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11-06-2010, 09:51 AM   #31
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ananta Androscoggin Quote
Obsolete is largely in the eye of the marketing hyperbolists.
True! The term "obsolete" gets thrown around WAY too much these days, IMHO. It really boils down to style vs function.

11-06-2010, 10:00 AM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by JustShane Quote
Hello Pentax Forums.

Plus, I do hear many individuals complaining about Pentax's Flash System and lack of swift auto-focus...

Another one of those "I heard someone said".... blah... blah, without knowing why..
11-06-2010, 10:10 AM   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by jgmankos Quote
I suggest you start shooting the K-r and not worry so much about this stuff. It's an excellent photographic tool. For the price you paid...you're not going to beat the feature set.

Plus, you need to look at the fact that you're buying a "system" and not a camera body and you'll see that these types of fears are really unfounded. Look at the fact that the K-mount has been around for about 35 years even though the company we know as "Pentax" has actually changed hands several times. Even if Hoya would for some reason decide they no longer wish to carry the Pentax division....SOMEBODY is going to buy it. There's too many K-mount lenses out there for some company not to take advantage of this (think the way Sony bought out Minolta's camera division)

Over the past 10 years since I've been fully shooting digital...I've hopped around between Canon, Olympus, Nikon, and Pentax...and I really believe I'm with Pentax for good.

The fact that I can go to a yard sale, estate auction, and find cheap older manual focus Pentax K-mount lenses that have excellent optical quality, and mount them on my shiny new Pentax DSLR was a big draw for me to switch to Pentax. You can't say that for Canon (who totally dissed their FD mount users when they came out with the EF mount), Sony/Minolta...and even Nikon in some respects because they've had different variations of the mount (and even their older screw-drive AF lenses won't Autofocus on the lower-end bodies).

Pentax was behind the curve in Digital in the beginning...but is catching up in a big way with their last 2 rounds of camera releases (the K-7 and K-x...and now the K-5 and K-r). I don't think you have anything to worry about. In fact, the last Canon I owned was a 50D....and my K-5 is a MUCH better camera than the 50D in every possible way. I've never used a 7D so I can't compare the K-5 to that...but I have no desire to anyway. The high-ISO performance was my only real gripe about the K-7...and the K-5 has addressed this in a big way so I think I'll be quite content for awhile

So....just go out and start putting that K-r through it's paces.....and Welcome Aboard

+1 good advice for the OP...
11-06-2010, 10:37 AM   #34
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Thanks guys for all the comments.

Though some of them have been rather derogatory and sarcastic, I probably deserve as much. I *AM* being a bit of a pansy about this.

I guess I should just stick to what I love doing and forget about the rest...

It isn't the GEAR that matters anyway.

It's the art. (Much of which has been created with equipment that would now be considered "out of date.")

11-06-2010, 10:46 AM   #35
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QuoteOriginally posted by JustShane Quote
Thanks guys for all the comments.

Though some of them have been rather derogatory and sarcastic, I probably deserve as much. I *AM* being a bit of a pansy about this.

I guess I should just stick to what I love doing and forget about the rest...

It isn't the GEAR that matters anyway.

It's the art. (Much of which has been created with equipment that would now be considered "out of date.")
Thing is, noone can really argue in 2010 that the k-r is obsolete. But in 2-3 years it certainly will be, in the sense that newer cameras will have newer and better features. So what you are worrying about, I think, is whether the next generation of Pentax cameras will stand up as well to the competition as this generation.

I think you should be happy that there will (almost certainly) be another generation of Pentax DSLRs . . .
11-06-2010, 12:04 PM   #36
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I can understand your buyer's anxiety but you really don't have to worry. As much kvetching as I do about Pentax's marketing ineptitude I do think the company has done a good job of positioning itself in the marketplace and the trio of bodies they've just released are making some serious waves in the industry.
11-06-2010, 01:00 PM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by dadipentak Quote
As much kvetching as I do about Pentax's marketing ineptitude I do think the company has done a good job of positioning itself in the marketplace and the trio of bodies they've just released are making some serious waves in the industry.
What marketing? Here in Australia Pentax has virtually no effective marketing, so any real marketing for this brand is either the result of an online review or through "word of mouth". And look how effective that has been at promoting the K-x. There's been a large increase in membership on this website due to new K-x owners.

JustShane, don't just consider the hardware you've purchased. Consider the intangibles. At least after buying a Pentax I don't feel like a lemming following the consumer path assigned to me by the massive marketing resources of Canikon.

Here in Australia, and I suspect in the US, buying a Pentax is a counter-cultural act! JustShane, welcome, you've just joined the (marketing) Resistance.


Dan.


Last edited by dosdan; 11-06-2010 at 01:08 PM.
11-06-2010, 01:05 PM   #38
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Follow the excellent advice you have received here. You have a great camera and it will serve you well. You are just feeling buyer's remorse.

Worse case is Pentax goes belly up and the market is flooded with equipment. Your camera still works, buy a spare body for a song and keep taking pictures.

Now Hoya spent a small fortune to buy Pentax several years ago. They have had a successful string of camera models - K7, Kx, K5 and Kr. The 645D medium format camera at $9,000 +/- is selling very well. If anyone has a worry it would be a 645D user and they are confident in their new acquisitions.

