The scene was a photographic exhibition, quite likely at Eric Fishwick Ltd in Haydock. A young, very keen but inexperienced photographer was at the Pentax stand, absorbing all the information he could find about lenses. He was talking to the Sales Manager of Pentax, who decided to show the SMC Pentax 15mm f/3.5 lens. Yes, it was me who was handed that lens and who lovingly cradled it for those few precious moments, and it was me who was hungry for knowledge. He must have recognised this because he fished out a copy of The Eyes of Pentax, which I took away and it started to feed that love of lenses that continued and grew.....
This is actually fine judgement - placing fairly expensive to produce material in the hands of those who are going to absorb it and benefit from it, and Pentax have certainly recouped their tiny investment in my interest. The book itself covered theory, lenses details, beautiful examples and it helped to nurture that growing interest.
I think publications like this are a good investment for any manufacturer, they inspire interest and they feed the desire for the more unusual lenses. The Pentax one is now relatively modest by comparison to some others:
The principle though is the same - generate the desire to buy alongside giving all the interesting information and the inspiration of some great photography.
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