[er1kksen]

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I don't know why they don't just put these improved low-light AF algorithms in a firmware update for the rest of the current lineup...

[HGMonaro]

the worst thing about this is we'll have people.. not looking at anyone inparticular Gooshin! complaining pictures don't have GPS coordinates in the EXIF data...

[Eaglerapids]

I sure won't be hotspotting any of my fishing locations with GPS coordinates in any of my pics....but I hope everyone else does!

[opfor]

One thing that hasn't been discussed here, but I've seen on another forum is that some people think geo-cache would be good for copyright issues. If you live in North America it would be hard to explain how you managed to "take" a picture in Europe without ever going there. You get the idea...

[yipchunyu]

I asked one of the famous user here and he said we should get a firmware update with the improved low-light AF algorithms for K20d in future.

[jeremy_c]

One thing that hasn't been discussed here, but I've seen on another forum is that some people think geo-cache would be good for copyright issues. If you live in North America it would be hard to explain how you managed to "take" a picture in Europe without ever going there. You get the idea...

Exif info can easily be altered or removed.

Jeremy

[opfor]

Exif info can easily be altered or removed.

Jeremy

Exactly, exif can be changed.
"but tell us Mr. C, now that we have you under oath, when was the last time you were in Paris and can you prove it? You see Mr. Jones says he has his original photo file along with the travel documents showing he was there when his file says the photo was taken. What do you have?"

[pcarfan]

I don't understand why people are complaining about this.
Yes, GPS could be useful for some of us. Yes, it goes on the line of "Pentax - a system for outdoor shooting". And again we will have a great value for money setup compared to other brands, if we need this feature. Even if it's not essential, even if it doesn't improve image quality or camera performance, it makes sense in every way.
On the other hand, it's true that some people would never use this feature - but I fail to see how they could be affected by the "K20D GPS Edition". It's easy, folks: just don't buy it!

Think of it this way, if a car company announces a new model and holds a press conference to reveal the car, and the only improvement is the GPS to the older model, how would you feel about that car company ?....wouldn't you advice them to seek professional help, like a group of highly qualified shrinks providing round the clock therapy,...no ????

Think of it this way, if a car company announces a new model and holds a press conference to reveal the car, and the only improvement is the GPS to the older model, how would you feel about that car company ?....wouldn't you advice them to seek professional help, like a group of highly qualified shrinks providing round the clock therapy,...no ????

Well,

To continue your analogy I guess for an AWD vehicle meant to be used off road a new model will have a winch on the front bumper.
And yes I think for the people who need GPS this is a welcomed adition to the range with or without further improvements.

Regards,
Radu

[regken]

Well,

To continue your analogy I guess for an AWD vehicle meant to be used off road a new model will have a winch on the front bumper.
And yes I think for the people who need GPS this is a welcomed adition to the range with or without further improvements.

Regards,
Radu

Like a winch a good but not great after market model will cost $100 and a great one $200. The after market ones are more versatile but the built in one is easier to carry and use. If that is all that is added it will be interesting to see the pricing of the new model. As I said before, this may be the start of Pentax defining who they are.

[barondla]

Unfortunately, I don't think Pentax knows who they are any more. This last year has cost them dearly. The have bobbled the great start they had with the K10D. They were sitting in third place for dslr sales. They have dropped, like a rock, behind Sony and even Olympus. Such a shame.
thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #13 WINNERS in P&S forum. Enter #14. Any brand camera. Enter now!

[*isteve]

Unfortunately, I don't think Pentax knows who they are any more. This last year has cost them dearly. The have bobbled the great start they had with the K10D. They were sitting in third place for dslr sales. They have dropped, like a rock, behind Sony and even Olympus. Such a shame.
thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #13 WINNERS in P&S forum. Enter #14. Any brand camera. Enter now!

These numbers are based on projected share for 2008/9 (which has a whole quarter to run yet).

Pentax/Hoya has been very wary about sales projections this year because it is only bringing out its major new models next year. Sony's share has come about largely because they are selling A200's and A350's below cost. There is only so long you can carry on selling at a loss (ask GM).

Besides, the numbers quoted by tweedle on dpreview are on projected shipments, not actual sales. If Pentax project real expectations and the rest keep projecting wishful thinking based on initial projections, then yes they look comparatively bad in share terms. But if this is what Pentax THINK they can ship and are building accordingly, then they will end the year without a massive unsold inventory.

We wont know till April how many of these projected shipments actually sold (and how many crates are left unpaid for by bankrupt retailers after xmas). I think Sony may not have the happy xmas they expect. As we can see from Ford and GM, market share can be bought at too high a price and may not reflect corporate health.

Nor do I know how much Nikon, Canon and Sony sank into development of new top end cameras. Judging by sales of the A900, it was not a good investment on their part.

I agree though, pentax had better get their act together smartish with regards to the product range. Its looking lacklustre right now and I just wish they would get their introductory pricing right. They always get slated in the press (rightly) for being too expensive on launch and then noone buys them even after the price drops. The whole point about shipping LAST is that you can get the forking price right.

