Originally posted by awo425 Both leica/HD doing quite badly in today's economy.
Not to mention the fact that HD, although a very pretty image, is way behind the competition as a motorcycle, except maybe one watercooled model. Not a good suggestion to Pentax overall IMHO.
BTW I think Pentax is moving in this direction lately, accessories/lenses are more and more expensive and if the trend will continue, they will be more expensive that Canon and Nikon.
Yes, but very few motor vehicle companies are doing well in this climate at the moment.
In the states very few people buy their modern bikes, which do better O/S but if you look at stats here in Oz for example, the older style HD bikes take out (on average) 3-4 of the top ten bikes sold per year. People buy them not cause theyre modern but their style.
Lets face it, leica is not cheap, and i doubt if panasonic wasnt using them whether they would be still around at all.
On the other hand Hassleblad arent doing so badly because they have the medium format cameras and the name. They dont have competition. In fact there is still big demand for Xpan's which again is a huge niche that i cant believe no one wants.
This is where i could see Pentax develop. They are the only current big player that has had major cameras in 6x7, 6x4.5, 35, and apsc and they should make the most of it.
I just wish they would make a digital xpan, but thats me being greedy.
Cheers Neil