Oddly enough I discovered a parallel to my mild discomfort to the release of the Pentax 645D and baseball.
No need for a long story, but I'm from Cincinnati where I naturally grew up with a love for baseball. So even though
I was not privileged enough to afford season tickets, I enjoyed going to Riverfront (Proceeded by Crosley and now Great American) to
participate in our favorite pastime.
In 1994, Major league baseball called a strike and ended the season on a sour note. At a time where many loyal fans
where left swinging in the wind.
1994 left a bad taste in my mind about anything to do with baseball, and it’s the same feeling with Pentax.
For years I used Pentax medium format and openly embraced the "N" auto focus line. I reguarlaly wrote Pentax USA and
asked if they had plans to eventually support this new digital thing going on with many systems at the time. It was around the
time of Pentax opting in/out of a full-frame DSLR.
Eventually Pentax just about pulled out from most photo stores and became harder and harder to find. Similar to what’s
has happened with Contax 645.
I will never forget the letter and eventual phone conversation where I was told that Pentax was and will not spend any resources
for digital development, and to enjoy film processing for years to come.
Those Pentax AF lenses are long gone, and I scarcely have anything left with a Pentax logo...
To read of the launch of the Pentax 645D only raises those same feelings where a company lost touch with its number one
fans just like with baseball. There managers, salesmen and engineers haggled over how to spend our money and so easily
alienated its loyal supporters.
Pentax- nice camera, but never again.
