Pentax User Survey

 https://questant.jp/q/86PT0EYA

News from Ricoh - K-1 III is Still Under Development and etc.

From a latest post in the Xitek Pentax forum, an interview with the Ricoh senior officials (from the product development and planning divisions) in a recent marketing event in Taipei was cited.

The key messages delivered are summarised as follows: 

 

1. The K-1 III is still under development. More time is required with a higher precision aimed on the design as well as owing to the difficulty in sourcing certain components and parts for the new camera.

2. The film camera project is in good progress but further details will not be disclosed. Nonetheless, collaboration with other film product manufacturers will be made for determining a right selling price and marketing strategy.

3. Feasibility for the revival of the Q system is being carried out, subject to the requests made by the Pentax fans in Japan. But considering the limitation of the Q system, it would be unlikely.

4. The 645 system is in its end of development, production of the remaining products will last for a certain period of time.

5. Mirrorless is not a viable option for Pentax.

6. New DFA* wide angle lens(es) and replacement of the DA*50-135 are being considered according to market needs.

Why Pentax Has Failed at Mirrorless?

See what PetaPixel says about the failure of Pentax in the mirrorless market, despite the efforts paid in the past two decades.

By the way, for what PP has listed out for the 37 interchangeable lens digital cameras wich Pentax has ever produced, I have bought more than one-third of all the models as follows:

From 2003 to 2021: My Pentax APS-C bodies acquired: *ist D/DS/DL2, K-100D, K-m, K-x, K-r, K-5, KP and K-3III, total 10 out of the 29 models produced.

From 2011 to 2014: I bought the original Q and the Q7, hence 2 out of 4.

From 2016 to 2021: I got the K-1, but I don't think Pentax has really produced 2 full-frame bodies as the K-1 II actually is just a mild variant of the original K-1.

From 2010 to 2014: I purchased the 645D, 1 out of 2 for the medium format bodies.

So, I acquired a total of 14 Pentax models out of the 37 that they have produced.

Besides what PP has mentioned about the causes the failure, which I generally agree with, I think from the user's perspective and practical point of view, the K-01 and the Q series failed in two major ways, which are the lack of EVF and fast Wi-Fi support. I consider that these are basic essential features nowadays, especially for mirrorless cameras and for easy social media sharing on-the-go. All in all, the external LCD monitor is really rather difficult to view under bright light environment outdoor. Without an EVF, it is indifferent to shoot blindly and composition and shooting have become rather difficult with such handicapped mirrorless cameras.

The LA-KE1 is Delayed

See this previous announcement made by the manufacturer, the LA-KE1 is delayed:

https://m.weibo.cn/status/4587145295306882

(in Simplified Chinese)

The reason of the delay is about the shortage of chipset used in the adapter. It was promised that the first batch of the adapters should be shipped by 1 Feb.

Let's wait and see how it works and performs.

BCN Japanese Camera Market Shares in 2020

https://www.bcnaward.jp/award/gallery/detail/contents_type=251

(Google translated English page here)

Note that the "Award" in early each year is all about the sales figures and results in the preceding whole year in the Japanese home market. A quick capture of what's reported is as below:

DSLR Shares: No. 1 Canon 51.9%, No. 2 Nikon 44.8%, No. 3 Ricoh Imaging 3.0%, Remaining 0.3%

Mirrorless Shares: No. 1 Sony 27.4%, No. 2 Canon 23.8%, No. 3 Olympus 23.4%, Remaining 25.4%

And, looking at the share figures of our persistent 2nd runner-up (since Year 2013) of the Ricoh Imaging in the past years, the up/down trend is summarised as follows:

2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
3%	2.4%	3.1%	4.2%	4.8%	6.7%	4.5%	5.2%

Surprisingly, there is a slight increase of the market share by Ricoh in +0.6% when compared to the previous year. Congrats, Ricoh! ;-P

Monster Adaptor (Pentax K to Sony E) Pre-production Reviews

 1. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4ekKr7wJePbjEOcf01lWaA

(in Simplified Chinese, Google English translated page here - but there will be no picture nor video as the Weixin server has disabled hot-linking from other websites)

The video clips for the AF tests with the FA31 are dead links anyway.

2. The below YouTube video tested the Monster Adaptor with the DFA*85/1.4 lens, it seems that the new SDM motor as well as the KAF4 electromagnetic aperture are both well supported by this version of the adaptor:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz_5huMytRo)

The AF speed and response of the combo looks good.

Ultimate Savior for Pentaxians who Had been Hoping for a True K-mount Mirrorless (with Eye-AF etc.)

