Pentax isn't Dying. Film is, increasingly slowly at some stage perhaps, but it's still going down. As Pentax has/had a pro-market in MF, they have to upgrade this (Hasselblad and Rollei did) or/and try to dig further into/stay alive in consumer DSLR/D-P&S markets. Sadly this could have been done quite nicely with the DMZ-S (digital MZ-S version) or a new full-frame 8-12MP DSLR (I'm probably draeaming). The latter may never come or at least be long after the (Canon)train has reached the next station.
What's left is the consumer diggies and gimmick- and gadget-market. I guess Baby *ist D and the Optio MX are good excamples of these lines of future Pentax cameras. Jens Bladt mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hjem.get2net.dk/bladt -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: El Gringo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sendt: 17. juli 2004 07:04 Til: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Emne: RE: Pentax is Dying? Man you people are ridiculous.... Pentax will have 3 DSLR's including a unique in the world of photography FF medium format digital camera based on the well loved 645 camera system. Certainly they are not failing as a company. I tried winning a DA 16-45 on Ebay, but once it got within 95% of retail I gave up on it. The assumption I have to make about that is, there is serious demand for this lens. And most owners seem completely satisfied by the lens as well. $420 for performance that equals the Canon L series, I can hardly call that a failure. Be patient. Pentax is not huge, they cant work miracles, if the new DSLR sucks then bitch. But until then, lets put a hold on the rampant negative speculation, it helps nothing. I am excited as heck about the changes Pentax is making, and I look forward to being a user of the new emerging Pentax system. -el gringo -----Original Message----- From: Steve Desjardins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 8:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Pentax is Dying? Another: Pentax is doing fine as a company but is beginning to de-emphasize their photo division, or at least moving to a leaner photo division.. Possible explanations that come to mind: demand has suddenly skyrocked and Pentax can't ship fast enough (yeah right) labor troubles, political troubles at their lens assembly plant withholding supply from US until currency exchange rates improve Pentax is having cash flow problems Pentax has a problem with parts supply (plausible if K mount hardware is the issue) Pentax is in the process of moving their assembly operations and the move has disrupted operations Pentax is failing as a company