[djayvo]

I asked the same question a while ago but worded it “Old timers speak up.”

Got a lot of replies on age but what I was looking for was the experienced photographer choice of cameras through the years and wondered why Pentax now. It was reassuring as a new K200 owner that quality seemed number 1 and creativity was about #2 the way I read it anyways.

[Sailor]

The curve has a rather normal distribution.....

It does - and I'm sadly on the long end of it.

Jer

[jeenyus]

The article that turned me toward Pentax was in the February Outdoor Photographer, and was written by Kerrick James. It was about him traveling around and photographing Alaska.

[8540tomg]

I'm in the 50-59 group. I started with Pentax in the early eighties with an MX and an M 50mm 1.4. Added a number of lenses over the years. I stayed with Pentax when I went digital primarily because of the backward compatibility. You have got to love a company that doesn't make you overload the landfill with all their old gear.

Tom G

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Last edited by 8540tomg; 01-30-2009 at 01:59 PM.

[code4code5]

Wow... I didn't expect a normal curve. I was kind of expecting a right skew. :P

[monochrome]

I'm in 50-59 group. My first camera was a Pentax KX, then an MESuper. I had a detour through several Canon point 'n shoots that were convenient for my wife (and me) when our children were young.

My daughter learned on my KX and high school K1000's until they converted to Canon digital bodies and tore out the darkroom (new bodies each year are less money than the film / chemical / paper budget alone). The Yearbook printers require scanned or direct digital images now.

Interestingly, she associates the Pentax brand with "learning." Although she used my KX and a second-had K1000 we had for several years, she bought a film Rebel for her own first camera.

She just bought a Lumix as a party / serious digital hybrid.

I bought the K10D because I ahd the proverbial closet full of lenses.

[SteveM]

I bussed tables when I was 15 to save up and buy a ME Super, M50 1.7 and a M200 4. I love pulling them out to use on my k20d for a walk down memory lane.... It's nice to search for a new (possibly old) gem to try on both film and digital. I really hope Pentax pulls something out soon...the k10d was great......6x7d anyone?

... but it is relevant I think because the thread includes the words 'Pentax Marketing'

I've just looked at the poll results so far . It's interesting to me that as it stands, it is much as one would expect it to be if you think about it. The younger age brackets have fewer representatives because of cost for one reason, Photography classes aren't offered until High School is another. As we go up in the age brackets, the proportion of members grows (I know that statement sounds rude read it whatever way you like) They have more disposable income, need something outside of work and family life etc.
At the highest age brackets, the proportion of members shrinks (I couldn't resist) for various reasons also. This state of affairs seems natural to me a nice curve if you look at the poll.

Unfortunately our demographics aren't a perfect match for the target demographics of todays corporate needs.
P&S Cameras hit most of the demographics you could think of, teenagers, students, parents, grandparents. People use them in the workplace, many small newspapers give their reporters a P&S because that is cheaper than employing photographers, the list goes on.
The target demographic for the new generation of 'Starter' DSLRs is pretty much the same as for P&Ss.
That's where I see a problem, P&S cameras will always(at least at the moment) have the lions share for purely practical reasons from a consumer point of view. DSLRs have to compete with each other for the remaining scraps.
What is the point in putting all this effort into such a small share of the market?
Unless all these new Entry Level camera photographers get LBA and spend, spend, spend on lenses, many of these DSLR sales will merely be at the expense of P&S sales.
There doesn't seem to be any real gain there to make it all worthwhile.

Maybe the true natural market for DSLRs (and by definition, Photography) is quite finite and close to saturation point. Maybe the focus should be on increasing the market share of existing photographers. By that I mean us, maybe what Pentax needs to do to survive is listen to us and photographers just like us at other brands. They can't please all of us but there are a lot of things that could be 'fixed' on the cameras that most of us would agree on. If they can do that, they can increase their market share because their cameras will attract converts. I think higher resolution and FF are unnecessary at the moment, Pentax should concentrate on getting the cameras (and lenses) right before doing anything else.

The gadget loving demographic is the only one I can think of that might invest heavily in these new cameras but that is going to piss off a lot of us because they won't keep buying unless new features are constantly added. Some (or many) of us won't keep buying if the cameras become feature heavy. Again new owners will rise at the cost of losing existing owners.


Sorry for the long post but this is the first time I've really had something to say about what's going on with Pentax and this thread triggered me to say it.

[TaoMaas]

I'm also in the 50-59 group. I bought a Pentax DSLR because I had been using Pentax gear before. I wanted something that would work with my existing lenses.

[wildman]

I'll start by giving my age by the cameras that I first cut my photographic teeth on:

Argus C3, Nikon S2, Practica, Rollieflex, Minolta Autocord, Yashica Mat.
I think you get the idea.

