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Originally posted by whatever7 Only for half of them, the other half brought into it because of the excellent prime lineup. The US Pentax users are particularly frugal because it was marketed that way.
If what you say is true, the price of the used FA* lenses should go below the Nikon and Canon counterparts. Instead, they have gone skyrocket.
Sorry your reasoning doesn't hold imo. The FA* lenses were never made in large enough numbers as compared to similar Nikon and Canon models and were introduced at a time when Pentax was struggling with a succession of forgettable AF film cameras that did not capture the market's interest in a big way.
Apart from being discontinued rather prematurely imo, the FA* lenses still command a premium because there aren't enough out there and given the larger user base today as the result of the success of the K100D and K10D, prices will naturally remain high even on the second-hand market. A similar analogy can be made with a lens like the excellent Voightlander 125mm f/2.5 Apo-Lanthar SL where prices have exceeded what it was originally selling for as a result of being discontinued.
I do agree with kenyee about his description of the typical Pentax user, except I'd replace frugal with CHEAP. At a risk of typecasting, many who buy Pentax DSLRs are either those who I would classify as "legacy users" who have a amassed Pentax film cameras over the years and are unwilling to jettison for another brand partly for cost considerations and partly because of an unwillingness or fear of change. The other category are those looking for the best bang for the buck and are unwilling to spend too much beyond budget.
The fact that there still remains a hesitancy for many to upgrade to the excellent K20D at current prices is indicative of the lack of propensity to spend on Pentax as a system. I'll give credit to Hoya as they probably know the average Pentax user just won't spend as much as perhaps someone using Canon, Nikon or Sony.
Last edited by creampuff; 03-10-2009 at 08:21 AM.
Reason: spelling