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Nothing new from Pentax-Ricoh this year.

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http: http://www.p entaxforums.com forums/pentax-news-rumors/161644-salon-de-la-photo.html#post1674696

Some small talk:
  • The print on the invitation about a new product was a simple mistake.
  • There will be no new product this year.
  • There will be maybe something new in januari, but we don't have to worry about waiting untill PhotoKina.
  • The Pentax camera division will not merge with the Ricoh cameradivision in the coming year.
 
If I were Ricoh, I'd first look at Pentax current development projects, and determine what should keep going ahead, and what I'd put on hold until I'd better figure out what the new direction should be. This means, little significant changes in Pentax line of product for the foreseeable future.

--
Roger
 
On a transition of this scale Ricoh was on the seen for a least 12 months before OCT 1st. They know what they have and have been part of the process with products going out the door.

--
Dave
 
The trouble with that policy is technological change in cameras is advancing at such a pace that if they 'stand still' for too long all the other makes will get too far ahead for them to catch up.

I think they have already missed the boat on a mirrorless APS-C camera. Pansonic, Olympus and Sony market shares are just so well established it will be difficult enough for even Canon or Nikon to break into that market, let alone Pentax.

However I think if they continue to offer small, robust, weather proof enthusiast cameras they will still have a niche, particularly if they maintain a good lens range.

It is surprising how few full frame cameras there are. If they could pack a FF sensor into camera not much bigger than the K5 and keep it competitively priced then it would sell well. The current range of FF cameras from Nikon, Canon and Sony are all monsters compared to their 35mm film predecessors.

A digital version of the LX, or even ME Super, would be brilliant.
rogerstpierre said:
If I were Ricoh, I'd first look at Pentax current development projects, and determine what should keep going ahead, and what I'd put on hold until I'd better figure out what the new direction should be. This means, little significant changes in Pentax line of product for the foreseeable future.

--
Roger
Click to expand...
 
Not shocking as there are only a few months left in the year. But if Ricoh are to turn Pentax into a real Canikon rival they've quite a lot of work to do.

In the meantime they could hammer some lens prices down in the EU some are falling a bit but need to drop quite a bit to get to reasonable levels. K-5 has come down a fair bit in the last few months
 
TheLastMan said:
The trouble with that policy is technological change in cameras is advancing at such a pace that if they 'stand still' for too long all the other makes will get too far ahead for them to catch up.
Click to expand...
They were at that point in time in 1985. Nothing has changed.
TheLastMan said:
I think they have already missed the boat on a mirrorless APS-C camera. Pansonic, Olympus and Sony market shares are just so well established it will be difficult enough for even Canon or Nikon to break into that market, let alone Pentax.
Click to expand...
Missing the boat on mirrorless isn't really missing anything at all. It's like saying Massey-Ferguson missed the boat on passenger cars.
 
TheLastMan said:
Pansonic, Olympus and Sony market shares are just so well established
Click to expand...
those are mostly kits (P&S upgraders and low end dSLR kits switchers)... they can be replaced w/ other kits from other manufacturers w/o issues... kit's owners do not value kit lenses that much.
 
I too believe that a small package FF would be popular, but given that Pentax relies on in-camera IS, that's even harder to do. This said, my point was, unless Ricoh has had a significant influence on Pentax prior to the take over, I don't expect much of a Pentax-Ricoh new design on the market soon. We all know that Ricoh wants Pentax to design a mirror-less camera, and I don't think Pentax has the R&D and resources to push FF (or what I'd rather see a 1.25x sensor) when they have to keep pushing fwd on the 645D market, mirror-less market, and maintain their position on the APS-C DSLR market. Pentax isn't all that big, and I would also expect that both Pentax and Ricoh have also suffered to some degree from the earthquake/tsunami.
TheLastMan said:
The trouble with that policy is technological change in cameras is advancing at such a pace that if they 'stand still' for too long all the other makes will get too far ahead for them to catch up.

I think they have already missed the boat on a mirrorless APS-C camera. Pansonic, Olympus and Sony market shares are just so well established it will be difficult enough for even Canon or Nikon to break into that market, let alone Pentax.

However I think if they continue to offer small, robust, weather proof enthusiast cameras they will still have a niche, particularly if they maintain a good lens range.

It is surprising how few full frame cameras there are. If they could pack a FF sensor into camera not much bigger than the K5 and keep it competitively priced then it would sell well. The current range of FF cameras from Nikon, Canon and Sony are all monsters compared to their 35mm film predecessors.

A digital version of the LX, or even ME Super, would be brilliant.
rogerstpierre said:
If I were Ricoh, I'd first look at Pentax current development projects, and determine what should keep going ahead, and what I'd put on hold until I'd better figure out what the new direction should be. This means, little significant changes in Pentax line of product for the foreseeable future.

--
Roger
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Roger
 
I am an optimist, so i welcome the delay if it is an attempt to deal with QC and not rush the products.

I had K-X and now have K-5.Love them both. With both i would rather wait few more months and not hunt eneloops over half of the country or send camera back for more then a month due to stains. Both cameras rushed,in my opinion.

Of course releasing lens road map would be a good thing to calm people who are not optimists.
 
Wheatfield said:
Missing the boat on mirrorless isn't really missing anything at all. It's like saying Massey-Ferguson missed the boat on passenger cars.
Click to expand...
Awesome analogy, dude! That made my day.

Still, even holding your place in today's camera market takes requires skill and tremendous effort. Clawing back marketshare will take real vision and leadership.

I also don't think there is a boat to miss when it comes to mirrorless, because it's not even a real category. What we are talking about it compact cameras with interchangeable lenses, with at present the full gamut of sensor sizes from Pentax Q on one end to Sony NEX on the other. And at last count no less than 5 incompatible lens mounts, and only one, mFT, can be said be a true "interchangeable lens system" - everything else has maybe 4-5 native lenses.

It's yet to be seen, really, whether consumers are actually going for the "interchangeable lens" part of the package. The only thing we know for certain is they don't like dSLRs much, because they are too big and too complicated. They don't like compacts much either, because they are small, fiddly, and suck in anything besides bright sunlight. I suspect most mFT owners leave the kit zoom on their camera 100% of the time.

So looking ahead the whole scene is wide open. Especially now that sensor size has filled in with a wealth of options now between APS-C and 1/1.8".

Some hints about what we can expect come from Fuji, currently the most innovative player in the field: The retro-rangefinder styled compacts, X100 and X10. That's one direction. Nikon 1 is another. Pentax Q is another. Ricoh GRX yet another. There are still many others to be explored.

If I was in charge of product development, I would build a digital Trip 35. Fairly clunky, boxy camera though slightly smaller than the original. A 35 mm FOV lens, not interchangeable. Sensor big enough and aperture fast enough to make sure indoor shots could be taken handheld without too much trouble. Make it dirt cheap. No more than $299. The design is clean yet sexy. Dog simple optical viewfinder. Radically simple control interface, relying on a customizable, capacitive touchscreen for most setting adjustment but physical controls for the shutter and other mission critical controls. Experts use the expert touchscreen interface of their choice. Most people use the basic one. Make the experience fun. No lists of 30 scene modes to choose from, just go out and take pictures with the camera offering creative backup when called for.

Hey, someone hire me!
 
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