Is no rumor good rumor?

zapp · 12-22-2016, 11:35 AM

Pentax appears to be in stealth mode these days. It would be nice to get any FF road map news, any news at all on future products. After the K1 release and the release/late release of the DFA zoom line it became pretty silent in Pentax land. No news is good news I hope.

surfar · 12-22-2016, 11:56 AM

CES is soon, lets live in hope!

Parallax · 12-22-2016, 12:00 PM - **6 Likes**

Originally posted by zapp

Is no rumor good rumor?

No rumor is no rumor, so this has been moved from the rumor forum.
At least, that's the rumor as to why it was moved.

Adam · 12-22-2016, 12:04 PM

The company is definitely in a good place, at least relative to other recent years.

Adam
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Kunzite · 12-22-2016, 12:04 PM

It's normal. Important announcements will be made at CP+, and not before.

Zygonyx · 12-22-2016, 01:23 PM

Worse than no rumor, not any 645 lens announced in 2016 is pretty bad news for the current line....

My bet is that Ricoh goes ML for the next medium format machine.

We will be lucky if they dare issue the 100% compatible converter at the same time.

biz-engineer · 12-22-2016, 03:48 PM - **1 Like**

I guess Ricoh imaging do have products ready to be released but they are counting their beans to decide what they'd effectively release. For instance; they'd reevaluate the full frame sales and trend and decide to expand that line or not. If the forecasts for additional sales of K1 is good , then they may decide to start new full frame lens designs and start production batches of the newly finished lens models. If the sales of the K1 show a limited success with to less of a customer base ;they may decide not to go further. IMO, the Pentax K1 sales achieved within the current loyal Pentaxians is too less to decide to spend further to complete the product line, that's why Ricoh imaging are now chasing customers outside of the remaining loyal Pentax base, e.g recent camera gear videos with high ratings for the K1 that are targeted outside of the Pentax zone. The dilemma for Ricoh imaging is that a significant portion of the k mount user base was silently lost after the K5, we see it right now, the K1 being an excellent camera with a spike of sales at its introduction (+400 K1 owners in flickr pool during the first few weeks after introduction) and sluggish sales after this period (barely scratching 920 K1 owner in flickr pool after 9 months). The whole problem to solve for Ricoh imaging is how to regain lost market share and related sales quantities to break even, and it seems that overshooting on product specs vs price isn't enough to take market share away from Canon Nikon and others in a declining market. It looks like great products don't fully sell themselves, especially when people are saturated and some people downgrading photography to a point of getting satisfied with a smartphone. When reading some posts, I'm not sure if people do realize that selling a few thousand of a camera model is enough to feed a team of camera designers, marketing and sales.

Last edited by biz-engineer; 12-22-2016 at 03:55 PM.

ColiNiloK · 12-22-2016, 04:14 PM - **1 Like**

I agree with biz-engineer. That's why I think they needs to be more innovative, aggressive in releasing excellent future lenses and bodies, listen to the feedback of users and addresses key weakness; plus maintain good firmware support like they are doing with the K1 firmware. That's why Fuji is popular now days, those are exactly what Fuji did over the few years, when their first X system camera XPro1 was released the system is seriously lacking and not many people are willing to jump into the X mount, but look at Fuji now, it's one of the most popular Mirror-less system.

I reckon Pentax is doing well, it just needs keep the ball rolling.

RMabo · 12-23-2016, 12:47 AM

On the latest roadmap for D FA lenses, there's still 5 lenses left that haven't been released yet.
* Wide single focal length (perhaps D FA 28 f/2.8? or D FA 24 f/2.8?)
* Standard large aperture single focal length (D FA 50 f/1.4?)
* Medium telephoto large aperture single focal length (D FA 200 f/2.8? D FA 135 f/2.8?)
* Ultra wide large aperture single focal length (D FA 20 f/2.8?)
* Fish Eye zoom lens

Those are labeled 2017+, and will be released in the above order. So I Think we can expect the wide, standard and medium telephoto next year and the ultra wide and Fish Eye in 2018. Things are cooking, just not ready to be served yet.

