[jersey]

I am afraid Ricoh/Pentax will be in the books as an old fashioned camera manufacturer that is out of touch with time.

I do not think so. Does anyone considers Leicas rangefinders as out of touch with times? The issue is that Pentax needs to find a away to present itself a viable choice for good quality photography. Leica does this with compact size, IQ and great lens range for street/documentary photography where it shines (recognizable logo helps a lot ).


Pentax will need same thing, some uniqueness that will allow it to stay competitive in some photo niche while keeping its unique features (OVF). And add emphasis on why his construction makes it better then what competition (MILC) provides.


But I agree then less DSLR on market does not mean less competition. After all Pentax will need to convince customers to get DSLR instead of MILC.

[memoria]

EVF today are miles ahead of what we saw a few years back. I have the K3-II but also a Canon setup (EOS R6 and RP). The EVF is pretty much like OVF but with a lot of advantages. AF is miles ahead with mirrorless and using old manual lenses with focus assist in EVF is a game changer. I hate to say this but today there really is no reason to prefer OVF. That is why I REALLY hope Pentax will reconsider and go mirrorless. I love their cameras.

[Serkevan]

Less competion? Of course not. I am afraid Ricoh/Pentax will be in the books as an old fashioned camera manufacturer that is out of touch with time. On the other hand, as Nikon might go the way of the high-end professional (FF?) DSLR, than maybe, a very very long maybe, Ricoh/Pentax might be able to cater for the amateur photographer who likes to stare through an optical viewfinder at his or hers subject.

Nikon is going the way of FF MILC just like Canon. Their only DSLR release in the last 4 or 5 years has been a (very) mildly reheated D750 at a pretty upscale cost... You can buy a new D850 (on sale) for 100-200€ more. And their APS-C offerings are a joke - just for "I want *a* camera with one or two kit lenses" amateurs.

[Rondec]

There are people (like me) who simply prefer an OVF. Obviously there are plenty of people who prefer EVFs or simply don't care, but certainly this could be a benefit to Pentax if even four or five percent of folks eventually transfer their alleigance over due to lack of OVF support.

The one thing that bears mentioning, at least as an aside, is that this seems to spell the end of the cheap ILC. Cameras like the Canon Tx sold in the 450 dollar range (with lens) and the same for the Nikon D3x00 series. Maybe Canon and Nikon will come out with cheaper mirrorless options soon, but at the present their MILCs are all more upscale without any truly low end options.

[biz-engineer]

Lots of people who are not interested in high-res and huge prints photography do not look at the sensor resolution or on the AF

How about the camera that freezes for 30 seconds after a 7 exposures burst at ISO 3200 or 6400? Do they like it? I was doing an experiment last week end, with the K1 I get 11 shots buffer regardless with ISO value, with the K1 II I get 18 shots at ISO100, 13 shots at ISO800 and then it drops to 6 or 7 shots above ISO1600. That got me thinking the K1/II is only 2000 euros but they put in as little DRAM as they could, with UHS-I card controller and USB-2 port , like the K-5 from 2011. The camera is cheaper than competitor but you get what you pay for.

[Serkevan]

The one thing that bears mentioning, at least as an aside, is that this seems to spell the end of the cheap ILC. Cameras like the Canon Tx sold in the 450 dollar range (with lens) and the same for the Nikon D3x00 series. Maybe Canon and Nikon will come out with cheaper mirrorless options soon, but at the present their MILCs are all more upscale without any truly low end options.

Sony has discontinued the cheapest current APS-C offering (the A6100), Fuji's offerings start at "definitely not budget", the two Nikon APS-C MILCs are 900 bucks... Canon has the M200 but there's no telling how long the EF-M system will be kept alive.

Yeap, the cheap ILC is dead.

[biz-engineer]

Yeap, the cheap ILC is dead.

It looks like it. I thought about it, to realize that the best way could be buy used and over the long run, building a system one element at a time, while keeping an eye open for good deals.

[Pål Jensen]

Canon’s Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai: “EOS-1D X Mark III is our last DSLR”



Canon's Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai: ?EOS-1D X Mark III is our last DSLR? - Y.M.Cinema - News & Insights on Digital Cinema

---------- Post added 12-29-21 at 11:22 ----------

+ some Nikon rumors :

Although not yet announced Nikon D6 is possibly the last of Nikons DSLRs.

