RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Canon EOS-M is Around the Corner, How Pentax Could Compete with the K-0x?

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Canon EOS-M is Around the Corner, How Pentax Could Compete with the K-0x?

Yet another APS-C mirrorless system!

Credit: Canon Price Watch

The EOS-M seems to be making more sense with a new mount for a much shorter back focus register distance (which I guess to be around 20mm something) than the K-01 such that the body can be made thinner and overall body size and weight can be saved, whilst the sensor could be the same. But then compatibility is not maintained anyway.

In order to compete and survive, my humble advice to Ricoh is to quickly build a K-02, which should at least be equipped with a swivel back LCD and support an optional/external EVF. In order to hide the thick flange mount distance, a Ricoh Mirai or Pentax Optio MX style body form and shape will help, which is actually ideal for video shooting, too!

They have to be different in order to compete. But then all those differences should have to be sensible, but not the other way around! Right? Just look at the Q and the K-01, what do you think? And what did the market react and what are people saying? >:-[

Comments (16)

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-1 Vote up Vote down

frank · 660 weeks ago

people love them

0 Vote up Vote down

naveed · 660 weeks ago

I always liked both the Olympus AZ-4 and the Optio MX. It would be pretty cool, to have some new cameras with that form factor.

+2 Vote up Vote down

OGL · 660 weeks ago

P&S operation...It's not interesting at all. But, more mirrorless APS-C system is good. :)
what is the focus register distance?
Anyway, I hope Pentax could make K-02 more compact even with K-mount and fill it with features.
as for me K-01 is just test of the pen.

+4 Vote up Vote down

OGL · 660 weeks ago

K-01 must be low-end glamour mirrorless with price lower than USD500...
But will Pentax produce K-02 with all tasty features this year?

+2 Vote up Vote down

raizans · 660 weeks ago

+1!

a unique form factor would differentiate the pentax in a more convincing manner than "famous industrial designer" style. the long flange back distance needs to be justified.

one part ricoh mirai, one part pentax optio mx, one part sony r1, and one part rollei 6000 series. mix well and serve!

+2 Vote up Vote down

Rob · 660 weeks ago

Now that this is official, it will be interesting to see how the reviews talk about the lack of EVF. Almost every review of the K-01 mentioned it as a huge negative. How much you want to bet it is a positive now that Canon has done it.

This from DP review:

"It's now almost four years since Panasonic first introduced us to the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, in the shape of the Micro Four Thirds Lumix DMC-G1. Since then, all of the other major manufacturers have entered the fray, in the process offering cameras in a variety of shapes and sizes - from diminutive beginner-friendly models such as the Olympus PEN E-PM1, to unashamedly high-end models like the Sony NEX-7 and Fujifilm X-Pro1. Nikon, meanwhile, has ploughed its own individual furrow with its family-friendly 1 J1 and 1 V1 models. This simply reflects the fact that different cameras are targeted to different kinds of users - be they serious enthusiasts looking for a small, highly capable camera, or compact-camera upgraders looking for SLR-like image quality in a smaller, easier-to-use package."

You would never guess from this that Pentax has not one but two mirrorless ILC including the smallest and only one using a standard mount.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Walt · 660 weeks ago

Yuck, the K-01 looks good compared to this thing. You think the K-01 CDAF is not very good, wait until you see this thing in action. Basically a NEX knock off me-too camera. Wow, Canon, the market leader and innovator. Dpreview will give it a good review because they are owned by this huge retailer named um... Amazon. Well the good news is that after Nikon (I don't care what anyone says, the 1 series is just not appealing) and now Canon have blown it Pentax still can still do well with the K-02. Tuck it in a bit, give it a diet, use the collapsable lenses, improve the controls, adapt the Ricoh EVF and some other easy items will give it a good chance. Also, Pentax can enter the M4/3's world too now that Sony is making the sensors. I hope Pentax gets really radical and considers using Android in their cameras - that would really be disruptive and it would set them apart as the true innovators.

+3 Vote up Vote down

OGL · 660 weeks ago

No emotions. Even K-01 - is love and hate...:)

The camera is rather shy try to move to mirrorless market. Touchscreen operation is nonsense without e-dials.

-5 Vote up Vote down

Ian · 660 weeks ago

This is what the K-01 should have been.

3 replies · active 659 weeks ago

+1 Vote up Vote down

Walt · 659 weeks ago

Well maybe the new mount part, maybe. Other than that this is not an impressive camera at all. Sony essentially has been making this camera for years now. The battery life is 230 shots, you must buy a $150 flash in order to even take flash photos. The kit zoom is another $300. What a rip off.

+3 Vote up Vote down

Warpig · 659 weeks ago

Nonsense. The sad part is that it will still sell because it has a canon logo. Indeed a rip-off.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Alex · 659 weeks ago

You mean, Pentax should:
- change their mount, so you'll need a $200 adapter to use your lenses
- slow down the AF
- remove the internal flash
- change the metal body to a plastic one
- get rid of the SR; stabilisation must be in lenses, and you must pay for it. Dearly.
- more than halve the battery life

0 Vote up Vote down

Asahi · 659 weeks ago

It was announced in Japan already~

0 Vote up Vote down

nameless · 659 weeks ago

Poor Rice, you feel so unhappy about anything. Sorry you feel that way.
You care about a company that does not care about a freaken company that does not care about you.
Sorry for you. You are losing the time of your life. Think about it. You are really LOSING it.

0 Vote up Vote down

Fred · 658 weeks ago

My suggestion to Pentax is to make the K-02 a FOLDED OPTIC. Then the K-mount registration distance can be maintained, but in a slim body.

That is something I would buy in a heartbeat.

0 Vote up Vote down

Sérgio Silva · 657 weeks ago

That was exactly what I said when I first saw the K-01 reviews... It's a live view cam, intended for video and photography, so why not go full monty with it and turn t into a video camera, which can also shoot photos? We already have great photo camera's in the K5/Kr/K30 ranges, and that would give Pentax something completely different in the market! C'mon an APS-c, interchangeable lens camera for art students and the general public? Flawless victory!

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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Canon EOS-M is Around the Corner, How Pentax Could Compete with the K-0x?

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