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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-09-2017, 02:14 PM
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So it'll be two year"s" for a 50 1.4? No teleconverter for the new zooms; no extension tubes; no updates to the flashes. And then what -- another 1/2 year to year for the 85? How long after that till the 20 or 24 arrive? I understand these lenses are needed but they aren't what I'd like to see. Realistically, how long before a high quality light weight F4 line of zooms arrive? A 200 macro or tilt/shift? I made the move to Pentax because the K-1 is a wonderful camera for landscape photographers and because Pentax had released a number of full-frame lenses in a short period of time that gave me the impression that Pentax was going to fully support the system and in a timely fashion. I guess when your in your fifties "timely" becomes relative. The K-1 is everything I hoped it would be -- the system build out, well not so much. Hiking with the 70-210, as sharp and wonderful as that lens is, is not fun. Finances being what they are, and having already invested in the system, I'll be around to see what happens, but the slow pace of progress with little outwardly visible support from the parent company has me a little irked and a little worried about the future of the system.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-30-2017, 09:47 AM
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I agree. The photographers listed as Pentax ambassadors on the website all do wonderful work but if you check their websites only 1 has a blog and that is very infrequently updated. None of them promote the Pentax brand that I can see and none offer tips, tutorials or other educational materials working with their Pentax. I don't think you can underestimate what pros like Steve Perry on the landscape side, or Joe McNally on flash do for the Nikon brand -- and I don't think those guys are even paid spokesman, but even if they are Pentax could definitely use people of that caliber working with the brand, promoting It, and showing how to use it best.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-23-2017, 08:27 AM
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It's not so much that comments here and on similar threads are "sabotaging" the brand but I must be honest -- if I had not made the decision over a year ago to move from Canon to Pentax and were making that decision today & read the threads here and seen Pentax not release a lens in over a year I almost certainly would lean toward buying the Nikon D850 -- not because it is any better than the K-1 but because the lens (modern) lineup and accessories are more extensive and I am pretty sure Nikon will be in business and releasing lenses and cameras for the forseeable future. I don't think this is the fault of the posters here but Pentax's own fault.
I mentioned earlier in the thread -- a year ago Pentax looked like a company on a mission with the release of the K-1 and a trio of lenses and with an ambitious road map to flush out the line. Small things that Pentax could have done to buy time if they needed it would have been to release the accessories, teleconverters, extension tubes, updating the flashes, supporting a few pros who release "how to" videos or creating them in-house and having a dedicated area for this on the website, subsidizing if necessary a "Rocky Nook" or similar book for the K-1 and K-P -- all of this would go a long way to showing an engaged manufacturer building out it's lineup. The only "sabotage" I really see is Pentax's all around silence and entropy ....
Please don't misunderstand my posts as Pentax bashing -- I have been a 67 system owner for over 25 years and have picked up the K-1 with quite a few lenses -- I think Pentax did exceedingly well with the K-1 -- but only if it is the first step in building a system and not as a culmination to its history. I sincerely hope Pentax continues it's rich history and builds the brand but I think it is fair to say that they have really dropped the ball in the full frame system by not releasing any lenses or accessories and by being virtually silent on its plans. Hopefully this will turn around in the future ...
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-16-2017, 02:29 PM
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There is a lot missing. Other companies are innovating. Canon may be late to the game with their new 85 1.4 but it's coming. How about tilt/shift lenses -- 3 new ones and with macro capability no less. Sony has released quite a few lenses for their e-line. More importantly Voigtlander, Zeiss, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and others have stepped in to fill gaps with modern lenses. You would be hard pressed to find a single month in the last couple of years where an important lens hasn't been issued for the E mount. In addition Fuji and Olympus have released quite a few lenses for their respective systems.
When I made the move from Canon to Pentax it was after a lot of research and thought. As a long time Pentax 67 owner I knew what Pentax was capable of. I saw a company that had recently released an updated 50 and 100 macros, the 150-450 and then made the move in to full frame with the stellar K-1 which I love. At the same time came the 28-105, 15-30, and 70-200. There was a roadmap. Someone mentioned in one of these threads that no one looks at roadmaps -- well I did, and it was part of my decision making process. I'm not interested in the heavy fast primes today, but I might be someday. I also realized others are and I figured once these were out of the way other lenses that I am interested in would be forthcoming. There was no reason to think that over a year later not a single new lens would appear.
Just as importantly some of the little things that should have been no-brainers for Pentax to release are not available. How about a modern, AF, Aperture-relaying full frame teleconverter to match the 70-200 and 150-450. Ditto for extension tubes. How about supporting the brand with a learning center, supporting a few pros who release instructional videos. Rocky Nook has already released a book on the D850 but not they or any publisher (other than the e-book series here) has released one for the K-1. Why not support such an endeavor?
When one says there are a lot of available lenses this is in fact correct -- but here's the deal -- I don't want to spend endless hours pouring through old lens reports to figure out what will work with the camera, what's good, what iteration of the lens I should look for, then spend more endless hours searching ebay and other venues and hoping I manage to find what I'm looking for and hope the lens is useable when it comes. Not everyone is well versed in the extensive back line up of Pentax lenses. Some lenses also carry a "pentax" premium because the lenses are rare and their is no competition. I anticipated growing with the Pentax line-up as it grows, but if it never comes I, and probably quite a few others made a mistake moving here. Moving between systems is a really big deal and involves a lot of time in research, learning and of course, financially. It's not a simple thing to realize you'd like to use a lens that doesn't currently exist and just buy into a second system. If Pentax does not move forward in a timely fashion there will probably come a time when it will lose it's customer base and the ability to do so.
So what's missing? A star level line of modern, light F4 zooms: 16-35/17-40; 75/100-300. A couple of tilt/shifts. Teleconverters/extension tubes. Updating of the 135/1.8 the 200 macro. That's my wish list -- others will point out lenses they'd like.
Oh well that is just my 2 cents ...
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-23-2017, 07:59 AM
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A quick question for those who have been following Pentax over the years -- are teleconverters something that would appear on the roadmap before happening or is it possible for them to be done without being on the roadmap?
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