The Empire Announces New "Storm Trooper" K2000/K-m

[eike.welk]

From a technical point of view it makes perfect sense: The camera does not heat up much in strong

sunlight. (Although I doubt that any technical consideration lead Pentax to release this camera.)

For good ergonomics the camera should be light gray, so that looking at it doesn't hurt your eyes

in bright sunlight.

<p>

Darth Vater seems to be a smart guy too, just not with his own uniform.

[snik75]

<p>Walter, you're a nerd, and I LOVE IT!</p>

[rogerdaltx]

<p>Thanks, thanks alot... now I've got the opening music from Star Wars stuck in my head. <br /> <br /> White, that was the big announcement.... And here I was hoping for racing strips. Nothing like paint on performance. Slap some red strips on that thing to make it go fast...</p>

[zane1664879013]

<p><em>This thing is Butt ugly!!!!</em></p>

<p>I find your lack of faith <strong>disturbing</strong> , Javier.<em><br /> </em></p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>You know, a few years ago I'd have said this was just plain stupid.<br>

<br /> But this is a base model camera, aimed at people upgrading from point and shoots, and to my knowledge (and lately I've been wrong a lot so...) there is no other DSLR (yes the Panasonic G1 does have colored bodies but it's technically not a DSLR) with colored bodies.</p>

<p>THere are colored Ipods, laptops (i got one to match my car color...actually, I didn't, it just worked out that way), and just about every other gadget including compact cameras.</p>

<p>My wife pointed out while I commented on how stupid the colored ipod's are that there is an actual purpose.</p>

<p>Many households have 2 or 3 kids, and a parent or two with an Ipod. It makes keeping gadgets straightforward.</p>

<p>So now the question is, does Pentax expect to outfit every family with 2 or 3 Km/K-2000!</p>

<p>May the force be with all us Pentaxian knights against the evil Canikon Empire.</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>My wife doesn't care much for the recent 'glossy white stuff' fad, and the second thing she said was "it still won't fit in my pocket". Of course, she never puts anything in her pockets anyway, always carries a handbag, so I'm not sure what difference THAT makes. So I'm probably more open to that sleek white K2000 than she is.</p>

<p>Oh, and I think leaving the focus distance markings off the DA-L lenses is lame. That must have saved them 1 gram and $0.03 of paint.</p>

[frygge]

<p>Hmm.. A "Brides edition" pentax. I hope the strap is white too..<br>

I quite like it, actually. </p>

[dan_lenski]

<p>Hmmm... personally I hate the whole shiny-white-gadgets thing.<br>

But if it keeps Pentax in business making new cameras and lenses, I'm all for it. Just as long as the K30D comes in black ;-)</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Much, much cooler than the Nikon Black Gold edition D60 that Ritz is trying to ram down people's throats.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[vegard_nervik]

<p>Brilliant from Pentax<br>

They should pick up a few designs similar to the images posted by Lindy as well. Making entry level DSLRS a fashion statement could be another Pentax innovation. It is supercool. <br>

They should make different designs for different target groups. The people buying into these designs won't look at the brand at all, the design far outweighs any brand name in importance. <br>

I can just imagine the sales rep arguing to the prospective customer that they should by a Canikon, while the customer screams "But I want those kittens!!!"<br>

The challenge now is to market that this camera actually exists, because if the girls don't know about it, they can't crave it.<br>

Down the road they should develop a web-based "design your own body" application where any retailer or yourself can design the body look on-line, to be custom-painted and shipped from Pentax Central Warehouse in the applicable country within 2 days directly to the customer!!!</p>

[jgredline]

<p><a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4449/pentaxtrooperyn7.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /> </a> <br /> By <a href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/jgredline">jgredline</a></p>

[jgredline]

<blockquote>

<p>I find your lack of faith <strong>disturbing</strong> , Javier</p>

</blockquote>

<p>me to, Zane<em><br /> </em></p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Very funny, Javier LOL!</p>

[mt4x4]

<p>Hello Kitty Pentax for the win!</p>

[joe_jackson4]

<p>I'm sure they'll manage to flog a few of these to those who happen to like the colour and all that, but I strongly suspect that the vast majority of people looking for an entry-level DSLR won't be all that keen on it... Or the black version, for that matter. Why...? Well, because it says "PENTAX" on the front, for a start...</p>

<p>Unless they're given a VERY good reason to do otherwise, most people will just go with a Canon, Nikon or Sony. For the simple reason that most people seem to, and there's a kinda perceived safety in numbers, of course... Sure, this K-m cam seems like a nice enough product, but the competition have (a) nice enough cameras of their own, and (b) the massive marketing clout to ensure people are fully aware of that... :)</p>

