New Pentax Stuff are (Still) Coming! (as it seems to be..)

Despite I have kept updating my (pre-)Photokina news blog entry frequently once important news for new gear (brand regardless) arose, I opt to write a new entry about the possible coming of new Pentax stuff this time!

Since there is no leak nor not much more trustworthy news so far for any new Pentax gear right before the Photokina and there is only 4 days left from now on for the Photokina to start, many Pentaxians have been disappointed for long, already! (Well, the last time there is an (almost) official report about a new Pentax DSLR body was that piece of news, which I reported in early August.)

So, Pentaxians, please don't be upset. And here are some light which I would share!

My special thanks to one of my readers, Thomas W. S. from the Germany, who kindly dropped me an email, to tell me that there was a new Pentax Ad at the site fotocommunity.de & forums a few days ago, there were 3 DSLRs shown, including the K200D and K20D plus a secret model. Here is the screen capture:-


(Click to Enlarge)

So, that new DSLR is smaller than both the K200D and K20D. And, the left hand mode dial is now absent and possibly it is just replaced by buttons and thus this new smaller DSLR is very possibly an entry level one with trimmed down operation facilities.

But I think the more important message from this Ad is that very possibly there will only be ONE new Pentax DSLR to be shown at the Photokina and I guess it will be marketed shortly and there will be no K20D replacement at least for the time being (and this explains why Pentax and Samsung have cut the price of the K20D so dramatically), although the K200D might be simply replaced by that new model as the sales of the K200D have never been really good (other entry level DSLRs from the competitors are selling far better nor the K200D is as popular as the K100D it replaced did). Anyway, the K20D successor may come before the X'mas, which I dare to make a sensible guess, just follow on for why..

Now PentaxForums user Asahiflex writes today that he has seen the new Pentax DSLR body and has got some insider news for the coming new products from Pentax, see his new post below:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/37365-i-have-seen-new-stuff.html

I do believe mostly for what he says from his tone of reporting (and from what I know about the poster as well for the considerable amount of time when I was at the forum). Now, the new entry level DSLR body (if there is one, but very possibly, again!) is of a new series but not with the K-something designation. If this is true, this will (very likely) mark an end to the somehow short-life K series which has only four models since the K100D (I don't count the "Super" model which is just indifferent from the original K100 except just for the SDM lens support). Maybe Hoya/Pentax now know well it's the time to drop the K line as those cameras have been infamous for long for those persistent shortcomings. Maybe (and much hopefully) there will be new AF and/or new metering system to be included in the new DSLR body very soon - so that Pentax/Hoya decided to start a new DSLR family. Who knows? (at least not publicly known at this moment) Anyway, we shall know just within a few days!

As for the new P-TTL ring flash. If it is true, it will too mark a formal full-stop to the traditional Pentax TTL OTF (Off-The-"Film") flash support as seen from this determination of Pentax as shown (which is good to have than not have it anything, even if this is to "kill" something). But, as I and others old(er) Pentax users who have an older generation(s) of Pentax dedicated flash units, which are excellent and extremely accurate and consistent, our almost perfect (but "stupid", as seen by today's Pentax) flash units will become obsolete forever! The new P-TTL flashes and system are by no means as good, as widely reported by many users. I do hope Pentax could improve it vastly anyway.

The SDM adaptor, if true, will also hint that Pentax just want to shift from body driven AF to ultransonic AF in lenses, as they already did it for the new DA 17-70 lens. Such an adaptor will have a multiplying factor yet, for both the focal length and the apeture number, inevitably, nonetheless.

Last but not least, I do really really hope Pentax should show some commitments in Photokina in the development of new upper class bodies and lenses, especially to re-introduce a Full Frame lens system and to tell the world that they are prepared to develop a real FF DSLR body/system sooner (or even later) - despite that it is of no doubt that this won't come true in the near future! But, as least they should kick off now! And, they should let us know, in order to prevent further loss of existing users and retain many of those customers!

FAQ: Jump OR Stay?

For quite a long time, there has been a common Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) that is asked repeatedly by different Pentax DSLR users: To Jump Ship or to Stay??

For anyone who just lurks around the Internet at various Pentax places, very quickly we shall see all those user dissatisfactions, frustrations and switching sentiments. The root cause of all those is in fact owing to just one thing: Sub-par system performance and poor reliability, namely, for the AF (Auto Focus) and AE (Auto Exposure) systems. As for the AE inaccuracy issue, it can be further divided into ambient light exposure/metering errors and P-TTL exposure errors, both of which are not small and the results could be very inconsistent. Yet, the reason of the aforesaid sub-par performance may be owing to inadequate or outdated design, low cost design or cheap electronics components chosen/used or (so as to cut corners) and/or even in-born system (design) limitations.

Putting aside of those (part of) user feedbacks and reports that you can search and find here in my Blog, below are just a few more examples of all those *real* "negative" reports made by different Pentax users, recently:-

1. People thinking about to leave:-

User Comment - RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Photokina is Coming Close

Convince me to stay: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Thinking of switching??: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

2. Annoying and persistent infamous system issues with Pentax DSLR gear, as reported:-

Exposure Issue and Underexposure - PentaxForums

Focus, Pentax! Focus! - PentaxForums

Pentax Frustrations - Flickr Pentax Discuss

In the last thread above, the OP complaints about the poor P-TTL reliability which gave awful exposure results plus the rate of out-of-focus photos he got were way too high, even he had already mounted the top-of-the-line Pentax flash gun AF-540FGZ, which has a large AF assistance spotbeam on the flashgun.

