Re: PMA and Pentax DSLR

[Bruce Rubenstein]

It is, however, very similar to the situation a few years ago when Minolta came out with their flagship (Maxxum/Dynax 9). It sold well for a short time due to the pent up demand from Minolta owners, and then sales slowed to a trickle. It's very hard to find and most stores don't carry it. Things for high end film cameras have gotten worse since then.
The vast majority of working pros in this country are not "names" and buy there equipment like everyone else. Very often they don't go the cheapest places either, because they want service and personal attention. That's why, in NYC, Ken Hanson is still so popular with pros even though B&H is a 15 minute walk away.

BR

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

Thing is you cannot compare the two. Nikon and Canon have had their
flagship film cameras out for a while, and arguably anyone in the market
for one probably has one (or several) already. Many Pentax users have
been waiting for our equivalent for a long time with no product to
satisfy the demand. Therefore this demand is still untapped. I don't
know how big the market for this is, but it bears no relation to the
market for the F5/EOS1V.

The other point is that much of the market for F5/1V, probably working
pros in the main, may well not buy their cameras through normal camera
stores but get them direct from the manufacturers or their distributors.

-----Original Message-----
From: Iren & Henry Chu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 31 January 2003 04:03
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: PMA and Pentax DSLR


Dear all,

Dario Bonazza wrote:

I still hope for the flagship they have been working on for so long...

I'm far less convinced here. I'll only believe a film

flagship when I

can touch it in a photo store.

Looking at the camera sales figures last year, I am convinced that Pentax won't be quite interested in making a FILM flagship anymore. I was told by some folks working in camera stores that D100/D60 outsold F5/EOS1V by a very large scale in 2002. It seems that photographers who have US$2000 in his pocket would prefer to buy a D-SLR with lower specifications than a top-of-the-line FILM flagship at similar prices (most of them have already owned one).

I am still dreaming that Pentax will come out with 3 D-SLRs: Auto110D for amateur, MZ-D for serious enthusiasts and 645D for professionals.

Keep dreaming on flying until the plane crash to earth.

Regards,

Henry Chu
31/1/2003

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