Originally posted by bobmaxja You need a low cost line to attract peoples to the higner product line. Nikon and Canon do have P&S
I would like to agree but part of me tells it isn't so, or so I believe. I never used a Pentax P&S yet bought a Pentax SLR, and here in my place Pentax P&S cameras are relatively cheaper than Canon or Nikon ones, or at least vs. the ones with some degree of manual control. Nothing attracted me to get a Pentax P&S. It's also very rare (in fact I haven't yet seen) to see a Pentax P&S being used out there. Is eliminating that line too little a savings to use for R&D for the FF/645 line? As far as use goes, the Craigslist-equivalent in my country shows Pentax P&S cams being sold within a year or earlier of being bought - unlike most C/N P&S's that end up getting sold only after they've used it too much, like 2 years or so.
For some reason Pentax stayed as a niche-market manufacturer - the only time it competed alongside Canon and Nikon was during the early days of the K mount I think. Before I bought an SLR I never knew Pentax. As for today, what
is Pentax's stand? Continue with the current image or brace for a level up and go head-to-head with the big guys? Or is it up to Ricoh to decide now?
and why did Pentax opt to make a cropped medium format instead of a FF camera?