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A Petition

I would like to suggest starting a Petition aimed at Hoya in regards to sustaining Pentax in the event they decide to drop the brand. I think it is important that we become pro-active and not wait around like cattle off to the slaughter house. Believe me, I am ready to call the President of Hoya to give him my point of view which will be quite compelling to say the least. I have the "Kahuna's" to speak directly to him as I have with many CEO's in the past..Just another human when it comes down to it.

Let's get the e-mail address of Hoya, Japan and compose a letter stating how disappointed we would be if they were to discontinue the Pentax brand and how that would affect our perception of Hoya and all brands associated with them.

I doubt that they will drop the brand, but let's show our loyalty to Pentax with a strong message...Don't play with "Mother Pentax!"

I am not concerned, as it would not affect my status or jeopardize my position as a photographer, creative director or music composer.

Let's Do It!


Ben

Ben
_____
 
Im sorry to say this to you Benjamin, but Pentax is part of a capitalist world and has to live and die by the same rules. If we could only call "back from the dead", for example, Graflex. There certainly was a following of the Speeds and Pacemakers at the time they went extinct, what about the VW beetle classic. Can we revive that? or Contax, Bronica, Minolta, Nikon .. sorry, the last one is not dead yet .. we can't.

Companies are out to make a profit, the moment they don't, then a bigger company eats them. I think that when we invest in a camera system we have to thing about their chance to sell the system on the long term. We all new that Nikon was the top followed by Canon, but even so, Canon changed the mount once, making de facto incompatible all the pre-AF part of the system. Hasselblad is making the H3 backward incompatible, so this has to be taken in to consideration for photographers wanting to adopt a MF format.

So, there is nothing else to do BUT wait to be slaughter like cattle... or go buy a Nikon/Canon and back to work. Fortunately there are a lot of options available for the photographer that needs a system. What about the Sony, or Olympus?

I don't think that a company like Hoya is going to say: "look, there are unhappy photographers sending email, lets keep a Pentax alive so that they are happy and stop emailing".

I have lived in a socialist country under a revolution where people believed in "making the masses conscious " of what they really want. That doesn't work, and at the end is a good thing that it doesnt because if it did we would end up with Soviet type cameras that are sold for pupulistic reasons.

... I think...
 
Companies are out to make a profit, the moment they don't, then a bigger company eats them.

The eating would only make sense if there was something interesting to harvest. If there is, then there is (some) hope.

I think that when we invest in a camera system we have to thing about their chance to sell the system on the long term.

Well, upto a certain point. When the equipment is economically written-off, there are only non-economical arguments left. How important they are, differs from person to person. That's not to say that I (with zero (in)vested interests in Pentax other than sentimental/strategic) would enjoy the demise (if such would be the case) of Pentax, I don't.

So, there is nothing else to do BUT wait to be slaughter like cattle... or go buy a Nikon/Canon and back to work.

I disagree, and as any fire-fighter coud attest, even the biggest fire can be extinguised with a cup of water (well, depending on the fuel-source) if you're there right from the start.

I have lived in a socialist country under a revolution where people believed in "making the masses conscious " of what they really want. That doesn't work, and at the end is a good thing that it doesnt because if it did we would end up with Soviet type cameras that are sold for pupulistic reasons.

I hear you(!), but even though the Communist/'Socialist' doctrines didn't deliver on their suggested expectations, I wouldn't compare that to the situation at hand. I'd say that a well placed 'cup of water' might still have its effect, although I'm not in a position to judge its timeliness.

Bart
 

Kyle Nagel

New member
I wouldn't get too excited yet, what will happen in regards to this "merger" is far from set in stone, as well as what may or may not happen afterwords. I spoke with an employee at Pentax that told me it is too soon to get worried. There will be more talks and negotiations through the end of this month, and unless all parties involved can come to an agreement all bets are off and it could turn into a free-for-all. He's basically saying until someone signs on the dotted line we really don't know what will happen. According to my "source" The key dates are the 24th and the 31st of this month, though the article at the link below lists the 22nd as the shareholders meeting he told me he believed it was actually the 24th. He did mention that regardless of the outcome of the Hoya talks/merger Pentax will most likely be selling their Tokyo real estate and dropping their Printer and measuring instrument business. I am trying to get someone from Pentax to give me an "official" statement that I can quote, but I am being told that there is nothing official to quote at this time, and to wait a couple more weeks and see what shakes out.

Also see this link for some of the latest scuttlebutt. http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=447173

Kyle
 
A very recent, factual article can be found here: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070522a5.html

A quote from the article, "Pentax is expected to officially approve the acceptance of the tender offer during a special board meeting Friday."

I'm all for showing Hoya that Pentax users are passionate, and I can certainly put my name out there, but I am confused. Is posting to this thread what you had in mind Benjikan, or is there an actual "petition" somewhere?
 
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