The guy who first replied to the thread made very sensible statements and his comments are actually very insightful. He was able to explain quite well very precisely for the main problem with the current Pentax as well as the current adverse situation faced by Pentax. Thumb up!

Well, as read along the thread, there is another reply near the end of thread from an ex-Pentax camera dealer who told about the new Hoya's policy for product distribution, which is just horrible and a nightmare to smaller camera shops - but at the end it hurts the sales of Hoya themselves and eventually the potential customers or old users who want to buy Pentax stuff. In fact, Hoya had just already destroyed the old Pentax product sales and distribution network by frying off or forced retirement of all the old Pentax sales reps after their takeover of Pentax! Huh?

Besides, see also this one:-

The last 3 years Pentax en Samsung have been telling us lie's: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

The angry user complaints about the poor availability and slow development of Pentax/Samsung DSLR and gear..

and so on.. Just go read yourself anywhere and elsewhere. I just can't go the numerous user remorse, disappointment, anger and worry or whatever you can think of! But, its the Reality and all these are true!

Well, after all those "bashings" (for what those stupid (frankly) fanboys must say even though there exists so many other Pentax users who have been reporting their true but unhappy experiences), below are my humble opinions, suggestions and advice on what we existing Pentaxians, who are dissatisfied or even desperate, could do:-

1. If money is not an issue, just keep all those good old Pentax film glass that are usually good to excellent, I must mention. And then wait for the Pentax Full Frame body, possibly, hopefully and wishful-thinkingly in some time around 2010 or even later, if Pentax can still be alive by that time and still think that they should make a FF body *by now*!

All in all, just keeping those old film lenses if you really love them. It is because they will be the legacy lenses with excellent quality that you will very possibly never be able to get back again in the future, forever! And, it will be very difficult and it would take a very long time for Pentax to re-build a complete FF lens lineup. So, it is always wise to keep the good old glass just owing to these two reasons. Furthermore, do note that new lenses are in general being not as good in image quality as the old ones, even for the "same" model, see this example.

In short, selling off all those good old discontinued Pentax film glass will not get you many bucks, but instead that will consume you much time to get reasonable paybacks for what they should actually worth (IF Pentax is now a better DSLR system, those lenses should sell much easier and at much higher prices). My humble advice is to WAIT for a Pentax FF DSLR (which is far more realistic to wait for a whole new FF lens lineup anyway). But the obvious risk underneath is if Pentax don't make a FF body forever or they eventually die or just killed completely by Hoya (who knows?) in the future, then all the kept investment will be in vain! ( but you can still use them to shoot film anyway.. :-( )

2. Don't invest too much for the DA lenses and too deep into the current APS-C Pentax digital lens system. Why we need to gamble together with Pentax and take high risk for our investment? Ditto for the Olympus 4/3 E-lenses, honestly speaking;

Indeed, I found that new digital lenses of Pentax often don't have the good old tastes of classic Pentax glass (those actually are not too old, the FA glass in the late 90s / early 2000 are still very nice, their performance on Pentax DSLRs are still by far much better!), but quite some of them taste more like those 3rd party lenses especially as if a Tokina or Tamron lens is mounted for the photo results, which just scared me off really. In fact, the DFA 100/2.8 Macro lens is the last lens I bought from Pentax and it has been my most regretted lens purchase from Pentax so far since two decades ago when I bought my first Pentax lens, the F 35-70/3.5-4.5, which is undoubtedly a good lens.

As an old Pentax user whom has loved the brand and the quality of their glass for decades, it is really very sad to see many of their newer and latest "Pentax" glass now have no unique Pentax character of any at all. Just think about that if the latest Pentaxes are just going to look like Tokinas or Tamrons for the final results obtained, I just wish to ask: WHY PENTAX NOW? WHY NOT simply get those better DSLR bodies from Canon and Nikon or even Sony and then mount those similar spec-ed or even OEM models of Tokinas and Tamrons which are sold way cheaper than those Pentax counterparts.

Previously, I have already reported about those strange unfavourable colour response of many of those newer "Pentax" digital lenses and how I compare various newer Pentax lenses to the old ones, just read them also if you are interested.

3. Next, if there are *still* NO NEW AF and NEW metering system that would *really* perform by Photokina, I would truly suggest any of all those dissatisfied Pentax users please just don't waste your valuable time further, to wait endlessly. Just act decisively and better start off another system! It is unarguable and even generally accepted amongst quite some Pentax users that now all C, N, S and Olympus have better AF and far more accurate and stable exposure systems as well.

HOWEVER, IF Hoya can roll out new debugged (I won't use the word "improved") AF and AE systems by this Photokina, I will still be glad to spend some little money of mine to try it out and report back my findings on the Internet, especially about if the accuracy, performance and reliability of the new systems could be better.

4. Now, it would be wise to sell off those DA lenses as far as possible, especially for those which are for sure cannot even cover the 135 Full Frame, provided that if you don't need them often and that you are thinking about to switch. It should be done before possibly some days later, in a year or so, the APS-C DSLR bodies and lenses are dying and no further development or significant investment is carried out and put by major vendors in the market. By that time, even Pentax/Hoya would insist on the development, very likely this will be just a dead end!

For those who would like to sell off completely all the Pentax gear no matter what they are, film or digital, bodies or lenses or flashes, I think this is not a good option especially for those who have a considerable size lens collection, unless you are totally desperate with Pentax and have no hope of any kind with them. Of course, this can always be done but the lost cannot be estimated, in terms of both money and time. And I still do not wish to depart with my good Pentax glass, which are all innocent! :-( The culprits are only the Pentax DSLRs and the maker who made them.

