[totsmuyco]

He has turned to the light. Kai W is now a Jedi Pentaxian

You Tube

You Tube

[MikeyBugs95]

I just saw a person at the beach who I think was carrying a Pentax K-5 or K-3. It was a nice silver, with an angled pentaprism housing and a groove between the main body and the shutter button area. And then the autofocus confirmation beep sounded just like a Pentax. I didn't ask to confirm, though, because I was working.

[Fluegel]

Must have been a truly rare occasion.
Up till now I have not seen anybody in the free world using a Pentax body.
Not so strange as only 2-3 percent of camera users own a Pentax camera.
Something must have gone wrong with the transition from film cameras to digital bodies.

Pentax was one of the great makers of cameras and lenses.
The fact that 30-40 year old lenses still perform well with DSLR cameras says enough.

[Alex645]

Not so strange as only 2-3 percent of camera users own a Pentax camera.
Something must have gone wrong with the transition from film cameras to digital bodies.
Pentax was one of the great makers of cameras and lenses.

This could start an entirely new thread. I think it was a combination of many things.

Before the digital transition, Kodak was constantly developing new technologies and formats to make the mass market bigger, from 126 to 110 film cartridges to disk film and then the APS system. Kodak had the money and resources to develop digital imaging and as Nikon was #1 in film SLRs, Kodak used Nikon bodies with the earliest DSLRs.

1994 Kodak DCS420 (in a Nikon body)
1998 Kodak DCS520 (in a Canon body)
1999 Nikon D1 (first Nikon non-Kodak DSLR)
2000 Canon D30 (first Canon non-Kodak DSLR)
2000 Fujifilm S1 (in a Nikon body)
2003 Pentax *ist D
2006 Sony Alpha A100

Kodak had all the technology and patents in the beginning and they realized the prices were going to be for pros at first, so they went to the pros first. Pentax, Minolta, and Olympus didn't really have a solid pro following like Nikon or Canon, so they had to do their own thing. Sony was more into audio and video, so they were behind as well for pro level DSLRs. Canon and Sony also grew with sales for video broadcasting with networks.

Pentax was heavy into government and educational institution sales in the film era. When film declined, Pentax did not have the resources to transition quickly enough to keep those contracts.

But if we aren't looking at solely the economics and brand recognition, I'd say Pentax continues to be one of the great makers of cameras. The K1-II, the 645Z, and in a price comparison with Canikony, Pentax APS-C DSLRs are better featured.

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Last edited by Alex645; 05-13-2020 at 06:47 PM.

[swanlefitte]

Pentaxians are practicing social distancing and have been for years.

[house]

Fuji's are probably the most common cameras where I move about in Stockholm. Tourists in big groups have quite a lot of entry level canon's and nikons. I only saw them when I cycle to work as I pass the royal palace. I do see a fair few m43's as well, mostly on parents in playgrounds etc. Saw a couple of Leica's on either chinese tourists or street photographers before corona but only say four a year.

[Fluegel]

Post 6169 is not complete without mentioning Hasselblads early digital developments.
Hasselblad was more than ten years earlier than Kodak or any other manufacturer for that matter.
I still have the first digital back that weighed about a ton. It needs special support to be attached to a motorized body.
Despite that the back has a frightening number of pixels: 4 Mp is all you get.
Initial cost a staggering 30.000 USD.
I bought one and made a fortune with it. All ad agencies demanded digital formats.

A couple of years later Hasselblad was bought by an investment company that decided to ax the development of digital equipment stating there was no future in digital.
These guys killed what could have been a leading position for Hasselblad in the world of professional digital photography.

[Alex645]

Post 6169 is not complete without mentioning Hasselblads early digital developments.
Hasselblad was more than ten years earlier than Kodak or any other manufacturer for that matter.

More than ten years earlier? Please explain.

I know the Leaf DCBI medium format back (now owned by Phase One) was the first commercial back in 1991, three years before Kodak's firsts commercial DSLR and that it was part of system for Sinar and later Hasselblad.