This seems to be an open thread so...

... I think the next big fundamental development in interchangeable lens TTL cameras will not be FF nor higher density sensors, better ISO performance etc.

It will be the elimination of the clumsy, delicate, problem prone, expensive 19th century Rube Goldberg technology of the flip up mirror-pentprism-viewfinder exposing a delicate unprotected costly sensor. I know it has kind of been done already but it's still not developed enough to be taken seriously yet.

This will not be primarily a problem of optics but one of microelectronics and the most likely company to solve it first, out of the present camera companies, would be Sony.

Just a speculation on my part but one can always hope.

Wildman

[Lowell Goudge]

I am now just in my 50's but have been shooting pentax since 1981.

It was then, and still is the best value for money.

[falconeye]

... I think the next big fundamental development in interchangeable lens TTL cameras [...] will be the elimination of the [...] mirror-pentprism-viewfinder

I agree. But...
This is more technically challenging as many think. EVFs like that in the G1 are crap. Still, they are said to be the best available now. Maybe, an EVF doesn't have to match exactly the capabilities of the human eye (as an optical VF does) but it should come close. 20 ms latency, 12 EV contrast, 10 MPixel OLED. Stay tuned...

[Lowell Goudge]

... but it is relevant I think because the thread includes the words 'Pentax Marketing'

i was going to comment here also as it seems to be an oximoron

I've just looked at the poll results so far . It's interesting to me that as it stands, it is much as one would expect it to be if you think about it. The younger age brackets have fewer representatives because of cost for one reason, Photography classes aren't offered until High School is another.

gary you have forgotten your Canadian roots, it is still an Arts option in most canadian schools

As we go up in the age brackets, the proportion of members grows (I know that statement sounds rude read it whatever way you like) They have more disposable income, need something outside of work and family life etc.
At the highest age brackets, the proportion of members shrinks (I couldn't resist) for various reasons also. This state of affairs seems natural to me a nice curve if you look at the poll.

Unfortunately our demographics aren't a perfect match for the target demographics of todays corporate needs.
P&S Cameras hit most of the demographics you could think of, teenagers, students, parents, grandparents. People use them in the workplace, many small newspapers give their reporters a P&S because that is cheaper than employing photographers, the list goes on.
The target demographic for the new generation of 'Starter' DSLRs is pretty much the same as for P&Ss.
That's where I see a problem, P&S cameras will always(at least at the moment) have the lions share for purely practical reasons from a consumer point of view. DSLRs have to compete with each other for the remaining scraps.
What is the point in putting all this effort into such a small share of the market?
Unless all these new Entry Level camera photographers get LBA and spend, spend, spend on lenses, many of these DSLR sales will merely be at the expense of P&S sales.
There doesn't seem to be any real gain there to make it all worthwhile.

Maybe the true natural market for DSLRs (and by definition, Photography) is quite finite and close to saturation point. Maybe the focus should be on increasing the market share of existing photographers. By that I mean us, maybe what Pentax needs to do to survive is listen to us and photographers just like us at other brands. They can't please all of us but there are a lot of things that could be 'fixed' on the cameras that most of us would agree on. If they can do that, they can increase their market share because their cameras will attract converts. I think higher resolution and FF are unnecessary at the moment, Pentax should concentrate on getting the cameras (and lenses) right before doing anything else.

The gadget loving demographic is the only one I can think of that might invest heavily in these new cameras but that is going to piss off a lot of us because they won't keep buying unless new features are constantly added. Some (or many) of us won't keep buying if the cameras become feature heavy. Again new owners will rise at the cost of losing existing owners.


Sorry for the long post but this is the first time I've really had something to say about what's going on with Pentax and this thread triggered me to say it.

overall I think you are on the right track. We have gone through, in the past 5 years the same bump in the road as we had in the early 1980's.

[Nesster]

If my daughter voted, she'd be in the 17 year group. She shoots a Spotmatic, and my K100D.

In photo camp, even some of the instructor/councelors didn't know of Pentax - all they know is Nikon and Canon these days. But a lot of them admired the K100D, and several of her friends started begging their parents for one.

And this was without her showing how her film camera could share lenses.

Me, I'm in the 50's bracket.

[Nesster]

Regarding demographics:

Aside from camera nuts, the supply of whom must be replenished and encouraged, as far as I can figure the two primary targets for dSLRs are the young artists, and parents.

Young artists naturally graduate from p&s to Holgas and SLRs...

The parents are the bigger market. You're competing against video here, and now against all the other bills coming due as upper middle class wealth evaporates.

And parents want a quality appliance to take pics of the baby and the soccer game. That white Pentax could even work with this crowd.

A percentage of these parents will catch the photo bug, and as the kids grow and start leaving house, yes: we have a potential camera nut situation here.