[er1kksen]

I don't currently have a subscription but I have a tendency to pick of the latest copy of "Backpacker" magazine and skim through it when I see a new copy on the stands. About a month ago I was mildly surprised to find a brief, several-paragraph "review" of the K-7, stressing its advantages as a rugged outdoor-photography camera, somewhere in the middle of the magazine. Of course, I certainly saw this as a good sign.

Today I was in border's, and I picked up the newest issue. They had an article on shooting better photos of the great places you visit (they run such advice articles every few months and they generally repeat the same advice), and in the little list of "recommended" cameras afterwards the presence of the K-x immediately stuck out to me. In particular the sentence about "low light noise performance rivaling that of cameras costing 3x more." :-D The only other DSLR mentioned was the D300s, obviously in an entirely different price bracket (interestingly, the E-P1 was also featured).

Have any of the other outdoor-recreation enthusiasts here noticed similar pentax outdoors-specific product promotion in the media surrounding their preferred outdoor activities? I'm hoping this is a larger trend than just "Backpacker," as I'd love to see more hands wrapped around Pentaxes in the wild...

[juu]

That is exactly what they need to be doing.

That is one of many things that they should be doing....

[Ben_Edict]

No, haven't seen something over here, but I don't read outdoor magazines frequently. But Pentax stresses the WR features heavily in their advertising here, so that is certainly an indication of their marketing direction.

Ben

[grainbelt]

I'm an avid motorcyclist, and the K7 + DA 35 Macro may be my new tank bag camera. Compact, sealed, fantastic image quality. What's not to like?

[axl]

I'm an avid motorcyclist, and the K7 + DA 35 Macro may be my new tank bag camera. Compact, sealed, fantastic image quality. What's not to like?

just that DA35ltd is NOT sealed.
I haven't seen outdoor specific ads but here in London they are advertising. You see posters on tube, ads in magazines etc. It's good to see it, because for last 4 years it was only C&N and lately Sony to do big advertisement.

But the outdoor brand idea is being let down by not WRing DAltds IMO. If they'd be WRed one would have great package. Now you have to choose: bulky and weighty DA* (or 100WR) or basic kit zooms (although with good IQ) or compromise the WR and get the speed (???) and size advantage.
Truth is, I was shooting with DA40 and FA31&43 in rain, snow and dusty environment without any problems, but still I think they should offer set of small WR primes, and lower end WR body (something like K200 was)

my2p

[andyschwartz]

Hi there.
i was recently filming a tv show out in south dakota from nov - jan and took my k7 and lenses out for the entire run. we were in extreme cold and snow and rain, and i had no weather related problems, i even dropped it in the snow, and froze over my 16-50DA* going from a hot car to -30 outside, once the glass thawed, it worked fine. Shot a lot of video and stills with no problems. Shot some fisheye with the 10-17 in the rain and that was fine as well.
thanks
andy

[DAKS]

The reason I bought Pentx way back in the early 1980's was because it was a great backpacking camera. I think it would be a good way to brand Pentax.
I do think they need some primes that sealed (other then DA*55); at least a "normal" range sealed prime. (I love my DA*16-50, but sometimes I'd like a sealed lens that is lighter and smaller. I do have an FA 43 and a DA 21 and will probably get the FA 31 someday, but none of those are WR.)