RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: So Boring in the Pentaxland Recently, What is/are Coming?! >:-(

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

So Boring in the Pentaxland Recently, What is/are Coming?! >:-(

Feel free to reply in "Comments" for anything you know or want! :-o

Comments (38)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

0 Vote up Vote down

RiceHigh 110p · 627 weeks ago

1. The K-01 is dead, there should not be a K-02, i.e. the line is dead, too!

2. Whether the next DSLR will be an APS-C or a FF is uncertain. The future is unclear.

3. There is a downgrade Q10 in the Q line, but not an upgrade.

4. The new MX-1 is only an OEM DC, shares many parts with the Oly XZ-2.

5. Nothing is heard about the 645D replacement!

So, the future of Pentax is yet not optimistic, as everything is rather unclear and now all the lineups are in a weak status! :-(

1 reply · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

badsykes · 627 weeks ago

I do think this is a transition period ... pentax -- >ricoh ...Some projects were already on Pentax design board...Those needed to be "consumed" by releasing them as they were ....The new stuff is yet to come..

Offtopic:
I want some advices...I want to sell my K5 because the my confort zone activates and tend to be lazy to carry it around more often.I build excuses to not carry it..This is a shame..I want to go smaller so at least i have a decent camera with me most of times not one big home..
I was thinking at X-E1 but the kit with lens 18-55 is around 2000$ and is way beyond my budget ...The body itself is fine from price perspective but the lens itself is expensive...Another choices that have more decent prices are k-01 and Fuji X20 (i know this have smaller more like a p&S sensor)..The advantage of the x20 is it have also a optical viewfinder and both focus methods (contrast af and phase af) and is smaller for pockets..The k-01 lacks phase af, is bigger but have a k5 equivalent sensor and also is cheaper than x20 on second hand market...Nikon and Cannon have no intersting products for me from what i know and sony NEX system is expensive and borring...

10 replies · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

frank · 627 weeks ago

Pentax Germany just sent by facebook a new K-Mount roadmap.
find it here: http://www.pentax.de/de/foto-objektive.php
don't know if this is really new, couldn't check yet

1 reply · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

frank · 627 weeks ago

Ok...sorry...they said: CURRENT Road map....not NEW reoadmap...

+2 Vote up Vote down

PeterBex · 627 weeks ago

What I find so completely baffling is Pentax apparent unwillingness to talk up future products. If there was some anticipation, some excitement, about future products and even a vague timeline instead of the dead silence from Pentax perhaps fewer people would be considering leaving the brand. It is also so disrespectful to all the loyal and committed followers of the brand who have invested considerable sums in Pentax equipment.

The 560mm lens launch (if you can call it that) is a classic example. It seems obvious that when you launch a major new lens, the first super telephoto in a long time, you invite a few well respected photographers to trial it and then you publish the photographs and the reviews - everywhere. You definitely don't leave it to a trickle of private posts, rumours and speculation. But there is absolutely nothing on the web site. I couldn't even find the lens on the Japanese site. If the lens is a turkey, why launch it anyway. But if it isn't a turkey then why on earth is Pentax not pushing it harder. I can't help thinking that they are somehow embarrassed by it.

1 reply · active 627 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

Tom · 627 weeks ago

Fullframe and native tethering suport (also for linux) would be great!

+3 Vote up Vote down

Alex · 627 weeks ago

The companies who talks too much about amazing products almost ready for the market do that because that's all they have - words ;)
Pentax Ricoh is now both unusually talkative regarding their overall direction (see the recent interviews), and more secretive than ever about product specifics. "Disrespectful"? Exactly what do you want from them, and which other company does that?

You couldn't find the 560mm on the Japanese site, but it's there: http://www.pentax.jp/japan/products/lens/index35_...
I'm sure your other assumptions are equally false.

+3 Vote up Vote down

PeterBex · 627 weeks ago

Alex, it was just my opinion and I make no claims to be right, but I do find the Pentax approach odd when compared to Nikon and Canon. I don't agree with you that "all they have is words". Both Canon and Nikon have an enviable range of useful products across the range of camera types and are launching more every year. I am not knocking Pentax, I am just puzzled by their approach. All the talk from Pentax has been about 'theoretical' products; they are "considering many options at the moment", but not prepared to commit publicly to a path. If the FF body does become a reality will it be this year, next or the year after? I meant disrespectful because there are so many Pentax users who would like some clue as to what the company intends to do medium/long term so that they can make a decision to either hang on with Pentax, keep the faith and wait for the new products or switch to another brand that already has the products they want to use. I would like to see Pentax succeed but, if they don't start talking meaningfully to their user base soon about what to expect and when, they are going to keep on loosing customers to the other brands. If you ignore the P&S products, I imagine that Pentax expects much of its growth (through the K5II, K3(?) and future lenses to come from within its user base, and with the kind of investment many people make with their camera equipment, once you have lost them, you have probably lost them for good. So Pentax may be shrinking its user base directly because it is not doing what the other do and talking up its future products. I think that it is a big mistake. But that it just my opinion.

