking in video than that they work on improving auto focus in video. If you prefocus and then tweak you focus with manual focus during shooting a video you have a lot better results than trusting the camera's CD AF system which is constantly moving in and out of focus. The problem is that there are no focus aids to help you see what is really in focus while you are shooting video and so manual focusing is significantly harder on the rear LCD.

[Glorfindelrb]

DFA* 70-200 is a DC motor lens.
DFA 15-30 and 24-70 are using Tamron USD motor.
But the fact that the name don't tell much is valid

[HarisF1]

And it also suggests that the Pentax UK folks don't get it and perhaps don't much care.

Bradford Camera Exchange sell loads of Pentax gear. I would say this is because they've shown that they care for the brand. It goes hand in hand. The older camera stores will respect and demonstrate (advertise) the strengths of the brand while newer ones will look at the fancy stuff that's all over the net.

BCE have an extensive Pentax display comparable to their other brands. Granted they've also got their main business (Pro-Am Imaging) to bring in most of their profits, but this kind of service should be very much appreciated by us Pentaxians. I bought my K-1 from them as they are my local camera store rather than from SRS who play an equally vital role representing Pentax online.

[ffking]

Bradford Camera Exchange sell loads of Pentax gear. I would say this is because they've shown that they care for the brand. It goes hand in hand. The older camera stores will respect and demonstrate (advertise) the strengths of the brand while newer ones will look at the fancy stuff that's all over the net.

BCE have an extensive Pentax display comparable to their other brands. Granted they've also got their main business (Pro-Am Imaging) to bring in most of their profits, but this kind of service should be very much appreciated by us Pentaxians. I bought my K-1 from them rather than online with SRS.

while applauding your decision there, I think it should be pointed out for those that don't know that SRS is exceptional as an online seller in that it give Pentax equal or higher billing than Canon and Nikon, which are the only other DSLRs it stocks - and it carries the full range also - so they are serious also

[HarisF1]

while applauding your decision there, I think it should be pointed out for those that don't know that SRS is exceptional as an online seller in that it give Pentax equal or higher billing than Canon and Nikon, which are the only other DSLRs it stocks - and it carries the full range also - so they are serious also

I completely agree with you and edited my post to reflect this. I buy most of my goods from SRS due to ease of use (and the width of their Pentax range, and their amazing offer prices ).

[Zygonyx]

It was(?) a mobile phone used by high profile people. Barack Obama used one. I believe it was pretty advanced, but lost in the competition with iPhone and Android phones.

It still is : they're now swiching to Androïd and produce OEM.

BlackBerry Smartphones - Global