Pentax K-X Press Introduction

The new Pentax K-XThe introduction of the new Pentax K-X  was held on September 16th, 2009 at the International Center of Photography on 6th Ave at 43rd street in New York City.

(My photo gallery of the trip is here.)

The ICP is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance. Their exhibit at the time of my visit was on the work of Richard Avedon, who is not one of my favorite photographers, but that’s probably all the more reason to have a look at his work, I thought to myself. (It’s also appropriate because Avedon did shoot with Pentax cameras for some time.) I was quite surprised at how much of it I liked. The thing is, it was his early stuff that really seemed good to me. The exhibit had the photographs grouped by time period and the later the year the less I liked his work. He seemed to have figured out what sold, at one point, and then stopped experimenting and growing. In his later work he seemed to be imitating his own “Richard Avedon style” (though certainly very well!) I once read an article that suggested that Liza Minnelli has, in effect, become a Liza Minnelli impersonator; I think Richard Avedon became a sort of photographic equivalent of that.

All the prints looked fabulous, by the way, but particularly the earlier ones, to my eye. I doubt Avedon was a darkroom kind of guy so I wondered who did his printing. Whoever it was (or they were) did a superb job.

The first person I met at the event was Gordon Lewis, who’s writing the K-7 review for Mike Johnston and TOP. There weren’t many people there who were primarily photographers, as opposed to industry/retail people and journalists, and he somehow immediately pegged me as a shooter and just walked up and started chatting (he introduced himself simply as “Gordon” and I didn’t find out until later that he was the Gordon writing for TOP). He’s a really nice guy, clearly very smart and a damn fine photographer (which you know already if you’ve seen his work accompanying the K-7 review).

Pentax had the event catered very nicely and all the food was kosher, which made no difference to me but, given the number of Adorama and B&H people present, was probably a good idea. Sparkling water, soft drinks and a very passable Sauvignon Blanc were also available. (I’m normally a cabernet drinker, but I made an exception for Pentax. Strictly out of politeness, you understand…)

The first part of the formal presentation was all about the Pentax-Hoya relationship and how being part of Hoya has changed — and will change — things. The very successful white K-2000, which Hoya decided to sell without market testing (through focus groups and the like), is one example. The Hoya people decided that for the price of a good marketing research effort they could simply manufacture a small batch of white cameras and see how they sold. The result, as we now know, was lots of good media coverage and quick sales of the camera. They are clearly working on shortening development time and reducing time to market and also want to make Pentax’s product line more logical and organized, so I expect we’re seeing just the beginning of this process. Another thing they stressed was keeping control of inventory and product delivery. They made a big deal about this and I got the impression they’ve already foreseen and planned for the management of the multiple-color options of the K-X, making it easy for retailers to get the ones they want. They reported that Pentax looks to break even this year or possibly turn a small profit. Actually quite remarkable in the current economic climate.

You’ve probably read as much as you want to know about the Pentax K-X by now so I’ll just say that it’s a very impressive little piece of kit. Clearly aimed at a beginner moving up from a point-and-shoot, rather than the kind of photographer who’s on the PDML, but at $650 with a kit lens it is an astonishing value for the money, IMO. 12 megapixels, with in-camera shake reduction and high definition video capability for $650? Amazing. The big news for the “consumer electronics” type buyer is that the camera will be available in 4 colors, black, white, navy blue and red. This is a first for a DSLR and, given how items like cell phones and MP3 players have long been available in a choice of colors, I’m surprised no camera maker has done this yet. (Of course, I didn’t think of it earlier either, did I?) If you live in Japan you have more than four colors to choose from: Try 20! And you can mix and match with 4 different colors on the grip section of the camera. Check out this on-line color chooser for the K-X. Hitting the market in October (black) and November (colors) is just right timing.

After all the planned presentations there was a Q&A period. Mostly uninteresting questions, but one did try to inquire about future, higher-spec products (clearly meaning “full-frame” even though they weren’t willing to use those words). The Pentax people kind of side-stepped that one by saying that their next camera slated for release is the 645D (30 megapixel medium format), in the spring of next year. I spoke to some of them in private, and while they obviously wouldn’t comment on full-frame or any other future camera development, there was an acknowledgment that the environment has changed — even since earlier this year (cough — Sony A850 — cough). My totally subjective, completely personal opinion is that the oft-predicted 2011 date for full-frame Pentax will prove about right. Maybe we’ll see an announcement in late 2010 (when the Sony 850 or one of its competitors will be retailing for ~$1500) One would note that the new K-X appears to use a Sony sensor (unconfirmed), so Pentax obviously doesn’t consider themselves locked into one sensor supplier.

After the formal presentation I chatted with various Pentax people and was really happy to meet several with whom I’ve only communicated in mail or just heard about through other people. I got to chat with president Ned Bunnell for a while. I can tell you that the impression he gives in his blog is accurate: He’s a serious photographer and he really cares about what he does. I filled him in on the plans for next year’s PDML Photo Annual and its accompanying gallery exhibition in Chicago.

I’d also like to note the attitude of most of the other people present at this event. It’s the first time Pentax has ever done anything like this (I think it’s significant that the press embargo was only broken a few hours before deadline, rather than days or weeks) and most of those present were either from various web and print media or from retailers. But you could tell that the overwhelming majority of them were really pulling for Pentax, a relative underdog in a field of giant corporations. There’s a genuine affection for Pentax’s history and accomplishments among members of the press and in long-time retail operators like B&H. That this isn’t often apparent in media coverage belies the cynical myth of press bias and corporate co-option so prevalent in popular culture. There are a lot of “friends of Pentax” out there and it was nice to feel them drop their guise of professionalism just a little for the evening to let it show. Their enthusiasm for the new K-X and marketing strategy was, I think, sincere.

I was honored to be invited to this event, but I think it’s more a measure of the work the rest of the PDML did in creating the photographs for the PDML Annual that made it possible. If the work for the next one is as good perhaps I’ll get invited to future product announcements at great photo art galleries!

And maybe they’ll also have a red wine at the next one.

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3 Responses to Pentax K-X Press Introduction

  1. crapmgt says:

    I started out on a fact-finding mission for my (new to me) Vivitar Series 1 70-210 lens (it’s a 3, yay!), and ended up here… I always enjoy finding other “friends of Pentax”.
    Thanks for the great resource, I’ll be following along.

  2. Mark says:

    Glad to have you on board!

  3. neilkevin01 says:

    This is a good camera for the price. It is simple to use and takes clear, crisp pictures. Also, the battery life is good. And the price makes it affordable to take good pictures.