[ivanvernon]

google hangouts yo.

I mean this is great information, but they could really take a more hands on and interactive approach with the community. . .rather than funneling it through one user. That's not a criticism, it's a suggestion. It's in Pentax's interest to foster a community around their cameras -- it's not something other manufactures are doing that's for sure.

I totally agree with this comment. Marketers/producers can get the most wonderful ideas by staying connected to their users. Communicating with Pentax users through Pentax Forum would increase brand loyalty, build patience as Ricoh gears up engineering and marketing for the brand, and explain corporate strategy to avoid misunderstandings. I see the Pentax user group as being above average in terms of education and photographic experience and in general a group that would feel great to have their favorite company cater to them in this manner. One thing they might do is to offer an explanation for the recent lens price hikes, which may well have been taken in order to reserve reasonable profit margins with the increase in the value of the yen versus the dollar.

[monochrome]

One thing they might do is to offer an explanation for the recent lens price hikes, which may well have been taken in order to reserve reasonable profit margins with the increase in the value of the yen versus the dollar.

The Dollar has risen consistently versus the Yen (and most other currencies) since mid-2011 and is quite near its March, 2009 and May, 2010 highs. This price rise very likely is to forestall Pentax USA competing price-wise with Canada and Europe, given the ease of online buying and shipping. PRI might be telling PRAC to play nice in the sandbox.

[verdigris]

Going into the conversation, I was a bit worried about the future of the Q. It's users are for them most part pretty passionate about it, but the ambivalent mainstream reviews, the steep discounts and general apparent lack of 'success' outside of Japan made me worried that it might not have a future. I feared it would be an interesting blip from a company in transition. I wasn't persuaded about the changes made with the Q10, with the slightly less classic body design and the many colors approach. However, what I took away from the talk, was that Pentax is committed to the system (along with K and 645 mounts), and that it will be continued to be advanced for a long time. And not just that, but that the Q is seen as growth driver.

This is wise. I hear people mention that maybe there will be a future one with a bigger sensor, however, I'm not sure how that would work with the current lens systems. I don't know how much coverage the Q lenses have with such a short flange focal distance. My guess is that the sensor size would remain the same, but that the smaller sensors are just going to get better and better. The q10 wasn't a huge IQ upgrade perhaps, but wait 3 years, and there may be another classic body with an even more amazing sensor that will be compatible with all the investments we've made in our Q and Q10s. That's what I'm looking forward to.

[GibbyTheMole]

My guess is that the sensor size would remain the same, but that the smaller sensors are just going to get better and better.

That's my thinking as well. And really, I don't want a bigger sensor. I like the 5.6x crop factor. Not to mention with a bigger sensor, the 01 standard prime would become the 01 wide angle, the 02 would become a strictly wide angle zoom, etc... Plus, they might not even cover the whole frame. A bigger sensor would equal big problems.

[bullitt_60]

Thanks to all involved for putting this together. Also, thank you for inquiring about the 01 prime... I think I've beaten that dead horse enough.

[monochrome]

Just had a minor PANIC ATTACK. In the rush home to get on the call Tuesday I dropped my Q camera bag (Q1, 01 Prime and 06, extra battery, extra 32Gb Card) on a dark chair in our Living Room on the short cut to my office ("The Living Room is not a Thru-Way!!"). I played with the K-01 last night ....

Went to take some night light shots reflecting off raindrops and the Q2 and Converter Bag was the only bag on the shelf.

I've been rethinking uses

Oh No!! Did I leave it at the Office?
It wasn't there today.
O No!! Did it get stolen?

and retracing steps for half an hour.

Wife: "Where was it?"
Me: "On the Blue Chair in the Living Room."
:sarc: Wife:: "You don't have enough stuff."




And the Living Room isn't a Thru-Way!!

[ChrisJ]

I was particularly pleased to hear that the Q mount is at the beginning of it's life and not winding down towards the end, and the firmware support for old models is 'novel' amongst camera manufacturers and another plus point for Pentax.

Thanks for taking the trouble for a concise and informative post.

Chris

[monochrome]

I was particularly pleased to hear that the Q mount is at the beginning of it's life and not winding down towards the end, and the firmware support for old models is 'novel' amongst camera manufacturers and another plus point for Pentax.

Thanks for taking the trouble for a concise and informative post.

Chris

It was a refreshingly upbeat call. Thank you for the gracious reply.

