Originally posted by maw Why is that [Sonikanon mirrorless owners buying Pentax lenses] bad news? All the optics and Pentax bodies I bought on ebay and in physical stores around the world, doesn't that mean I believe in it?
I think you misunderstood my point. Ebay is an auction. Think of an old fashoined auction room, and you go there because you want a certain vase or painting. The more people there who also want that painting, the higher the bid price will go. So when I am sitting in the auction room waiting for the bidding to start, my heart will sink if I see a crowd of other people arrive to bid against me. Sonikanon mirrorless owners who have joined the market for vintage Pentax lenses are like that crowd of other people arriving in the auction room to bid against me.
Of course, it is
good news for anyone
selling vintage Pentax lenses. And the auction principle applies in an indirect way to "Buy it Now" prices and dealer prices for vintage gear.
However much people think
vintage Pentax lenses are good, it will not make Sonikanon mirrorless owners go out and buy
new Pentax lenses, so it does not help the Pentax brand at all - if they buy new they will buy their own brand.
Your point seems to be that it is a nice compliment to Pentax and Pentaxians that Sonikanon owners are seeking vintage Pentax lenses, and therefore good news. Actually it fits in with the unfortunate but widely held view that Pentax was a great brand in the past but are second-rate today - a view expressed only a few days ago by none less than the editor of
Amateur Photographer :
What went wrong for Olympus? - Amateur Photographer (in the last paragraph, he describes Pentax as "
tragic"). But I could not care less about compliments (or insults) from Sonikanon owners.
Originally posted by DamienW Is it only in middle-age that I've become a contrarian? Sometimes I think I love Pentax simply because almost everybody else uses Canikony
I've always been one. I chose Pentax back in the 1980's on the basis of reviews, specifications, and handling cameras in camera shops. I took little notice of personal recommendations (my boss said Olympus, and my father said Minolta) and even less of advertising to which I am somewhat allergic.
Although I knew little about the market then, it turns out I chose wisely. I would never buy Sony, partly because they scammed their customers in the Root Kit Scandal
Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal - Wikipedia some years ago, and partly I regard them as a consumer company with no deep roots in serious photography. I regard Canon as too popular and some of their cheaper stuff is trashy, and their flagship cameras have always seemed to be a bit weird to me, at least in film days. If not for Pentax today I would go for Nikon - I can admire their cameras and worry that they could be the next victim after Olympus.