<p>I can see Pentax (and Olympus) losing whatever market share they still have pretty fast, over the next 12 months or so. And, well, once that happens, it'll certainly be an uphill battle to get it back... Realistically - and given the current financial climate - if it turns out that the K-m doesn't sell all that well then I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pentax decided to raise the white flag over the DSLR battlefield at some point in the not-too-distant future, TBH.</p>

[mt4x4]

<p>If they had a K20D version, I'd say it is an excellent entry level DSLR, especially for the price.</p>

[joe_jackson4]

<p>... then again, Pentax do seem to have the ability to stick around doing their thing while they're being outsold (and out-advertised) left, right and centre, so maybe they'll do just that...? Well, time will tell.</p>

<p>The thing is, if the media is gonna be full of financial doom and gloom for a while to come, then many people are certainly gonna think twice before forking out for a new DSLR. One would think that the big boys could more easily absorb a certain reduction in sales/profit, but what about a player like Pentax...? They could well be hit pretty hard, and there's gotta be a point where it's just not sensible to continue...</p>

<p>Six months ago, I guess I wouldn't have been writing this. Pentax had good products, getting good reviews, and so on... But six months ago, the brown stuff hadn't quite reached the financial fan... :/</p>

 

[mountainvisions]

<p>Paul,</p>

<p>Mike E noted Pentax is no longer advertising (for the most part) in print media but going web-rogue. <br /> In some ways they'd already shifted sales to the web.<br>

<br /> <br /> I think in a bad economy, this actually is a huge advantage, and a bold move. Let's hope it works out.</p>

[musings]

<p>Wow, this was a fun thread to read through! I laughed my butt off the whole time! :-)</p>

<p>Personally, I like the white color scheme but the Hello Kitty theme says something to me...good thing I don't listen to that voice anymore...</p>

[rparmar]

<p>As I stated elsewhere, while I like the Hello Kitty design I would prefer a blood red (with black accent) body with matching FA77.</p>

<p>That I would actually buy!</p>

[patrick j dempsey]

<p>I donno... if it doesn't come only in matte black, that means its not a real camera right? I think it would look really sweet covered in the Hello-Kitty stickers personally.</p>

[zane1664879013]

<p><em>I wouldn't be at all surprised if Pentax decided to raise the white flag over the DSLR battlefield...</em></p>

<p>Y'know, Pentax can't ever win. When things are going well, the story is "Pentax is too small to compete with the big R&D budgets of Canikon." When things slow down, it's "Pentax can't absorb losses, it's too small to survive."</p>

<p>I'd like to see a complete ban on all Pentax survival projections for a year. It's really getting tiresome.</p>

[joe_jackson4]

<p>"I'd like to see a complete ban on all Pentax survival projections for a year. It's really getting tiresome."</p>

<p>Well, Zane, that's your problem, I'm afraid... But hey, good luck with the ban there... ;)</p>

<p>The thing that's changed here is that problems Pentax (and many other companies...) now face have not been entirely of their own doing... And I suspect that the sheer scale of this current financial cock-up has come as something of a surprise to many, many people, not least the folk who like to forecast DSLR sales figures for newly-introduced products...</p>

<p>I can't see Pentax disappearing for good, just yet. But if this K-m doesn't bring in the cash they were expecting you can be pretty sure that they'll have to reconsider both (a) their product roadmap, and (b) their position in the market as a whole... An entry-level DSLR is something of a luxury purchase for many people out there, and if such consumers decide to tighten their personal purse strings next year (which, is pretty likely, if they happen to have been reading the news...) sales of the K-m could be hit hard. Not because it's a crap camera. Or because Pentax are clueless clowns. It's just that many people will almost certainly be less keen to splash out on a fancy digital camera during a global recession.</p>

<p>Like it or not, you have to remember that Pentax are merely bit players in the DSLR market. They appear to have a small/shrinking market share, a pretty sparse range of cameras, no "pro sector" presence to speak of, and what appears to be a less-than-extravagant marketing budget. A budget that gets used for things like this, BTW:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.extremesafarigame.com/">http://www.extremesafarigame.com/</a></p>

<p>Hmm... Call me old-fashioned, but it ain't looking too rosey for Pentax from here...</p>

[zane1664879013]

<p><em>...small/shrinking market share, a pretty sparse range of cameras, no "pro sector" presence...</em></p>

<p>Zzzzzz.</p>

[trevor_peterson2]

<p>If any of you are members of Digg, go here : http://digg.com/gadgets/Pentax_K2000_to_come_in_Limited_Edition_black_and_white_cook <br>

and digg the article on the k-2k white version... Its a pretty techy site, so probably a good place to do some word of mouth advertising, no?</p>