Thank you for the link. Unfortunately I don't read Japanese, so when I clicked through to the English version the 560 was not listed under Super Telephotos. Here is the link: http://www.pentax.jp/english/products/lens/

2 replies · active 627 weeks ago

+4 Vote up Vote down

OGL · 627 weeks ago

K-3, 645DII, GRDV are 100% this year

2 replies · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

PeterBex · 627 weeks ago

I don't have an argument with the quality of Pentax equipment, I've used it and in terms of build, ergonomics and lens quality it was great. My point I suppose is that silence does not sell products. I was in a major branch of LCE a couple of weeks ago. It was packed with people talking about and buying Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic cameras, Pentax was not an option discussed in any of the conversations that I listened into. On two separate occasions women were asking for a lightweight DSLR system to travel with - the Pentax gear was in the store and was completely ignored. Is that the fault of the store staff or Pentax for not making those customers more aware of its products? In both cases the women bought Nikon. One women even said that she knew Nikon was used by professionals, so she felt more confident buying one of their cameras. This isn't a rant against Pentax or its products, I've used Pentax kit and really appreciated the small size and weather proofing and I think that the market place needs another innovative player and I'd rather it was Pentax.

0 Vote up Vote down

Michal · 627 weeks ago

Rice, I consider it a silence before the storm... All I wait for is a new APS-C with improved AF and 24MP sensor.

2 replies · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

Andrés · 627 weeks ago

Pentax is ready to launch a serie of new cameras that will shock the entire photoplanet, but in less than a week there will be dozens of forums posters on internet saying that they´re all a mistake, a joke, a bad ideas, too good to be true stuffs. Different products from all they know, so Pentax must be wrong on this. Prices will drop down to the floor, then those hesitating to buy the new glorious us5.000 37-89mm f5.6-6.3 Canikon zoom will get one of the new Pentax allready cheap novelties to discovering later new unimagined posibilities of photography. Those will say that Pentax do things well but to expensive on start, not like the glorious Canikon zoom.

-2 Vote up Vote down

surferdude · 627 weeks ago

I'm hoping they'll announce something March/April otherwise it's likely my next dslr won't be a Pentax. I understand that Nikon pay up front to get exclusivity with new Sony sensors but they don't get 2 years grace. That's how far behind Pentax are. Why did they ditch the K-r? where is the entry level model? The K-30 is great but just too expensive. I can get a 24mp Nikon d5200 for less than a K-30. I have had Pentax gear for 35 years and really, really want my next camera to be a Pentax but they only have 2 cameras on offer - the K-5 II/s (which to me classes as 1) which is too expensive for what it is and likewise for the k-30. I've pixel peeped the output from many of the latest cameras and in many situations 24mp is no better than 16mp. However, it's rare that 24mp is worse than 16mp (except maybe the d3200) and at it's best the difference can be seen. For most photographers it's never going to be seen but I take wedding photographs and for some enlargements it would be. In my opinion the price of their cameras needs to reduce and they need an entry level model. I would actually consider a FF but only if it were priced competitively eg to compete with say the D600.

1 reply · active 627 weeks ago

-1 Vote up Vote down

JimmyDranox · 627 weeks ago

The design of K-01 was a mistake. The withdrawal of K-r was a mistake. Any company know the importance of PR. Except Pentax.

From their last interview, it was clear that they reject the idea of a FF camera last year, and now they change their mind. It is the same situation lack of clear decision in other directions? Their mumble responses looks like this.

I love my Pentax, and I want to keep tha sistem, but they must show determination, even if they will have to announce their camera and lenses one year before release.

2 replies · active 627 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

k30 · 627 weeks ago

Isn't K-30 a rebodied K-01? at least their firmwares are of the same version.

0 Vote up Vote down

r0brwy · 627 weeks ago

I am bemused that so much faith is vested in Ricoh's ownership of Pentax. They never made much impact with their own brand of cameras, so why should they be any more successful with the Pentax range? Why a company needs to sell under two brand names; when their total market share is derisory, is beyond me. Take a look at Ricohs last set of results.

Post a new comment

Comment as a Guest, or login:

Tweet this comment

RiceHigh's Pentax Blog

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

So Boring in the Pentaxland Recently, What is/are Coming?! >:-(

Forgot password?

Comments (38)

Post a new comment

Reference Links (by Others)

My Technical Articles (Latest First)