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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-20-2012, 05:05 PM
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With the lack of compelling new products, Pentax is now firmly confined to a has been backwater brand. Unfortunately the only thing going for Pentax is because it is cheap, nothing more. This obviously fits perfectly to the aging demographic of it's users who for the most part want the best features but are financially challenged. There is simply no upgrade path upwards towards FF as other brands have been offering for so many years. This much is the hard reality. Waiting to 2013 or 2014 to unveil a FF camera is too little and too late to hold back those who want FF.
The slew of cheaper FF cameras have fractured the distinction between APS-C and FF and Pentax has NOTHING to even match this. IF you don't even have a first generation FF camera to show NOW, much less be available on sale, how in the world can Ricoh even conjure up a cheap and affordable FF in the short term? It isn't easy to scale up a K-5 to create a competitive FF. When you have nothing to show not even a prototype or proof of concept, it is ludicrous to believe that you can roll out a world beating FF product down the road, especially when Canikon have a tremendous headstart.
And the problem is the current Pentax user base don't have the capacity or capability to spend on a FF camera system. Just look at the number of Pentax users who bought the K-5 at the end of the model life, most were't prepared to pay for it until it was massively discounted. Those who do want and can afford FF have already jumped ship or will do when the more affordable Canikon FFs hit the shops. There is going to be a modest take-up for Pentax's new camera and gear offerings because they are behind the curve in delivering what the consumer wants. The K-5 II and K-5 IIs should have been showcased one year ago. They would have created much attention then, but now they are overshadowed as a company and have lost the plot big time.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-06-2012, 08:25 PM
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Unless there's a contest...
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
12-12-2011, 03:48 PM
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I don't have a blog post to go over what I like the most about the 5N. In general, I really like it but I have reservations in the negatives that you have to do your own research. There are various shortcomings which I hope to provide more details later on. For now, I give you a list of positives and negatives for brain-storming
The goods:- Great sensor with good image quality
- Outstanding implementation for Peek Focusing and Manual Assist -- a great feature for manual focusing -- it is very refreshing to use and close to make up for the absence of a viewfinder.
- Very good form factor on the thin body (not including lens) that is not too small but yet small enough to be almost pocketable.
- Ergonomics is a compromise on the small body but I will consider it a step or two better than the M4/3 and mirrorless that I have played with in Samsung and Olympus. The grip is small but very critical to have for my liking of the NEX system.
- Good high ISO and overall image quality.
- The AF in E-mount is pleasantly quiet and this silent AF maybe taken for granted but very cool to AF without the annoying AF motor. You have to use it to believe it.
- Outstanding tilt-able screen and NEX does it right for shooting like a waist level finder. It works well for low and high angle type of shooting as well as from the hip. It helps in street shooting and offer less intrusion to others.
- Good feature set in "creative style", "picture effect", 'HDR/DRO' etc.
- Good assortment of adapters to all sorts of SLR and rangefinder type of lens.
The bads- It is expensive for what it is. When you compare a good dSLR like K7, K5, Nikon D7000 or the like, the cost in 5N with EVF can add up easily to get close to the cost of some good dSLR. Cost benefit alone isn't there to justify the purchase.
- Lack of e-mount lenses and 3rd party native e-mount. Recent trend seem to minimize the concerns with Zeiss 24mm f/1.8, E 50mm f/1.8 and those from Tamron, Sigma, SLRMagic, Samyang etc.
- Expensive EVF for $300+
- Absence of hot shoe support -- this is the worst support with Sony in 5N and if you are a strobbist looking for external flash support, you will be better served with Nex 7.
- Minor annoyance with the Sony long list of menu items -- it takes a photographic memory to remember where things live in the settings. It get better with usage and the soft buttons programmable shortcut do help tremendously
- AF in dimmer lighting is slower but still acceptable in my use. I wish it faster.
- Build is reasonable but it does not convey the notion of long lasting durability. The battery and SD card is easy to access and operate but the door lock switch looks not durable. The flash light, micro phone accessory shoe is difficult to mount the provided flash -- I have to use my pinky to screw the flash tight. The trick is to access the flash tightening screw from its back panel.
And I probably miss some of the important points, I will update when I think of them. But before I leave this thread, I want to show you what a Crumpler 2 million dollar bag can hold
 
Crumpler 2 million bag with Pentax Auto 110 24mm f/2.8 - Sony nex-5n with 18-55 kit zoom mounted
- Sony E 16mm f/2.8 pancake to sit next to the nex body
- Pentax Auto 110 24mm and 18mm in the accessory pouch
- An extra battery and its small provided flash in accessory pouch
And please like this post for my inputs on the goods and bads on my initial experience on NEX 5N.
Cheer,
Hin
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