On 10 Mar 2005 at 14:55, P�l Jensen wrote: > Yes, Pentax neds to make FA-D 645 lenses as well...
So am I correct to assume that you don't think that designing a new range of FA- D 645 lenses may impact on the viability of Pentaxs 35mm line-up development? > There are about 1 000 000 Pentax MF lenses sold. This market is almost > certainly > larger than the market for high-end Pentax 35mm K-mount. In addition, an MF > based DSLR will potentially face less competition than, say, a full frame > K-mount DSLR which will face fierce competition from Nikon and Canon (among > others). OK maybe I should have asked how many people still use Pentax 645 systems? KEH seems to be stuffed to the gills with it and a lot of the expensive glass is discounted yet 35mm AF lenses are as scarce as hens teeth. I'd bet there are a hell of a lot of P645 lenses languishing on shelves in second hand shops or otherwise out of action. I think you are quite wrong about the potential for a full frame 35mm Pentax body too, I suspect that this is the reason a lot of people have dumped Pentax. Regardless of the competition a Canon DSLR still won't mount Pentax glass (better than Cotty style :-) > I don't see any conflict between making an MF based DSLR and making various > K-mount DSLR. I don't believe one is done on the expensie of the other. Pentax > have relocated 60% of R&D staff towards DSLR's something that means a new era > for Penax SLR's. This is done at the expense of P&S. I do perceive a conflict, regardless of the supposed R&D re-allocation they just don't appear have sufficient R&D resources, look at the time it's taken them to run out 2 DSLR bodies and a handful of lenses. They will end up like Leica if they aren't very particular about their future strategies. Leica embarked upon the dubious path of developing digital backs for it's flagging SLRs when really its unique products the Leica RF bodies and their superb lenses were left to flounder without a future digital path. Now it looks now like it's all over but for a saleable name. Hasselblad recognized their limited future in film bodies and lack of skill in digital systems and teamed up with a business which would complement them, I expect that they will be one of the survivors in the limited market for MF DSLR production. Porsche were another niche manufacturer who were teetering on the bring of insolvency. They relatively recently reduced their product range to focus better on traditional values and strengths and currently it is the worlds most profitable serial production auto manufacturer. I see Pentax as wandering off into oblivion in the context of the "Special Interview", it really little made sense to me and certainly didn't inspire confidence in me, but at least we know have some idea of their future strategies. My view simply is that if they don't pull their socks up and start competing with their direct competition (that means comparable lens line-ups, sensor sizes and higher resolutions) then people will dump the marque like rats leaving a sinking ship. As was mentioned by another lister yesterday, Canon know what they are doing, they are watching Pentax and their cameras are becoming smaller, once they are a reasonable size and if Pentax isn't showing any signs of future development and support for 35mm DSLR users I'm sure people will wave their last goodbye. I know I will. I've held off jumping ship even though I've been tempted, I'm relatively pleased with what I've got now but it's pretty clumsy relative to the competition (excluding small size advantage for the moment). Cheers, Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/ Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
