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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2017, 03:29 AM
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I don't think it is negligence. Someone once said persuasively that there is a cultural mismatch at work. Folks in the East are far more comfortable getting their info from technical manuals than are folks in the West. There may be a lot in that. And I think some of the traditional optical companies are lost in the past. They just don't get the degree to which the world has changed. So many folks these days reach for FB, Instagram, YouTube and a website tutorial before all else. They expect to find what they want on there. They expect to find the info given to them by some kind of opinion-former come brand ambassador. Let's not even get into apps and smartphone competition.
Anyway, I've made up my mind about all of this. Pentax AF isn't nearly as bad as some of these hysterical poster boys are claiming, but it is not comparable to the better stuff from some others. Which means that if you major on sports/action then Pentax is not the best choice - while being an excellent choice for a lot of other things. The weak link which needs all the work is 3D tracking. But in the longer run this reluctance to engage with modern marketing and open up a conversation with users is locking the company into a slow decline by confining sales to the existing userbase almost entirely. I regret this, and it is so unnecessary, but it's Ricoh loss not mine.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-17-2017, 11:49 AM
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If Ricoh really thought that then they would shutter their camera business while their chairman stood on a corner outside at the lunch hour asking passers-by for a dime for his sandwich, so low-rent had they become. Ricoh have no choice but to play the game while they are in it - either that or get out of it and invest the money in something else which will offer a better return to their stockholders.
Besides, a lot of this is not about money but about attitude. How much would it cost to put a user-friendly guide to AF on Pentax cameras on their websites? For Ricoh, peanuts. How much would a video tutorial on Pentax AF cost? Again, peanuts. How much would it cost for a brand ambassador or two who could front the video? A few hundred annually for expenses and loaners and perhaps an honorarium for giving a presentation at a trade show instead of a lot of photocopier executives boring everyone senseless. This stuff is regularly done by amateurs for about ten bucks. Clearly a pro job in several a languages would cost more but honestly the sums here are negligible. Other companies can do this and a few have quite good "photo academy" pages on their websites. With Pentax, my impression is that the company camera culture back at Tokyo HQ just doesn't understand the twenty-first century and is still stuck in an old school era. It's not doing them any good. Even their experienced users are having trouble working out AF settings. If Ricoh want new customers then they need to know what those customers are looking for and deliver it. A change of approach would make a huge difference to perceptions.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-16-2017, 12:54 PM
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Lol, briefs with cherubs on them. We know Ricoh can do innovative and stylish because that's the Theta. Lord knows why they don't put some of that pezzazz into Pentax. Few would obsess about AF they did because comparing the competition wouldn't matter nearly so much. As the mo, Pentax and AF are a kind of grisly spectator sport.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-16-2017, 10:20 AM
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I don't see much style or sense of fun coming from the photocopying fanciers who own Pentax. Maybe they should get out more and quit looking like they've come to collect the body. Perpetual catch-up mode is a slow road to the cemetery. Pentax need innovation and a buzz around what they do. Hey, if others can do this then surely Pentax can too. It's not just about money. It's also about the right people and the right way to enthuse your customers. If I see the chairman of Ricoh taking a board meeting wearing his underpants outside his trousers I'll know Pentax have turned the corner at last.
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