Pentax K-01 to Ship March 29th

In the United States

By PF Staff in Pentax Rumors on Feb 23, 2012

According to the latest information from B&H Photo, the Pentax K-01, which was announced on February 2nd is expected to start shipping on March 29th!

If you pre-order one today, you'll be able to obtain free Marketplace access on the forum - instructions are here.  Also, don't forget to check out these K-01 resources that we've recently prepared:

• K-01 Lens Guide
• K-01 Recommended Gear at B&H

The K-01's launch price is $749 for the body only, and $899 for the 40mm DA XS kit (outside of the kit, the lens costs $150 more).

Kawauchi Interview Transcript and Reflections

CP+ 2012 PentaxForums.com Exclusive

By PF Staff in Pentax Rumors on Feb 22, 2012

Just over a week ago at the 2012 CP+ show, we had a chance to sit down and interview Mr. Hiraku Kawauchi, the planning and product manager of Pentax Japan. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Pentax Japan for taking the time to speak with us and generously giving us access to closely examine the new products that were on display!

Here is a brief summary of what we took away from the interview:

• The merger with Ricoh has had a very positive impact on the Pentax and has given rise to exciting new marketing and product opportunities
• The FA 50mm lens will be continued as-is, with the DA* 55mm as a premium alternative and the DA 50mm F1.8 as a budget alternative.
• A Pentax Full-Frame is not a mere myth.  Pentax are toying with Full-Frame ideas but will only produce such a camera if they can make something unique that other manufacturers haven't already covered.  Furthermore, if such a camera is released, it won't be mirrorless (though Pentax has considered the idea).
• Pentax DSLRs will continue being a key part of the Pentax lineup, despite the fact that no new DSLRs have been announced so far this year.  We expect to see two new DSLRs later this year: an intro-level replacement for the K-r, and a replacement for the K-5 (likely to be on display at Photokina)
• The focus of the Pentax K-01 is on image quality and performance rather than small size
• A replacement for the DA* 16-50mm is planned (as per the lens roadmap)
• There are unfortunately no plans to make an EVF for the K-01
• The new 560mm telephoto lens will likely feature some new AF technology

Below is the transcript of our interview.  See also the full video of the interview.  Please note that none of these questions were rehearsed or presented to the interviewee in advance.

Q (not filmed): To start, we'd like to ask you if you have visited our web site? It has now been over 5 and a half years since we launched the site, and it's been evolving tremendously ever since. Did you know that we have databases complete with every Pentax lens ever produced, as well as thousands of user-submitted reviews of new and old lenses alike? Since 2010, we also regularly report on Pentax news on our homepage, and write in-depth reviews of the most exciting equipment for and by Pentax. While the forum remains at the heart of everything we do, these two sections now account for a major portion of our site traffic. In the United States, we are regarded as the largest Pentax-dedicated community, with over 5 million monthly page views and 1 million unique visitors. Our users are extremely loyal and enthusiastic about Pentax- unlike almost any other community out there! While we have a significant international presence, and only about 30% our our visitors live in the United States, Japanese visitors – who represent the largest Pentax market – account for less than 2% of our traffic, unfortunately.

A (paraphrased): Kawauchi was aware of the web site, and asked us more about our traffic distribution by country. He was impressed that we have a complete database of every Pentax lens ever made. He said that he's very happy that we're out there and was excited to build a relationship between Pentax Japan and the site.

Q: The K-01, which is a great new camera, is the first APS-C camera for Pentax without a mirror, and we hope it represents a whole new chapter in Pentax camera development.

What does this camera mean to you and do you think mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras will define the future of the camera industry?

A: First, regarding the K-01... The concept is first of all about the design... industrial design. The objective was not to create a mirrorless (camera), rather the mirrorless architecture was adopted in order to attain greater flexibility.  What we hope to achieve from the K-01 is not a very small, light mirrorless camera, rather it is to use the K-mount. This hasn’t changed much, but it is a form within the mirrorless category. We think even if it may not become mainstream, this type of mirrorless could exist.

January 2012 Photo Contest Winners

"Rivers and Lakes"

By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Feb 22, 2012

Forum member Kresica has won our official January "Rivers and Lakes" photo contest, making this his fourth triumph to date!  Click on his snow-covered waterfall photo below to enlarge it:

This photo is now also being featured in our Premier Gallery, in which you are welcome to leave comments.

Don't forget to enter in our February "Birds" photo contest for a chance to win an $50 B&H gift card!  The current contest ends at the end of the month (the 29th, remember that it's a leap year!). Read on to view the runners-up.

Topaz DeNoise Review

The best noise reduction software out there!

By PF Staff in Review Announcements on Feb 21, 2012

We're happy to present our first in-depth review of the month: Topaz DeNoise!  If you were impressed by Topaz Adjust when we reviewed it last year, then this plug-in will simply blow you away. 

This $80 investment allows you to salvage noisy high-ISO JPEGs and RAW files alike and get the most our of the high-iso capabilities of cameras such as the K-5.  See the review for more details and some example photos!

Continue to the Topaz DeNoise 5 Review

Exclusive Pentax Interview - CP+ 2012

With Mr. Hiraku Kawauchi, Pentax Product Manager

By PF Staff in Pentax Announcements on Feb 20, 2012

At CP+ this year, we had a chance to sit down and interview Mr. Hiraku Kawauchi, the Product Manager of Pentax Japan.  We asked some questions about the new K-01, the Pentax K-mount lens lineup, the possibility of making a full-frame DSLR, and more.  We hope you enjoy the video!

The interview transcript will be posted at a later time, and we'll follow up with some commentary as well.  Comments welcome!

See also our CP+ Pentax booth footage.