Pentax is to camera's what Mac is to computers.

Very much so, but Ben, one difference between them is that Apple IS media savvy, are they not? Pentax might as well have Sarah Palin run the marketing...

[Niki]

perhaps they should hire that cute Mac kid in the commercials
srsly though, I would wear Pentax tshirts, not so much hats....I've my hair to worry about

[cousinsane]

Pentax is a niche player. We will just have to face that fact.

[Peacekeeper]

Maybe they could set up Pentax Shops, Like they set up Mac Shops.

I suppose it is prudent to imagine what benefits (if any) will be there if and when Pentax one day becomes a Giant far surpassing Canikon. Think of what all that money can do for us Pentaxians.

1) Full frame(and a half) and appropriate line of lenses
2) more fpns(frames per nano-seconds)
3) They would charge less(of course they would)
4) Ad campaign blitz featuring Paris Hilton on TV (3D)
5) More aperture (<1.0)
6) Less Noise(in fact, no noise)
7) None of the above, perhaps

[Peacekeeper]

I can envisage a whole series of TV commercials with the K-7.

I am no writer, but I got a little carried away with the TV Commercial idea and typed up two quick ones.

Pentax Commercials

I hope your imagination is as vivid as mine, especially with those two ladies in the second advert, all muddy and smiling

CM

[ballgofar]

Either Pentax needs more or Canon and Nikon need less. Although I kinda like the song played on the piano that Canon uses for their commerials with the frame-by-frame effects.

[bladerunner0427]

I can envisage a whole series of TV commercials with the K-7.

I am no writer, but I got a little carried away with the TV Commercial idea and typed up two quick ones.

Pentax Commercials

I hope your imagination is as vivid as mine, especially with those two ladies in the second advert, all muddy and smiling

CM

I like those commercials. Pentax really needs to distinguish themselves by asserting that strong point of the K-7 (and other WR Pentax dslrs). I love the rain and I'd like to buy a WR Pentax in the next year or so.

[Peacekeeper]

If I was actually talented I would do a You tube style commercial and hope it went viral hahaha

[jogiba]

Anyone looking to purchase a $1,300 DSLR body and does not know about the K-7 by the time it's in the retail chain belongs in a group home.

[MikePerham]

Anyone looking to purchase a $1,300 DSLR body and does not know about the K-7 by the time it's in the retail chain belongs in a group home.

It's still a camera for enthusiasts, who by definition are persons that know and understand cameras and photography, those that are simply buying a DSLR, regardless of the price range, will buy Canon and Nikon. So even though the K-7 is better specked,better built and better priced than the competition I suspect more Nikon's D300's and Canons 50D's will be sold than K-7's. But hopefully we will get some converts and Pentax will increase it's market share.

[Samsungian]

Being a Canon and Nikon and Pentax guy I'd say Pentax has the advantage at the moment:

K-7 is clearly superior spec'd to Canon 50D:

50D is $100 less coin right now than K-7 will launch at. 50D was cheaper at Christmas but it popped up some since. If you observe canon annually then you'll recognize Oct- Dec as THE best price daze to add more kit in USA market.

However I do assume Canon 60D will address some of the features K-7 has raised the bar with, like 100% viewfinder & HD. I don't follow nikon aps-c products or really canon either. I like Pentax for my aps-c option. However if canon launches a 60D with 100% viewfinder, HD, and articulated screen that may kill K-7 aquistion for me. Why? I own numerous current canon lenses so I am only one camera away from a fairly complete & current set up.

With Pentax I am still getting along with old K-A & FA glass I acquired over past 7 years. Sure I fantasize about a 12-24 f4 but I am in a budget freeze at the moment. Well till I buy a new computer. My XP notebook is over 3 years old... clock is ticking...

You can't really fault people in Nikon or Canon camps if they are already invested in glass and assessories and they choose same brand once more. In the old days people would pick a brand and stick with it. Me, I really had to own full frame & saw dollar value tanking and was convinced pentax will never offer full frame so I added both 5D and D700 this past year and various key lenses all shinny new.

I find the viewscreen in my K20D superior to both my 5D and D700. Its so cool to deeply zoom in on my images with K20D. I can only assume K-7 will be ever better, right?

