On 2/09/03 8:51 AM, "Rick Diaz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Is it to market a DSLR, which currently holds no > standard like the true and tried 35mm sibling? And > what is the print standard available now to support a > DSLR market? Which memory card standards are > prevalent? [snipped to shorten] > the PC and the Mac.. And what happened to Atari and > Commodore? Gone... > > Being first does not necessarily mean you will > dominate the market forever, just like CorelDraw from > Corel. Now, it is nothing.. > > In my opinion, Pentax made the right choice to be > prudent with releasing their DSLR on the market at a > later date.
This is exactly the point when I said that the present digicam market (particularly the DSLR one) is levelling the field. As someone said here, the card is being reshuffled. There may not be a drastic shuffling as it happened in the PC industries years ago, but anybody with aggressive marketing and innovations will have an equal chance to succeed in this market. That's why I believe the timing of the entry by Pentax was not late at all, but it was even wise. What is distinctive in the current digicam market is the fact that the electronics gadget/appliances makers such as Sony, Sanyo, Casino, Panasonic and all others including Toshiba (Toshiba? What are they doing here ? :-) are competing equally in the field. I would not be surprised if Sony made a DSLR (I do not know if they will consider it worthwhile). They (or their subcontractors) have been making fine video cameras and digicams and the entry into the DSLR market is entirely up to their biz decision (the size and the profitability of the market etc). They make their own CCDs and are getting Carl Zeiss lenses for their camera, and the cross-supply of the components in this industry is a norm (i.e., Casio/Pentax). Taking an example of Lumix DMC-FZ1 by Panasonic (Matsushita). I do not particularly like its style and it has only 2mp (I believe) but it is becoming popular. It has a 35~420mm (35mm equiv.) zoom but with the constant aperture of 2.8 (Elmarit)! The advantage of (relatively) small diameter lens. And it is even equipped with the IS. The lens is Leica DC Vario-Elmarit but made by Matsushita themselves. Yes, they now have a lens factory. So, they could emerge as a formidable competitor as everyone else could, and they are just the one example. I, as an amateur, have no idea how the traditional market share will be remapped, but in a couple of years, things will settle down and we may or may not see a new picture. So, for now, I am just watching this whole bloody competition with the open mind, no particular rush. If I find something which will fit my current need, I do not hesitate to purchase it, but would not spend more than $1,200 or so for a DSLR, not this time anyway. There are a lot of other options available. Meantime, a lot of digital P&S will have come and gone and that particular market segment will prosper. Nevertheless, I wish to see something nice from Pentax of course ;-). Cheers, Ken
