If 645D is the upgrade, which makes even your high end K mount lenses
well, useless after the upgrade, then Nikon and Canon are calling with
there Bargain through Professional FF offerings, especially as Nikon's
800 series DSLRs rival the 645D in resolution, and exceed it in almost
all other measures? Pentax has to seriously upgrade the 645D or offer a
FF 35mm style body. That's their too choices and the interviews I've
seen don't give me much confidence that they know that. The option of
a 24mp version of the K-5 is also an option though I don't really see a
need for it based on the average display output images are subject to,
but it would keep the pixel peepers happy, well, it would, if anything
could.
On 10/3/2012 1:20 PM, William Robb wrote:
On 03/10/2012 10:55 AM, Tom C wrote:
G'day all
Just came across this item which suggests that Pentax - Ricoh might be
reconsidering the concept of a mirrorless line with K mount.
The original is in Spanish:
http://www.quesabesde.com/noticias/entrevista-pentax-hiraku-kawauchi-photokina-2012,1_9157
Here's the Google Translate version:
http://tinyurl.com/8syk8kg
The interview sort of boggles the mind. It doesn't seem they can say
anything for sure, with confidence, except that the "645D continuity
is assured". I'd take that with several large grains of salt. The
continuity of a model line whose sales volume is likely at least 1/100
to 1/1000 the sales volume of the normal APS-C DSLR line is assured?
Q: "Could take the compact Pentax simpler and more advanced models
for Ricoh?"
(OK... that was sort of a dumb question. What does simpler and more
advanced NOT include?)
A: "It is one of the possibilities, but nothing has been decided. What
we can say at this time is that the range of interchangeable lens
cameras from Pentax will continue."
So "at this time" they'll continue to make DSLR's under the Pentax
name. They're hedging their words quite a bit (which if nothing else,
may at least be honest). Caveat: Translation may have not conveyed
accurately what they intended to say.
The K-01 is a dead end, i.e., 'Dear Customer, we were, in the end,
just teasing you'.
The answer on FF, combined with the rest of the interview, leads me to
believe they are hopelessly adrift as a camera manufacturer.
To be honest, I expected that Pentax would at least have a FF body by
the end of the year. It appears though they believe 2 more 16MP APS-C
bodies represents a larger sales potential than pent up demand for a
FF body (competing with 24MP bodies in both APS-C and FF format from
Nikon). I suspect they are incapable either financially or
logistically of producing a FF body at this time, and that's why we're
seeing more variations on a theme instead of a clear upgrade.
Tom C
The K5 was plagued by enough problems that the K5-2 is more than
likely the camera that the K5 would have been had Hoya not cheaped out
every step of the way.
I have a sneaking suspicion that for 125 million, Ricoh didn't get
much more than the Pentax name and a few headaches, and it is going to
take them a while to get things on track.
Hoya put the camera division on life support, and pretty much let it
wither on the vine (and there wasn't much to wither by the time the
buyout happened anyway), and then crapped all over new models in terms
of quality control from the ground up on new models to make the
division appear profitable for the purpose of enticing a new buyer.
At this point, I'm not so sure a FF is ever going to happen with
Pentax, I suspect the 645D is where Pentax users who want a larger
format are going to have to go. We'll continue to see improvements in
the APS-C format, the 24mp Sony sensor will likely find a home in a
new model either later this year or early next year as an
introduction, with the camera actually coming out next summer to fall.
After a decade of making APS-C SLRs, it's pretty unlikely that there
is much interest in supporting the larger image circle of lenses that
were make in the 1990s, and even less interest in making a whole new
lens line for what would be a fourth format, especially with the
number of gaping holes in the present lens line ups in the three
formats they are making now, and really, they only have three legacy
lenses in the line up now that are full coverage lenses by design,
everything else is smaller format.
Sorry for the run on sentence.
--
Don't lose heart, they might want to cut it out, and they'll want to avoid a
lengthly search.
--
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