> However, it may hurt some brand > loyal people to realize that their favorite company is doing some, how > to put it, odd things. > > I suppose that MZ-60 with some FAJ zoom attached is operationally no > more complicated that any film P&S.
Boris, Lots of people like to, or need to, use their cameras as point-and-shoots. I wrote next Sunday's column about the Bronica RF645 medium-format rangefinder, and I heard from one fellow who successfully uses that camera as a p/s. I also know of a very famous photojournalist who claims not to know all the controls on her Leica SLR...she says she just knows how to set it so that it works for her, and that's enough. It's hard for US to believe, but many people just need to take pictures, and are not interested in the camera equipment or how all the camera controls work! Also, it's not really uncommon for companies to react to the market and provide what the market seems to be interested in. Canon has very cheap consumer lenses, for instance. It is to be hoped that Pentax will not move towards making all new lenses with no aperture ring. But when many dealers are successfully selling inexpensive SLRs with one or two zooms in preference to actual point-and-shoots, that's a good thing--and it's smart for Pentax to encourage its dealers to sell real Pentax lenses as opposed to independent offerings. More money in Pentax's pockets. --Mike
