RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Japanese K-5 Discontinuation Rumour Continues

Monday, January 16, 2012

Japanese K-5 Discontinuation Rumour Continues

http://bbs.kakaku.com/bbs/K0000152653/SortID=14018616/

(in Japanese, Google English Translation Here)

The dealer firmly told the buyer that the K-5 had been discontinued. The potential buyer then called Pentax to verify, he got an answer that was denying. So, who is telling the truth? He just wonders himself.. If I were him, I would buy the conspiracy theory that someone would try to hide the secret but the distribution channels should not as I could find no reason that it would do anything good to them by doing so! ;-)

Nonetheless, he has not yet bought his K-5 yet, even he wanted much of it! :-o Too bad Pentax has probably lost one of her potential customers, once again! :-(

Last Story:-

Poll: Will You Buy the K-5 Right Now?

Hearsay and Rumour: K-5 Has Been Discontinued (Also! :-o)

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Rene · 689 weeks ago

Someone is lying.

1 reply · active 689 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 689 weeks ago

Who then? That's an either / or case. Your bet!

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badsykes · 689 weeks ago

Because the K-5 is so good and cheap now maybe N or C paying dealers to say it's discontinued based on some rumors at beggining...Is just a theory ..

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Mr Big · 689 weeks ago

Meh, I don't buy into the rumors.
As the top performing APS-C DSLR, it makes no sense for Pentax to discontinue the K-5 at this time.
I think vendors who either can't get stock or aren't privi to stock make-up stories to discourage customers from buying low profit camera's.
And I know this to be true because I know(personally) the owner of a large camera store chain in Canada. It's a known fact that they want to push customers toward specific brands to gain incentives.

3 replies · active 689 weeks ago

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Rene · 689 weeks ago

I think that is reality with a small brand and especially when it is in such trouble. If I were in camera sales, I would most likely do the same and try to sell some other cameras, even without more profit for doing so. I would not want to be blamed if the camera maker should discontinue their models or make orphans of their DSLR owners. Why should I recommend a brand with no upgrade path or an uncertain future? And then there are also all these other problems with this brand like QC, service, support, out of date flash units, SDM, lack of road maps and transparency. Unless the customer insists, it seems almost irresponsible to steer him/her towards a Pentax. Hold your horses, just put yourself in the new customer's shoes. Is there any reason why he/she should take such risk with a Pentax? when even those already invested heavily into Pentax are trying to leave or leaving?

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badsykes · 689 weeks ago

I took the risk twice..My first DSLR was Nikon D40 so theoretically i should have jumped to another Nikon model because i was acustomed to it but i didn't and i jumped to Pentax K-x.The ISO performance, price, motor in body for all lenses are just a couple of things... When K-x arrived Nikon had 2 models D3000 and D5000 both felt very castrated for the price..They felt incomplete somehow..D3000 had a CCD sensor so in low light was bad and D5000 had the same K-x sensor 12.4mpixels but many things missing..K-x was like a drilling machine in the camera market...I recognize that i had problems with back/front focus and autofocus in low light with the tandem K-x and Sigma 17-70 2.8 - 4 but after reading around the same lens have problems on the other brands too..
After the K-x i decide to jump to K-5 .. All my problems solved instantly ..No more Front/focus with Sigma lens..Autofocus is awesome and the K-5 is complete from top to bottom.I have a camera from '422' batch that have no problems like in the beggining..
I don't like the market move to higher mpixels so i got the best camera with moderate mpixels until they are out of market completly..Feels overated and snoobism..Look at Nikon D4 have 16mpixels and we are in 2012..
Take a look at D7000 latest firmware incarnation 1.03..They are at 1.03 and the list is full of problems ...
https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/d...

"An issue where Battery info in the setup menu sometimes showed sufficient remaining charge even when the remaining charge for the AA batteries inserted in the MB-D11 battery pack was low has been resolved."

Seems problems with battery indicator is present on Nikon too and they fixed it in 1.03 ... That's crappy

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badsykes · 689 weeks ago

I forgot to say that high ISO performance on the new 24mpixel Sony sensor is worse than in 12.4 and 16 mpx ones...

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Richard · 689 weeks ago

The Pentax Kx has easier control access than my Nikon D5000: iso,flash, and other controls are via body switches rather than menu. To get the same features in Nikon you must spend a lot more and jump to the D90.
The viewfinder in my D5000 is tiny and dull compared to my D40. Nikon adds news features and strips others away to maintain its cost/profit ratio. The only thing stripped from Kx seems to be the relocation of SR switch to menu access. Everything else is added features.
BTW, my Pentax af 360 flash will focus accurately on an object in complete darkness via infrared. Other systems seems to use light assist which is primitive, in my opinion.
Pentax has always offered great value for money.

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John · 689 weeks ago

I have a k-x it's a nice camera. But I have to admit that Nikon do have nicer colours out of the box. Also the metering is all over the place on the k-x over and under I'm always having to adjust it. I was put off of Nikon as they do cut down on their lower end bodies. You can't argue with the flash system though it completely destroys the outdated crappy Pentax flash. They also have a lot more lenses to pick from.

Cut down or not Nikon far outsell Pentax work that out if you want to but that's the truth

2 replies · active 689 weeks ago

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Richard · 689 weeks ago

Nikon's flash is its best feature, and the reason I have 2 bodies in addition to Pentax gear. However, the Nikon Picture control gives worse colours than the previous system, and my D40 is far superior for skin tones. I had to convert a D40 setting and remake it to be importable to the D5000 to bring the latter up to speed.
Pentax flash, although not as good, improves with every model, and is good int the KX, especially with the AF360. Try using spot metering in daylight in the KX. It's very good in my experience, even in contrasting light.

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RiceHigh 110p · 689 weeks ago

I agree that the best Nikon DSLRs that I have used regarding skin tone are the D40 and D50, frankly.

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John · 688 weeks ago

I'll try the spot metering suggestion maybe that will help thanks for the tip.
I would like to see the metering updated on the lower end Pentax bodies I think Canon and Nikon are more consistent overall for multi segment metering.

2 replies · active 688 weeks ago

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Richard · 688 weeks ago

Good luck with the spot metering on the KX John. It works best for me. When compositionally possible, ie on infinity focus, select single point AF and link Exposure to this in the Menu, and after selecting a midtone in the frame, recompose and shoot. Exposure compensation is generally not needed.

Cheers.

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RiceHigh 110p · 688 weeks ago

I am satisfied with (the accuracy of) the matrix metering of my K-x and K-r in general. It is not as intelligent as one would think but with proper metering techniques like using the AEL or EV compensation, it has done its job quite well IMHO.

I recall that last time I used the Canon 550D, even with its 63-zone colour matrix meter, it tends to overexpose for many situations.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Japanese K-5 Discontinuation Rumour Continues

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