 A Chinese adaptor manufacturer has announced (Google translated English here) the world first full function K-mount to Sony E-mount adaptor, which will be made available by the end of this year 2020 (and is earlier than the launch date of the upcoming K-3 III)!

This adaptor will have screw-driving AF motor and aperture motor built-in and will support full auto functions of all K-mount lenses (possibly without any aperture block problem ;-P). The manufacturer states that the adaptor will first support A/F/FA/DA/DFA lenses which are screw-driven for the AF and will support SDM/DC/PLM AF function at a later stage via firmware upgrade.

They also mounted the three FA limited onto a Sony A7 III body via their adoptor, of which the combos look really tempting! :-D

And, their also shown a "video" to show the AF in action with the FA77 Limited, which the AF speed seems reasonably good enough, as long as the animated gif was not accelerated. ;-)

After all, I will almost certainly buy this adaptor (as I bought my A7 III two years ago) and still own more than three dozens of the Pentax or K-mount lenses (and most of them are AF ones). Possibly I shall skip and not buy the K-3 III as I found my KP is actually better for my use and shooting style. :-(

Related:  My Pentax Lenses are Given Completely New Lives!

Fstoppers Talk about Pentax's Chaotic DSLR Strategy

https://fstoppers.com/originals/pentaxs-chaotic-dslr-strategy-501074

PetaPixel Supports the DSLR Niche Strategy of Pentax/Ricoh

https://petapixel.com/2020/07/18/why-pentax-is-making-the-right-call-in-sticking-with-dslrs/

The author may have a point. But the market trend is towards interchangeable lens Mirrorless, especially Full Frame ones. Who will jump boat to the Pentax brand because of Reflex? Is it just the wishful thinking of Pentax/Ricoh themselves? :-o After all, the reverse may be true.

Direct Comparison of D FA*85/1.4 against Zeiss Otus 85/1.4 (Tested in the Field)

A Pentax user at the Chinese Xitek Pentax forum shares his friend's sample photos for a direct side-by-side comparison made between the Pentax D FA* lens (put on a K-1 body) and the Zeiss Otus 85/1.4 lens (put on a Panasonic S1R). Here we go:

(Left: Pana+Zeiss, Right: Pentax; Click to Enlarge in around 2000 to 3000 pixels in width)












EXIF data are partially preserved in the original samples in the original post. Despite that the Pentax pics tend to be darker (and the tester also made some exposure adjustment by himself for some pics) and that the Pana pics tend to be over-exposed a bit, the resolution of the Pentax lens seems to be better when the lenses are wide-opened but yet the Pentax Star lens does exhibit some obvious purple fringing at large apertures, however.

Btw, I prefer the colour rendition of the Pentax gear over the Zeiss on Pana combo. :-)

For other standalone samples of the D FA* lens (with key EXIF), they can be found in this post in the same forum thread. I just downloaded them all and have re-uploaded them here for fast and easy viewing:

(Click to Enlarge to around 2000 to 3000 pixels for the longer side, without EXIF)

CIPA Reveals that Total Shipments of DCs and ILCs are Only 27.4% of Those in 2019

CIPA has published figures about the digital camera shipments, which are both only 27.4% of the quantities in 2019, as in May 2020, for both Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILCs) and Digital Still Cameras (DSCs).

After all, in view of the rather poor sales of cameras in this year, would it be really wise (or unwise) for Pentax (Ricoh) to launch their new flagship in September as rumoured? :-(

Prediction: What New Features of the K-New Would Have?

Presuming that they have the same APS-C sensor, and then going through the specs of that Sony sensor and then the set of features of the X-T4. Here we go, for the possible new features that had never been offered by Pentax before, in their upcoming new flagship:

- 26MP BSI CMOS sensor (for its high ISO performance, this sample at ISO 10000 may shed some light)

- 18.82 fps maximum frame rate with 12-bit RAW (which will be converted to 8-bit JPEG anyway, limit of the sensor for the read-out bit-depth and rate combinations)

- If 14-bit RAW is implemented (KP and K-1/II have 14-bit RAW), the frame rate for continuous shooting still picture will be in between 6.84 (for highest 16-bit readout of the whole picture) and 18.82 (as mentioned above) - the above brief marketing sheet of the sensor does not mention about the 14-bit readout modes and rates

- 10 fps is possible (considering that the XT-4 offers 15 fps continuous shooting with mechanical shutter, unless Pentax's latest mechanical engineering plus image processing speed are yet not up to there. And, the Pentax has a mirror but the Fuji does not. )

- 425 point on-sensor phase-matching AF in Live View mode, which the X-T4 has

- 10-bit full-frame 4k video in 30p (limit of sensor) or 12-bit 2k video at high frame rates (55 to 111 fps which is the limits of the sensor); Or 10-bit 4k video at 60 fps is possible with the 1.18x crop factor of the centre

- 4:2:0 colour sub-sampling for H.264 codec (which is a bit too much for the dropping of the colour data) and 4:2:2 for H.265 (Pentax may have a different codec and implementation, though)

But since that the K-new will not have any articulated screen / flipped monitor, the video capability of it will not be too strong anyway?