Unfortunately, I don't think Pentax knows who they are any more. This last year has cost them dearly. The have bobbled the great start they had with the K10D. They were sitting in third place for dslr sales. They have dropped, like a rock, behind Sony and even Olympus. Such a shame.
thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #13 WINNERS in P&S forum. Enter #14. Any brand camera. Enter now!

This is highly debatable IMO, I mean sure Sony had an onslaught of new models and sold them bellow cost but how many will ever upgrade from the A200? This is a deal too good to pass and that's all for many who'll sell them cheap (because they bought them cheap) and move on to another system. Sony (again IMO) has the bleak of futures because they also have a very strong p&s division that presses the DSLRs from bellow and a video division that won't allow them to pursue that much this feature in next models. I think they sold tiny amounts of A700s and will also flop the A900 due to world crysis. Nothing to write home about.
And one more very important aspect is the sale model of Sony that flood shops with cameras and God knows how many they actually sold and how many will be a 50% write off like Ken's A700 in the end? Pentax sells a lot over the net and that means a reasonable amount of supply based on demand.
Olympus is a closed world with fanatical following (not like we are any better ) and they also sell to the cheapest (anyone knows anyone with a E3 and if so were is their mid range?).
And if you reffer to the magical Mizuho report I think it's a pile of bs wrote to order for Sony. I bet CIPA's numbers and IDC's will tell another story. BTW in Hoya's report for Q2 they wrote a 37% down for all IS segment (p&s under Pentax name, lens&CCD module for p&s and phone cameras I think sold to third parties and DSLRs+lenses). Since they specificaly mentioned poor performance on first 2 and about the same performance year to year for dslrs how the heck did the numbers fell to half in the Mizuho report? All those numbers reffer to the Japanese fiscal year (I believe 1st of April - end of March) and the numbers for 2008 are "estimated". Nevermind that actually the original post on dpreview started as a "Mizuho report published ... bla bla bla ... numbers ... bla bla bla ... for the report you have to subscribe" so it could be just another farse.

Just MHO,
Radu

[*isteve]

This is highly debatable IMO, I mean sure Sony had an onslaught of new models and sold them bellow cost but how many will ever upgrade from the A200? This is a deal too good to pass and that's all for many who'll sell them cheap (because they bought them cheap) and move on to another system. Sony (again IMO) has the bleak of futures because they also have a very strong p&s division that presses the DSLRs from bellow and a video division that won't allow them to pursue that much this feature in next models. I think they sold tiny amounts of A700s and will also flop the A900 due to world crysis. Nothing to write home about.
And one more very important aspect is the sale model of Sony that flood shops with cameras and God knows how many they actually sold and how many will be a 50% write off like Ken's A700 in the end? Pentax sells a lot over the net and that means a reasonable amount of supply based on demand.
Olympus is a closed world with fanatical following (not like we are any better ) and they also sell to the cheapest (anyone knows anyone with a E3 and if so were is their mid range?).
And if you reffer to the magical Mizuho report I think it's a pile of bs wrote to order for Sony. I bet CIPA's numbers and IDC's will tell another story. BTW in Hoya's report for Q2 they wrote a 37% down for all IS segment (p&s under Pentax name, lens&CCD module for p&s and phone cameras I think sold to third parties and DSLRs+lenses). Since they specificaly mentioned poor performance on first 2 and about the same performance year to year for dslrs how the heck did the numbers fell to half in the Mizuho report? All those numbers reffer to the Japanese fiscal year (I believe 1st of April - end of March) and the numbers for 2008 are "estimated". Nevermind that actually the original post on dpreview started as a "Mizuho report published ... bla bla bla ... numbers ... bla bla bla ... for the report you have to subscribe" so it could be just another farse.

Just MHO,
Radu

I tend to agree with you!!! Tweedle will only ever find stuff guaranteed to get a reaction.

I tend to agree with you!!! Tweedle will only ever find stuff guaranteed to get a reaction.

Yes, Steve, but the better me was kind enough not to give him any answer on that thread. I'll rather wait for the official market share quotas and decide then what to do .
Anyway I don't know if it means much but in my country Pentax had the best year of the decade in DSLRs with about 8% market share with very good K200D sales and in the whole EU the rumour from Pentax Europe says about 5-6% at least. So, it's very hard for me to believe not only the market share from that "report" but most of all the number sold. Look at Amazon France:Amazon.fr Meilleures ventes High-tech: Les articles les plus populaires de la rubrique Kit avec objectif. Mis à jour chaque heure. and you'll see from 5 to 7 Pentax models in top 25 at any given time with the K200D glued on 3rd place. Sony has a very low profile there and even if they stuff the hypermarkets that don't guarantee the sell or any profits at all. The "report" is about production and shipments not hard sells and I also find pretty hard to believe that even Sony could triple its production in less than a year.

Now it will be nice to see an official reaction with some numbers from Hoya, IMO because anyway those numbers are public domain from a listed company.

Regards,
Radu