[LaurenOE]

Lauren, stop it. You are killing me! I was at WPPI the year Jim Malcolm gave away three 645Z and 55mm packages. I was hoping to win one but it did not happen. It burned me to learn that two out of the three winners sold their prized 645Z package online. They did not know or care about owning a 645Z. What a waste.

The images that come from the 645z...the only other digital camera from Pentax that has as clean images for me was the K5IIs...but obviously the 645z is in another league.

You. Will. Be. AMAZED. at the images from a 645z.

So much LOVE for that camera.

Also, Pentax gave me a new 645z from the lemon I started with over in another thread, so all is good. The loaner I took to Japan is back to the company.

[Dan Rentea]

Pffff, Sony look like innovative when they release lens lines that Canon and Nikon have had for a decade or two. That's the magic of reinventing the wheel after everyone and looking like the number one brand of ILC cameras.

Canon doesn't have a consumer 200-600mm lens and also the Sony 600mm f4 is very light and small compared to competition. I'm not a big fan of Sony cameras due to their poor ergonomics and messy menu system, but I like that they give to their customers more reasons to stay. Sony also has the 100-400mm lens and the 200-600mm lens is going to affect the sales of Sigma/Tamron tele lenses.

[btnapa]

200-600mm lens is going to affect the sales of Sigma/Tamron tele lenses

I agree. But that might be good news as Tamron and Sigma might be forced to substantially drop their prices to keep Sony from taking over.

[Dan Rentea]

I agree. But that might be good news as Tamron and Sigma might be forced to substantially drop their prices to keep Sony from taking over.

As long as prices go down, we (consumers) can be happy. The ones who want speed and better build quality will go for the Sony version. The others will also be happy if Tamron/Sigma will drop their prices. Win-win.

[biz-engineer]

Canon doesn't have a consumer 200-600mm lens and also the Sony 600mm f4 is very light and small compared to competition.

The Sony is 10g. lighter than Canon's , but the biggest weight saver on the Sony mirrorless camera vs Canon DSLR

[Dan Rentea]

The Sony is 10g. lighter than Canon's

Canon is known for lenses so no surprise there. I was referring to Nikon which was mentioned in the article and somehow has to do with this topic also. I will know that Canon is going to be all in when comes to mirrorless once they will release RF 300mm f2.8L lens, RF 400mm f2.8L lens, RF 200-400mm f4L lens, RF 600mm f4L lens. Until then, Sony will probably catch them in terms of tele lenses. Once they do that, they will need PRO support and better build cameras in order to be seen by PRO photographers and sport agencies.

[normhead]

Norm...lemme tell ya...the 645z will blow you out of the water with how beautiful and clean the images comes out of the camera. I was not prepared. Stunning.

I'm still totally impressed with the 645z images I've seen. But, no IBIS, constant use of a tripod and the weight of the system is shutting this down as much as anything . Maybe if I was a young whiipper snapper of say 50 years old it would be a lot more appealing. A lot of the time I'm really a hit and run type shooter.

I want to be MikeSF, but he won't trade bodies and gear with me.

In my 40s I actually did carry 645 MF gear through Algonquin Park with me, but we only had film then. And it was a bitch.

[btnapa]

In my 40s I actually did carry 645 MF gear through Algonquin Park with me, but we only had film then. And it was a bitch.

I am with you brother. My weigh carrying days are over too. Although I have promised myself if I get over this joint pain, I might consider a heavy camera again. Today, I woke up with little pain. I don't know what I did as I take no drugs for it. Must be the little or no meat diet along with morning walks. We will see if this trend continues. Only then I might ask my wife to buy me a 645Z kit for my next birthday... dream on baby!!

[Merv-O]

My cousin insisted on a lot more control over the final product than you're ever going to get using eye tracking. So an photographer with a clipped work flow may enjoy the eye AF etc. but that work will never compare to what my cousin did with his Hasslebald.

Spot on, Norm--my point exactly !!! Stop bitching about what Pentax doesn't have and start learning to use what you do have to an optimal level...Pentax has more than I had for my first 30 years in photography. Just the ISO limits today vs. ASA limitations still amazes me. The fact that my Pentax K-1 is built as well as my Canon FTBn from 45 years ago makes me smile (because the recent Canon offerings are plastic).

[Dan Rentea]

Pentax has more than I had for my first 30 years in photography.

Yes, but the young generation doesn't know about what photography looked like 30 years ago. We are living in a world full of technology and the z generation is addicted to new technology. They don't want to spent a lot of time learning and learning how to use af in order to get the shot. They know that their phones have face and eye recognition and they also know that camera manufactureres implemented this feature on almost all new cameras released recently. And these features combined with Youtube reviews and with influencers opinions attract the new generation.