[kenafein]

That's my thinking as well. And really, I don't want a bigger sensor. I like the 5.6x crop factor. Not to mention with a bigger sensor, the 01 standard prime would become the 01 wide angle, the 02 would become a strictly wide angle zoom, etc... Plus, they might not even cover the whole frame. A bigger sensor would equal big problems.

The lenses would still be useable with a 1" or a 2/3" sensor(providing they cover), and you could provide a crop feature to use the original sensor size. I am not saying they have to do it, but it might entice people to the camera and the brand.

[GibbyTheMole]

The lenses would still be useable with a 1" or a 2/3" sensor(providing they cover), and you could provide a crop feature to use the original sensor size.

In that case, I'll take two. :-)

[kenafein]

In that case, I'll take two. :-)

A 2/3" sensor would turn the 01 into a 32mm equivalent. Image quality could be similar to the Fuji X20. The lenses could still be small. The 1 system lenses are about the same size as the Q lenses.
I don't think it is a bad idea at all. Perhaps Sony could sell them something similar to the RX100 sensor. Or I am also happy with the camera as it is.

[kshapero]

I will begin by stating my impression that James Malcolm is truly a Pentax Enthusiast, who wants to develop the Americas and wants to exploit the inherent strengths of the brand. In our conversation he just feels like a nice guy, a genuine photographer who is also an accomplished executive. Sometimes that can be faked - I've been around enough Exec's over the last 35 years to know it - but I don't think so this time. Just my gut feeling, but I'm right a lot more often than I'm wrong.

A group of Q Users from Pentax Forums participated on a GoToMeeting Conference Call with James Malcolm Tuesday, April 30th. The call lasted about 1¼ hours and covered a broad range of topics related to Q and Q10, as well as some additional discussion of Pentax Ricoh Americas Corp. current and historical market position, strategy and coming marketing efforts. He also commented on Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd. current and long term vision.

After Jim’s recent interview with DPI, in which he stated that no one who responded to the Facebook offer to speak to Jim specifically stated the responder was a Q User, I immediately emailed PRAC and offered to gather a group of Q Users from PF who would like the opportunity to speak to Pentax. Within literally moments Pentax Ricoh Americas’ Marketing Director Amber R. responded, forwarded the offer to Jim’s internal Administrative Manager Claudia G. and the offer was made

The group was formed of several PF members domiciled in the USA out of 20 selected as frequent posters in the Q Forum who responded to my PM invitation to participate. A few weeks of emailing back and forth to arrange a suitable common time we could make a conference call resulted in our opportunity. Participants included: monochrome; crewl1; pearsaab; hnikesch; verdigris; GibbyTheMole; barondla; and LeRolls. deadwolfbones was unable to join due to a late work commitment.

Coincidentally that group included Early Q Adopters, users who are pushing the envelope of Q uses such as Birding with the Q for K Adapter and Red Dot Finder (Super-Reach Users), Cine with adapted C-mount and D-mount lenses, experimenters with external EVF’s, (small) size aficionados who carry Q in a briefcase and casual camera users. Not everyone who responded is enthusiastic about Q but those who weren’t are deeply interested in what Jim had to say and prepared to offer opinions, or offered them through email to the Group in advance.

First Jim made some introductory remarks about the value of doing interviews, referring to the single comment in the DPI interview eliciting the response that led to this call. He expressed sincere appreciation for our allocation of time to give him feedback about how we use Q and why we bought it. He described himself as a Q enthusiast and displayed a photo of his 2 Q’s, “GoEverywhere” kit which consists of five native Q-mount lenses, the Q for K Adapter, Tripod Foot, D-FA 100 Macro WR, FA31(?), and an adapted Auto110 lens.

There followed about 15 minutes of general Q&A about PRAC and PRI in the global marketplace. In response to our question, Pentax is making an effort to include all the Q accessories on the Pentax Website including the Tripod Foot, as well as the 01 Prime as a standalone purchase. He offered an explanation of how initial orders for the Q kits, coupled with production runs of the lenses made obtaining an inventory of the 01 lens somewhat of a challenge. We asked several questions about upcoming Q line extensions and a lens roadmap that he declined to answer for competitive reasons.

He spoke briefly, without prompting about the confusion and uproar that his comment regarding FF in the DPI interview caused, and assured us that FF is real, but also is not soon.

