Pentax has gone through a lot of changes in the last decade. In the late
90's Pentax offered a lens lineup that was easily on par with Canon and
Nikon and offered a lot of specialty items. On the long end - 600mm f4,
400mm f2.8, 300mm f2.8, 400mm f5.6 - and short end - 15mm, 20mm
autofocus and the F 17-24 fisheye.... They also had an excellent range
of macro lenses and enjoyed full third party support from Sigma, Tamron,
and Tokina. But they missed the transition to auto focus bodies big time
and were playing catchup in camera bodies, particularly WRT AF and
evaluative metering. Today the the lens lineup is much weaker, though it
is improving. Pentax still lags on bodies though at this particular
moment in digital camera design that is more in regards to sensor format
and megapixels.
If and when I can't get Pentax gear to do what I want to do, I'll switch
brands. I spent a bit of money on a replacement for my A*200mm macro
lens a while back, but it was a calculate decision. I set my top
purchase price at something less than the cost of a comparable Nikon or
Canon body, their 200 or 180 macro, and flash and other essentials for a
new system. For me, that analysis highlighted the costs that come with
switching. Making a total transition from one system to another, if you
are seriously invested in lenses, bodied and flashes, is very expensive.
Selling your old gear and buying new is expensive. Trying to maintain
two systems is even more expensive.
If one is lightly invested then it makes sense to move on. Or start a
second system. For me, buying into the Q system is really just going
iwth a second system since there is only limited overlap with the core
Pentax gear that I already have (mostly wrt flashes.)
I am hoping that we see something out of Pentax - Ricoh that tells us
that they are serious about the K-AF mount and it's corresponding glass.
I really don't care if they lag the market regarding FF dslr, but let's
face it - the day is not far off when FF will be the consumer standard
for DSLR. The most worrisome thing that I can interpret form Pentax
Ricoh's comments on FF DSLR's is that they may think that FF is a
passing fad. That would be delusional thinking - something that the old
Asahi Pentax might have indulged in but Ricoh is a much smarter and
hardened company. After all, Ricoh was one of the first significant film
camera manufacturer to get out of the film business and switch to
digital only.
These days, I am just shooting as a hobbyist and all my needs are met
with the glass I currently own and the bodies I currently have. While I
want new toys and would love to have a full frame dslr, I don't need one
and am happy with the images I get from the K5. I didn't give a damn
about the poor AF and AE Metering of the PZ series of bodies back in the
90's either. But I am reluctant to continue to invest in a system whose
future is up in the air. I would certainly never buy something like the
DA 560 unless I knew what body would be around to use with it in the
future.
There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Pentax's future direction
regarding bodies and glass. They seem to be aware of this and the lens
roadmaps appear to an attempt to address that. A road map WRT bodies
would be even more important.
Mark
On 4/13/2013 9:38 AM, George Sinos wrote:
I think I subscribed to PDML in 2000 or 2001. It seems like the last
couple of years, and especially the last few months the topic of other
brands supplementing Pentax gear or just plain switching to other
brands has significantly increased.
Thom Hogan started a series called "How to Choose a Camera (Intro with
Homework)" on <www.bythom.com> He starts with this:
"...at this point in the digital era, almost all cameras are highly
competent. At the DSLR level, image quality even with the entry models
surpasses what most people could have gotten from film SLRs (assuming
you understand the camera, what it can actually do, and how to make it
perform optimally). As I've written for a number of years now about
all DSLRs: if you can't get a good-looking image at the largest size a
desktop inkjet printer can create (13x19"), it isn't the camera that's
the problem. Assuming your DSLR is not broken, it will be your
decisions and your handling of the camera that are the gatekeepers on
image quality these days."
I don't disagree with him.
If this is the case why so much talk of switching and other brands?
Is it really all due to the lack of a full frame body? Is the
increased talk of other brands really a trend or my imagination?
GS
George Sinos
--------------------
www.GeorgesPhotos.net
www.GeorgeSinos.com
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