Rob wrote: > 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 think this may have something to do with the fact that there wasn't that many of them in the first place (the desireable ones that is) > 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. This is plain wrong: Porsche have done the opposite; increasing their product range to the extent of even making a SUV; a far cry from concentration on traditional Porsche values! >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. Thius is true but I doubt they'll do it until sensor prices drop significantly in price. > 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. This a wrong observation. Canon entry level EOS slr's have always been small regardless of what Pentax are doing; eg the Rebels. But they have always been crap. According to Canon engineers they deliberately makes cameras at various sizes increasing with price. Their mid- and high-end cameras aren't large because they have to but for marketing reasons; they sell better. The EOS-1v was designed to look like a "muscular man" for the same purposes. Canon doesn't care what pentax is doing and they won't make a desirable small SLR anytime zoom. Canon small effords are on the entry level exclusively and theres no sign that this formula will change. P�l