Strictly speaking he doesn't say that the EOS-1D X Series III will be their last DSLR, but the last 1-series DSLR. It may imply the same thing....

[Serkevan]

Strictly speaking he doesn't say that the EOS-1D X Series III will be their last DSLR, but the last 1-series DSLR. It may imply the same thing....

If I were a betting man I'd bet on a 5D5 being the only remaining non-entry level Canon DSLR to be made. If at all. And that's just to sell to holdouts.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

Strictly speaking he doesn't say that the EOS-1D X Series III will be their last DSLR, but the last 1-series DSLR. It may imply the same thing....

You are certainly right there, it either means their last (newest) offering or the last ever one they produce. He did not say that it will be their last...

[jersey]

How about the camera that freezes for 30 seconds after a 7 exposures burst at ISO 3200 or 6400? Do they like it? I was doing an experiment last week end, with the K1 I get 11 shots buffer regardless with ISO value, with the K1 II I get 18 shots at ISO100, 13 shots at ISO800 and then it drops to 6 or 7 shots above ISO1600. That got me thinking the K1/II is only 2000 euros but they put in as little DRAM as they could, with UHS-I card controller and USB-2 port , like the K-5 from 2011. The camera is cheaper than competitor but you get what you pay for.

I somehow doubt anyone would think shooting burst rate at high ISO with camera that is clearly aimed at slow work. It is not K-1 Mk II fault that in the meantime anyone started to push FF as a panacea for all problems of the photographic world and people started to use for anything starting from partysnapshots ending with studiowork. I already saw over the vast internet people arguing that FF is better then MF for art or portraits for example cause, you know, full frame.

[ProfessorBuzz]

How about the camera that freezes for 30 seconds after a 7 exposures burst at ISO 3200 or 6400? Do they like it? I was doing an experiment last week end, with the K1 I get 11 shots buffer regardless with ISO value, with the K1 II I get 18 shots at ISO100, 13 shots at ISO800 and then it drops to 6 or 7 shots above ISO1600. That got me thinking the K1/II is only 2000 euros but they put in as little DRAM as they could, with UHS-I card controller and USB-2 port , like the K-5 from 2011. The camera is cheaper than competitor but you get what you pay for.

What do you shoot in the real world that you *need* all those rapid back-to-back shots?
With the K1 II, noise reduction is probably kicking in at higher ISO levels, thus the drop off in speed.

[Madaboutpix]

Lots of people who are not interested in high-res and huge prints photography do not look at the sensor resolution or on the AF, but rather aesthetic of delivered images and the process itself (just photographing for fun). Pentax promotes, more or less, in camera PP and/or JPG shooting and for their main market it seems to work. Just take a look at the article about Pentax meeting when Sasaki and Hanawa(?) talked about profiles and which one to choose for which scenes.Issue is that Pentax seemingly has lots of issues (or is unwilling too) promote this style of taking photos outside of Japan. Which leads to the problem of Pentax way of doing things is here not understood and ridiculed.

Ricoh Imaging is certainly not the only Japanese camera manufacturer that takes an active interest in JPEG styles - Fujifilm springs to mind. But this doesn't mean that they don't invest a great deal in their RAW output as well. They give you the DNG option, in a fix you could even develop your DNG/PEF files in camera with a remarkable amount of control, and the files process excellently and over a wide range of RAW processors, without any of the issues that Fujifilm has created with their FX sensors.

[Eric Auer]

Buy a K3-III now and stick to whatever lenses you have for about another 10 years or so?

If Pentax is out of business 5 years from now you can still just plug along.

Personally I feel that APS-C and (unfortunately) M43 are about to be gone in another 2-3 years.

Cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 offer at lot in a fairly compact form and FF, and cost the same as the Pentax APS-C flagship.

[wadge22]

Curious as to what role sports-photography pros play into this discussion. As I understand it, they are one of the big groups that still has reason to prefer OVF. Will that change? Is that changing already? If it were not to change, could Canon and/or Nikon just keep selling and servicing the current pro models (both glass and bodies) and retain that segment?
As we know, Pentax just doesn't have all of the glass that these folks need, although the excellent 70-200 is a solid foundation. As is discussed here often, will be lucky if Pentax ever releases one high end telephoto, let alone the full range of 4 or more that they would need to be an attractive option for pros. Not to mention providing the kind of service necessary.
Am I wrong that this segment will be an important part of whichever brand carries on with DSLRs?