Passed on with a heavy heart

<p>The ultimate Pentax Pixel Peeper site might be<br>

http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/</p>

<p>This guy knows his stuff and undertakes what appear to be rigorous tests on most models talked about on this forum. Funny that no one has noticed him before! He is borderline overly technical but his findings are startling, even depressing, in his appraisal of the end of the line for Pentax, the K-7. His bleak assessment for the future of Pentax reads thusly:<br>

http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/07/really-no-more-hope-with-pentax.html</p>

<p>It is with a heavy heart that I pass these along to Justin and Javier and the rest of the faithful Pentax users and readers.</p>

<p>My friends are all in shock when I tell them that there is a new Pentax camera out, and I have no interest in it whatsoever. I just don't see any improvement at all. Sure don't like what he has to say about the flash. I had to use flash the other night (usually don't if I can help it), and it's just not all that great on the Pentax.</p>

<p>I was not going to comment on this, but when I see my name, I felt I should...While I agree with some of Rice who is high, I need to disagree with him on most of it..First and foremost, Rice who is high, is a Pentax hater and canon fanboy...His idea of a review is to go into a store and try a demo for an hour and write a review on it...He has been banned for his nonsense in all but PF who lets anyone get away with murder there...(Maybe I should not talk, since I managed to get myself banned from here )....Secondly, he is writing a review on a camera he has never even held to the best in my knowledge....Same with the K20D....</p>

<p>Now, first, I am no Pentax fan boy. Over the years I have pointed out my likes and dislikes..A true fan boy would only see the good...Secondly, I also own Fuji, Canon P&S, and Nikon cams...In my house my oldest Daughter Cathryn, owns a Nikon D200 and a D300, My wife has a D40 and I have a D700...I can tell you that the K20D was a tick under the D300 lacking only in FPS, but the K-7 IMO is now a tick ahead of the D300 with better noise control...Image quality between all the models I listed above are the same...The only advantage in image quality comes from the D700 at ISO ranges above 400 and in low to no light...</p>

<p>At the end of the day what matters most is what has always mattered most...The person behind the view finder...I have seen people with $99.00 dollar Polaroids take better pictures with folks who have K20D's or D300's...</p>

<p>Well said Javier, thank you.</p>

<p>Pentax isn't in competition with Nikon and Canon...all it has to do is sell it's products. Theories about "market share" are irrelevant...cooked up by too many marketing MBAs.</p>

<p>Wayne, I would say all the regulars at p-net Pentax are aware of who RiceHigh is. If we do not discuss his bleak posts, it's because we do not share his bleak outlook.</p>

<p>The best thing about our forum is that we're all photographers. We get into a lot of technical discussions about high ISO noise, AF speed and whatnot, that's for sure, but at the end of the day we all post great photos on the PoW thread. That's what we're here to do—take photographs. I have only seen one photograph from RiceHigh, and it wasn't that great. Does this mean anything? I don't know, but I won't be basing my opinions on Pentax equipment on the ramblings of somebody whose photographs I've never seen.</p>

<p>I write all this without having read the particular post you link to, although having read many of his deconstructive manifestos in the past, I can imagine what it says.</p>

<p>No camera is perfect. All cameras can be used to take great photos, or bad ones. What RiceHigh does with Pentax cameras could be done to every single Nikon, Canon, Olympus or Leica camera on the market today. He has put down each Pentax DSLR over the past few years and claimed Pentax was doomed. Despite this, I see thousands of beautiful photographs being taken with Pentax DSLRs every day.</p>

<p>I think RiceHigh would do well in concentrating on being a better photographer rather than spending his time going over his cameras with a fine loupe.</p>

 

<p>Miserere</p>

<p>Glad to hear Mr. RiceHigh's comments are to be taken with a grain of salt (or perhaps a grain of rice). I stumbled across him today for the first time and must admit I was impressed at some of his pixel-peeping revelations. According to Javier he bases some of his assessments on cameras he examines in the dealer showrooms rather than buys (of course buying it first then doing tests is an expensive way to live). But often it is so hard to find info on Pentax that you can actually see (rather than read), that in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.</p>

