Alexander wrote: > I think in the 90s the product management was even > hostile against high quality 35mm gear as they also > ditched the successor to the PZ-1p without any > replacement. Instead they kept the PZ-1p in the > product line for a IMO give away price (but > nevertheless couldn't sell much of them). As a result > everybody expects Pentax to be cheap.
But here is the big mystery; why did they bother with the huge lens line-up. I believe they are still second only to Nikon in the sheer number of lenses available. Why keep all those special lenses in production? For the MZ-5 customers? Hardly. > There was (is?) no long-term marketing strategy for > high end 35mm gear. They did not even market the 35mm > SLrs as a system, they rather marketed single > products. Even up to now Pentax USA and Pentax Europe > do not bother with black limited lenses. Still no > ultra-wide Af lens. I believe the lack of long term strategy is the culprit. Not engineering ambitions or product development. The frustrated (yes they are!) Pentax engineers have developed several interesting high end bodies that didn't get the go ahead. This incudes the "Z-2"; nickname for the Z-1p sucessor and the unnamed LX sucessor described by Pentax head of camera division at Photokina '96 as "a professional body closer to the LX than the Z-1p but without interchangeable finders". Meanwhile, several extremely strategically placed Pentax people have made no secret of the fact that they are working on a "flagship". > I take the introduction of the MZ-S as an indication > that you are right. But things are slowly moving. > After the introduction of the MZ-S two years ago there > has been silence again. The MZ-S was an anomaly. Whatever long-term plan Pentax had, the MZ-S wasn't part fo it. The MZ-S and it's digital sibling was developed at expense of the projects they were already working on to much dismay. I have no idea what they were working on, but signals clearly states that the MZ-S showed nothing of the good things to come. With the latest filing of patents I have no doubt that it includes color matrix metering, IS, USM and the KAF3 mount. How these plans figure today is unknown to me. > According to a rumor spread on the luminous landscape > forum, Pentax is still committed to a full frame D-SLR > (with FOVEON sensor). No idea if that is true, did you > hear anything about that? I haven't heard anything about it apart from the message posted by William and the one you're refering to. However, if the sorce is Foveon, something thats likelay as the rumor apparently has originated outside the "usual" Pentax channnels, then it might be true. Whatever, the rumor has long circulated that a major manufacturer is going to release a full-frame Foveon chipped DSLR. > I hope you are right but it will be expensive and > there is no guarantee that this will pay off in the > future. I fear that this is exactly not what they are > prepared to do. So far, I do not see a long therm > product strategy. The MZ-S looks to me as a temporary > solution rather than as the base to a series of new > high end digital and film cameras. > It took Canon more than 20 years of a consequent > product policy to get into their present dominant > position on the market. When the typical slr buyer, the one who wanted a "good camera" went to the advanced P&S camera, Pentax was there. In fact, they led the way with their pioneering zoom compacts. Pentax dominated this market. What they failed to see with this move, was that the remaining slr buying public changed. Pentax did still try to make another Spotmatic, not realising that the buiyng public couldn't care less and their most important priority was to be seen with the brands the pros are using. During the 90's Pentax has been living well of their huge P&S market share. However, Pentax core market, the zoom compact, is being eaten alive by digital. Pentax can never achieve the same position in P&S digital as they had in the zoom compact segment. The digital P&S market has far more competitors; among them several electronic giants. Pentax need to look to their traditional stronghold; they are among the few manufacturers who does have a complete slr lens line in place. So basically, they need to do something serious in the slr area as this is a market they can expand in. Also, the MF cameras are under pressure from digital although I doubt MF has much importance in Pentax overall: it could be sacrificed. Whats interesting with DSLR is that the game is not only about fancy AF and FPS anymore, but will center more around sensor type and quality, and of course, price. This field will also draw many new users not previously into SLR photography. All this makes this field interesting and hard to predict. A full frame camera makes sense. Would you buy a digital slr from someone who didn't provide an upgrade path? Even if you knew you wasn't going to buy the top model. Also, a full frame DSLR might tempt Pentax MF customer base as well. I am optimistic. After all, Pentax have a new boss from R&D. Hopefull he could be a counterweight to the naysayers in the board. One thing is certain: conservativism won't pay off in a digital future. Pål