Look at bloggers that are practicaly forced to start vlogging because the new generation doesn't want these days to read a long article/review. They rather listen what vloggers have to say while playing on their mobile phones. We like it or not, we have to adapt at some point, some of us sooner, some of us later.

[Merv-O]

We are living in a world full of technology and the z generation is addicted to new technology. They don't want to spent a lot of time learning and learning how to use af in order to get the shot. They know that their phones have face and eye recognition and they also know that camera manufactureres implemented this feature on almost all new cameras released recently.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the bulk of picture takers these days (I refuse to call them photographers--they wouldn't know an f/stop from their elbows). Also, while the quality of these iPhone shooters is adequate for their Instagram/facebook posts, the dilution of the value of images has also occurred. Anyone with a camera is a photojournalist and anyone with a video is a cinemaphotographer. Oh well, time marches on.....

[Yoda boy]

... just to look at it from business perspective.

When we read what their own forecasts say about the new business year then the customer and money exodus will continue if not gain speed.

Nikon's own predition is that they'll loose more market share in all areas and at the same time the absolute market size will continue to shrink as well.

Profit per ILC product (both cameras and lenses) sold will drop from 4207 yen to 2857 yen (-32%). That is $26 operating profit per camera or lens.

I hope nobody remains wondering why Nikon has all these quality issues. What do you think, how many hours you can spend on quality inspecting an item when your profits are $26 for the whole thingy?

The worst three parts are:
a) in the past Nikon's forecasts had a very strong tendency to be overoptimistic, so reality is likely to be worse than what is shown
b) the chart strongly suggests that after a little more than one more year of decline at recent speeds, their whole imaging business could become a loss-maker. And that is a 6 year trend now.
c) nothing in the report mentions the need to give massive discounts on underwhelming products briefly after market introduction. In Germany the Z7 fell from 3700 EUR to 2700 EUR (-27%) in less than 5 months. No way that is not eating a lot of profitability. It took the D7200 3.5 years for such a devaluation.

I mean, who would invest thousands of dollars into a system and mount with this poor outlook? Nikon 1 anyone? Olympus mFT anyone? Sony A-Mount anyone?

Stagnancy is a lot better by comparison than free fall.

The Ricoh guys seem to be much better at that game from business perspective. Let's hope they never start doing what Nikon has done. Be different.

My suspicion is that both Nikon and Canon have too much product lineup available for sale and the cost for producing all these different variations becomes a profitability concern. Sometimes too much selection is a negative. I like the Pentax line because I feel the quality is there and there is enough variety to service my needs. Their products just seem so substantial and user friendly. I shoot mainly landscapes. Recently, I have only purchased the most advanced products available at the time. This includes the K5, K3 and K1II. I am now mainly purchasing the DA* or DFA* lenses since I find them most to my liking. This does not mean that anyone practicing photography as a professional or serious amateur should get anything other than what they are happy with. While the current quality and abilities of all camera brands are now excellent, that does not mean that better is not yet to come. That should hopefully sustain a smaller but dedicated pool of photographers.

---------- Post added 10-29-19 at 08:34 PM ----------

Darwin "Those who survive are not the biggest and strongest, but those with the ability to adapt to change." We'll see how they do. But right now it's inconceivable that they'd fail, well apart from the fact ash they will probably never get another cent of my money. There are enough people who aren't me that they have a fighting chance. I know many Nikon users who love their gear. That in itself is a great asset that doesn't show up on the balance sheet.

After many years of being an APS-C camera brand, I suspect the introduction of FF will prove to have been a very wise move. Nevertheless, I hope they keep both formats in their lineup. The APS-C has its own advantages and the two sensor sizes complement each other in the real world. This is their version of adapting.

[beholder3]

As a result, the Company has decided to post an impairment loss of 5.7 billion yen for the fixed assets held by Imaging Product Business.

Nikon issued a notice regarding recognition of extraordinary losses - Nikon Rumors

Overall profits collapsed -70%. Profit forecast compared to last one has been adjusted to around 1/3.

[SSGGeezer]

Nikon issued a notice regarding recognition of extraordinary losses - Nikon Rumors

Overall profits collapsed -70%. Profit forecast compared to last one has been adjusted to around 1/3.

Those are brutal numbers for Nikon imaging. Yikes!

[StiffLegged]

Much to the chagrin of the “Nikon will disappear” crowd on the Internet, the company overall booked US$5.4b in sales, and made US$62m in profit. No doubt there’s bad news in Nikon’s results—much like that of most big companies at the moment—but the financials they just reported show a lot of effort and control over their continued retraction that leaves them with reasonably healthy fundamentals. They have US$3.7b cash in hand and an equity ratio of 54%, with lines of credit still open should they need it. Free cash flow did drop to basically zero, though (operating cash flow was down but positive).

New Camera and Photography Articles, Nikon DSLR camera and lens May 28th news