Given that the K10, 20 , 7, 5 all have a factory lifetime on their
shutters (mechanism, or supporting hardware, firmware?) might I
suggest that if the camera(s) are working for you now, they will
continue to work in the future if they need a replacement shutter,
lever, circuit board, etc.. In almost all cases it would be less
expensive to fix these bodies than to scrap them (they're broken,
right?) until such time as the repair cost approaches the cost of a
new body, or a clean used body. At that time you are enabled to move
up, or move on.
It is good for Pentax that we chase the elusive "fixes" up the
evolving model and feature changes, claiming they have "improved" this
and that over the last model that fell short. The problem is not that
the problems we had or are having with a particular model are
improved, but by what degree are they improved. A 1 % improvement is
in most cases no improvement at all statistically speaking. Yet the
purveyor of such goods can still extoll the "new improved" feature. As
it has. Marketing is as good with words and claims as the writers of
all the damn political lies televised and mailed to us in the past
months and weeks. In my mind I'm thinking of the continuing claims to
have "improved" the AF speed and accuracy with each new version.
Something that I do not see any glimpse of through all the digital
bodies that I have owned.
Many in this group have already chosen to move over to another brand
or paralleled the Pentax equipment they already owned. That's ok if
they need the equipment for a job, or they have the money to support
same. As a retired person on a fixed income, I'm not in a position to
buy the next body. Not until you kind folks are dumping them for the
subsequent "better" body, maybe three generations from now. I've got
my K-7 and will be paying for it until the middle of next year, unless
my 3 LXn and all the associated optical and electrical equipment that
is really no longer germane to my current kind of photography fills my
coffers with vast sums of money. In fact, I've hardly ever used any
other Pentax equipment in the past 5 years except the K10, 20 , or K-7
bodies, with just a few of the DA* lenses. And of those, only the
60-250 seems to work to my satisfaction. The 18-250 almost does the
trick, but it's a bit slow for action other than bright sunshine.
Therefor, at my age and with the plans for what I'd like to do in the
next ten years or longer, I see no reason for holding on to my Pentax
equipment save the K10, K-7 and a dozen or so lenses. I'll either be
strong and cut that number down over time, or be a wuss and keep more
than that for ???? use in the indeterminate future. Many of the non-
Pentax "things" I have now are of little use or value to anyone other
than me as items for show and tell. I've no one to show or tell it to
that gives a shit. I'm not going to have the time or be able to
muster the effort to put together anything that would be used or to
display much of what is here. Especially if I continue to play Mafia
Wars! :-)
Now please don't inundate me with emails re: "what you got?" and "how
much?" because I must go about this in an organized (for me) way which
may take me all winter. I've put my lens inventory out there before,
so it's in the archives. And I promise when I'm satisfied that what
I'm asking for the equipment is fair, both for me and the alleged
buyer, I will let the PDML know about it a few weeks in advance of
Craigslist and/or eBay. Maybe in several groups over time.
Taking photographs now only gets in the way of my more important
plans, which involve humans, and chronicling my life to share with my
friends and relatives, through photographs already taken, copying
prints from hither and yon, and visiting with old friends and
relatives. All while keeping my old Dodge minivan running as long as I
can, and running the dogs every day.
My 2 cents once again...
On Nov 1, 2010, at 11:11 , Steven Desjardins wrote:
I think it will last longer than five years. I still have a
functional *istD on the shelf behind me. At some point it would not
surprise me if Pentax bodies stopped supporting screwdrive, which
means you would be forced to MF. Of course, there are complaints
about the aperture simulator being gone but I learned to shoot on an
SP500 so I had to turn a meter switch on and adjust the controls. No
different with a K or M lens on the K7. For an AF lens to stop AFing
would be a more serious loss of functionality. Still, I bet the
bodies will continue to support it for at least 5-10 years and then
you could still use them in AF mode for the lifetime of those bodies.
By that time, maybe someone will make a screwdrive adapter.
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 2:03 PM, Mark Roberts <m...@robertstech.com>
wrote:
Dario Bonazza wrote:
Boris Liberman wrote:
There is something that bothers me slightly.
The future is a crystal ball with a lot of fog and little if
anything to be
seen. I don't think Pentax knows the future, including their
future moves
beyond the next year, hence worrying now fo possible choices five
years from
now makes little sense. Use your current gear as long as it fits
and move
away if/when it can no longer suit your needs.
Being concerned about possible choices five years from now actually
makes a great deal of sense for someone getting into a camera system
and looking at potentially spending several thousand dollars over the
course of those years.
Joseph McAllister
pentax...@mac.com
The Big Bang was silent, and invisible in it's beginning moments.
— from the Pentaxian's thoughts on particle physics, so far.
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