[Mikesul]

Hmm... I don't watch much TV, don't usually read magazines, don't do social media so please excuse my rather insular perspective, but wouldn't a community of happy and enthusiastic Pentax users be the most cost-effective "marketing" possible?

Exactly! Several times over the last decade I have been very tempted to switch systems for good, logical reasons. Each time the deciding factor has been the usually upbeat, helpful, creative atmosphere I found on this board which I did not see elsewhere. I regret that the FF announcement a year ago and the delays have seemed to play a part in diminishing that special atmosphere. Hopefully, all will be well again after the February announcement.

[paulvzo]

Well, for taking photos, the brand name is not an issue at all. However, when I consider spending $10000 in lenses, and eventually decide to resell some of it, a small brand like Pentax is really a problem. If I buy a Canon 600 f4 and decide to sell it second hand in the future, chances are that I can find a buyer. On the other hand, if I buy a DA560, chances are that it's going to be hard to resell (it's already very hard to sell for a retailer having a large user base), except with a big price drop and only if Pentax is still alive. After all the posts I read, I know that the community of Pentaxians is small and a number of Pentaxians buy cheap old lenses for $50 off ebay. Even new, Pentax longs lenses are hard to sell, just look at how many own a DFA150-450 or DA560, it's not massive. Of course, there are lots of Pentaxians who own lots of old stuff, for them there's not risk, if Pentax would run out of business, you could still resell the same stuff at collection price. I'm comfortable even buying one more k mount apsc lens for $500, I consider it to be value zero after I use it for 2 or 3 years, but I can't imagine doing the same with $5000 lenses. For guys not interested to spend on heavy lenses, the spending is limited and as long as it's general purpose , you find a lot more potential users... I do not invent anything: there was someone selling a Pentax FA600 for a while... very hard to sell.

In short, there's no way I'd spend the price of a car into into a brand of camera that has a considerable chance of going bust in the next couple of years, I consider it financially too risky.

$10,000 in lenses? I'm speechless. I've never spent over $90, a used Sigma.

None of my lenses ever made a great or bad photograph. But my brain does both.

[btnapa]

Well, for taking photos, the brand name is not an issue at all. However, when I consider spending $10000 in lenses, and eventually decide to resell some of it, a small brand like Pentax is really a problem. If I buy a Canon 600 f4 and decide to sell it second hand in the future, chances are that I can find a buyer. On the other hand, if I buy a DA560, chances are that it's going to be hard to resell (it's already very hard to sell for a retailer having a large user base), except with a big price drop and only if Pentax is still alive. After all the posts I read, I know that the community of Pentaxians is small and a number of Pentaxians buy cheap old lenses for $50 off ebay. Even new, Pentax longs lenses are hard to sell, just look at how many own a DFA150-450 or DA560, it's not massive. Of course, there are lots of Pentaxians who own lots of old stuff, for them there's not risk, if Pentax would run out of business, you could still resell the same stuff at collection price. I'm comfortable even buying one more k mount apsc lens for $500, I consider it to be value zero after I use it for 2 or 3 years, but I can't imagine doing the same with $5000 lenses. For guys not interested to spend on heavy lenses, the spending is limited and as long as it's general purpose , you find a lot more potential users... I do not invent anything: there was someone selling a Pentax FA600 for a while... very hard to sell.

In short, there's no way I'd spend the price of a car into into a brand of camera that has a considerable chance of going bust in the next couple of years, I consider it financially too risky.

I know a lot of die-hard Pentaxians will argue with you all day long about you being wrong. However, coming from a Canon system, I cannot argue with you.

It was a piece of cake to sell my Canon gear near what I paid for them when I first bought them. In one instance my trusty 70-200 f2.8 IS which I had bought used for $1,350, sold for $1,250 and that was after eight years of constant use! Not that I want to but I cannot say the same about letting go of my Pentax gear. I think it is a wash at the end. I bought the Canon stuff (new and old items) at a higher price and the value held. The Pentax gear, we generally buy at a lesser price and it sells for less at the end. The possible exception of course is a very expensive long lens or some other expensive specialized item.

[Rupert]

Can I volunteer to push the jumper?

Otis says he would make you a special Otis Award worth 20 times any other single Otis Award and induct you into the Otis Hall of Fame....which is currently vacant and awaiting its first hero nominee. It has to be a "terminal" push...where the Jumper is so distraught from your shove that we never hear from or see him again, and can assume that he was so "boriscleto decimated" that even his own mama disowned him.

We could form a team, like a bucket brigade. ☺

Exactly what Otis has in mind! A fully armed brigade shouting "Jump! Jump! Jump" you $^%^##traitor!" A brigade that only cries and squeals if the Jumper seems to be backing down......we want him gone....Otis says Jumpers muddy the gene pool, and here, he regularly executes any Jumper squirrels that dishonor their allegiance to the Army of Otis...or Pentax.

Regards!

[panoguy]

So you're not in the market for one of those 150-600s that Sigma won't make in K-mount, but will make in SA?

Not any more. I'm selling a 180/2.8 macro (w/ OS) in SA, if you're interested in another "never make it in PK" lens!

