Whatever happened to Pentax?

Back in the '60s, '70s and even into the '80s Pentax was right up there with
Canon and Nikon. But, today, it seems like the company doesn't even get
honourable mention in the brand wars. What happened?

As for myself, the last few times I've gone to buy a camera, I was
purchasing a compact that both my wife and I would be using. She likes an
optical view-finder while I use the LCD. This more-or-less ruled out
Pentax, since I couldn't find a Pentax with an optical finder at any of the
local camera shops.

I still have an old Pentax P3 film SLR that shoots great shots, and I pull
it out every now and then. I can't think of any reason why the quality of
Pentax film cameras should not have carried over into the digital world.

What about the rest of you? Any ideas on why Pentax has sort of faded into
the background?

Pondering,
Dudley

"Dudley Hanks" wrote in
news:nWCAj.74916$w57.63673@edtnps90:
What about the rest of you? Any ideas on why Pentax has sort of faded
into the background?

Canon and Nikon are just better at developing and marketing new products.
Pentax and Yashica are trying to come back, but that will be difficult.

In article nWCAj.74916$w57.63673@edtnps90, Dudley Hanks
wrote:

What about the rest of you? Any ideas on why Pentax has sort of faded into
the background?

they haven't faded at all. they just released the k200d and k20d dslrs
and have others in the works. they're not as big as nikon or canon but
they do offer a decent alternative.

http://dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Pentax/

Dudley Hanks wrote:
Back in the '60s, '70s and even into the '80s Pentax was right up there with
Canon and Nikon. But, today, it seems like the company doesn't even get
honourable mention in the brand wars. What happened?
Not sure about in the rest of the world, but their
distribution within Australia didn't move with the times,
and hence their availability was poorer than other brands.

They have also pretty much abandoned the serious pro market,
leaving that for Canon and Nikon. They are still a fairly
strong player in the advanced amateur category at #3 in DSLR
(albeit a long way behind Canon and Nikon). In the compact
camera market they are just another one of the masses.

As for myself, the last few times I've gone to buy a camera, I was
purchasing a compact that both my wife and I would be using. She likes an
optical view-finder while I use the LCD. This more-or-less ruled out
Pentax, since I couldn't find a Pentax with an optical finder at any of the
local camera shops.
If an optical viewfinder is one of your requirements, you
will rule out pretty much everyone. Canon and Sony are the
only ones left with optical viewfinders in their P&S
cameras, and even those two are reducing the number of
models with it.

I still have an old Pentax P3 film SLR that shoots great shots, and I pull
it out every now and then. I can't think of any reason why the quality of
Pentax film cameras should not have carried over into the digital world.
The quality has continued over. Their DSLRs are considered
by many to offer very good value for money. The new K200D
and K20D, just like their predecessors the K100D and K10D
both offer features that will cost a lot more to get in any
other brand.
The digital SLRs are also compatible with older lenses
(Although some limitations apply to lenses that don't have
the "A" setting).

What about the rest of you? Any ideas on why Pentax has sort of faded into
the background?
Because Pentax don't have the serious pro 35mm format
digitals, that market has been left to Canon and Nikon. As a
result, these 2 hold the vast majority of the market share.

Actually Nikon have only been a major player again in the
last couple of years - they almost became marginalised too -
the D40/D40x were the start of their clawback, helped by the
D200, and now with the D3/D300 they are well and truly back
in the game.



Pondering,
Dudley

In article , Pudentame
wrote:

And unlike Nikon and Canon Pentax DSLRs are backward compatible with ALL
of Pentax's legacy lenses; going all the way back to screw mount
(although somewhat grudgingly and with some limitations in functionality
- but you CAN use them).

that's not entirely true. pentax dropped the coupler so non-a lenses
need an extra step to stop down and meter. however, it's a single
button to press and that's easier than with low end nikon; mid and high
end nikon meter normally. pentax sdm lenses won't work on earlier
cameras, such as the k100d. and then there's ricoh's k mount variant
where the lens mounts, but gets stuck on the camera and needs to be
surgically removed. so there's some issues with pentax too.

on nikon, just about every ai lens or later will mount and work, with
some limitations in functionality, just like pentax.

On 3/8/08 2:46 PM, in article nWCAj.74916$w57.63673@edtnps90, "Dudley Hanks"
wrote:

Back in the '60s, '70s and even into the '80s Pentax was right up there with
Canon and Nikon. But, today, it seems like the company doesn't even get
honourable mention in the brand wars. What happened?

