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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-21-2018, 09:30 AM
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The deal is an excellent one for a self-selected set of entrants. The cost to enter can be virtually zero -- for some it's only the couple seconds it takes to type a hashtag. The reward has a value of at least $100 (the approximate 1-month rental cost of that lens) and that ignores the subjective value of the fun of entering, competing, and potentially winning. The only open issue is the probability of winning which may be quite good for a decent hobbyist macro photographer (I.e., Irix' target market).
I'm not trying to convince you or anyone to enter the contest. How you feel is irrelevant to the fact that the contest is an extremely good deal for a select subset of people.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-21-2018, 06:59 AM
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No, Adam's goals were totally different than Irix's goals. Adam wanted (and got) a lot of traffic and activity on PF which probably directly boosted ad sales and possibly even helped ad rates if it helped push PF into some high-traffic category. Adam did not care what the winner did with the prize although the K-1s do seem to have gone to people who will enjoy them.
"Weighted in favor" makes it sound like this is a zero-sum game, as if the only way for Irix to win is for entrants to lose. But the entrants can win, too. The value of the borrowed lens + the fun of winning + "exposure" + supporting a liked brand can vastly exceed the cost of posting some macro images that the person was probably going to post anyway. To the right kind of person, the cost is zero, the opportunity is high and thus the contest is also weighted in their favor, too.
Absolutely no one is being forced or even slightly coerced to participate. It really is a free market situation. As such, Irix has proposed a deal that benefits Irix and anyone who looks at the deal can decide whether it benefits them, too.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-20-2018, 07:53 PM
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A give-away is a bad idea. Giving away the lens will just attract people who plan to eBay the lens on day 1 rather than take and post pictures with it. By contrast, the 1 month rental increases the likelihood that the people that enter the contest will be the kind of people who take and post pictures during the early days of the product's launch when that could help drive buzz and sales.
It's up to each entrant to assess whether they will come out ahead by participating in the contest. If one a fan of Irix, has a few decent macro shots gathering dust on a hard disk, and would like to see if the new lens is worth it, then the question of entering the contest is an easy "yes."
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-27-2018, 06:17 AM
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The "best" focal length for macro is a tricky issue. There's value in every possible macro focal length and every focal length is a compromise.
Shorter focal lengths make it easy to get much higher magnifications with extension tubes and bellows. They also provide more of a wide-angle perspective. But the working distance sucks and shadows with lighting can be a problem.
Longer focal lengths offer much better working distances which helps with skittish subjects and with keeping the photographer's shadow out of the picture. The telephoto perspective also helps isolate the subject from the background. But getting to higher magnification is much harder.
Personally, I do love the Pentax 100/2.8 macro but sometimes I wish it had a longer working distance. Sure, I can throw on a teleconvertor to increase the working distance at 1:1 but then the light level and IQ suffer.
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