So, to jump OR to stay, its all up to YOU! That's in short my answer to all those annoyed and dissatisfied Pentax users who are puzzled much now and ask the same question from day to day. But if money is allowed, may I repeat my opinion that to keep the really good old glass which are real keepers, get rid of the evils (e.g., some of those so-so digital lenses), keep waiting and keep urging Hoya to invest to enable Pentax to wake up again (wishful thinking though!).

Nevertheless, to fulfill the current shooting need, do NOT waste more time to think further after the Photokina and simply start off another system that suit your current shooting needs (if the current Pentax offers are just failed to meet your need(s))! Waste no more time to wait endlessly (as it maybe) and don't waste no more money with current incapable or maybe new Pentax offers just with a different look and package. If they don't debug/improve the designs under users' loud complaints which have been accumulated for so many years, why give them more chance and less our photo opportunities gone? Pentax / Hoya, are you LISTEN?? This Photokina should be your LAST CHANCE!

Photokina is Coming Close

The Photokina is coming closer and closer. The DSLR big two have already marketed or announced their new powerful weapons already. And then it is followed by Sony and Panasonic, who will announce new DSLRs with ground-breaking feature(s) and technolog(ies) (as claimed) in the next week, most possibly (see reliable reports here and here). Olympus have not yet announced any DSLR related new products yet but they have already made a few announcements for their new DC products.

If you look at the New Product Index for Photokina 2008 at the DPR, it can be seen that Pentax have not yet appeared on the list for any new product (they have none so far). Now, it leaves only less than 20 days for this most important bi-annual event for the photo industry to come. Let's wait and see if there is just really nothing and/or nothing of real importance to come in the Pentax land or it is just that Pentax opted to keep their secret(s) until the last minute!

Anyway, if the last disclosed information by the Pentax official is true, I do expect at least there should be a new entry level Pentax DSLR body to be shown. Otherwise, it will be utter disappointed and the future of Pentax is really much worrisome.

Meanwhile, I shall keep very close eyes to see if there is any leak or those more "substantiated" rumours for any new Pentax product(s) before the Photokina and report it here in my Blog within the shortest possible time if they are found. Besides, for those important inventions or more significant products by the others which probably would have larger impacts to the market, I shall also report them.

Well, so far, I think the most important product made by now in 2008 is the Nikon D700, which is the first "budget" Full Frame DSLR which can compete with the "entry level" Full Frame Canon 5D, which has almost been 3 years old right now (and during the period there was in fact no competition of any kind in the market for that unique market segment but of huge demand, or at least desires by many). Of course, the D700 has a better spec and with more updated features (and, I believe performance wise and in the IQ department, too). The Nikon D90 and Canon 50D are quite nice jobs by the big two indeed IMO as they are upkeeping the market needs with the latest features as well as some new innovations. Hmm.. Let's wait and see what Sony and Pana are to announce very soon and we shall know just in a few days that if there are really something important or even ground-breaking!

News on Sept 5: Sony A900 Surfaced!

A scan of a printed magazine Ad page was posted at the largest Chinese Photo forum here previously but however that scanned image was deleted after a while and now in that post are only the confessions and apologies of the OP (and some other new unimportant responses as well :-)).

Fortunately, I was fast enough to look at the image before it was deleted and indeed I had made a quick inspection on it with suspicion in mind. The image that I saw was not of very high resolution anyway but most of the descriptions of the A900 could be almost seen. What I can tell is that it should be *real* as it looked, especially for the reflected lights on the dark theme background on the print, which is just what we can see on quality magazine or catalogue prints. There were a few visible short folded traces as scanned, too.

At the top of the page, it was a large image of the Sony A900. At the bottom, there was a list of the key product highlights of the A900, namely:-

- 24.6 MP Full Frame CMOS Sensor;
- Dual "Bionz" Image Processing Engines;
- Super Steady Shot (in-camera??);
- 5 FPS;
- 3" LCD with VGA Resolution;
- 100% Coverage Viewfinder with 0.74X Magnification
- 9 Point Crossed AF Sensor (with some more additional descriptions that I couldn't see clearly)
- No Built-in Flash (as judged from the sharp edge triangular shape pentaprism of the A900)

So, the Sony FF and flagship model finally arrives and its pixel count is the highest ever for a 135 DSLR! In fact, the 135 Full Frame DSLR era has now arrived, with the A900 actually comes true and not being a prolonged paperware!

News on Sept 9: Sony A900 Officially Announced!

Just read one of the latest hot press release below:-
http://www.dcresource.com/news/newsitem.php?id=3793

Well, the last leaked news on Sept 5 was real and the disclosed information were correct!

News on Sept 11: Canon 5D MkII to be Announced on Sept 17

Here is the latest rumour from a prestige European EOS website (not official), since the first more "solid" rumour came up around one month ago by some "small" others:-

http://www.eos-numerique.com/index.php?ind=news&op=news_show_single&ide=19

* 24 Megapixel 24X36 CMOS sensor
* New battery, new grip
* DIGIC IV processor
* Magnesium alloy body
* Live view
* Video Mode
* Integrated Cleaning System
* Full compatibility with Canon EF and EX-series Speedlites
* Price : 2600€
* Official announcement date by Canon: 17/09/2008

Well, is this to be the A900 killer? Will people choose the lower pixel count D700 or the A900 and the 5D MkII which are now doubled in pixels? Anyway, as I have said for quite some time already, the (affordable) Full Frame era has now really come!