<p>For a couple of years Ricehigh frequented the forum section of <a href="http://www.photozone.de/">www.photozone.de</a>.... back then he went by I guess his real name... Michael Poon (in case you want to search the archives from photozone.de). Michael Poon (Ricehigh) would often go head to head with the resident pentax expert, Roland Mabo (who still frequents photozone.de). In the end, it always seemed that Roland knew more about pentax. If you want to know about the future of Pentax, Roland Mabo has always been very accurate with his predictions. You can check him out at photozone.de. </p>

<p>From my years of exposure to Ricehigh, I agree very much with everything Javier and Miserere have said.</p>

<p>Cameras are a passion for some. For others, cameras are tools to fulfill a passion. So no matter what camera you are using... just enjoy it. Hey, I'm still shooting 100% slide film without a scanner. I just enjoy projecting my slides with the family. For the person that says I'm lost in the dark ages, I bet I enjoy my photography more than they do if they are constantly hung up comparing gadgetry X to Y. </p>

<p>So I do agree, we all need to go out and take more photos.</p>

<p>I'm sorry that I had to speak against Ricehigh but his rants make people believe that there is only one answer and its never with Pentax.</p>

<p>Find a system that suits your needs the most. Slide film fulfills my passion in photography. Pentax is the tool that brings me there because of the excellent limited lenses that are on par with Leica M lenses and Zeiss and ahead of Nikon and Canon in terms of sharpness. My system is compact with durable cameras. I've done my research and there's no better system to suit MY needs as a travel photographer. If I were a sports photographer, I would not be with this same system. Most likely I'd be shooting Canon. </p>

<p>So my point is, ask yourself what your needs are and proceed accordingly.</p>

<p>Sorry if I detoured off topic with some rambling. :)</p>

<p>whats interesting is that Michael Poon was very pro pentax at one time. then suddenly he turned into ricehigh and became anti-pentax.... often contradicting his old statements.</p>

<p>the metamorphosis is much like anakin to darth vader. :)</p>

<p>I find quite a bit of useful information on RiceHighs site and there are indeed shortcomings with the Pentax system and the recent price increase on lenses and constant delivery shortage here in Switzerland does not help as well. As a longtime Pentax user I have a collection of fine old manual Pentax lenses which I really love and the K10D is good enough for my needs so far since I'm not into sports photography. In fact, I can even sell photos made with the *istD and Takumar primes. Still, I would prefer if some forum members would reply with arguments instead of getting into personal attacks, there is no need for that kind of behavior. Why don't we just discuss his valid/invalid points instead ?</p>

<p>Markus is right.</p>

<p>"whats interesting is that Michael Poon was very pro pentax at one time. then suddenly he turned into ricehigh and became anti-pentax...."</p>

<p>Interesting is then, that he recently bought a Pentax K-m olive, claiming it got better quality pictures that the<br>

K-7 <br>

http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/07/k-7-failed-my-test-so-ive-bought-this.html</p>

<p>Well there you go...Copied from the link you posted Wayne.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><br /> I shot with the K-7 hands on and tested it for more than an hour,</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Here's a post by him when he color compared the finish on his newest purchased green color dslr and his some of his better Pentax glass. As you can see he bought some pretty impressive pentax glass brand new. He says he tested two K-7 and found them have worse ImageQuality than the Km he tried out that same day & bought. Its possible, Km uses a Sony sensor thats not bogged down with HD video and green vertical banding that the Samsung sensor in K-7 is suffering from. One pentax semi pro has gone through and returned three K-7 and now bought a 5D markII to get the his job done for his shooting season. Not everyone gets free pentax gear to test hands on for weeks or months to chitchat about or because they are Pentax Sponsored Pro to chat up the brand on forums and then sell off later as they wish, like one fellow who bragged about getting free: "3 K10D & 3 k20D and an array of glass". Here's a look into RH glass, one example each colorfinish. I say pentax needs even more colors choices, right?</p>

<p><a href="http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/07/k-m-olive-colour-matching.html">http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/07/k-m-olive-colour-matching.html</a></p>

<p>At pentaxforums when RH did post images a couple years ago the faithful then bashed him, and bashed him and... One Pentax pro who has several images featured at Pentax website actually left pentaxforums saying it because of the continual bashing of Ricehigh, a fellow named Tom. I used to lurk there for over a year before I joined and it never ceased to amaze me how insanely rude Pentaxians were to RH and a girl named Wendy B.</p>

