I think the issue is more of a concern that Pentax will not move fast enough and will miss an opportunity. I for one would be happy to just hear a statement form Pentax about what they intend to do.
Your analogy to computers is a little off the mark. Computers offered new functionality right out the gate - even the simple 8 bit jobs revolutionized word processing and number crunching. In the early 80's I used to compile a fairly complex budget were I worked on paper ledger sheets. It would come back with a list of changes - trim this by 10%, reallocate that to earlier in the year, eliminate this, add that... etc. It was about a 10 hour job to re-write, re-add, and check this thing. My first XT with Lotus knocked that down to about 1 hour of data entry and checking. Even an absurdly slow and crippled PC, by today's standards, offered a huge boost in functionality. In fact, the change from going from paper and pencil to an XT, in terms of using a spread sheet, is vastly more significant than going from and XT and Lotus v1 to a Pentium IV and Excel 2000. Of course, the Pentium offers other technologies that would be impossible on the XT. By contrast, digital cameras do not offer much new. They capture an image, just like a 35mm. I bought my small format digital because it does offer a difference in DOF for close ups, but other than that it does not offer a lot of new functionality. That was a niche in my particular style / subject matter of shooting. It also offers some advantages in convenience, speed of getting the image, and swapping a fixed cost for ongoing costs - some of which are critical for some shooters (like PJ's who can by pass the darkroom) but not critical to most. So while computers offered revolutionary new ways of doing things, and offered up entirely new areas of functionality (like the internet, image processing, etc) - digital photography offers much more modest increases. It's more like the shift from LP records to CD's - not a dramatic change in functionality (put something in a machine, hear music) but enough of a change to make LP's obsolete quickly. So you are right - it does not make sense to devote a lot of effort to building a high end digital that will soon be obsolete. However, given the inevitability of digital, some articulation of a plan to adapt to the new technology from Pentax would be wise. Given that this company has been a late adapter in other arenas, that it has been hurt by it's lack of nimbleness, and that it just scrapped a major project that was designed to demonstrate its commitment to digital (the digital Mz-S) - some signal that Pentax has a plan and intends to survive would be appreciated. I think a white paper or vision statement on its website could do it - without compromising trade secrets or anything. Although it is intangible, consumer confidence in a company is a key factor to the competitive success and even survival of that company. - MCC At 12:56 PM 12/5/01 +0100, you wrote: >Cotty: >>This seems to be in keeping with the look of how things are panning out. >>It must be obvious to the whole industry that the success of the Canon >>D30 has highlighted the need for medium-priced pro/am digi SLR. With the >>previous 6MP Pentax vapoware, the price would have been well within the >>Nikon D and upcoming Canon EOS1 D territory - but few would have been >>sold, seeing as how Nikon and Canon have cornered the pro market. Very >>few Nikon/Canon users would have swapped for a Pentax - even if it was >>full-frame. The next cameras from Nikon and Canon will have full frame >>sensors. Which leaves us, a few making there living shooting Pentax, >>most doing it for love, not wanting to lose all the glass, wanting good >>quality. >> >>If there is anyone at Pentax reading this, or anyone knows anyone at >>Pentax, please copy and paste the following and email it to them: >> >>------------------ >>Dear Pentax, >> >>I am an amateur Pentax user of many years, on the cusp of introducing >>digital image acquisition to my repertoire. I am painfully close to >>buying a Canon D30, and I do mean painfully. I am prepared to wait - but >>not for much longer. The point is, if I don't get the chance to buy a >>Pentax DSLR soon (before Christmas 2002 TOPS), I will, without doubt, be >>getting a D30, and swapping glass as appropriate. The even bigger point: >>very unlikely I will swap back, because then I will be caught up in the >>Canon Way, updating bits of kit as and when appropriate. Sure I'll keep >>some vintage Pentax kit, but as a company, that's of little interest to >>you - what you want is for me to buy a Pentax D, not a Canon D. What you >>want is for me to stay Pentax, so I'll then upgrade as new cameras become >>available, new lenses, and so on. So please, I know you're working on it, >>I know you're building it - give me (and all the rest of us in this >>situation) a quick word of confirmation. Tap out a quick press release, >>give it to the magazines as a filler even. But give me a confirmation >>that we'll see hardware on the shelves sometime SOON! Thank you. >>----------------- >> >>I sometimes think that we, as Pentax users, could do a better job! Anyone >>want to bung some money in the hat and we'll buy out Pentax - the PDML >>co-operative? >- >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 . > - - - - - - - - - - Mark Cassino Kalamazoo, MI [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - - - - - - - - - Photos: http://www.markcassino.com - - - - - - - - - - - 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 .
