[Reportage]

In the light of the product launches, will Pentax re-examine what they have and go back to the drawing board or look for their weaknesses and then adjust the products to be better then them at these points.

is there any reason for them to launch the new models at all during photokina?

With the A33 alone, its almost semi pro spec. I have no doubt people will pay the premium for it over the D3100. the Kx`s replacement have a lot to contend with.

some more Panasonic and Olympus have yet to announce anything...

[wlachan]

I feel that Pentax has always been behind the market trend in recent years so they might just launch whatever they have and hope for the best anyway.

[thibs]

IMO even if what they had to show wasn't enough against competitor, they should launch'em, just because if they do not, they will be seen as a brand not doing much if at all to their customers (not that those are my thinkings).

[philippe]

This is indeed a worst case scenario, but like all Japanese company's, even Pentax has a plan B, must have…

[Talisker]

is there any reason for them to launch the new models at all during photokina?

Apart from the fact that anything scheduled for immediate release will already be on the production lines in place of its predecessor, if not in shipping crates? I doubt that manufacturers are as suprised by their rivals' releases as consumers are...

[ixian]

How come you already know that new Pentax cameras are not good enough - without even seeing *real and complete* specs? Did I miss something? Just asking...

[Boris]

I am thinking that we're underestimating the actual amount of mutually acceptable espionage between these companies. Otherwise it would be hard to explain why the new features and advancements come to different brands in rather simultaneous manner...

[Spag]

This thread just doesn't make sense...

[Asahiflex]

There's no point for Pentax to have a booth on the Photokina if they have nothing to show but existing models.

Of course, Pentax looks at the competition but the competition is looking at Pentax as well. Even though still a small player, it's always possible that a niche player will suddenly take the market because of a very special USP. Don't tell us that it isn't possible. It is, there's no guarantee that Canon and Nikon will stay market leaders forever.

[Kunzite]

The initial post makes me puke.
No, really. Is Pentax that incompetent? (IMO they're very competent, but I might be a "single-minded Pentax fan" - Ogl dixit) Have we so little trust in them, that we already decided the new products we know so little about are so bad, they should be scrapped? Have we forgot all those excellent products they gave us?
I saw a lot of "the sky is falling" posts, but that one is the worst.

[Boris]

I saw a lot of "the sky is falling" posts, but that one is the worst.

Well, just recently more than one "selling all (most of) my Pentax gear" or "switching systems" posts appeared in the marketplace section of the forum. Sky is not falling, but few people (few like in 'very small number') decided to switch systems already. Others, e.g. myself, have got rather serious doubts. Likely others yet have their doubts, of slightly less magnitude. Why? I don't know. What I do know is that when K-7 was coming out I felt kind of elated - Pentax was coming up with the camera that was going to really improve on great many weaknesses of its previous models, and so K-7 did. It did not solve all the problems, but it sure made serious and very honorable advancement over K10D/K20D.

Pentax land is not the happiest country of them all, you know... So, here you have it, you can either interpret this as yet another "oh gosh, Pentax is doomed" kind of message, or you can look at it (as I intend it to be) as at yet another message in this (or other similar) forum...

On one hand the light is still obeying the same law of physics it obeyed previously and my lenses are still shooting straight and so are my cameras. On the other hand, for whatever reasons, be it my geekiness or egotism or the mere fact that I've been reading too many messages on technical forums such as this, somehow I feel out of balance...

[Kunzite]

Boris, switching systems when Pentax no longer suits you is not only fine, but IMHO highly recommended. Asking for reasonable improvements is also fine. But saying that Pentax shouldn't even bother?

[Rondec]

Obviously Pentax will release what they have. If they didn't expect other companies to release improved models than they are slower than I think. However, what I expect (hope for) is that Pentax will continue to release models that are thought out differently from Canon/Nikon, but with many similar features.

The d5000 isn't really that much different from the kx, but Pentax sold an awful lot of the kx's. The package is a little different -- different enough that some people wanted the Pentax over the Nikon. Here's to hoping that trend continues.

[raz]

I don't think they will postpone anything regarding the body-s. If they have a K7 body with the new Sony sensor - they have nothing to worry. Excellent body with good noise and probably 1080p.

Only thing they need to resolve is not in the body but in the lens - a better SDM that can stand against competition.

[Erik]

Playing the catch-up game is a losing battle. Of course everyone in the Japanese camera industry knows what everyone else in the Japanese camera industry is doing, and as someone else said, Hoya/Pentax is not STUPID. They know what's up and are finding niches in the marketplace just fine. Have some faith, or better yet, stop the BUT-WHAT-IF nonsense and wait until they launch the new cameras, which they will. I'm sure your current camera will function just fine until then, and if it doesn't, your friendly neighbourhood CaNikon retailer is just around the corner. Who CARES.