News on Sept 11: Pentax K20D street prices in Hong Kong are dropping crazily

There have been two abnormal phenomenons recently at two large camera chain shop companies in Hong Kong. Either there is no more K20D units at many branch shops of the "Boardway" and many of the K20D goods disappeared there "suddenly" just a while ago. And, at another large chain shop company called the "Citicall", the K20D prices are being cut crazily and price could drop significantly within a few days recently and that happened for several times already in just a few weeks.

A guy who has just purchased a K20D + DA 16-45 Kit at Citicall at only HK$8,100 (US$1038) and actually the body worths about US$850 for the cost breakdown ratio he writes (and thus his new DA 16-45 is just for US$188 only!):-

http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=563575&extra=page%3D1

(Post in Traditional Chinese, use BabelFish if needed)

In fact, this price level is already the same as what Samsung has announced for the suggested retail price of the GX-20.

So, what do these two incidents hint? My guess is that quite possibly a K20D replacement (K30D or K20D Super or whatever it is named) is coming very soon! If it is really true, it is very likely that we shall see it in the Photokina. And, Pentax may also discontinue the DA 16-45 very soon and replace it with the more expensive DA 17-70 (as the shops seem to try hard to get rid of the DA 16-45 stocks soonest, also).

News on Sept 12: New Panasonic G1 Micro 4/3 DSLR with EVF

The first new micro 4/3 DSLR has been announced! It's the Pana DMC-G1 with new Electronic ViewFinder (EVF):-

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonicG1/page2.asp

This little cam is the most lovely for its compactness and lighweightness, for both body and the lens(es). It is very innovative and I do like it very much for the first impression! (as I also do for every innovative product with new innovative feature(s) introduced). Its new design resolves the old classic problem of small and dim optical viewfinders of the 4/3 DSLRs. Panasonic has been quite smart to put in a high resolution EVF panel with 1.44 Mega-"dots" (1 dot contains 3 RGB pixels?) and with 0.7X magnification at 50mm in 135 film term which just mean a bright and large viewfinder with fine details, very possibly. Despite its small size and compact design, the external LCD panel is large (at 3") and of moderate high resolution of 460k dots (although not a highest VGA one) and I think it's unique in the very high degree of freedom as newly designed, which is again a big plus. Well, I think this is just the ideal dream compact DSLR that I have been dreaming of for long! Nevertheless, I won't put high hope on the high ISO IQ of the 4/3 nor more shallow DoF control owing to its small sensor format - its a 4/3 afterall! For serious shooting, I shall still use my Full Frame camera, that is, the Canon 5D. But for causal shootings for those used to use mostly DSLRs but want to have a carry-everywhere DSLR camera, this one is the true perfect P&S DSLR to go, so do for most DSLR novices and beginners, I bet.

Well Done and Bravo, Panasonic! I buy much your new concept and I do believe now that you (and Olympus) have (finally) gone down the right path to become more competitive in the DSLR market! If they can really succeed in the near future, it is just because they have acted fast and being the first in making new stuff and introduce new innovations/inventions. See, Pentax / Hoya? Can YOU learn somethings from others?? Do you know one MUST INVEST before there is HOPE for getting ANY REWARD/HARVEST???

News on Sept 13: Price Cuts of K20D and Kit Lenses are Now Official

See the Hong Kong Press Release:-

http://www.qk123.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=198:pentax-k20d-6990&catid=34:2008-08-11-13-49-12&Itemid=59

( Text in Traditional Chinese, use BabelFish if needed. And, 1 US$ = 7.8 HK$ )

So, Is now that a K20D replacement around the corner or Pentax just want to change the K20D to be an entry level (priced) DSLR so as to "compete" in that market segment? (but frankly it is just too large as compared to all others!)

News on Sept 17: Canon 5D MkII is Here, Finally!

The previous rumours are true, the MkII is announced today!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091705canon_5dmarkII.asp

It has all the most updated and latest features and innovations for a DSLR and is simply unbeatable! If you compare this "Advanced Amateur" Canon 5D MkII to the "Flagship" Pentax K20D, the K20D just looks like both dwarf and dinosaur:-

• New 21 MP Full Frame CMOS sensor: higher resolution, lower noise! (Just because it is Full Frame!)
• Super High ISO up to 25,600 available!
• Full HD H.264 Movie Mode up to 1920 x 1080(p) resolution and scanning mode!
• 3.9 fps at Full 21 MP continuous shooting rate!
• 3" VGA Resolution Monitor with 170 Degree of View (Actually, this is now just the basic standard for a LCD monitor on a non-entry level DSLR!)
• Standard Canon LiveView features with Live Histogram, Contrast Detection AF during LiveView and Face Detection (which no Pentax DSLR has any of these "standard" functions)
• 14 bit A to D output with the 4th generation Digic 4 Image Processor (Pentax are still using the 1st generation "PRIME")
• 98% Coverage, 71% Magnification Viewfinder (better than the original 5D and of course way better than any APS-C DSLR)
• New Dust Prevention and Removal System (which shakes the AA filter in front of the sensor at high frequency, not the whole heavy sensor at low frequency. Anyway, I think Oly's ultrasonic solution should be the best and the worst "solution" is now the Sony and Pentax's "shake the sensor" one, which is just useless.)
• Weight kept at 810g (same as the original 5D and really not heavy for such a monster!)
• and so on..

