On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 09:22:29AM -0400, Tom C scripsit: > IMO, they need to come out with a full spec pro body that at least > competes with a Canon EOS 5D MKII, or even better a Nikon D3X.
They can't. They don't have the money, customer base, or network of "noted pros" who use their gear and provide publicity. Pentax has missed that train, and is now eight miles west of the tracks at a canoe launch in the wilderness. > I don't understand what the AF issue is technologically. For one > still being on the screw-drive. You'd think they could license the > the technology if they couldn't design it. Pentax *does not believe* in autofocus for SLRs. It is not in accordance to their visualization of the Macrocosmic All. (Note that it works better as focus confirm than it does as autofocus...) > Possibly it all comes down to a lack of funding? Of course it does. As a camera company, the only thing Pentax has to sell is a particular aesthetic. (The "good small primes" thing is a part of the aesthetic. So are the specifics of the in-camera image rendering.) It looks like someone in the new management has figured that out, and started trying to make money with it; the K-x is making money, and that's a damn good thing. The 645D can be another 'unique aesthetic' system. It's niche enough, and potentially good enough, to make money, too. But going head to head with Canikon would require much deeper pockets than Pentax has or can get. It's not at all clear *Samsung* didn't conclude, on sober reflection, that _their_ pockets weren't deep enough for that fight. (Or, rather, that they couldn't possibly make back what it would cost them.) I'm expecting that there will be a "full frame" sensor follow-on to the 645D; that the interesting shelf of lenses in the photos of the Japanese trade show where the 645D was declared available with get announced; and that people will buy both the 645D and the 645Dlite. It might never do what Ralph needs -- high dynamic range at high ISO -- or it might, it's hard to say. There's an awful lot of sensor tech from the medical imaging and science worlds that hasn't made it into commercial cameras yet, and especially if the cryptic comments about partners indicate a willingness to use sensors from somebody trying to lever themselves into the market by being first to market with any or some of those technologies, we could actually get a good surprise. -- Graydon -- 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.
