I don't expect Pentax to be releasing mirrorless cameras rivaling Sony's or anyones for that matter. Or I don't expect them to produce a camera aimed at the professional sports photographer market. But their particular niche, which I would say is aspiring amateur photographers that like small form-factor cameras with lenses that are not necessarily the sharpest, but take a more balanced approach to the overall look of the images, seems to be more and more encroached by the likes of Sony, Fuji, etc. In addition, things that are nice to have, like a nice flash, teleconverters, etc. are pretty much non-existent or exist only in old versions that you have to turn to ebay to acquire. Finally, the dearth of new lens offerings from Pentax, esp nice primes suitable for full frame digital with modern autofocus, basically have stopped coming with the exception of the 50 later this year. Where are the nice full frame birding lenses? Or a prime wide angle? The real sign however is the lack of support from third parties. Everytime a nice lens comes out from Sigma, or some of the newer players such as Laoa, the Pentax version is not there. Given the lack of new primes coming from Pentax, I would love it if Sigma art series lenses were available for the K-1, but alas, few are. I thought for sure the enthusiastic response from the photog community to the K-1 would have resulted in more investment from Ricoh to keep the momentum going, but it appears that they have pulled back instead.
On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 9:12 AM, John <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, *IF* I was running Pentax (and yes, I know I'm not), what actual > customers who bought previous models had to say about them would be "my" > starting point for developing new models and for improving older ones. > > What did "we" get right? What did "we" get wrong? What do the customers say > they want and are waiting to buy? I understand that granting everything on > the customer's wish lists would be impossible, but the engineers should be > at least thinking about them. > > I'm sure Pentax knows that; I think that's what Mr. Takashi Arai was trying > to explain. > > Plus, I think you have to account for the interviewer's bias in favor of > "mirrorless" cameras and what role it played in how the article was edited & > what they chose to quote from the longer interview. > > Basically, Takashi Arai said Pentax (& Ricoh) are sticking with what they > already do well and aren't going to neglect those things to go off chasing > rainbows & unicorns ... for now. > > > On 4/8/2018 02:42, mike wilson wrote: >> >> I suppose another interpretation might be that Pentax doesn't _receive_ >> much >> feedback on new model direction but mostly on existing models. >> >> >>> On 07 April 2018 at 18:39 John <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> The impression I got when the K-1 Mark ii was announced was that the >>> improvements were driven (in part) by customer feedback and that feedback >>> was also the reason for the "upgrade" being available for existing K-1's >>> >>> On 4/7/2018 11:00, Alex Sarbu wrote: >>>> >>>> I see, thank you for the clarification. However, I disagree with your >>>> interpretation; it can't possibly mean that. We have paragraphs like: >>>> "We have lots of requests for lenses, especially from K-1 users. They >>>> want more lenses that match the higher resolution of the K-1, so that’s >>>> one objective which we would like to implement.", or "This form factor >>>> is >>>> iconic for the Theta. We think it’s important. On the other hand, if >>>> there is demand, we would like flexibly to think about any other >>>> possibilities, even for other form factors." telling the complete >>>> opposite. >>>> >>>> Actually I'm not sure what he meant... but let's not forget, he's a >>>> Japanese speaking in a foreign language. Maybe they decided on the >>>> upgrade because of the feedback? Maybe people are offering feedback on >>>> the upgrade? But it can't be not incorporating our feedback into new >>>> products... the K-1 itself was made because we demanded it. >>>> >>>> OTOH... people's demands are all over the place, often mutually >>>> exclusive. Listening doesn't mean meeting all our requests. >>>> >>>> Alex >>>> > > -- > Science - Questions we may never find answers for. > Religion - Answers we must never question. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- -- Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. Dorothea Lange -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
