[Chris Mak]

They have
Interview with RICOH - Photokina 2018 | PentaxForums.com

Hmmmm, Is this actually thé interview this Photokina? If so, why not abandon future interviews alltogether?

Well, there is still sóme cryptic info, or what I can distill from it:

-MF is ditched pretty much.
-APSC is in the clouds (best thing to talk about that they could find was the K3II).
-K-mount will be supported (read: Pentax K Full Frame), and will retain its mirror based cameras.
-No revision of older lenses and no info on newer lenses.
-Pentax is looking to the future, but what that future is (well perhaps Pentax K FF), or when that future will come, is unknown.
-A big thanks to loyalty.

Am I being harsh here? If so, what am I missing?


Chris

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Last edited by Chris Mak; 09-28-2018 at 11:12 AM.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

They have
Interview with RICOH - Photokina 2018 | PentaxForums.com

Outside of them definitly sticking with OVF type cameras, that was pretty underwhelming & vague overall. I'm still thinking that CP+ will reveal the status of Pentax. Hopefully it will be good.

[clickclick]

Saving the "good stuff" for the 100 year anniversary, perhaps.

[RonHendriks1966]

Hmmmm, Is this actually thé interview this Photokina? If so, why not abandon future interviews alltogether?

Well, there is still sóme cryptic info, or what I can distill from it:

-MF is ditched pretty much.
-APSC is in the clouds (best thing to talk about that they could find was the K3II).
-K-mount will be supported (read: Pentax K Full Frame), and will retain its mirror based cameras.
-No revision of older lenses and no info on newer lenses.
-Pentax is looking to the future, but what that future is (well perhaps Pentax K FF), or when that future will come, is unknown.
-A big thanks to loyalty.

Am I being harsh here? If so, what am I missing?


Chris

Three new lenses next year......that will be hard working.

No support for pixelshift from anywhere. So that is a dead end.

Theta is #1 in 360. But 360 is a declining market at the consumer end.

No idea about marketing. No idea about ambassadors. No idea about market contraction over the coming years.

In 4 weeks we will see a new financial report from Ricoh.

[monochrome]

Saving the "good stuff" for the 100 year anniversary, perhaps.

That’s one (positive) take.

[bladerunner6]

Hmmmm, Is this actually thé interview this Photokina? If so, why not abandon future interviews alltogether?

Well, there is still sóme cryptic info, or what I can distill from it:

-MF is ditched pretty much.
No: “Ricoh is monitoring the market situation for medium format with regards to mirrorless versus optical viewfinder. Given the advantage in image quality medium format will continue to be supported in one form or another.”


-APSC is in the clouds (best thing to talk about that they could find was the K3II).
No: one third of the lenses due next year are APSC. The GRIII is APSC. And this:
“The focus is on how the photographers want to use their cameras and what they expect from them; this will drive decisions about format (APS-C/FF/645) and type of camera technology for future products.”
-K-mount will be supported (read: Pentax K Full Frame), and will retain its mirror based cameras.
It includes APSC, see above.
-No revision of older lenses and no info on newer lenses.
Yes to the first part and no to the second part. “The longer zoom shown on the roadmap will come after those lenses have been released. “
-Pentax is looking to the future, but what that future is (well perhaps Pentax K FF), or when that future will come, is unknown.
That is always the case. Que sera, sera.
-A big thanks to loyalty.

Am I being harsh here? If so, what am I missing?


Chris

Yes, I would say you are being too harsh.

[6BQ5]

They have
Interview with RICOH - Photokina 2018 | PentaxForums.com

That was probably one of the thinnest interview articles I have ever read. No mention or heads up about anything. Maybe this is as good as it will get nowadays.

At the same time, history has shown us that the Ricoh team is extremely tight lipped about everything. Ricoh tends to announce and release gear on their own schedule.


Is there a video of the interview available?

[travelswsage]

Am I being harsh here? If so, what am I missing?

No, I don't think that is harsh at all. I'm sorry, I found both the interview and the answers to be completely underwhelming.


Really glad I'm not a 645 owner. "Monitoring the 645 market"? For what, even more competitors?


If someone tells you several years after they have released a feature (pixel shift) that they are open to working with the software developers to realize the potential of the feature but are not currently doing so I'd expect at least a follow up question along the lines of a nicer than this worded: Why the hell not? It certainly isn't Adobe or any other software manufacturers duty to do this work on their own.


K-3ii successor info? teleconverter availability info? extension tube availability info? Resources available to Pentax development? Sorry, there is a difference between defferential and obsequious.

[bladerunner6]

Three new lenses next year......that will be hard working.

No support for pixelshift from anywhere. So that is a dead end.

Theta is #1 in 360. But 360 is a declining market at the consumer end.

No idea about marketing. No idea about ambassadors. No idea about market contraction over the coming years.

In 4 weeks we will see a new financial report from Ricoh.

Growing Popularity of Virtual Reality Drives 360-degree Camera Market | Markets Insider

Where do you get 360 degree cameras declining?

[Chris Mak]

Yes, I would say you are being too harsh.

OK. revised a bit.

-Current MF is ditched: no new lenses for the system, and no new camera in its current form. Ricoh will investigate the market for the MF and perhaps release a new mirrorless MF system in time.
-APSC flagship camera is in the clouds. Sure, the GR is APSC, KP is still there, mid-class. New 11-18 on the way, 2019 (excluding delays).
-K-mount mirror based camera system will be supported. Take last two years' development, add asahiman's sparse info: translates as: K-mount FF is actively being developed.
-New lenses: 2019 or later. So still only the development of 85mm (goes back a while), 11-18 (goes back a while), 70-200 f4 (only development announcement this whole year lens wise).

Chris

[RonHendriks1966]

Growing Popularity of Virtual Reality Drives 360-degree Camera Market | Markets Insider

Where do you get 360 degree cameras declining?

Theta is now a consumer gadget product. So there is money in 360, but in mostly other sectors then the consumer site. Money to make, but then they also have to address those market segments.

Not sure if those numbers are correct, but hey maybe. So 473,6 million USD sales in 2018. Great. And Theta is market leader, also great. Yet Ricoh-Imaging sales where only 40 million USD last quarter (that is for Theta, k-mount camera and lenses, 645 and action camera's ). So how big of the market do they really have?

[Fenwoodian]

.

Strike 1 = No support from any of the major third-party image editing softwares for either pixel shift, or dynamic pixel shift; AND no efforts to solicit such support in the future.

Strike 2 = Failure to make any efforts, or future plans to improve video.

Strike 3 = Continually using outdated sensors in it's flagship cameras.

Strike 4 = Teasing that they'll be an exciting announcement at the big German show, and then absolute silence about their entire line of DSLR cameras and lenses.

I don't know if Pentax is doomed or not, but I'm getting really envious on how the other camera companies are improving their product lines while Pentax lags further behind...

[clickclick]

That’s one (positive) take.

Thanks. Figured it wouldn't hurt to throw a little sunshine given all the shade around here.

[Mistral75]

.

(...)

Strike 4 = Teasing that they'll be an exciting announcement at the big German show, and then absolute silence about their entire line of DSLR cameras and lenses.

(...)

Ricoh Imaging didn't do that. Other people did, with their own agenda.

[superdave]

Q: Are there any plans of renewing current screw drive lenses, e.g. by adding in-lens AF motors?
A: That's an interesting suggestion. There are, however, no such plans.

Is that question about revamped DA* lenses???