Cotty wrote: > News in AP regarding the Pentax Digital. Scrapping launch of Pentax 6 MP > digital slr in favour of lower-end digital k mount slr more along the > lines of the Canon D30 and Fuji S1. First appearance will probably be > next year's PMA.
And then in another post: > Does anyone think that someone from Pentax reads this list!!!??? Of course. They're smart folks. I have reason to believe that Pentax is not SCRAPPING the 6-mp 1:1 size SLR, but rather delaying it. If I'm right in my supposition that PART of the reason for developing the MZ-S was to have a new modern body on which to base digital SLRs, then the R&D expended certainly represents a major investment even for a company the size of Pentax, and a higher risk than the typical introduction of a new 35mm SLR (even a high-end one). Pentax is certainly researching the market and attempting to adapt to the market as carefully and intelligently as possible. What Pentax is telling us with this latest news is that it's seeing that "ultimate" digital SLRs in a fast-changing market are not repaying development costs, and most consumer have a greater interest in more affordable equipment. Also, I suspect there are frustrating delays in the perfecting of the 6-mp chip. Pentax has both a well-designed SLR camera base AND a good 3- and 4-mp sensors NOW (and may 5 mp, who knows?), so there's really no reason for it to sit on its hands and wait, wait, wait, for the vaporware 6-mp version to be ready. It can build and offer for sale a very good medium-level digital system SLR soon, and so it's going to do so. All this smacks of great good sense to me. What they're going to do is release a smaller-CCD-size, LOWER COST, 3-5-mp digital SLR ASAP, and put off MR-42 until both the market and the technology are more stable. I like the idea. What it means for the Pentax loyalist is that we will have a potentially MUCH more affordable digital SLR to cut our teeth on, technology we buy now will be more reliable and more tried-and-true, and we will still be able to use all our existing lenses and system accessories. All of this represents an "educated guess" on my part. --Mike J. P.S. I have to say that I'm totally NOT sold on the idea that a "full-size" sensor (meaning 35mm size, 24mm x 36mm) is a good idea. I'm really not sure it is. A smaller sensor size is really a great advantage: it means lenses can be significantly smaller and lighter and significantly faster, and depth of field can be greater for a given angle of view. All these are true advantages. I suspect that 24 x 36mm sensors will prove to be an evolutionary dead end in the long run. Right now we think we "want" this because it conforms to the old standards. But once digital shakes free of 35mm conventions, the smaller CCD size will seem like just one more natural advantage of digital. P.P.S. I've requested a sample Optio 330/430 from Pentax for a review (through a friend who works for Pentax), and if I end up getting one I'll post ongoing updates of my findings here in advance of the published review. P.P.S. In issue #3 of The 37th Frame newsletter (www.37thframe.com), I'm going to be presenting a review of the Canon S800 photo printer (an expanded review will also appear on photo.net), and if I can afford to I'll be including an original S800 inkjet print in the newsletter so subscribers can see with their own eyes. If I can get the necessary permissions, I hope to make the sample a Pentax Optio 330 or 430 picture, and thus kill two birds, you might say, with one stone, since the sample picture could then act to augment a future Optio review. We'll see if this all works out. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