We asked about Third-Party lens makers releasing in K-mount – and he explained that the problem isn’t so much current sales of Pentax bodies, which may be sufficient, as it is that the total installed base of Pentax bodies is insufficient to encourage these manufacturers. He went on to explain that use of color on mid-range bodies (K-30) and on Q10 is as much about stimulating purchase of an additional body in a Household as it is about acquiring a new customer. He described the placement of the “100 Colors of Q” kiosks in Dealer locations as a very effective merchandising tool, especially for custom orders that stimulate gift giving. He also described an effort to market in college towns in the body colors of the school colors (not an NCAA licensed body, just in the colors), especially during August. As these non-traditional sales are made market share and installed base increases – and these sales count every bit as much as black bodies do.

He acknowledged the challenge facing a customer who needs to touch and hold a camera before the purchase [EDIT – Just Hold a Pentax] and is actively pursuing new distributions in Brick&Mortar stores. He described the prior “Distributor” arrangement as extremely damaging to the Dealer Brand relationship and that PRAC has a lot of fences to mend, but they are working on them one at a time. He referred to recent returns to Hunt’s Camera and a new return to a Dealer in SoCal.

He unequivocally stated Pentax is committed to the Q-mount, the K-mount and the 645-mount, and will continue to develop releases and products that leverage these mounts and keep them fresh and competitive. They see Q-mount as in its very early stages, and perhaps the best poised for true growth. They see a true Q system and Q ecology and stated there will be significant progress and technology in Q in the future.

The brand identity is value based on quality, engineering, ergonomics and IQ, not purely low price. That will carry across all products eventually as they are refreshed.

He said Pentax has adopted Ricoh’s strategy of maintaining Firmware Updates for products in the catalog as a customer-binding practice that costs little to do.

The final 45 or so minutes Jim solicited our opinions, observation, inputs and suggestions specifically for Q. We discussed many individual needs. The three that perhaps received the most two-way discussion were:

Larry (crewl1) - Create and market Aspirational Bundles (Jim’s restatement of what we called Kits) for specialized uses, such as for Birding (there were other examples, such as Macro and Cine given). These would be made available on the Webstore and featured in some way, just as they do for 645. Of course, Pentax doesn't care if a customer buys the items piecemeal - just buy them. For example:

DA*300, Q>K Converter, Tripod Foot, Pentax RedDot Finder

Dave (verdigris) - There was a long discussion on Cine (Video) and Q’s pluses and minuses, especially with adapted lenses as young videographers attempt to capture the look of old films. The size/quality of output ratio is unparalleled and should be expanded and marketed. This discussion included talk about the HDMI-out functions and whether it makes sense to release an API to Third-Party manufacturers, which he said Pentax could consider.

Amy (pearsaab) - Use of an external EVF, whether mounted to the flash shoe or tethered through the HDMI-out. My personal impression was while Jim sees the potential he didn’t seem altogether encouraging. He gave several examples of why he feels (and presumably Pentax feels) the technology isn’t quite at the point yet where it works well for LED EVF’s. OLED may be a different story

Last he described some efforts to serve local markets at Holiday sales time with trained demonstrators. He suggests this year there may be as many as 95, but with better training than they had time to give last year. He described a “Colors of Q” affinity opportunity at New York Dealers affiliated with the upcoming Gay Pride parade in New York.

Lastly he counseled a bit of patience. He cited CIPA data that show other manufacturers are producing significantly more cameras than they are selling, and thus experiencing an involuntary inventory build. Pentax is not subjecting itself to this risk. As a company Ricoh is twice the size of Nikon and half the size of Canon, so these business decisions are strategic, all made under an intermediate term belief that there can be a third major camera brand and it will be Pentax, and that the 20 year Vision remains to be Number 1. Within that strategy there are shorter tactical actions that don’t appear to make sense without the intermediate and long term context. He asked again that we be patient.

really appreciate the feedback.

[lytrytyr]

We asked several questions about upcoming Q line extensions and a lens roadmap that he declined to answer for competitive reasons.

Does PRIC have any competition in the Q-mount market?

[monochrome]

Not specifically that I know of - other than cameras compete with each other generally. At the start of the interview Jim stated he would not comment on upcoming product releases. Pentax is as tight-lipped as ever.

[psychdoc]

As a company Ricoh is twice the size of Nikon and half the size of Canon, so these business decisions are strategic, all made under an intermediate term belief that there can be a third major camera brand and it will be Pentax, and that the 20 year Vision remains to be Number 1.

Good to have a vision.
A 20 year vision means its believable- that will try, not necessarily that they will actually get there.

Personally I would be happy enough with second place