Oh, yet again, where is Pentax? Still NOTHING??

Hoya to Liquidate Pentax Factory in Guangzhou China

Here is the third piece of news about Hoya to liquidate subsidiary Pentax units, I have not much more to write and say, go read yourself the official press article released today:-

http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/news/latest/20080901.pdf

Just do note that this very young factory, which is just 3.5 years old by now, is to be closed down by this financial year end. The scale of this factory is not small and is comparable in scale and value to the Pentax Shanghai factory, which will be executed on the same day March 31, 2009.

Hoya to Liquidate Pentax Scandinavia

According to the announcement of Hoya on August 7, 2008, Pentax Scandinavia is to be dissolved and liquidated by December 31, 2008. The decision was actually made back to September 3, 2007 when Hoya had already held 90.5% shares of the ex-Pentax Corporation.

This will make an end to the Pentax Scandinavia which have served the Northern Europe (Scandinavia) Pentax users for 26 years since established in 1982.

It is told that "a (new?) branch of Pentax Europe GmBH" would be set up to replace the Pentax Scandinavia, "in order to improve the business efficiency".

In fact, Hoya have shown the world their strong determination of "business efficiency improvement" once again recently which seems to be solely (running) cost conscious but nothing else. But, is "efficiency" actually all *just* about the operating cost and expenditures? Indeed, how can a company to gain more profit margin in running a business? Yes, expenditures include manufacturing costs of goods, both material and labour costs in running business and so on, but, do a company need to cut all those cost as far as possible and then wishfully hoping a success in the end?

Whilst closing down those Pentax branch and factory one by one (no matter they are new or old) would certain save some costs, the actual effects to the business (of the Pentax brand) are yet uncertain. For example, a local Pentax branch could help to promote products and sales and surely would provide better after-sales support and services to the existing Pentax users at the region. So, *unless* the sales of current Pentax products (mainly the Pentax DSLR system, in fact) in Northern Europe is just so poor, I see no point to close down that regional head office even though its scale maybe small somehow.

On the other hand, Pentax's head in China informed that in a recent interview that *Pentax* (not Hoya, unfortunately) were going to set up more local branch offices in the large cities of China in order to get more business opportunities and to improve the current customer support and service levels at China. Are Hoya actually doing the reverse in Europe for their sales and after-sales policy now? Well, I just wish to ask again that: Are the sales of current Pentax products in (Northern) Europe declining so badly that Hoya decided taking the move is so necessary? IF NOT, WHY? Just because Hoya wanted to cut costs for the sake of cutting costs and for a better looking business results / financial report, even if the cost is actually really small?

I really hope that Hoya should think very seriously and more clearly that whether they should cut more branches of Pentax further in order to improve their "business efficiency" (well, I quote their term here again). Or, in contrast, to upkeep their pace of product updating/evolution and technologies revolution and invest more in R&D and manufacturing facilities so that more business and marketing opportunities could be gained which would mean better sales and business results. By then, more local branches and sales offices can be and should be set up as a consequence. But then in order to get better results, they should strengthen their organisation locally at different countries, cities and regions - really a real chicken and egg problem afterall!

Now, it leaves only a few Pentax subsidiaries on this planet after the death of Pentax Scandinavia. WHO will be the NEXT?? Or, will *Hoya* really set up new branches at China as the Pentax head in China told? (Really Very Unlikely, I bet, from what we have seen so far for the recent happenings!)

To give all of my readers here more food for thought. The live examples are: Canon and Nikon have many many branches and direct subsidiaries all over the world, do they ever need to cut many of those to save costs? Just think about it.

Last but not least, when I look again at the successful history of Pentax and some historical backgrounds of the company, I have some kinds of sorrow myself, like this one:-

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/70/Pentax-Corporation.html

Now that Hoya had to change the web address of pentax.co.jp to pentax.jp to get rid of the "co" in the URL and ditto in the latest firmware update of the K20D (which caused much incompatibility as a result), for example, I do really question much about the open-mind-ness (if any) of the Hoya heads who have the real authority in the company. Really sad, yet once again!

Hoya to Liquidate Pentax Factory in Shanghai China

Hoya Corporation made an announcement on Monday that they will close down and disband their digital camera manufacturing unit in Shanghai as part of efforts to streamline operations, which has just been told recently in their recent financial report for the first quarter of the current financial year, see the Dow Jones Newswires report below:-

http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200808250319DOWJONESDJONLINE000049_univ.xml

The to-be-closed down Pentax unit supplies parts to Pentax plants in Philippines and Vietnam, which make Pentax digital SLR bodies and lenses respectively.

Although it is expected that Hoya will close down those "non-profitable" Pentax units as told, they really act very fast to do what they have just told! What an efficient company!

Besides, other Japanese financial news agents online also report this piece of news, see:-

1. http://www.lnews.jp/2008/08/28866.html (in Japanese)

The quick factsheet for the Pentax business unit to be liquidated is translated as follows:

Unit Name: PENTAX（Shanghai）Corporation
Location: Shanghai, China
Head of Unit: Torigoe Oco. (鳥越興)
Business Scope: Manufacturing of medical instrument and optical equipment/parts
Established: March 25, 2003
Invested Capital: 3 Billion Japanese Yens (300,000,000 JPY, or about US$ 2.73M)
Net Asset Value: 10,858,000 RMB (US$ 1.606M), as at end-March 2008
Total Asset Value: 12,731,000 RMB (US$ 1.883M), as at end-March 2008
Account Settlement: December
Owned by: HOYA, 100%

Well, it can be seen in the above that the factory is still quite new and very probably the investment has not been paid back yet as its net asset value (excluding liability) is now only 58.8% of the initial investment cost (the face value dropped by 41.2%, or simply US$ 1.124M has been lost).