<p>Ned , Pentax USA Pres made a specific blog post on his blog about cutting RH some slack a couple months ago. I'll guess he was embarrassed by the predictable rude comments from the many pentax faithful towards Rice High. Even when RH left Pentax forums, before he then got banned, there were threads bashing him afterward. He was obviously missed, no one to kick around. I read also RH, & as he's an engineer I do not relate or understand everything he says. Pentaxians are insanely rude to RH on his blog and he leaves all their comments up as evidence of this "fanboy" attitude. I find the responses enlightening. I never see this bashing in Canon or Nikon forums. You'd maybe be surprised how many people own both Canon and Nikon thesedays. Each has its pluses & each has its minuses. You put yourself in the line of fire if you discus Pentax minuses. I guess there are none, so just wait another year it'll get better, now be quiet.</p>

<p>I think at his core RH would like to see Pentax be better, like the Japanese brand it used to be for him and with its incredible quality control. But lets face it Pentax Corporation isn't Pentax anymore, its Hoya's to do with what they want. "Pentax" is simply a Logo owned by Hoya now.</p>

<p>Just offering up my 2 cents...</p>

<p>I've never heard of RiceHigh, but Michael Poon I have <em>heard</em> of. I believe that the most accurate assesments of performance on various cameras are websites that review them as part of their business, like DPReview.com and others. But I believe that the most <em>realistic</em> assements are from real users of those cameras. I know how my ZX-M works. I can't tell you how any other camera works. My M-I-L has a Canon xti. I've played with it, but I don't know how well it really works.</p>

<p>With that said here is how I felt about the link...:I thought the posting about the batteries being locked out of the k-m was interesting. I was going to buy R-CRV3s for a camera when I got one. Now I know I have to watch what I do.</p>

<p>Anyway, don't we have some shooting to do?</p>

<p>Checked this RiceHigh blog-thing again after reading the posts on this thread.<br>

True that some of his comments are exact, but to go on and on forever on something with which he has only limited experience is frugal. I guess I could read all sorts of reviews for Canon, Nikon, etc ... put them together, summarize and come up with the same "conclusions" as his. <br>

Anyway, because my photography gear is 100% Pentax (or third-party-Pentax-fitted) and I am satisfied with the results, I will stick with Pentax. If I had a larger budget for my "toys" (wife calls my photo stuff "toys") I would certainly consider buying a D700, why not? But, I would still keep my Pentax gear.<br>

JP</p>

<p>Lindy, With all due respect, I have far less respect for ned bunnel than I do for rice high....Afterall he is the president of Pentax Imaging USA but uses a pansonic/leica point and shoot instead of a Pentax one...Sorry, I hear ned bunnel and I think lower than rice high..</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Still, I would prefer if some forum members would reply with arguments instead of getting into personal attacks, there is no need for that kind of behavior.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not sure it was directed at me, but I have no personal grudge against RiceHigh. My problem with him is that he examines Pentax cameras in such detail that he ends up with too much minutia that make it sound like Pentax are crap cameras. I'm not saying he is wrong, quite the opposite, I'm saying he is right (probably most of the time), but people Googling for Pentax information find his blog near or at the top of the search results, read what he says, and go away thinking Pentax is a PoS. That hurts Pentax.</p>

<p>I reiterate: <em><strong>EVERY CAMERA ON THE MARKET HAS HUNDREDS OF THINGS WRONG WITH IT, BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM USING THEM TO MAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS.</strong> </em></p>

<p>I think RiceHigh dwells on the details and doesn't see the whole picture. He is truly missing the forest for the trees. Getting on a soapbox with a megaphone and telling everyone every single thing that is wrong with Pentax isn't constructive nor does it help anyone.</p>

<p>There are plenty of people criticising Pentax on PentaxForums, myself included, but these criticisms aren't the only things we say nor do we make them <em>the central point of every single post we make</em> .</p>

<p>Well said mis, and I suspect the post was directed at me and that's fine. But in fairness, I have not said anything, I have not said specifically to rice high himself in the past...Another thing that ''ALL'' pentax owners should think about....People like Rice high is hurting each and everyone of us who has Pentax equipment we may have to sell some day..Why, because he does have a large audience and many people worship the ground he walks on.. With his nonsense rambling ways he is hurting the resale value of the existing products that are out there....The fact that Ned Bunnel loves the guy is further proof they are both......I will leave it at that...</p>

<p>This is the kind of talk that keeps me shooting film. Just don't take my Kodachrome away...oh, wait a....</p>