[Wheatfield]

I guess the thing about Pentax that bugs me the most is why after the LX the just dropped the pro camera market. Had all of these great lenses and no pro bodies to go with them. nikon and canon both upgraded their old pro camera and kept on upgrading---Pentax just dropped off to low end cameras and serious amateur cameras. I hope we see a change of thinking at photokina next month.

The history according to Wheatfield
With an apology to Dr. Seuss

Once upon a time, a long. long. long time ago, there was a little company called Asahi Optical. They made nice lenses, and invented the SLR camera. They were a very innovative little company, and people all over the world beat a path to their door, so that they could own an Asahi Pentax.

These people were no one in particular (other than Paul McCartney), but what they had in common was a sense of pictorial aesthetics, unmatched by any other group in the whole, wide, world.
These people loved their Pentaxes, and in return, Pentax loved them, innovating new cameras, and making nice lenses.
And then, the world changed.
Pentax came to the conclusion that they had to innovate something extra special.
The little threaded fastening system that they used for putting lenses onto cameras was proving to be too small for the lenses they wanted to build, and people were complaining because it took forever to take a lens off a camera and replace it with another one.
There were, of course, the naysayers, those who said "My daddy used a screw mount, and a screw mount is good enough for me".
But in the end, it came to pass that a new era in Pentax cameras was born.
And it was very good.
Everyone was happy. The customers were happy. The new bayonet mount was quick and easy to use, they even innovated a way of aligning the lens to the camera completely by feel (sadly, a feature dropped for some reason), and the bigger opening allowed the lens designers who were the fair haired children, so to speak, to design even better, faster lenses.
Even the naysayers were happy. The new cameras looked and felt like the old ones, and you could put an adapter onto it so that you could screw and unscrew your lenses to your hearts content.

And Pentax sold even more cameras.
And the company was very profitable.
And so Pentax said to it's engineers: "Build a camera that you would like to build. Make it sophisticated, and jewel like, but also rugged and responsive. And above all, be innovative, to reflect the nature of Pentax.
And thus was the LX born.
A camera designed by photographic engineers for photographers.
A camera of innovation, a camera of sophistication. A camera of elegance and beauty.
A rugged, hard working camera, unlike anything Pentax had made before. A camera so ahead of it's time that a full two decades went by before they stopped making them.
A camera of legends.

But alas, it was Pentax's only foray into the world of "professional 35mm" cameras. They built it, but very few came beating on their door.
Which was fine, they made each one by hand and couldn't make them very fast, so the supply was quite limited.
It was, after all, a dream camera, and was meant for photographers of discerning tastes.
The reality is, Pentax never considered the 35mm format to be Professional.
To Pentax, Professional meant medium format, and they have made very fine medium format cameras, and these cameras have been used by many, many professional photographers, shooting everything from travelogues to weddings to high fashion. The names of famous photographers who have used Pentax Professional camera reads like a who's who of the photography world.
But that is another story, for another night.

[Jonson PL]

I found Sam Haskins, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Sebastião Salgado...

Salgado used to be a Leica shooter, but for his latest Genesis project; has gone for the Pentax 645, and showing great work :


"I have named this project GENESIS because my aim is to return to the beginnings of our planet: to the air, water and fire that gave birth to life, to the animal species that have resisted domestication, to the remote tribes whose 'primitive' way of life is still untouched, to the existing examples of the earliest forms of human settlement and organisation. A potential path towards humanity's rediscovery of itself. So many times I've photographed stories that show the degradation of the planet. I thought the only way to give us an incentive, to bring hope, is to show the pictures of the pristine planet - to see the innocence. And then we can understand what we must preserve." Sebastião Salgad

Sebastião Salgado: Genesis | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

Photoethnography.com: Link: Sebastiao Salgado's Genesis project

Photography of Hope - January/February 2006 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club



More samples :
Salgado Antarctica 5 | | guardian.co.uk Arts

Salgado Antarctica 7 | | guardian.co.uk Arts


"The eventual success of his work in finding viewers has given Salgado one of the greatest opportunities any photographer has ever had to articulate his ideas on the state of our planet. And as he currently takes a break from photographing, his major concern is in re-building the Atlantic forest in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where he was born and raised. He and his wife Lélia have donated considerable personal resources to creating Instituto Terra, which they both hope will become a model for how to restore and save natural resources. Already scientists are working to analyze the best ways to halt the environmental devastation, and thousands of Brazilian school children have come to plant trees.

For those interested, we suggest that you click on the button below, “How to Help,” which will give you a list of human rights groups with whom Salgado has worked. Click on any of them to go to their website and find out what they do and ways in which you can be of service. “Before Migrations” also features a short profile and bio of the photographer (click on “About Salgado”), "
http://www.terra.com.br/sebastiaosalgado/



"A world-renowned photographer and part of the tradition of "concerned photography," Sebastião Salgado has been awarded virtually every major photographic prize and award in recognition of his accomplishments from institutions around the world."



----------

Mattias Klum also did work for National Geographic using his Z-1P, etc. And has pictures included in the top 100 NGM wildlife shots.

The Pro wildlife photographer Andy Rouse, in his book “Life in the wild”, also used the Pentax 645D with its Auto-focus on his trip to Africa. And was very impressed with the metering.


Search DPr and you'll find more.

[TaoMaas]

William Neill started out with a Pentax camera. I'd also heard that even though he was primarily associated with Leicas, Ernst Haas sometimes used a Pentax.

[kent vinyard]

Wheatfield,
Thanks for the history lesson. Very well done I might add.
However, it wasn't really necessary because you didn't know that I am old enough that I shot with most of those old cameras and great lenses. Have been to nikon, canon, and now back to Pentax and nikon.

