Originally posted by normhead Ya I was thinking that too, but there's a dude who claims Jun Hirakawa accomplished nothing during his time at Pentax, I was trying to avoid him by not mentioning Hirakawa.
I just find that kind of
lunacy extremely distasteful.
If Hirakawa had only designed the 77, he'd still belong on the designer hall of fame.
In civilised world, we call that
ad hominem with feigning of ignorance about whom we really discuss.
So let me be politer than you, and educate, because that is the only cure.
The amount of attention given to Hirakawa is disproportionate to attention given to designers who designed far more important lenses for Pentax, which rocketed Pentax into stardom of fame, when Hirakawa was still in diapers.
FA Limiteds came out when downfall of Pentax already started, when seemed to sink, not a single project relevant anymore, and Asahi desperately needed some loud PR, some good news, that would make them seem relevant and fresh in the world that outran them. So they gave a job to a young lens designer because that is what they wanted to show — that they are still vital and relevant — gave him
carte blanche, flamboyantly opened production budget, but Hirakawa couldn't even complete it to Asahi's complete satisfaction. He did not have all the experience and understanding of market and expectations. And he was stubborn, in addition to a sudden and undeserved attention which hit him hard, and was still hungry for experience. His astigmatism needed correction. They pulled extra help, from more senior designers, and best FA lens was made, the FA31. But the smoke fired from the PR gun remained (FA43 and FA77 were released first).
Fact is, Asahi could do it all without Hirakawa, and make even better FA43 or FA77, but they needed a young image for the company,
they needed a story. Wow — reading a focal length from a cookie box — fantastic, Asahi is so imaginative! They needed a Hail Mary pass and a fastest young buck who can run for the show.
And that is the truth of it. All PR attention was given to a hot young buck, but two older oxen had to be moved out of stable to pull the cart from deep mud. Even that fact shows that Asahi totally blew it, could not manage things, that all they knew to do was to hope for a Hail Mary pass every 15 years or so.
No one even cared to remember names of those designers who saved the project. Even worse than that, any project that Jun Hirakawa — the invention of the PR — was even randomly involved with, that he even glanced at, was since attributed to be his
other masterworks by the ignorant amateurs. That is the price we pay for sucking the milk of marketing inventions.
You guys therefore know only of Hirakawa, and not single other lens designer prior or after, nor you know the context of the FA Limited and why they were created. And that is your tree, which blocks you from seeing the forest. So while the world is going forward, you cuddle your now worn-out teddybear FA77 and scream loudly at those who show you a better toy or two.