Yup, it's just a hobby that I pay for with my other hobby. It's a great racket!

Sounds like you need another hobby. How about day-trading on the stock market?

[luftfluss]

My Pentax gear is cheerfully displayed and explained for anyone who is interested. I'm not a door-knocking evangelical-type of promoter though. More the friendly neighbor-at-the-cafe-type Pentax guy. Remember those? Cafes. That's where people went for a cup of coffee -- only one flavor: coffee-flavored coffee -- and enjoyed friendly conversations on topics of the day with fellow townsfolk.

We had sad-sack and sour-puss neighbors in those days too, but they generally warmed to everyone, after thawing out from the winter snow and ice outside.

I love coffee-flavored coffee. In fact, it's the only kind of coffee I drink. And Pentax is very much the "coffee-flavored coffee" of the DSLR world, I think.

Exactly! Several times over the last decade I have been very tempted to switch systems for good, logical reasons. Each time the deciding factor has been the usually upbeat, helpful, creative atmosphere I found on this board which I did not see elsewhere. I regret that the FF announcement a year ago and the delays have seemed to play a part in diminishing that special atmosphere. Hopefully, all will be well again after the February announcement.

mu-43.com is the nicest camera forum I've encountered. Smaller than PF, though. Sometimes I think that m4/3 users have a better appreciation of where their gear exists in the camera hierarchy, so they don't worry about I want my camera to be as good as Brand X... and simply focus on photography and wanting practical, incremental improvements in the bodies and lenses. If I were starting out today I would be shooting either Oly or Pentax.

[boriscleto]

I thought I read somewhere Hoya makes that lens group.

The latest rumor is that the iPhone 7+ is going to have a dual-lens camera array...

Apple's 'iPhone 7 Plus' to sport dual-camera iSight array built on LinX imaging technology

[yucatanPentax]

Exactly! Several times over the last decade I have been very tempted to switch systems for good, logical reasons. Each time the deciding factor has been the usually upbeat, helpful, creative atmosphere I found on this board which I did not see elsewhere. I regret that the FF announcement a year ago and the delays have seemed to play a part in diminishing that special atmosphere. Hopefully, all will be well again after the February announcement.

In almost all threads, I think your description applies. There are a few people who have a professional need for various features or systems who have been unsatisfied. And, there are a few, apparently wealthy people ($10,000 lenses) who apparently want "The Best™" and flog Pentax for not meeting their needs.

And, every now and then, I too fall into the pitfall of thinking, "I just need that one item more and BOOM, great photos!" If (ok, when ) I buy the item, it never boosts my mental creativity or changes my need to get out of the house and actually photograph things.

The vast majority of Pentax Forums are the cheerful, knowledgeable, and creative people as always. I stumbled into this thread and don't seem to be able to escape. I may end up needing Otis to give me a push over the Galleries for some inspiration.

Meanwhile, let's all enjoy some coffee-flavored coffee and our great equipment. Sure enough Kerrowdown is going to be using his sweethearts to make something fantastic for us to view. Manual focus and all. "The latest and greatest" is far over-hyped.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

[BigMackCam]

I love coffee-flavored coffee. In fact, it's the only kind of coffee I drink. And Pentax is very much the "coffee-flavored coffee" of the DSLR world

You could license the rights for that statement to Ricoh, and they should use it as the basis of a Pentax marketing campaign!

[luftfluss]

You could license the rights of that statement to Ricoh, and they should use it as the basis of a Pentax marketing campaign!

I'd have to split the licensing fee with yucatanPentax... new FF's and the Three Princesses for both of us, maybe?

[btnapa]

You could license the rights for that statement to Ricoh, and they should use it as the basis of a Pentax marketing campaign!

I love that line too. I second the idea of the slogan being Pentax's tag line. Talk about the camera for image purists. The funny thing is that with the 645Z, the new FF and the rest of the line up, they do have the coffee!

[BigMackCam]

I'd have to split the licensing fee with yucatanPentax... new FF's and the Three Princesses for both of us, maybe?

"Both"? I believe I suggested the licensing arrangement. 15% broker fee? Oh, what the heck. As it's you... 10%!

[yucatanPentax]

I'd have to split the licensing fee with yucatanPentax... new FF's and the Three Princesses for both of us, maybe?

That would be a nice payment!

"I like coffee-flavored coffee, rich and robust. (scene; coffee poured by waitress from glass carafe into cup and raised to lips) And for photography, (scene: walking out of cafe, thunderburst, rain, camera raising to eye) a robust, weather-resistant Pentax is always my choice. Whatever the weather: PENTAX" (scene: K-3 or K-1, red Pentax logo fadeout)

[luftfluss]

The three of us will have to meet at a neighborhood cafe and drink coffee while hashing out the details. Then we go out shooting.

And after that we'll submit an expense report to Ricoh!

[btnapa]

The three of us will have to meet at a neighborhood cafe and drink coffee while hashing out the details. Then we go out shooting.

And after that we'll submit an expense report to Ricoh!

...and they should pay it!! You guys are giving a lot of free stuff away. Keep a few for the negotiating table.