Pentax rumours become truth: *istDL to come as low budget model

"Trapezium" wrote in message
...

"Paul Mitchum" wrote in message
...
Trapezium wrote:

"Darrell" wrote in message
...
[..]
Actually that is what the market is calling for. The biggest growth in
dSLR is the sub $1,000(usd) market. People who think the market
revolves
around a $2,000 dSLR body are dreaming.

You're right - but why bring out another low spec dslr?

To compete. :-)

- why not forego the R&D costs of the 'new' model, and just cut the
price
of the Ds?

The only reason I can think of is that, for Pentax, the *istDs is too
expensive to produce, and cutting the price long term isn't viable.

Yup. The *ist DS is a tremendous value at its current price.

So they've cobbled together a camera that can be manufactured for
noticeably less than the cost of producing the Ds - which only seems to
confirm that Pentax have made a conscious decision to become a 'cheap'
brand.

Actually, if you look at their past products, you find that each SLR
series has a flagship, and then a bunch of reiterations of that flagship
that are cheaper to manufacture. I mean, there's no good reason for
there to be 11 different versions of the MZ/ZX line, other than to mark
which ease-of-manufacturing change was made.

Pentax isn't a 'cheap' brand. They make economical low-end versions of
their products, just like other camera manufacturers. On the other hand,
when I picked up a Canon Rebel XT at the store, I was afraid it was
going to crumble under the pressure of my hand. That is, to me, 'cheap.'
I know that Canon makes worthwhile products, but it's low-end entry is
not one of them. This doesn't mean Canon is a 'cheap' brand, and neither
does it mean they're a 'pro' brand.


Yes, but, my contention is that Pentax may have decided to *become* a
solely cheap brand and that the cut-down DL is part of a strategy that
will involve ending the costly production of the Ds once the DL is on
stream

If I'm correct, Pentax will not bother offering a high spec-D
placement. - they might well have decided to try and make some money at
the bottom end of the market and to forgo higher spec/lower profit
cameras.

This would be disappointing for current Pentax owners who are waiting to
upgrade to a higher spec dslr.

Until they support the people buying the cameras with well priced middle of
the range lenses they will not sell as many cameras as they should, the D
and the Ds are excellent cameras let down a little by suitable glass, all
the old stuff works well but the new support is poor and expensive.

Darrell wrote:

Today the Minolta Canada rep confirmed a soon to be announced 5D to compete
in the Rebel, *istDS, D50, E300 market..

... noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..........

Any references?




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Trapezium wrote:

If I'm correct, Pentax will not bother offering a high spec-D
replacement.

And if you're wrong, they might.

*shrug*

"Paul Mitchum" wrote in message
...
Trapezium wrote:

If I'm correct, Pentax will not bother offering a high spec-D
replacement.

And if you're wrong, they might.

*shrug*

They already do, it's called 4z5 medium format? Lets face it all D-SLR's are
just toys compared to the big digitals, just depends how much you want to
pay for your toys.

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
Darrell wrote:

Today the Minolta Canada rep confirmed a soon to be announced 5D to
compete in the Rebel, *istDS, D50, E300 market..

... noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..........

Any references?

Just his word of mouth, but it has been rumoured for a while now. Knowing
Minolta it will be late

"Paul Mitchum" wrote in message
...
Trapezium wrote:

If I'm correct, Pentax will not bother offering a high spec-D
replacement.

And if you're wrong, they might.

*shrug*

They have already announced a M-F dSLR, so they have shown some commitment

I agree with you Charles. The *istDS behaves like a classic SLR.
While I have a zoom to go with it (Sigma 18-125 DC), one combination I
love is to use this modern istDS with an old manual focus Vivitar
24f2.8 (which gives me the equivalent of a 35mm in film format).

I used to love my Leica CL with a 40mm and there are plenty of people
who would swear by a Leica M with a 35mm Summicron. I was hoping for
an inexpensive digital rangefinder but with the Epson RD-1 at
$2000plus, I went for the Pentax instead. Along with it and with my
old 24mm, I am basically trying to replicate the experience of a small
camera with an easy to focus and fast to shoot wide-angle for "street
photography".

by the way, I am also driving a stick shift 11 years old Volvo..

"Escaper" wrote in message
oups.com...
I agree with you Charles. The *istDS behaves like a classic SLR.
While I have a zoom to go with it (Sigma 18-125 DC), one combination I
love is to use this modern istDS with an old manual focus Vivitar
24f2.8 (which gives me the equivalent of a 35mm in film format).

I used to love my Leica CL with a 40mm and there are plenty of people
who would swear by a Leica M with a 35mm Summicron. I was hoping for
an inexpensive digital rangefinder but with the Epson RD-1 at
$2000plus, I went for the Pentax instead. Along with it and with my
old 24mm, I am basically trying to replicate the experience of a small
camera with an easy to focus and fast to shoot wide-angle for "street
photography".

by the way, I am also driving a stick shift 11 years old Volvo..

Darn modern cars, in my day the 3 on the tree shift took some skill

I do love my *ist D, and my LX... but I think my Argus C4 has film in it at
the moment.

"Escaper" wrote in message
oups.com...
I agree with you Charles. The *istDS behaves like a classic SLR.
While I have a zoom to go with it (Sigma 18-125 DC), one combination I
love is to use this modern istDS with an old manual focus Vivitar
24f2.8 (which gives me the equivalent of a 35mm in film format).

I used to love my Leica CL with a 40mm and there are plenty of people
who would swear by a Leica M with a 35mm Summicron. I was hoping for
an inexpensive digital rangefinder but with the Epson RD-1 at
$2000plus, I went for the Pentax instead. Along with it and with my
old 24mm, I am basically trying to replicate the experience of a small
camera with an easy to focus and fast to shoot wide-angle for "street
photography".

by the way, I am also driving a stick shift 11 years old Volvo..


Gotcha beat--'89 240 stick, but that's a topic for another group.

In article ,
Morris Sachs wrote:

"Escaper" wrote in message
roups.com...
I agree with you Charles. The *istDS behaves like a classic SLR.
While I have a zoom to go with it (Sigma 18-125 DC), one combination I
love is to use this modern istDS with an old manual focus Vivitar
24f2.8 (which gives me the equivalent of a 35mm in film format).

I used to love my Leica CL with a 40mm and there are plenty of people
who would swear by a Leica M with a 35mm Summicron. I was hoping for
an inexpensive digital rangefinder but with the Epson RD-1 at
$2000plus, I went for the Pentax instead. Along with it and with my
old 24mm, I am basically trying to replicate the experience of a small
camera with an easy to focus and fast to shoot wide-angle for "street
photography".

by the way, I am also driving a stick shift 11 years old Volvo..


Gotcha beat--'89 240 stick, but that's a topic for another group.

I've still got my 1978 MX. And a 1983 Super Program. And a PZ-1p.
(And I still drive a one-owner-since-new 1986 Mustang GT convertible)