Originally posted by shuie Now that the 645d is finally here what can this tell us about the future. First lets revisit the past.
K-10, K-20 Offering us affordable rugged weathersealed cameras. Perhaps not the absolute top of the line in specs, but very solid performers. (ask Benjikan if you disagree).
K-m Small size, good build good optically, overall a very good camera at a reasonable price.
K-7 Great build quality, high if not top specs, however in an extremly rugged package. Remember all the buzz it generated with the canikon crowd when released?
KX Fantistic image quality from an entry level camera. And tiny. I convinced a friend to buy one for his wife and my first reaction when holding it was where's the rest of it.
645d now the Canikon world is shaken up. Their FF cameras have just lost a little shine in certain realms of photography. Granted they are still the kings of the sports and ISO realms, but just got kicked in the teeth for landscape and possibly studio. Also the other MF companies are probably thinking "not those Pentax guys again."
So ask ourselves now that Hoya is in charge of the purse strings where are we headed? did they only revive the 645d because most of the R&D money was already spent? Or does Hoya hope by jumping an admitted niche with limited competition they can eventually grab a larger piece of the DSLR market. Bear in mind while the lineup of MF glass from Pentax may be somewhat limited, I'm fairly certain it is larger than the Canikon crowds.
with the publicity garnered among the dedicated photography world, has Pentax placed themselves in a better position to get even more respect? Can they next target the Canikon crowd. Remember, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."
Shu
BTW I realize I omitted several models of cameras, however I felt it necessary to only include ones I have at least held that I thought were unique in some way.
Originally posted by D W Having used the 645/N for 25 years I would not disagree that the 645 optics are limited in selection. I have 11 645 lenses and that is not even half of what they offer.
I would say Pentax's next move
should be be a dSLR between the K-7 and the 645d. Logically that would be a highly-spec'd, durable, WR, good-value FF camera in a K20 body.
Fortunately one reason they can offer the 645D at all is they still make FA645 lenses for the home market. Eventually most of those designs will be converted to SDM, but for now the camera is eminently usable with NIB lenses - eBay isn't required. Another reason is the Japanese enthusiast market (I read) is loaded with 645N/NII users who don't expect rental and pro support. To penetrate the EU and USA Pentax would need to provide this support - something that will be impossible for $9400 - that's why Hass/Mamiya/P1 are $20M - $40M - to support the support!
Unfortunately the analog condition doesn't exist for 24x36 image circle lenses. My guess is Pentax will never develop a truly FF system to compete at the pro level with Canon and Nikon. They can't develop all the lenses, will never have the revenue volume to support the support and the dream that they could reissue FA lenses is just a dream.
Maybe there are enough Pentax geeks around that an enthusiast FF camera could sell, but it would never compete at volume with Canon and Nikon.