Artur, You make some valid points. The original discussion was about Pentax competing on the high (pro) end of the 35mm market. In that market the battle and war are over. But you are correct that in the beginner through advanced hobbyist, they are very much alive and competing.
As to the MF market, this is truly and interesting area. Currently, some people see interchangeable backs as critical and others do not. For weddings and some studio work, the back is important, but at a cost of bulk and weight. I have talked with several RB/RZ67 owners who would not consider taking their bodies out into the field, due to the clumsy off tripod handling. To me, the long term question is whether digital will make the need for removable backs unnecessary. I can't think of a whole lot of reason to need backs in the digital world. Only to use film. In that case, just pick up the film camera. Bruce Saturday, August 17, 2002, 1:19:29 AM, you wrote: AL> ----- Original Message ----- AL> From: "Bruce Dayton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> AL> Subject: Re: Next Pentax Flagship Camera? >> Trying to battle Canon and >> Nikon on the 35mm front is foolish. They already lost the battle. AL> After reading all posting of the thread so far I wonder why we are all still AL> sticking to Pentax:) AL> I don't agree with the point of view stated above (and it has been already AL> disscussed several times), because the photographic market is not a constant AL> thing. Conditions change. Yes, Pentax lost the battle, but why do you think AL> they also lost the whole war? They can and IMHO should counterattack. And AL> actually they do. Of course, I don't know if Pentax is going to try to AL> reclaim its position in the pro market (I know many of you don't like the AL> word "pro" - forgive me for using it here) but I don't think that new AL> advanced features like P-TTL and HSS were introduced for amateurs only or AL> for two cameras only. MZ-60 doesn't support neither of them AFAIK... AL> Trying to battle Canon and Nikon is NOT foolish if Pentax has a good AL> strategy and competitive products. And it has... You would be surprised how AL> well the MZ-6 is in Poland. It gathers great opinions in the Usenet, wins AL> magazine tests (beating easily products like Dynaxx 5 and EOS 300). It seems AL> to become the standard entry level camera for those who plan to develop AL> their photgraphic skills instead of EOS300 - people either ask for the MZ-6 AL> or ask for advice on what choice of the camera they should make and get the AL> response of "MZ-6". And if these people want to get some advanced camera in AL> the future, they will surely go for the MZ-S or even more advanced product AL> of Pentax ( if such a product exists of course). AL> What Pentax needs for its counterattack to be successful are IMHO the AL> following: introduction of the image stabilisation lenses, ultrasonic AF AL> (not necessarily but would be nice to have it), faster fps rate (at least AL> matching that of the Z-1p) and MOST OF ALL a proper, clear and consistent AL> marketing strategy as well as proper cooperation with local dealers, who are AL> often so much incompetent... AL> Some of you are surely going to beat me for my words...oh, well, I can AL> handle it. I've already heard that you don't want Pentax cameras to look AL> like F5 or EOS1v. I don't want it, too. However, I think that unlike Minolta AL> Pentax is able to get back into "pro" (oh, yes - again this hated word, but AL> i don't know how to call it in a different way) market and settle there. Why AL> "unlike Minolta"? It has already been said several times that Pentax cannot AL> compete with Canon and Nikon, because Minolta tried it and was unsuccessful. AL> Yes, but Pentax has serious advantages over Minolta: its somewhat classic AL> style, elegance, convenience of control, ergonomy, backward compatibility, AL> SMC etc. The only thing it needs to do is to make a proper use of these AL> advantages and add to them some new technical fireworks. AL> Whether Pentax wants to do it or not is of course another thing... >> The >> real battle area for them is in the 645 arena. This is an area where >> both Contax and Mamiya are working with that very concept. Pentax >> would have better luck putting there efforts there. AL> The battle in the MF market is of course important, but unless Pentax AL> introduces interchangeable backs for the 645 and 67, it will not be able to AL> win the battle with Contax and Mamiya. This is of course but a personal AL> point of view:) AL> Now I prepare myself to be flamed:)) AL> Greetz AL> Artur AL> - AL> This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, AL> go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to AL> visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - 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 .