Personally, I would like a new DA roadmap but I Believe Pentax is focusing (!) now on D FA lenses. DA lenses are pretty much covered, anyway and D FA lenses can be used on APS-C too. I would welcome a D FA 135 f/2.8 with in-lens motor, ED glass and weather sealing so I could replace my aging FA 135 f/2.8 with something more modern.

I Believe Pentax is looking into mirrorless APS-C, that's the future. A Pentax P-mount (Prince/Princess) or KJ (King Junior)

...

Unregistered User 8 · 12-23-2016, 01:51 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Parallax

No rumor is no rumor, so this has been moved from the rumor forum.
At least, that's the rumor as to why it was moved.

I heard that rumor about this rumor. Is it true Jim?

mee · 12-23-2016, 08:08 AM - **2 Likes**

We don't always need a rumor going at all times.. just relax and use the gear you have.

CES in early Jan (for consumery products)
CP+ in late Feb (for DSLR stuffs)

So I say relax, it will come soon enough. And their will be plenty of time to foam at the mouth that the new gear isn't Fuji or the like.

Smolk · 12-24-2016, 11:44 AM

Lens development with Pentax has become notoriously slow. Since 2010, when the 645D was launched, what happened? Fuji is much faster and more open.
Since the K-1 came out, what happened? It is not exciting (certainly not when you're after primes).

Winder · 12-24-2016, 04:55 PM

I would hope that 2017 brings us some high quality primes for the K-mount, a 645 with a fullsized 645 sensor and updated 645 glass. With MF mirrorless hitting the market I think Ricoh needs to push forward in this segment with a 645z and a second true 645 body. I doubt we see more than that.... if we see that.

**gaweidert** · 12-27-2016, 09:25 AM - **1 Like**

Well I worked for Kodak for over 40 years. It got most scary where there was a period of no rumors. That meant layoffs were coming.

Kunzite · 12-27-2016, 09:36 AM

What about those periods with rumors about layoffs and bankruptcy, were they better?

12-22-2016, 11:35 AM	#1
zapp Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 2,385	Is no rumor good rumor? Pentax appears to be in stealth mode these days. It would be nice to get any FF road map news, any news at all on future products. After the K1 release and the release/late release of the DFA zoom line it became pretty silent in Pentax land. No news is good news I hope.

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12-22-2016, 11:56 AM	#2
surfar Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: mid nth coast,nsw Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,141	CES is soon, lets live in hope!

12-22-2016, 12:00 PM - 6 Likes	#3
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	Originally posted by zapp Is no rumor good rumor? No rumor is no rumor, so this has been moved from the rumor forum. At least, that's the rumor as to why it was moved.

12-22-2016, 12:04 PM	#4
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,594	The company is definitely in a good place, at least relative to other recent years. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

12-22-2016, 12:04 PM	#5
Kunzite Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 15,132	It's normal. Important announcements will be made at CP+, and not before.

12-22-2016, 01:23 PM	#6
Zygonyx Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Ile de France Posts: 4,033	Worse than no rumor, not any 645 lens announced in 2016 is pretty bad news for the current line.... My bet is that Ricoh goes ML for the next medium format machine. We will be lucky if they dare issue the 100% compatible converter at the same time.

12-22-2016, 03:48 PM - 1 Like	#7
biz-engineer Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 12,231	I guess Ricoh imaging do have products ready to be released but they are counting their beans to decide what they'd effectively release. For instance; they'd reevaluate the full frame sales and trend and decide to expand that line or not. If the forecasts for additional sales of K1 is good , then they may decide to start new full frame lens designs and start production batches of the newly finished lens models. If the sales of the K1 show a limited success with to less of a customer base ;they may decide not to go further. IMO, the Pentax K1 sales achieved within the current loyal Pentaxians is too less to decide to spend further to complete the product line, that's why Ricoh imaging are now chasing customers outside of the remaining loyal Pentax base, e.g recent camera gear videos with high ratings for the K1 that are targeted outside of the Pentax zone. The dilemma for Ricoh imaging is that a significant portion of the k mount user base was silently lost after the K5, we see it right now, the K1 being an excellent camera with a spike of sales at its introduction (+400 K1 owners in flickr pool during the first few weeks after introduction) and sluggish sales after this period (barely scratching 920 K1 owner in flickr pool after 9 months). The whole problem to solve for Ricoh imaging is how to regain lost market share and related sales quantities to break even, and it seems that overshooting on product specs vs price isn't enough to take market share away from Canon Nikon and others in a declining market. It looks like great products don't fully sell themselves, especially when people are saturated and some people downgrading photography to a point of getting satisfied with a smartphone. When reading some posts, I'm not sure if people do realize that selling a few thousand of a camera model is enough to feed a team of camera designers, marketing and sales. Last edited by biz-engineer; 12-22-2016 at 03:55 PM.

