FAQ: Jump OR Stay?

For quite a long time, there has been a common Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) that is asked repeatedly by different Pentax DSLR users: To Jump Ship or to Stay??

For anyone who just lurks around the Internet at various Pentax places, very quickly we shall see all those user dissatisfactions, frustrations and switching sentiments. The root cause of all those is in fact owing to just one thing: Sub-par system performance and poor reliability, namely, for the AF (Auto Focus) and AE (Auto Exposure) systems. As for the AE inaccuracy issue, it can be further divided into ambient light exposure/metering errors and P-TTL exposure errors, both of which are not small and the results could be very inconsistent. Yet, the reason of the aforesaid sub-par performance may be owing to inadequate or outdated design, low cost design or cheap electronics components chosen/used or (so as to cut corners) and/or even in-born system (design) limitations.

Putting aside of those (part of) user feedbacks and reports that you can search and find here in my Blog, below are just a few more examples of all those *real* "negative" reports made by different Pentax users, recently:-

1. People thinking about to leave:-

User Comment - RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Photokina is Coming Close

Convince me to stay: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Thinking of switching??: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

2. Annoying and persistent infamous system issues with Pentax DSLR gear, as reported:-

Exposure Issue and Underexposure - PentaxForums

Focus, Pentax! Focus! - PentaxForums

Pentax Frustrations - Flickr Pentax Discuss

In the last thread above, the OP complaints about the poor P-TTL reliability which gave awful exposure results plus the rate of out-of-focus photos he got were way too high, even he had already mounted the top-of-the-line Pentax flash gun AF-540FGZ, which has a large AF assistance spotbeam on the flashgun.

The guy who first replied to the thread made very sensible statements and his comments are actually very insightful. He was able to explain quite well very precisely for the main problem with the current Pentax as well as the current adverse situation faced by Pentax. Thumb up!

Well, as read along the thread, there is another reply near the end of thread from an ex-Pentax camera dealer who told about the new Hoya's policy for product distribution, which is just horrible and a nightmare to smaller camera shops - but at the end it hurts the sales of Hoya themselves and eventually the potential customers or old users who want to buy Pentax stuff. In fact, Hoya had just already destroyed the old Pentax product sales and distribution network by frying off or forced retirement of all the old Pentax sales reps after their takeover of Pentax! Huh?

Besides, see also this one:-

The last 3 years Pentax en Samsung have been telling us lie's: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

The angry user complaints about the poor availability and slow development of Pentax/Samsung DSLR and gear..

and so on.. Just go read yourself anywhere and elsewhere. I just can't go the numerous user remorse, disappointment, anger and worry or whatever you can think of! But, its the Reality and all these are true!

Well, after all those "bashings" (for what those stupid (frankly) fanboys must say even though there exists so many other Pentax users who have been reporting their true but unhappy experiences), below are my humble opinions, suggestions and advice on what we existing Pentaxians, who are dissatisfied or even desperate, could do:-

1. If money is not an issue, just keep all those good old Pentax film glass that are usually good to excellent, I must mention. And then wait for the Pentax Full Frame body, possibly, hopefully and wishful-thinkingly in some time around 2010 or even later, if Pentax can still be alive by that time and still think that they should make a FF body *by now*!

All in all, just keeping those old film lenses if you really love them. It is because they will be the legacy lenses with excellent quality that you will very possibly never be able to get back again in the future, forever! And, it will be very difficult and it would take a very long time for Pentax to re-build a complete FF lens lineup. So, it is always wise to keep the good old glass just owing to these two reasons. Furthermore, do note that new lenses are in general being not as good in image quality as the old ones, even for the "same" model, see this example.