2. http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20080825/156853/?ST=observer (in Japanese)

Translated and quoted:-

"The subsidiary company of Hoya, Pentax (Shanghai) Corp. in China, which manages the manufacturing of optical parts and the lenses, will be liquidated and closed down in March 2009. The company was established by Pentax in 2003, for the production of camera and optical parts. The initial production scale was set at 20,000 units per month, but profit has not been reached. The production changed to include the production of parts for digital cameras since approximately 2 years ago.

HOYA had explained in the August 2008 financial results meeting that they were reviewing the production facilities related to the digital camera business where the profits are unable to be met. In the future, they will continue to "rearrange" the production facilities at the Japanese home and to "re-group" and "re-gather" most of the digital camera production at the two plants in the Philippines and Vietnam."

So, after all these reports and happenings, I could only see one message and the attitude taken by Hoya, which is very clear: "Any business units which are not profitable will be executed!". But then there is one big question left and actually there exists a serious contradiction in their philosophy there: The whole Pentax camera business division is actually not profitable by now, thus neither the Philippines nor the Vietnam factories are profitable, very obviously, WHY not close them all together if they just follow the (only) reason they given and told??

To explain, the only answer is that Hoya are *still* interested in the camera business. However, with their shortsighted-ness and mean-ness shown and reluctance to invest and there is actually no commitment and determination of any kind for the camera business and the brand Pentax, I don't think they will ever succeed, or, just survive, for Pentax.

In fact, Hoya should do more to boost sales, but NOT *just* know (how) to cut costs. The key elements to succeed should include smart product ideas, up-to-date R&D and product features and system performance, competitive and comprehensive product lineup, which I think Pentax have none of these by now (Whilst Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony all have all or some!) But of course, to have better R&D and a more comprehensive lineup, Hoya needed to INVEST, FIRST! But sadly up till now, they do the reverse, which is the most disappointed thing afterall! Really really sad.. :-(( However, smart and unique product ideas are actually not much costly, but yet, where are those?? Can you see them in their latest digital products??

Now that the Photokina is coming close, Canon already have announced their 50D and Nikon have their D90 (and just earlier the EOS 1000D and the D700 Full Frame have both been marketed too), what Pentax (actually Hoya) are going to offer? Are they really just sitting there and wait to die?

GX-20 and Lenses are being Sold Very Cheap

Samsung has just recently "announced" the GX-20 in Hong Kong with very low price tags set for the GX-20 (body only) and kits with single and twin lenses. See the latest news article at the AV Buzz (Text in Traditional Chinese, use BabelFish to translate if needed).

Now, let's look at the *suggested retail* prices by Samsung: GX-20 body sold only at HK$6490 (US$832), GX-20 + 18-55 for HK6990 (US$896) and GX-20 with 18-55 and 50-200 for HK$7990 (US$1024) only! As the street prices are usually even lower than those "suggested retail prices", I expect that we can easily get those stuff even cheaper at the streets.

So, with that significant price differences between the K20D and the GX-20 now and ditto for other same "Pentax" lenses (actually), there is no real reason to get the original Pentax stuff, unless the buyers just want to see the Pentax logo on the gear, but nothing else.

In fact, the GX-20 only lacks the PEF RAW file format (but it does have the universal DNG) and does look just somehow differently in cosmetic terms (some GX button and curve shapes are designed to look somehow silly, though, IMO and I do prefer the K20D's original design), there is actually no other difference then. As for the digital lenses, they are actually all Pentax OEM products (or Tokina OEM Squared products, it doesn't matter anyway..), just with a printed Schneider name on them. Nonetheless, the Samsung show girls look more attractive than what the Samsung gear look, just enjoy the nice photos anyway! ;-)

It seems that Samsung is going to eat the (already pathetic) sales from Pentax (with an obvious intention too), what will Pentax do? Price cuts or new models??

Hoya Reported Net Loss in Running Pentax and Overall Profit Declined

Here is the latest financial news from Bloomberg for the first financial quarter business results of Hoya:-

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a2INg8z8QZAQ&refer=asia

Two paragraphs in the report quoted:-

1. "Operating profit, or sales minus administrative expenses and the cost of goods sold, declined 3.5 percent to 21.9 billion yen ($199 million) in the three months ended June 30, Tokyo-based Hoya said today."

2. "Pentax had a 38 million yen loss in the quarter."

Besides, here is another more detailed report on the same news by the Tech-On! News of the Japanese Nikkei Business Publications:-

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080812/156393/

The key paragraphs are also quoted, as follows:-

1. "Sales declined 6.1% to ¥130.156 billion (approx US$1.18 billion) and operating income decreased 8.2% to ¥21.857 billion, compared with the previous year's results including those of Pentax Corp, which Hoya bought out in March 2008."

2. "Digital camera business to be downsized"

3. "Concerning the digital camera business operated by Pentax, Hoya said it will aim to secure its profit by reducing the business scale from now on. Amid the market environment, where the price competition intensified and sales growth of SLR products slowed, financial results of Pentax also plunged with unit sales decreasing and unit price lowering in the April-June quarter."

