A bit of inspiration

[yelvertoft]

I lurk on assorted Pentax fora, and found that Pentax have launched a dedicated gallery with images taken by pros and enthusiasts. Regardless of the equipment used, I found it to be a great site for drawing inspiration from.

It can be found here.
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/ho...=0&language=EN
Plenty of language options too for non-English speakers, very nice slick interface to the whole site.

One of my favourites was this one:
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/ho...=0&language=EN

Oh, and this is very, very beautiful too:
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/ho...=0&language=EN

I think Darren Melrose's work is fantastic, he can really convey atmosphere in his street portraits.
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/ho...=0&language=EN

[Al Tee]

Duncan..looks a great site, as you say, inspiring..whick brings about an "allied" subject I've been privately questioning..this current "Pentax" thing confuses me...Back in "84" when I bought my 1st SLR one of the main guys around was John Hedgecoe..top photographer in his day..he WAS Pentax, they had the K1000, ME, ME Super, bla bla..I would say back then that even Canon were behind them in the pecking order..I now look at the spec the current Pentax's have & think, "why are they now deemed second class" to the likes of Nikon & Canon, the brands that I got sucked into?.. what's happened..?
Al.

[miketoll]

Pentax seemed to lose their way in the later ''film years'' somehow. In the earlier days, ie 60's, I lusted after one but could not afford one so bought a Praktica instead. I feel they are very much on the way up now.

[Adey Baker]

Trouble is, they're playing catch-up to a certain extent and they don't have the wide range of models to suit different requirements that the others have.

There's the good compatibility with the older lenses, of course. Some will surely work well with digital sensors so there should be some bargains out there - if you know which the better models are.

[yelvertoft]

Originally Posted by Al Tee

& think, "why are they now deemed second class" to the likes of Nikon & Canon, the brands that I got sucked into?.. what's happened..?
Al.

Lousy marketing has been Pentax's main issue in recent years. As others have said, they lost their way a bit in the 1980s and Canon capitalised on this. The products were not as good as the competition it has to be said, the press were fairly mercenary in their judgement of this, there was an attitude of "it's not as good as Canon/Nikon, therefore it's no good". Pentax products are now playing catch up, and the current K10D and K100D models are excellent, it's just a shame that the market demands ever more variety and customers are swayed by branding so much. If you can look beyond the obvious, there's some very capable models to be had at bargain prices.

Duncan

[Joe]

I agree with what Duncan says....there is nothing fundamentally wrong with current Pentax models, but their marketing ans sales team do need a good kick up the behind as far as DSLR's are concerned.
From my own experience it appears that Pentax make quite a lot of kit that isn't neccessarily branded as such....maybe there's more money in it for Pentax to supply optics to various other electronics giants like Casio, Samsung, Hitachi, Matsui, Advent etc etc.....and even your local opticians!?
As far as DSLR's are concerned, a K10D is every bit as 'up there' as an LX use to be.....and every bit as under-rated as it too.
Even though I recently changed employers, I still experience most buyers heads full of Canon 400D and Nikon D80 ads. Even after establishing that a Pentax, Fuji, Sony or even an Olympus might be more suited to their photography interests, I still can't help feeling they haven't got the best deal in the world when they leave with yet another Canon in their shopping bag.
Canon are the market leaders, with Nikon following close behind...and they are superb brands...but it doesn't mean it is the ideal for every buyer.

Marketing is a powerful thing.

[Al Tee]

Good point Joe..another brand name you quite rightly mention..Olympus..ground breaking in the 70's & 80's..spot metering..OM2SP..hell..it didnt get much better.."zuiko" lenses..again..as I see it..basically overtaken in marketing techniques rather than product quality..again..the public mislead..sensor cleaning technology as a current case in question..need I say more?
Al.

[yelvertoft]

A common criticism is that there isn't the same range of lenses available for Pentax as there is for Canon/Nikon, and there isn't. There is still a perfectly adequate range available though.

And............. if a shop is having an "everything must be sold" clearout sale, or even an online retailer is trying to shift some lenses that are about to be discontinued because the new DG models (it makes how much difference?) have just been launched, the Canon/Nikon stuff goes in an instant for probably about £10-20 less than the normal price. Pentax/Olympus/KM fit stuff sits there and gathers tumbleweed. The price keeps dropping, and dropping, until you pick up a steal of a bargain.

Sometimes, other WPF members even give you their perfectly good lenses because they have no use for them any more.
(I gave a donation to the charity of Chris' choice as he wouldn't take money for it).

There are hidden benefits for using minority brands.

Duncan