In short, selling off all those good old discontinued Pentax film glass will not get you many bucks, but instead that will consume you much time to get reasonable paybacks for what they should actually worth (IF Pentax is now a better DSLR system, those lenses should sell much easier and at much higher prices). My humble advice is to WAIT for a Pentax FF DSLR (which is far more realistic to wait for a whole new FF lens lineup anyway). But the obvious risk underneath is if Pentax don't make a FF body forever or they eventually die or just killed completely by Hoya (who knows?) in the future, then all the kept investment will be in vain! ( but you can still use them to shoot film anyway.. :-( )

2. Don't invest too much for the DA lenses and too deep into the current APS-C Pentax digital lens system. Why we need to gamble together with Pentax and take high risk for our investment? Ditto for the Olympus 4/3 E-lenses, honestly speaking;

Indeed, I found that new digital lenses of Pentax often don't have the good old tastes of classic Pentax glass (those actually are not too old, the FA glass in the late 90s / early 2000 are still very nice, their performance on Pentax DSLRs are still by far much better!), but quite some of them taste more like those 3rd party lenses especially as if a Tokina or Tamron lens is mounted for the photo results, which just scared me off really. In fact, the DFA 100/2.8 Macro lens is the last lens I bought from Pentax and it has been my most regretted lens purchase from Pentax so far since two decades ago when I bought my first Pentax lens, the F 35-70/3.5-4.5, which is undoubtedly a good lens.

As an old Pentax user whom has loved the brand and the quality of their glass for decades, it is really very sad to see many of their newer and latest "Pentax" glass now have no unique Pentax character of any at all. Just think about that if the latest Pentaxes are just going to look like Tokinas or Tamrons for the final results obtained, I just wish to ask: WHY PENTAX NOW? WHY NOT simply get those better DSLR bodies from Canon and Nikon or even Sony and then mount those similar spec-ed or even OEM models of Tokinas and Tamrons which are sold way cheaper than those Pentax counterparts.

Previously, I have already reported about those strange unfavourable colour response of many of those newer "Pentax" digital lenses and how I compare various newer Pentax lenses to the old ones, just read them also if you are interested.

3. Next, if there are *still* NO NEW AF and NEW metering system that would *really* perform by Photokina, I would truly suggest any of all those dissatisfied Pentax users please just don't waste your valuable time further, to wait endlessly. Just act decisively and better start off another system! It is unarguable and even generally accepted amongst quite some Pentax users that now all C, N, S and Olympus have better AF and far more accurate and stable exposure systems as well.

HOWEVER, IF Hoya can roll out new debugged (I won't use the word "improved") AF and AE systems by this Photokina, I will still be glad to spend some little money of mine to try it out and report back my findings on the Internet, especially about if the accuracy, performance and reliability of the new systems could be better.

4. Now, it would be wise to sell off those DA lenses as far as possible, especially for those which are for sure cannot even cover the 135 Full Frame, provided that if you don't need them often and that you are thinking about to switch. It should be done before possibly some days later, in a year or so, the APS-C DSLR bodies and lenses are dying and no further development or significant investment is carried out and put by major vendors in the market. By that time, even Pentax/Hoya would insist on the development, very likely this will be just a dead end!

For those who would like to sell off completely all the Pentax gear no matter what they are, film or digital, bodies or lenses or flashes, I think this is not a good option especially for those who have a considerable size lens collection, unless you are totally desperate with Pentax and have no hope of any kind with them. Of course, this can always be done but the lost cannot be estimated, in terms of both money and time. And I still do not wish to depart with my good Pentax glass, which are all innocent! :-( The culprits are only the Pentax DSLRs and the maker who made them.

So, to jump OR to stay, its all up to YOU! That's in short my answer to all those annoyed and dissatisfied Pentax users who are puzzled much now and ask the same question from day to day. But if money is allowed, may I repeat my opinion that to keep the really good old glass which are real keepers, get rid of the evils (e.g., some of those so-so digital lenses), keep waiting and keep urging Hoya to invest to enable Pentax to wake up again (wishful thinking though!).

Nevertheless, to fulfill the current shooting need, do NOT waste more time to think further after the Photokina and simply start off another system that suit your current shooting needs (if the current Pentax offers are just failed to meet your need(s))! Waste no more time to wait endlessly (as it maybe) and don't waste no more money with current incapable or maybe new Pentax offers just with a different look and package. If they don't debug/improve the designs under users' loud complaints which have been accumulated for so many years, why give them more chance and less our photo opportunities gone? Pentax / Hoya, are you LISTEN?? This Photokina should be your LAST CHANCE!