4. "A sales decline of about 20% is anticipated to continue in the July-September quarter, as the business unit is building up inventory, lagging behind its rivals and market demand when releasing products, according to Hoya. The company is planning to cut costs by streamlining its bases in Japan by shifting production overseas and outsourcing, as well as reducing production to an appropriate level from now, it said."

Well, now, do some of the above statements sound very familiar (if you have read here just a little bit long enough). Those are what I have been talking about for quite some time now! Actually, the current situation is just somehow trivial and predictions are not really difficult.

But, the most worrisome thing as learnt from these news reports is not about those obvious things and facts (which are just so obvious except for those particular group of stupidly brand-blinded fanboys who are either not knowing the facts or not been unable to face them) BUT about the attitude and new direction/policy that will be taken by Hoya which will affect Pentax directly and of course their existing users much.

Now, even the Press and Media generally have the same view and have given a tone that Pentax is just like a burden to Hoya and have caused Hoya to earn less (but undoubtedly it is just a fact), what the shareholders of Hoya will think and (decide to) do - none of us will know exactly but of course they will! Really rather worrisome afterall.. :-(

Anyway, my own simple view is: to make Pentax profitable, Hoya MUST FIRST INVEST, which is the ONLY way to save Pentax (and to get Hoya themselves out of the current trouble for acquiring Pentax, as well). Otherwise, Pentax will inevitably die eventually (it just cannot survive in this cruel market). IF Hoya is just so mean NOT to invest, why not just decisively close down that dying camera division one-off and move on??

Afterall, I think there is nothing on Earth that one never invest (and so does he/she not have such a will, neither) but will eventually get a harvest, will one?

K20D is Still "Hot" with Firmware 1.01

Despite that Pentax released a firmware update of the version 1.01 for the K20D for trying/showing to eliminate the hot pixels issue, it seems that the effectiveness of this new and latest firmware is yet in question.

First of all, Dpreview still needed to tell this issue in their final published review of the K20D, despite that which was only published after Pentax completed their firmware update in response to the issue, indeed already for quite a while, after the first time DPR reported the issue that another reviewer and they found earlier. Specifically, the following quotes are extracted from that "Conclusion" page of the DPR K20D review:-

"However, the hot pixel problems, combined with the sample-to-sample variability (in this instance ISO 3200 banding), represent the sorts of problems we haven't seen in DSLRs launched in the past few years. Which makes us wonder whether Samsung has over-reached itself with such an ambitious design. This is reflected in our image quality score that without these niggles would have been even higher." - Dpreview

Well, I do also agree that the image quality of the K20D could be quite good, but the hot sensor and this hot pixel problem seems to be a *real* issue, and worst thing is that it seems to be *just* a hardware issue, as I guessed the first time when I saw the hot pixel reports, which the DPR technical writers are also wondering the same thing in the above.

Another fact that does tell that the K20D has an ever hottest sensor is that there is NOW *no* option for the user to turn off the dark-frame-subtraction "Noise Reduction" (NR) for longer time exposure which just reflects that this sensor is extremely noisy by itself and the user is forced to turn on the NR all the time when just longer shutter speeds are selected. Note that the K20D is the *only* Pentax DSLR which had this NR function disabled, so it is obvious that it must be the Samsung sensor!

Now, user reports on the appearance of hot pixels yet continue. See the recent report below, with sample photos showing the hot pixels posted:-

K20d, still hotpixel issue with jpegs or something wrong with my camera?

As we all can see, the hot pixels issue has never been resolved with the firmware 1.01. The following are quoted, for what the user reported:-

"Not in the same spot, they move around quite a lot. The crops are, for example taken on the right side in one image, and more to the left in the other. Even if a frequent blue + white/green close to each other and then a red abit away from them seem to happen a lot.

Did more pixel peeping, and in at least one picture if I zoom in a lot I can find at least 15 dots that got no reason beeing there. All looking like the ones I showed in the first post."

Do note that the number of hot pixels are not small indeed, nor, they are fixed in positions, i.e., they are going to show up randomly and are moving around.

Despite some of the good image quality I really like with the K20D, this particular hot pixels issue (most probably caused by a hot sensor itself) is just enough to put me off to consider the K20D further. I hope Pentax and Samsung can make a debugged version of the K20D with a debugged sensor very soon, so as to make a new sensor and hence the final produced images of the new camera are no longer so hot!

All in all, if someone is just so naive that such very possibly hardware problem could be cured (or just completely hidden) by firmware (which is just a software thing afterall), then we should not be seeing those hot pixels anymore *now*, nor, DPR needed to report the issue, even though they had been "kind" enough to wait for Pentax to complete their remedial firmware before they published their final report for their K20D review.

Official: New Pentax DSLR Model is Coming; Full Frame Model is Under Planning

In the 11th China International Photograph & Electrical Imaging Machinery and Technology Fair (CHINA P & E 2008) held in Beijing from June 21 through June 24, an interview was made by the ZOL China (a member of the CNET China Group), with the Managing Director & General Manager of the Pentax Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Mr. Akio Usui (柴田智賀). The full interview article is here:-

http://dcdv.zol.com.cn/96/968674.html

(Article in Simplified Chinese, use Babelfish to translate if needed. Also, a Traditional Chinese version can be found here.)

I summarise the key important messages as obtained in this interview, as below in Bold Italic (and my own comments follow per point):-

1. "Pentax will market a new DSLR in the second half year of 2008 and aim at diversify the product line for more choices for the customers."