[rfortson]

Larry "Flame" Moore was a long time surf photographer and photo editor at Surfer Magazine. He was a Pentax shooter.

30 Years of Flame (book)

Larry Moore's obituary on Surfline

Also, Mark Dimalanta (Mark Dimo) is a professional surf photographer and he uses Pentax currently.
surfing lifestyle photographer huntington beach, california Mark Dimalanta

[Lowell Goudge]

No offence to all intened to all the great photographers out there who either use or have used pentax equipment. Many of you, I know watch this forum.

I do however have a question.


Is it just me or are there more of you out there who don't know, and don't care how many famous photographers use(d) pentax.

I don't need a list of great photographers to justify why I use a pentax, and I am wondering if this thread is just that. a reason to justify pentax.

I use pentax cameras because I like them. Sure, when I bought my first camera it represented the best value for the money, but as I have had my system evolve, I never found a need to change.

I also don't feel compelled to have either the best available at the time, or to be on the leading edge of technology.

I take pictures because I like to, it is a hobby, it is fun, and it is usually relaxing. I say usually because some subjects can be frustrating but overall the diversion is a form of relaxation.

Getting all caught up in justifying why I have pentax, as opposed to cannon, nikon, soney or what ever is not relaxing.

[Blue]

No offence to all intened to all the great photographers out there who either use or have used pentax equipment. Many of you, I know watch this forum.

I do however have a question.


Is it just me or are there more of you out there who don't know, and don't care how many famous photographers use(d) pentax.

I don't need a list of great photographers to justify why I use a pentax, and I am wondering if this thread is just that. a reason to justify pentax.

I use pentax cameras because I like them. Sure, when I bought my first camera it represented the best value for the money, but as I have had my system evolve, I never found a need to change.

I also don't feel compelled to have either the best available at the time, or to be on the leading edge of technology.

I take pictures because I like to, it is a hobby, it is fun, and it is usually relaxing. I say usually because some subjects can be frustrating but overall the diversion is a form of relaxation.

Getting all caught up in justifying why I have pentax, as opposed to cannon, nikon, soney or what ever is not relaxing.

That is pretty much my sentiments on the subject but it can be interesting nonetheless. BTW has any one mentioned Wendy? She's world famous here locally? Oh, wait, that's infamous, never mind.

[séamuis]

why would it be about justifying ones use of Pentax? I think its more or less just wanting to see some great photographers and their work to maybe look for inspiration? maybe to cheer the 'underdog'?


if however saying 'look even the 'pros' use Pentax.' is justifying ones choice in this brand, I guess so. and that's fine by me. its just the current sentiment towards Pentax is not the same as it was 30 years ago and I imagine a large number of current pentax users look to things like this more or less to cement the legitimacy of the brand and its equipment in general. not necessarily their personal choice to use it.

[Lowell Goudge]

why would it be about justifying ones use of Pentax? I think its more or less just wanting to see some great photographers and their work to maybe look for inspiration?

I do that usually oblivious to the camera, great photos are about who took them and processed them, not about what equipment was used. By the way what did Ansel Adams Use?

maybe to cheer the 'underdog'?

by this do you mean the little guy that does not use the same "Pro" equipment as the rest?

if however saying 'look even the 'pros' use Pentax.' is justifying ones choice in this brand, I guess so. and that's fine by me. its just the current sentiment towards Pentax is not the same as it was 30 years ago

I don't disagree

and I imagine a large number of current pentax users look to things like this more or less to cement the legitimacy of the brand and its equipment in general. not necessarily their personal choice to use it.

perhaps, but by doing the first you achieve the second

[SmallTownObserver]

I am not sure if such topic wasn't discussed before, but I can't find it.

Could you please post names of the famous photographers using Pentax cameras (digital or film)?

ATB,

Pusiek

Didn't the famous Sammy Davis Junior, singer, dancer, actor, member of the Las Vegas Rat Pack use the LX for most of his photograpy? (Davis was so good, that no other, no one, nobody would go on after him in any review or stage show. Considering what he had to overcome, he was amazing. And Pentaxian too!)

[Kerrowdown]

Wow this threads a bit of a blast from the past, until a couple of hours ago last post was September 2008.

[kadajawi]

Philip Bloom used a 645z during his shoot for The Wonder List, though the camera was only used for behind the scenes photos. The content that was aired on CNN was shot with a big Sony (F55 or so), a Canon C100 (Cinema EOS), and a Sony A7S. Plus plenty of GoPros of course.

[RobA_Oz]

Wow this threads a bit of a blast from the past, until a couple of hours ago last post was September 2008.

Just a month after you joined, it seems. It must have been a good year. I hadn't taken any notice of this thread until just now, either.

However, there's no substantial answer given to the question about why you would want to know about the famous photographers who use or used Pentax gear, at least there's no answer in this thread.

The answer, I think, is simple: those people are famous for the quality of the photographic work they've done. As such, they are an important part of Pentax history, and deserve some recognition, not just for the record, but for all of us to consider their work and their possible influence on our own. They weren't just famous for being "well known".

In a broader sense, they are part of general photographic history, but the current fashion for the corporate appropriation of history for their own commercial ends means that some will be less well-known as a result. If there was a better place for the memorialisation or dissemination of their collective efforts (albeit through linkages elsewhere in some cases), I can't think of a better place to do it.

[JimD]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned David Bailey

[Blue]

Wow this threads a bit of a blast from the past, until a couple of hours ago last post was September 2008.

Well, it is a historical thread. It is an interesting place for someone's first post though.