Web Analytics RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: When Did Pentax Forget about a Compact DSLR Body?!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

When Did Pentax Forget about a Compact DSLR Body?!

First look at my old *ist DL2:



Do note that the above is already loaded with batteries and memory card and is ready to shoot.

And then a K-5 with the same compact DA pancake lens of mine, also loaded and ready:



In fact, the K-5 body alone is just heavier than the DL2 with the 21mm pancake lens! :-(



Yet I bet Pentax fanboys will again defend that the K-5 is not a low-end body and thus it should be larger and heavier. But let's compare further the following:

1. K-5IIs Vs Canon 6D Full Frame:

http://camerasize.com/compare/#373,380

Well, it is measured that "Pentax K-5 IIs [760 g] weights 1% (10 grams) less than Canon EOS 6D [770 g] (*inc. batteries and memory card)."! I can't believe that a FF body is lower end than the cropped APS-C K-5 by all means! And also:

2. K-50 Vs K-5:

http://camerasize.com/compare/#462,372

The K-50 also weighs 650g loaded and ready, which is just 20g lighter than my *ist DL2 with the DA21 pancake lens mounted with the metal lens hood attached as shown above! For what I have also measured, the lens hood weighs 12g. So, the weight of the K-50 body alone is just about equal to that of the DL2 together with the DA21 lens without the lens hood!

After all, I think Ricoh has completely lost direction for what to make and market and the brains of their heads were and are yet non-functioning, completely! When the new entry level cameras created by them is so big and heavy, what's the point? Have they also forgot about their really compact and lightweight line of the DA pancake lenses? Do they still really want to sell more of these?! >:-(

At the end of the day, I bet over 90% of the potential entry-level DSLR buyers would want a compact plus lightweight body like the Canon's EOS100D rather than a bulky and heavy K-50/K-500 with a so-marketed 100% coverage viewfinder, which they really don't care much about or just even don't know what it is! :-o