[thibs]

Geez they should use Espio Mini to illustrate this....
Or at least, the original Espio.

[Serkevan]

Well, I am glad they included it: the Espio 115G that my parents were using for most of my childhood lodged the name "Pentax" into my head enough to draw me back to the brand 20 years later...

[totsmuyco]

Well, I am glad they included it: the Espio 115G that my parents were using for most of my childhood lodged the name "Pentax" into my head enough to draw me back to the brand 20 years later...

Pentax was so popular in the US and some other countries back then. Was Pentax ever absent in photography that the younger generation don't even l know they exited? Sorry I went out of photography in 1993 and only went back in 2008. That's about 13 years. How can they be so easily forgotten?

[Mistral75]

15 December.

1997: PENTAX MZ-5 – After Pentax had changed the compact camera sector with the smallest cameras, the MZ-5, the first model in the MZ Series, also changed the SLR range. Despite using a smaller film format (APS), many competitors did not manage to match the size of the MZ Series.

[Mistral75]

16 Decembre.

2000: PENTAX EI2000 – Digital technology is still in its infancy. With the EI-2000 Pentax showed the direction in which this market segment was moving, despite insufficient technology. Thus we already saw the range of equipment that we find today in high quality digital cameras 18 years ago in this SLR camera with built-in 3x zoom.

[fs999]

2000: PENTAX EI2000 – Digital technology is still in its infancy. With the EI-2000 Pentax showed the direction in which this market segment was moving, despite insufficient technology. Thus we already saw the range of equipment that we find today in high quality digital cameras 18 years ago in this SLR camera with built-in 3x zoom.

It has a similar design as the *ist...

[reh321]

Pentax was so popular in the US and some other countries back then. Was Pentax ever absent in photography that the younger generation don't even l know they existed? Sorry I went out of photography in 1993 and only went back in 2008. That's about 13 years. How can they be so easily forgotten?

Some people who are active now in photography are unaware that Pentax still exists!!

[gaweidert]

12 December. Back to normal hours.

1986: PENTAX ZOOM 70 – This camera ushered in a new era of 35mm photography. The world's first zoom compact camera is equipped with a 35 to 70 mm focal length lens and offers more creative options by adjusting the angle of view. It also has an integrated flash unit. The Zoom 70 is the mother of all modern zoom compact cameras. Pentax set standards in compact camera manufacture in the Zoom Series (later Zoom 90, Zoom 105 and Zoom 90WR).

Kodak, Fuji. Konica Agfa,etc and the camera manufacturers spent billions developing the APS film format as a road into the future featuring small compact cameras for everyday use. They were great cameras too. BUT.............................. the camera manufacturers also released these compact 35mm cameras at the same time. Up to that point, 35mm film was not the #1 consumer film. Enthusiasts used it but the masses preferred the cartridge cameras as they were so convenient and foolproof.


The autoloading compact 35mm camera market took off like a rocket and sales of cameras and film in 35mm format went sky high. It also crippled the APS format cameras right out of the gate. They never really stood a chance against the 35mm compact camera onslaught. People were enjoying image quality that they had never gotten before from 110 and 126 format cameras.


The 35mm compact camera was the last great hurrah for film. To me the APS film format was the Ford Edsel of the automobile world. The most heavily market researched format ever developed. It contained everything that people said that they wanted in a consumer camera system. That is until it came time to actually purchasing the camera and film.


Steve Jobs never did much, if any, market research. He just put out products that people did not even know that they would want.

[reh321]

Steve Jobs never did much, if any, market research. He just put out products that people did not even know that they would want.

Remember the "Newton" and the "Lisa"?
Even Saint Jobs was not reliably on target.

[Not a Number]

I think the introduction of one hour photo labs had a lot to do with the 35mm film boom too.

[WillWeaverRVA]

15 December.

1997: PENTAX MZ-5 – After Pentax had changed the compact camera sector with the smallest cameras, the MZ-5, the first model in the MZ Series, also changed the SLR range. Despite using a smaller film format (APS), many competitors did not manage to match the size of the MZ Series.

EDIT: never mind

[Mistral75]

Wait, the MZ-5 used APS film? Or were they trying to say that other brands had to use the APS film format in order to build cameras as compact as the MZ-5?

The latter. 'Using' refers to the subject of the sentence: 'Despite using (...) many competitors did not manage'. Even though they used (...), they did not manage (...).

[mlt]

Wait, the MZ-5 used APS film? Or were they trying to say that other brands had to use the APS film format in order to build cameras as compact as the MZ-5?

Hopefully the latter is what was being mentioned. Thankfully, Pentax never went the APS slr route like Nikon and Minolta did.

[WillWeaverRVA]

The latter. 'Using' refers to the subject of the sentence: 'Despite using (...) many competitors did not manage'. Even though they used (...), they did not manage (...).

I apparently missed the wrong days in English class. Thanks for the clarification.

[Mistral75]

You're welcome.