Different spin than I was looking at. I'm not saying weather Pentax can succeed or not. I'm just stating what they have to do. Personal preferences aside. I agree that Pentax is faced with a dilemma, the same one that faced them when the MZ-S/MZ-D was going to be introduced. Pentax thought that by releasing a FF sensor digital camera they would steal a march on the competition. They didn't reckon with the pace of technological change, (many saw the Philips sensor as being problematic, but I think it was the Canon and Kodak FF cameras with Higher resolution that were the real problem for Pentax, they saw the handwriting on the wall in big red letters). The same problem applies with the APS sensor. I expect that Pentax planned to go another year or two before being faced with Nikon and Konica/Minolta bringing out FF sensor cameras. Now Nikon has brought out a beauty, and K/M, (Sony), can't be far behind. They will have to do something or concede to at best 4th place status as a camera manufacture for the foreseeable future, (which I foresee as not being a very long one). They've already conceded the smallest DSLR category to Olympus if all they offer is marginally better picture performance in a larger package, and have almost all the same features as Olympus, (with Olympus havening a superior sensor cleaning technology and "Live View") then New Customers go to the lowest price, longest feature list, and lets face a local dealer, (backward compatibility in lenses seems to mean little to most New Users at this level). I've yet to see a dealer, either big box, or specialty store that carried Pentax but not Olympus, but plenty that were the other way around.
Joseph Tainter wrote: > P. J. Alling wrote: > > Sony has been slow up to now because they are feeling things out, they > are probably still integrating the K/M engineers and project managers > into Sony's culture. Sony sales managers insist on the cameras being > profitable, and they are milking the old K/M system as much as possible. > However they know to maintain and increase their market share they will > have to match the big boys, and that means a FF body, (as far as I know > they don't even make any reduced frame lenses), so look for a FF body soon. > > That means that Pentax will have to get a FF body to keep from becoming > locked in a contest for 4th place with Olympus and the 4:3 system.. Hoya > will probably not like the odds at that point. They too are interested > in the camera line being profitable. If it isn't, and shows no signs of > becoming so, that's all there will be. > > ----- > > This analysis is spot on. Higher-sounding specs drive the marketing, > which drives camera development. Pentax may be in a real bind here. They > are having terrible problems with the Hanoi plant, and for some time now > have been unable to produce the DA and DA* lenses in sufficient > quantities to meet demand. This is part of what is delaying the > introduction of the telephoto lenses that so many people want. Imagine > the problems if they also have to produce full-frame lenses again while > continuing the DA line. > > If Pentax brings out cameras based on a 24 x 36 sensor, perhaps they can > resurrect some of the FA and FA* lens designs. But I'll bet that the > bodies of those lenses will need to be redesigned for more economical > manufacturing. And both wide angle and wide-to-tele zooms will need to > have redesigned optics. I understand that there is a shortage of optical > engineers, and that Pentax cannot simply go out to college fairs and > hire more. The other manufacturers are also facing this problem. > > So if the market shifts to affordable cameras with 24 x 36 sensors, > Pentax will have a dilemma. They can ignore that market and lose, or > they can enter that market and lose anyway because they don't have > lenses. I am told that Pentax regrets closing their lens production > plants in Japan. > > Joe > > -- Remember, it’s pillage then burn. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