Other sample images of the production X-T4 in DPR's latest full review of the camera can be found here. Also, a quick glance with the comparometer at the DPR, it seems that the ISO performance will be improved from the KP's by one to two stop(s), and which will undoubtedly exceed the IQ of the K-1 II.

A Closer Look at the Focus Screen Etchings of the K-New

A careful-minded Pentaxian at the DPR Pentax DSLR forum spotted that there were interesting etchings and marks on the focusing screen of the exhibit of the K-new prototype displayed back to September last year, here we go:

First we look at the center of the screen, there is an inner set of brackets of four, in addition to the central spot circle. Note that I have increased the contrast of the above and below pictures for the sake of easier viewing of the marks.

And then at the outer, there is yet another pair brackets of two which covers almost the whole picture frame horizontally. Hence, the AF area of this K-new as a DSLR, i.e. the TTL phase-matching AF, is really very wide. Good! :-D

Furthermore, at the upper right corner there is a mark of a letter "O" which is supposed to mean "Optical". This coincides my guess in the new year for the likehood of a new hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder in the K-new.  Really nice! :-))

I am happy this time, and so do many Pentaxians and fans, I suppose. Good news from Pentax (Ricoh) should come soon!

What's Inside the Pentaprism Housing of the New APS-C Flagship?

Quick check of a few Facts:

1. Top of K-3 II, separate plastic top cover on pentaprism, with GPS button (at the left side) and function:

2. Top of K-1, integral top plastic cover, with GPS button (at the right side) and function:

3. Top of the New Flagship, looks like an integral metal top cover but without any GPS button (on any part of the body) and possibly no such function built-in:

So, what's the conclusion and my somehow wild but yet sensible guess? Something new is incorporated inside the Pentaprism housing of this new camera! :-D

And, it does quite make sense to accommodate this new facility with the large space made available:

Patent link: https://ipforce.jp/patent-jp-A-2018-151588

I believe more so it is a hybrid OVF/EVF finder with the existence of a new unmarked secret button at the rear top left (where used to be the playback button on the K-3 and K-3 II) plus a new infrared proximity sensor under the viewfinder, which is a standard design for automatic EVF/LCD on/off toggle switching for mirrorless bodies equipped with EVFs:

I hope it will happen. ;-) With this, it will be a meaningful breakthrough in truly combining a DSLR with a Mirrorless, so as to get the best of both worlds. And more importantly, old Pentax users will NOT need a new mount and the K-mount will continue! After all, we shall know before this Summer!


Last Related:

The New Sony APS-C Sensor

BCN Japanese Market Results in 2016

https://www.bcnaward.jp/award/gallery/2017/hard/p2.html

(in Japanese, or Google-translated English page here)

Congrats Ricoh! You've got a 2nd-runner up among 3 players in the DSLR battlefield! Well done! :-P

Btw, it is interesting to note that Nikon has been beaten by Sigma in lens sales. Sigma is really strong nowadays. They had really brilliant marketing, IMHO! Besides, Canon has taken over the 2nd place from Sony for the mirrorless market share, well..

FA31 Limited on A7R Samples with Crops (and A Rumour about the Three FA Limiteds Ceased Production)

http://forum.xitek.com/thread-1289422-1-1-1.html
(in Simplified Chinese, Pictures are self-explanatory!)

At the other side of the web, it is rumoured that the three FA Limited lenses have already ceased production and the remaining stocks are being cleared:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53451224



Well, just believe it or not, but I am almost sure that Ricoh will continue to remove anything that is Pentax symbolic including the colour scheme and the look of their old lenses. And yes, very possibly a new Ricoh and Canon like red ring will be circled to the new "Ricoh" lenses some days later when they are revamped (but if and only if!).

My Pentax Lenses are Given Completely New Lives! :-D

Everything starts with a new Full Frame body for the K-mount! :-D



Below are *some* (10 models) of my Full Frame Pentax lenses on the K-7R: ;-p


F 17-28/3.5-4.5 Fish-Eye


FAJ 18-35/4-5.6 AL


FA 24-90/3.5-4.5 AL [IF]


FA 28/2.8 AL


DA 35/2.4 AL


F 35-70/3.5-4.5


FA 43/1.9 Limited


A 50/2


DA 70/2.4 Limited


D FA 100/2.8 Macro