So long as a 645Z sells for less than $6k in Japan, revealing the true cost of parts and manufacturing to the rest of the world, there is market stress. That's the way it is, and that's how it's going to be.
One cannot fail to notice that Doug and Steve make very good money by selling the same CMOS sensor tech and a much older body at 3x the price: They state they have a growing circle of customers. As photographers we all know that the Pentax hardware is equivalent to that of the IQ250C, so these customers must attribute a monetary value to Doug and Steve's support and expertise[Note 0, 1] and the seamless tethering workflow, impeccable color management, and superb renderings of the C1 software [Note 2], well above any perceived value of the hardware components.
I think this is the root cause of the recurring price discussion, no joke: There is a 3x at least price disparity, but some perceive the "invisible" value, and some don't. Doug and Steve say their customer base just budgets for it, which is true (their support is included in the hardware price), while some other forum participants say "Hey guys, I don't sit in a studio with my computer on a cart, I don't retouch Madonna, I don't do 10-dresses-an-hour catalog shoots or deadlines, I don't need your handholding, I want a camera *and* a car, not a camera *or* a car", the last of which is mostly guy shorthand for either "I am too broke to buy this" or for the self-evident psycho-econometric formula
SAF(IQ250C) = -25000 [Note 3, 4]
However that is not the point of this discussion. What we are trying to understand is why Phase -the company, not Doug, Steve dealers- is not supplying a more modern body, at whatever price is the usual buy-in for the Phase system. Or maybe they have a new body but have chosen not to release it at Photokina for some strange business reason?
Edmund
[Note 0] I don't think Pentax dealers give out their cellphone numbers, or do much remote software support; I have a feeling Doug or his techs do both.
[Note 1]: Possibly quite a few other Phase dealers do not supply anywhere near the same degree of support or expertise as Doug and Steve.
[Note 2]: If C1 supports SLRs for $500, why is it worth $15K when it is employed with a Sony MF sensor?
[Note 3]: This gender-agnostic formula reads as "My spouse is going to kill me, and remodel the kitchen with furniture lovingly carved from my bones if I buy this ".
[Note 4]: Some economists offer a more rigorous interpretation involving cremation ashes and a cat litter tray.
