> I'm not tripping over Pentax film SLRs either.... Pentax is not big in the > market for anything but P&Ses
True. I haven't seen a film *ist either. Of course I rarely see anyone with a film camera of any kind anymore, even though I'm sure millions of people are still using them. I happen to work in a pretty affluent area. > You are not Pentax's market, then are you? They don't get any money from > the used market, so why should they cater to people who buy 20+ year-old > bodies and lenses on eBay? I'm probably not in Pentax's market, no. OTOH, I've considered buying a CANON to put my screwmount lenses on, so Pentax could yet get a sale out of me with the right camera. They might want to cater to guys who bought those lenses from Pentax 20+ years ago and are still buying Pentax lenses. If Cosina ever sold a DSLR with K-mount, it would be because they thought enough people would buy a camera for which they could get good lenses cheap on eBay. > > Forcing obsolesence to get people to buy new stuff is a poor solution, > > albeit a common one. Nikon has been forced to maintain > > backwards-compatability for its pro cameras, > In this regard, Pentax offers a lot more compatability. all you need is the > little "A" thingy on the lens. That's been around since 1983. Nikon pro cameras work to the full functionality of any Nikon lens made since 1959 (with some oddball exceptions). They work with full modern functionality with all lenses with CPUs in them, which would be 1986 or thereabouts and on, plus you can sometimes get CPUs hacked into older lenses by devious technicians. This is greater compatibility than Pentax, but to get it you have to buy the top-of-the-line Nikons. This is, BTW, the path I think Pentax should take--offer one DSLR and one film SLR with the mechanical connections to support the loyal customers with the good old lenses, and charge premium prices for these cameras. If that K18/3.5 is REALLY that important to you, you'll shell out for the camera that can use it. While I'd love to see mechanical connections in ALL cameras, I can see why Pentax would like to move beyond them. > > For the record, I like the *istD but I'm not going to get a Pentax DSLR > > unless it either gets a lot cheaper (so that it is a "toy", essentially), > > or it gets a full-frame sensor. I'm not willing to pay real money for > > a camera with such major compromises given my collection of older > > Pentax gear. > > So for you this whole argument is moot! for the money the ist D is > comparable to the 10D (same features same pixel count and same crop - kind > of). I'd give the edge to the Canon, but primarily on system grounds rather than the features in the camera itself. I'm hoping that the argument will not always be moot. I'd really like to put those screw-mount lenses on a DSLR, and given the back focus it isn't going to be a Nikon. K to M42 adapters are readily availible, so I really am hoping for an eventual Pentax DSLR that I will feel is worth buying (for me). > If you want a cheaper "Toy" then you'll buy the not so full featured > "baby-D" as people on this list call it which I could almost guarantee would > NEVER be compatible with K and M lenses. I can't see why Pentax would make a "baby-D" that had mechanical contacts, no. OTOH, the *istD is in some ways MORE compatible with my beloved screw-mount stuff than it is with the K/M lenses if you can tolerate working stopped down, and presumably a "baby-D" would continue this. I am also expecting the *istD to get cheaper eventually, perhaps even availible used which really knocks down the cost. DJE