I had to drive over to the other side of town this morning, and on the way back I stopped at a large electronics store. They had a wide assortment of cameras, and carried both the Pentax K7 and Kx. The small Pentax compared to the massive Canons, Nikons and Sonys stood out as an exception. Their lenses are enormous. Body and lens together need a wheelbarrow for transportation.

You have made an excellent choice. The pictures will be wonderful. There is a wealth of equipment / lenses available to meet just about anyone's need. 40 year old wonderful lenses will work just fine. Pentax is not going to go anywhere. They are a survivor, and are doing just fine - just look at their most recent releases.

Take pictures with confidence!

11-06-2010, 01:07 PM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by JustShane Quote
I worry very much about the unpopularity of Pentax as a system and I fear for its future.
Thank you for reading and letting me into your community. I look forward to the responses. :-)
As an old Pentax user, be afraid. Very afraid.
For no particular reason

I find it funny when such posts appear, right after Pentax launches some excellent products (which no doubt will be successful on the market). They (Hoya, in fact) also announced everything is going well:
"In HOYA ’ s Pentax brand digital cameras, the number of single lens reflex
cameras sold rose from a year ago, reflecting continued robust demand for
entry-level cameras, which in turn resulted in higher sales of interchangeable
lenses." - http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/investor/d0h4dj00000014ze-att/d0h4dj0000001804.pdf
All these are signs that the sky is really falling!
11-06-2010, 01:12 PM   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by JustShane Quote
Hello Pentax Forums.

After recently purchasing a K-R with both the 18-55 and 55-300 zoom lenses for $769.95, I feel a bit worried.

Financially speaking, I know I saved a great deal of money and I'm confident that the K-r is actually a rock solid camera in and of itself. Everything I read about it impresses me and it sounds like this could be a huge step up from my old Canon Rebel XS.

However, I worry very much about the unpopularity of Pentax as a system and I fear for its future. The difficulty in finding individuals who use these cameras makes me uneasy. (Heck, even CameraLabs.com has yet to review and rate a Pentax!)

Plus, I do hear many individuals complaining about Pentax's Flash System and lack of swift auto-focus...

I guess I'm not sure WHAT to think exactly. On one hand, I got such a good price on this that I could maybe even PROFIT from the deal if I'm patient enough to sell it. On the other hand, that would yet again leave me on the search for a camera and I'm getting sick and tired of not taking photographs...

Do you guys have any thoughts on this? I know this is a rather poor introduction on my behalf, as I'm essentially whining here. But I *do* need some input from users of this system who have experienced what it has and has not offered.

Thank you for reading and letting me into your community. I look forward to the responses. :-)
Here are my thoughts.

Put one of the lenses on the camera, charge the batteries, put a card in the camera, turn it on, and go take some pictures. Screw what anyone else thinks of Pentax.

What the brand offers is the ability to use ANY, and I do mean ANY Pentax lens ever made. Do that with another brand.

11-06-2010, 01:35 PM   #41
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Pentax is on a roll, and I expect their sales to jump considerably. At the present time, they have the best prosumer APS-C camera (K-5), the best entry level APS-C (K-r) and a reasonably priced, very fine medium format camera (645D). This is not the picture of a company that is on the verge of disappearing. What Pentax lacks is an effective marketing campaign to get their products noticed, and there is reason to be hopeful that things are changing on that front as well.

I suspect that you are feeling insecure, because all of your friends shoot Nikon and Canon and also because you are constantly seeing advertisements for those brands. Take heart. Virtually all Pentaxians have had the same feelings of doubt for the same reasons. But Pentax is still here and so are we. Your K-r will match or beat any other entry level camera, and it comes with in-body shake reduction which will work with any lens that you can mount on it. That is something that no Nikon or Canon user can claim.

Rob
11-06-2010, 02:28 PM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by JustShane Quote
Thanks guys for all the comments.

Though some of them have been rather derogatory and sarcastic, I probably deserve as much. I *AM* being a bit of a pansy about this.

I guess I should just stick to what I love doing and forget about the rest...

It isn't the GEAR that matters anyway.

It's the art. (Much of which has been created with equipment that would now be considered "out of date.")

Just remember that with Pentax there is no such thing as out-of-date. I'm waiting, patiently - yeah, patiently, for a lens made by Takumar in ~1962 that will work on my K-x. I've got my eye on another lens that is over 50 years old and rated as one of the best available. So, settle in and start looking at old glass.
11-06-2010, 02:57 PM   #43
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Don't worry, Pentax will not go out of business. The company has a lot of value in all the patents it holds on various lenses, and a stronger market share in the EU and Asia than in North America. Worst case scenario is that Pentax will be bought by another company... and no company would pay all the money required to purchase Pentax just to axe the K-mount. I believe Hoya has been good for Pentax and I suspect they will have a nice little niche in the market for years to come.

I like to think of Pentax as Apple in the 1990's. People who don't own them do not get them. Those who do own them could not imagine switching. (In this analogy, btw, Olympus is Linux ).
11-06-2010, 03:43 PM   #44
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I really do hope that pentax goes out of business! Everyone else will bail and i can buy their excellent lenses for just a bit more than nothing.
11-06-2010, 04:34 PM   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by AntY Quote
I really do hope that pentax goes out of business! Everyone else will bail and i can buy their excellent lenses for just a bit more than nothing.
Don't bet the ranch on it. There are many out of production lenses selling for far more than the Original New Price.

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