If we want to go back to the first digital image, we have to credit Harry Bartholomew and Maynard McFarlane in 1920. And then the Bell Labs developed the first MOS sensors in 1959 and the first CCD in 1969. Telescopes were using digital sensors before hand held cameras.

[K-Three]

first commercial back in 1991

When I was at NASA Dryden, about 1992, we had a Kodak/Nikon hybrid digital camera on loan for a few months,
Was an F3 body, with a big battery pack/processor similar, but larger, to the standard Nikon motor drive hanging off it, a big heavy cable (about as big around as your thumb) came out of it, and went to another battery pack/hard drive that hung off your shoulder. The imaging chip was smaller than APSc; I think I remember we needed a 15mm lens for near normal (50mm) coverage. I don't remember having a screen to review images on it, had to get back to a computer and download/review.
We played around with it, I don't remember getting much of quality out of it, took forever to get the image from the chip to the hard drive. Pretty sure it was a prototype, doubt there were very many copies of it made.
I don't see the configuration I remember in this Nikon white paper, but this seems to cover that early period about right.

[Wheatfield]

I'd say Fujifilm cameras are more common than Pentax.

I went to the Fujifilm global website and clicked through to the X-system page and it all looks good. One easy-closed request to join their mailing list and no other pop-ups (on Chrome). I'd say it's a well-organised and good-looking site.

The X- system lenses are very good. I still have my X-T1 and five lenses. I don't deal really well with electronic viewfinders yet, but they are close. The X-T3 in it's jackrabbit mode is pretty well there for me, but the battery consumption is quite high.

[richard0170]

Up till now I have not seen anybody in the free world using a Pentax body..

I saw an attractive young woman carrying a KP last September on a coastal path in Anglesey. I was kicking myself for not bring my own with me that day so we could mutually congratulate ourselves on our choice. I did however give her a cheery wave with my ME Super I was toting!

[Jonathan Mac]

The X- system lenses are very good. I still have my X-T1 and five lenses. I don't deal really well with electronic viewfinders yet, but they are close. The X-T3 in it's jackrabbit mode is pretty well there for me, but the battery consumption is quite high.

I manage fine with the EVF on my X-T20 and I've never needed to speed up the standard refresh rate (I think it can be doubled) but I suppose this depends on what you're shooting.

[Wheatfield]

I manage fine with the EVF on my X-T20 and I've never needed to speed up the standard refresh rate (I think it can be doubled) but I suppose this depends on what you're shooting.

It depends on how sensitive one is to flicker. At 60hz, the evf gives me a headache if I look at it for more than half a minute or so. The jackrabbit mode bumps the refresh up to 100hz. That is almost ok.

[CapitanXeon]

It depends on how sensitive one is to flicker. At 60hz, the evf gives me a headache if I look at it for more than half a minute or so. The jackrabbit mode bumps the refresh up to 100hz. That is almost ok.

No surprise being 90Hz the minimum acceptable (and not by everyone) and 120Hz the supposed acceptable point for everyone on Virtual Reality. But without the plus of going down because of it...

[Fluegel]

More than ten years earlier? Please explain.

I know the Leaf DCBI medium format back (now owned by Phase One) was the first commercial back in 1991, three years before Kodak's firsts commercial DSLR and that it was part of system for Sinar and later Hasselblad.

If we want to go back to the first digital image, we have to credit Harry Bartholomew and Maynard McFarlane in 1920. And then the Bell Labs developed the first MOS sensors in 1959 and the first CCD in 1969. Telescopes were using digital sensors before hand held cameras.

I bought the first digital back offered by Hasselblad in 1985. That is way ahead of other manufacturers.
You mention Kodak in connection with Hasselblad. Hasselblad did not work with Kodak although Kodak offered a DB suitable for Hasselblad 500 series cameras in the early days of digital imaging.