I think Pentax will have great successes with K-7. But Pentax retreated from camerashops in USA. Just like Sony and Olympus did too so I assume Pentax and Olympus and Sony are content to fight among themselves and ignore Canon and Nikon 80% plus market share. I can go to many stores locally and touch Canon and Nikon Dslrs, including full frame 5DII & D700. Whereas no one carries Pentax, Sony and Olympus Dslrs. You can't blame Newbies for buying what some savy local salesclerk will sell them from his inventory, can you?


50D specs:


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/580462-REG/Canon_2807B006_EOS_50D_SLR_Digital.html


Rumoured 60D specs:

60D Spec List [CR1.5]
June 6th, 2009 | 121 Comments | Posted in Canon 60D Coming this fall
A different 60D spec list. I’ve heard from this source previously. I’m going back into the depths of the CR email archive to see what they’ve said in the past.

15.1 megapixels
ISO 100-25600
7 fps
Digic V
Movie-mode: 1080p with 30 and 24fps
build in GPS for geo-tagging
only a SD-card slot (no CF)
148×109x75mm and 738g

From the email: “rest like VF and display still the same like 50D. Just some buttons are on other positions and have other functions.”

cr

It's still a camera for enthusiasts, who by definition are persons that know and understand cameras and photography, those that are simply buying a DSLR, regardless of the price range, will buy Canon and Nikon. So even though the K-7 is better specked,better built and better priced than the competition I suspect more Nikon's D300's and Canons 50D's will be sold than K-7's. But hopefully we will get some converts and Pentax will increase it's market share.

[lithos]

It is not the model, nor the lens line up, nor the specifications that will bring Pentax to their past glory days. It will be how the public perceives their brand. To accomplish that goal, there must be a radical paradigm shift triggered by a radically different message.

Ben

Amen. Unfortunately, quality doesn't sell these days. Image - brand perception and recognition - does. I have seen a few ads for the K-m down here, but they're woefully bad, in terms of advertising. Very old-fashioned. A simple shot of the camera, on white, with a large quote from a magazine reviewer (I'm wondering if it was indeed some sort of minor advertorial - thrown together by the magazine's staff.)

It's sad, but you could make the worse product in the world and market the crap outta it, and it'd outsell the best product in the world that hadn't been advertised. Unfortunately, it's how the average consumer these days has been taught to think. That advertising directly correlates with quality. Why the hell do you think those second-rate, over-priced MP3 players from Apple sell so well?

Pentax is to camera's what Mac is to computers.

That's it. You say anything like that again, I will hunt you for sport. I, for one, don't want Pentax to become the w@nker's brand. I don't want it to be advertised by teenagers in four-hundred dollar ripped jeans, decorative glasses and ironic t-shirts. I don't want to shoot with a camera that's seen as over-compensating with advertising "hipness" because they've got bugger-all else to bring to the table.

perhaps they should hire that cute Mac kid in the commercials

What, that chick who looks like she down a fistful of Ritalin, three bongs and mainlined an ounce of horse?

[yakiniku]

You can't really fault people in Nikon or Canon camps if they are already invested in glass and assessories and they choose same brand once more.

I think Pentax will have great successes with K-7. But Pentax retreated from camerashops in USA. Just like Sony and Olympus did too so I assume Pentax and Olympus and Sony are content to fight among themselves and ignore Canon and Nikon 80% plus market share. I can go to many stores locally and touch Canon and Nikon Dslrs, including full frame 5DII & D700. Whereas no one carries Pentax, Sony and Olympus Dslrs. You can't blame Newbies for buying what some savy local salesclerk will sell them from his inventory, can you?

It is true, but it's also one thing that I don't like about canon somehow. They don't seem to put much effort on APS-C and the quality of their low end products just crap. I used to hear so many people using low end camera and trying to get a L lens because the quality differences between their low and high end lens. When they are actually using a L lens, other people will tell them to get a 5D to "release" the performance of their L lens. heck, the low quality of their low end products is actually helping them sell more of their higher end cameras. I remember one canon official claimed "the real enthusiasts should already be using full frame cameras" which cause some flame among some Japanese forums who is currently using canon's "APS-C" cameras...

I wish they would go all out and go for the jugular.

Or, I wonder if the timing of the release of K-7 is optimized. I wonder if they considered waiting for encouraging signs of economic indicators. Perhaps the current state of the economy does not justify spending a large sum on advertising. No matter how well the advertising is put together, every investment will reach a point of diminishing return. Perhaps in camera industry, if you don't have a large market share to begin with, then you may reach that point of diminishing return very quickly.

At any rate, this certainly something that I don't understand(among other things, of course)