12-22-2016, 04:14 PM - 1 Like	#8
ColiNiloK Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 102	I agree with biz-engineer. That's why I think they needs to be more innovative, aggressive in releasing excellent future lenses and bodies, listen to the feedback of users and addresses key weakness; plus maintain good firmware support like they are doing with the K1 firmware. That's why Fuji is popular now days, those are exactly what Fuji did over the few years, when their first X system camera XPro1 was released the system is seriously lacking and not many people are willing to jump into the X mount, but look at Fuji now, it's one of the most popular Mirror-less system. I reckon Pentax is doing well, it just needs keep the ball rolling.

12-23-2016, 12:47 AM	#9
RMabo Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 845	On the latest roadmap for D FA lenses, there's still 5 lenses left that haven't been released yet. * Wide single focal length (perhaps D FA 28 f/2.8? or D FA 24 f/2.8?) * Standard large aperture single focal length (D FA 50 f/1.4?) * Medium telephoto large aperture single focal length (D FA 200 f/2.8? D FA 135 f/2.8?) * Ultra wide large aperture single focal length (D FA 20 f/2.8?) * Fish Eye zoom lens Those are labeled 2017+, and will be released in the above order. So I Think we can expect the wide, standard and medium telephoto next year and the ultra wide and Fish Eye in 2018. Things are cooking, just not ready to be served yet. Personally, I would like a new DA roadmap but I Believe Pentax is focusing (!) now on D FA lenses. DA lenses are pretty much covered, anyway and D FA lenses can be used on APS-C too. I would welcome a D FA 135 f/2.8 with in-lens motor, ED glass and weather sealing so I could replace my aging FA 135 f/2.8 with something more modern. I Believe Pentax is looking into mirrorless APS-C, that's the future. A Pentax P-mount (Prince/Princess) or KJ (King Junior) ...

12-23-2016, 01:51 AM - 1 Like	#10
Unregistered User 8 Closed Account Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,694	Originally posted by Parallax No rumor is no rumor, so this has been moved from the rumor forum. At least, that's the rumor as to why it was moved. I heard that rumor about this rumor. Is it true Jim?

12-23-2016, 08:08 AM - 2 Likes	#11
mee Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 7,403	We don't always need a rumor going at all times.. just relax and use the gear you have. CES in early Jan (for consumery products) CP+ in late Feb (for DSLR stuffs) So I say relax, it will come soon enough. And their will be plenty of time to foam at the mouth that the new gear isn't Fuji or the like.

12-24-2016, 11:44 AM	#12
Smolk Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Eerbeek Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,857	Lens development with Pentax has become notoriously slow. Since 2010, when the 645D was launched, what happened? Fuji is much faster and more open. Since the K-1 came out, what happened? It is not exciting (certainly not when you're after primes).

12-24-2016, 04:55 PM	#13
Winder Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 6,617	I would hope that 2017 brings us some high quality primes for the K-mount, a 645 with a fullsized 645 sensor and updated 645 glass. With MF mirrorless hitting the market I think Ricoh needs to push forward in this segment with a 645z and a second true 645 body. I doubt we see more than that.... if we see that.

12-27-2016, 09:25 AM - 1 Like	#14
gaweidert Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,325	Well I worked for Kodak for over 40 years. It got most scary where there was a period of no rumors. That meant layoffs were coming.

12-27-2016, 09:36 AM	#15
Kunzite Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 15,132	What about those periods with rumors about layoffs and bankruptcy, were they better?