The first SLR with spot metering as I recall in the late 60's.

nospam wrote:
In article , Pudentame
wrote:

And unlike Nikon and Canon Pentax DSLRs are backward compatible with ALL
of Pentax's legacy lenses; going all the way back to screw mount
(although somewhat grudgingly and with some limitations in functionality
- but you CAN use them).

that's not entirely true. pentax dropped the coupler so non-a lenses
need an extra step to stop down and meter. however, it's a single
button to press and that's easier than with low end nikon; mid and high
end nikon meter normally. pentax sdm lenses won't work on earlier
cameras, such as the k100d.
They work, they won't autofocus. Which is the same situation
you will have with Nikon if you mount a non-AFS lens on a
D40/D40x. Which basically means most 3rd party lenses won't
deliver AF on these cameras.
and then there's ricoh's k mount variant
where the lens mounts, but gets stuck on the camera and needs to be
surgically removed. so there's some issues with pentax too.
A Ricoh K-Mount isn't a pentax lens though. Although there
are some limitations with focus and metering, you can
attach, and then take a photograph with all old Pentax K
mount lenses, or with a suitable adapter you can also use
thread, 645 and 67 lenses. If it is non-Pentax, but in K,
Thread, 645, or 67 mount, then it will most probably still
work. The Ricoh lenses can be modified and then will work
fine. Compare this scenario with Canon and Nikon, where not
even all the genuine lenses will work.

on nikon, just about every ai lens or later will mount and work, with
some limitations in functionality, just like pentax.
Yes, but if it is a non-AI lens, then on some cameras you
have no metering at all (at least pentax gives stop-down
metering), and on some models they won't fire at all. If it
is a non-AFS lens, which is a LOT, even current models, then
you will have no AF on some models.

"George Kerby" wrote in message
...



On 3/8/08 2:46 PM, in article nWCAj.74916$w57.63673@edtnps90, "Dudley
Hanks"
wrote:

Back in the '60s, '70s and even into the '80s Pentax was right up there
with
Canon and Nikon. But, today, it seems like the company doesn't even get
honourable mention in the brand wars. What happened?

The first SLR with spot metering as I recall in the late 60's.


Well, sort of. If my memory isn't too fuzzy, I think that they "said" they
were going to make the first SLR with spot metering -- the Spotmatic.
Pentax made a pre-production model according to its claims, but when it hit
production the spot sensoring turned out to be a couple of sensors that
really only read an average of the light in the viewfinder. I'm not sure if
they later modified the spotmatic to actually use spot metering, or whether
one of the other giants got it into production first.

Trying to Remember,
Dudley

"Pudentame" wrote in message
...
Dudley Hanks wrote:
Back in the '60s, '70s and even into the '80s Pentax was right up there
with Canon and Nikon. But, today, it seems like the company doesn't even
get honourable mention in the brand wars. What happened?

As for myself, the last few times I've gone to buy a camera, I was
purchasing a compact that both my wife and I would be using. She likes
an optical view-finder while I use the LCD. This more-or-less ruled out
Pentax, since I couldn't find a Pentax with an optical finder at any of
the local camera shops.

I still have an old Pentax P3 film SLR that shoots great shots, and I
pull it out every now and then. I can't think of any reason why the
quality of Pentax film cameras should not have carried over into the
digital world.

What about the rest of you? Any ideas on why Pentax has sort of faded
into the background?

Pondering,
Dudley



Still around.

Their K-10D is one of the top rated DSLRs, and they've just announced a
K-20D @ 14Mpx - body about $1K.

And unlike Nikon and Canon Pentax DSLRs are backward compatible with ALL
of Pentax's legacy lenses; going all the way back to screw mount (although
somewhat grudgingly and with some limitations in functionality - but you
CAN use them).

I think the two things I like best about Pentax was that they used really
good glass in their lenses, and my big hands always seem to fit the controls
even though the body sizes have been quite small.

I have a Spotmatic SPII -- still in good working order. It's a classic, but
in spite of the catchy name, it only measures some sort of center-weighted
average. Don't believe that the Spotmatic, or even its early 1980's
successors (like the ME Super that I also have) ever did any more than
that. On the other hand, film is a lot more tolerant of overexposure than
digital, so spot measuring for highlights was not as big a deal as it is
now...


"Dudley Hanks" wrote in message
news:IQGAj.69831$FO1.22055@edtnps82...

Well, sort of. If my memory isn't too fuzzy, I think that they "said"
they were going to make the first SLR with spot metering -- the Spotmatic.
Pentax made a pre-production model according to its claims, but when it
hit production the spot sensoring turned out to be a couple of sensors
that really only read an average of the light in the viewfinder. I'm not
sure if they later modified the spotmatic to actually use spot metering,
or whether one of the other giants got it into production first.