So, this is what I have been thinking and suggesting for a long time already. What Pentax really needed to do is to make a *real* entry level DSLR that is compact and cheap, but yet with more updated popular features like an usable LiveView function and other innovations. Majority of people just don't choose the K200D currently owing to the outdated design and bulkiness of this camera. It is not very low priced neither, when compared to the competitors' aggressive pricing strategy.

I think Pentax do need at least some marketing insights, creativity and true innovations afterall. Here is my previous suggestion for one of my ideas, which I think could help them and is viable.

Still, the good thing is that Pentax do realise that their current product lineup is actually weakest in diversity and variety. Let's see:-

Canon have: EOS 1000D -> 450D -> 40D -> 5D -> 1DMkIII -> 1DSMkIII;

Nikon have: D60 -> D80 -> D300 -> D700 -> D3;

Sony have: A200 -> A300/350 -> A700 -> Upcoming "A900" Full Frame;

Olympus have: E-420 -> E-520 -> E-3;

Pentax have *only*: K200D -> K20D.

That leaves Pentax alone currently have the most limited choice in DSLR bodies. And in fact, the K200D and K20D are just too close in design, technology used, features and most importantly system performance, as they share the same aged design core deep inside, actually.

Anyway, I bet this new Pentax DSLR model to be a model lower than the K200D, very probably. K1000D or K2000D? (or whatever it is named)

2. "We (Pentax) have already noted the new Full Frame trend. We have started to plan for the development of a Full Frame DSLR. However, this will not be come true within this year."

Yet, it is a good thing Pentax do realise there is a trend (but which is in fact obvious and nothing "new", isn't it?) and that they confirm that they has (just?) started a plan for a FF body (How about a FF lens *system* then? The DA system is NOT Full Frame!). Late is always better than None! But if they could start earlier, the situation now they are facing may not be so difficult! Hmm... I (and some other people as well) did see the "trend" back to earlier last year, Pentax just be able to realise the reality only by now?? :-(

Nevertheless, there has been trace on a Full Frame Pentax DSLR is under planning and there was still *hope*. Here is what I reported earlier this year.

3. "The edge of our DSLR products is in picture quality, which has been our main focus in our Research and Development from time to time."

IMHO, this is pure (or simply "junk" IMHO, sorry) sales talk which is boring and meaningless. I don't think there is really any real edge neither. I would say each of the DSLR manufacturers do have different *styles* for the images produced by their DSLRs made by them, just say the images of K20D and K200D are more detailed even at higher ISO speeds, but they are also much noisier, as compared to other APS-C DSLRs in the competitions. This looks merely just a give and take to me but it can't get the best of both worlds (unless it is Full Frame!). All in all, I cannot see any real "edge" nor significant better image qualities here in Pentax products, as compared to products of the competitors in the same price range.

In contrast, since Mr. Usui did not (dare to?) mention emphasises will be put in camera performance aspects, particularly are speed and accuracy (which are even more important IMO, in considering the comparable IQ of the current generation of DSLRs, brand regardless), are Pentax still not focusing on improving those which they are lagging light-years behind?? This is rather disappointed, frankly.

Finally, as Pentax still lack true upper class (not even to mention "pro" class) DSLR products, the truth is that they are still lagging behind in the IQ department, also.

4. "Yes, we are now putting more resources and much focus in the development and marketing of DSLRs, but this is just a transitional strategical arrangement, this doesn't mean we are aborting the P&S DC market."

As we all know, the Pentax P&S DC sales are pathetic right now and there are actually no good choice of Pentax DCs in the market nor those models are having any special features and characters which worth the consideration of a potential customer. However, as for the DSLR market, I don't think and couldn't see Pentax are doing well neither, even though they "have been putting" "a lot of resources" in the development and sales of their products!

So, what have been going wrong? Well, I won't elaborate further. If you have read my Blog a little bit more enough, you would have known (and will know if you haven't yet).

5. "Currently (in China), our sales and after sales services (in other cities in China) solely rely on our agent (Remark: which is Jebsen & Co. Ltd., also known as "JNC"). In order to improve our services and supports for our Pentax products, we shall setup more local branch offices at major cities in China so that the needs of our customers can be catered better and to help them better for the problems they face with their Pentax products."

This is undoubtedly a good thing. Glad that Pentax could know that after sales services and supports are crucial and most importantly, they should do something to change and improve the situation! (But should be long ago, not now! Which is "still" under planning!(Financial concerns?)

6. "Although we have been purchased by HOYA, our independence in the camera business is ensured and maintained, as you all could see so far. On the other hand, Hoya being a large manufacturer and supplier of glass, Pentax have been able to get some advantages in getting the basic raw material in making lenses and cameras and there exists an edge."

Factual thing, no doubt here. But the worry is nobody knows *when* HOYA's internal policy and decision by the top management will change! Nor, I have not been able to see Pentax's products have been cheap after Hoya's acquisition. The worse thing is that the reverse is true, now go look at the new prices of the new Pentax DA* lenses, in particular those DA* primes, which are ridiculously high priced (especially if you compare the new prices to comparable FA* primes in the historical Pentax era) and that even now the new DA 17-70 is so ridiculously high-priced!

So, I just wish to ask: What's the real benefit to Pentax users and their customers for that "Hoya Edge" mentioned?? I really want to know..

At the end of the interview, the reporter asked Mr. Usui directly that if Pentax's products would have a better price-performance ratio just because of that "Hoya Edge". But then Mr. Usui just laughed and said that he refused to answer that question! (My opinion is that it seems that even he doesn't think so himself!)