[reh321]

Ah, release a new full-frame by fall this year or proof they've failed? Well you win Biz, they won't have a new one to buy this fall.

So again, many of us are far more positive about Pentax likelihood of sticking around from a commitment to OVF and DSLR.
Pentax May Have Lucked Out as Nikon and Canon Leave DSLRs Behind | PetaPixel

Meanwhile, there is no news again - not even any rumors - from Pentax, and I see there is another K-3iii on the market because yet another person is changing brands away from Pentax.
You people are concerned about the health of the wrong brand.

[gatorguy]

Meanwhile, there is no news again - not even any rumors - from Pentax, and I see there is another K-3iii on the market because yet another person is changing brands away from Pentax.

If I recall, that person never figured out how to use the camera to best effect. For that member specifically I would have suggested full-auto which does work,and very well as a matter of fact. Eye AF is enabled, AF and tracking is at least as reliable as other modes if not better, and subjects are detected accurately for the most part.

That brings up a point...
I sincerely wish that Pentax was better at explaining various use-case settings. I'm not sure that other companies do that either, but with larger user bases the best settings are eventually figured out by trial and error and sharing findings among shooters. I noticed that when researching best wildlife settings for the D500. Early recommendations shortly after the camera arrived in photographers hands weren't as effective and changed a year later as more buyers had time with their camera.

As a smaller player Pentax should be more proactive is explaining.what things do, and what specific settings are recommended for certain scenarios. Even here at Pentax Forums we as members can do better at discussing camera setup in more detail, what different settings appear to affect, and what works for each of us for things like wildlife or video. That way we eventually arrive at some kind of consensus on how best to set things up for what we intend to use our K3III's for. At the moment most of us are trying this and that and settling on whatever seems to work best so far, which may not be the most effective setup.

[Kunzite]

You people are concerned about the health of the wrong brand.

Us people are tired of being told we should worry about Pentax every single moment.

"Buy Canon EF or Nikon F", they said. "These systems will last, unlike Pentax which might die tomorrow".

[reh321]

If I recall, that person never figured out how to use the camera to best effect. For that member specifically I would have suggested full-auto which does work,and very well as a matter of fact. Eye AF is enabled, AF and tracking is at least as reliable as other modes if not better, and subjects are detected accurately for the most part.

The point is, yet another person who will not purchase another Pentax camera, regardless of when it is released.

[gatorguy]

The point is, yet another person who will not purchase another Pentax camera, regardless of when it is released.

Yes, photographers choosing to change platforms happens. Some come back after walking on the neighbors grass and some don't. Some stick with the new choice and some keep moving around from camera to camera. The hope is to gain more than you lose. I believe Pentax fortunes will improve by doing what they know best instead of trying to be Canon or Nikon.

[Wheatfield]

I don't get what benefit there is of bashing Nikon. Nikon the world's top third larger ILC marker. Canon, Nikon, Sony, are professionals, they've been making cameras and managing their camera businesses for a long time, and IMO, they know what they are doing. So bashing Nikon as a Pentaxian just sounds weird. You can always prefer Pentax features / cameras with OVF vs EVF, but that's different.

There has been no Nikon bashing in this thread, unless the couple of posters who I've blocked have been doing it.
What are you talking about?
However, this is a Pentax dedicated forum, so don't expect a lot of love when bashing that brand.

[Wheatfield]

Not to mention how few of Nikon's lenses really took advantage of the smaller image circle in APS-C to make the physical size of the lens smaller. Nothing like the small DA Limited line.

The DA Limited line got it's small size by limiting the maximum aperture to rather slow specifications, not because of the smaller image circle.
Look at the difference between the DA21mm LTD and the Fuji 23mm f/1.4 to see what happens when a lens is 2.5 stops faster.

---------- Post added Jul 21st, 2022 at 09:42 AM ----------

Generally speaking, I don't think any of us want Nikon to fail or even to struggle. I have always thought that if I didn't have a Pentax camera the closest to it would be Nikon. I'm not sure now, because of the K mount to FE mount adapter that allows for autofocus, but that's neither here nor there.

We are expressing concern over the overall market and the fact that simply releasing a new MILC line wasn't enough to increase Nikon's market share. Everyone's sales are up this year compared to last year, but that's simply because last year was horrific.

It feels a little bit like how airlines were in the 80 to early 90s when there were a lot of airlines that failed or consolidated to continue making a go of it. A lot of routes to smaller cities were cut completely or frequency decreased.

I guess the OM-D group is doing fine now and maybe all the rest of the players in Ian Forsyth's list are going to be fine as well, but to me, the only one that is assured of being fine going forward is Canon. Even Sony is going to have struggle for market share. It isn't that their companies are going to go under. They won't. But if they start losing money, they certainly could get spun off into separate companies at which point, they would sink or swim on their own.

Sony has a target on their back. They have stated publicly that they are out of the camera business when it ceases being profitable enough. I don't know what that number is, but I do know that if their market share slips too much, they are going to have to answer to their shareholders, and that might be very bad for their camera business.
I don't think there is enough room in the market as it is headed for more than a couple of big players. That means one or more of the top 4 companies is likely going to be pushed out of the market. My money is on Fuji and Canon.
The advantage Pentax has is it's small size and it's adherence to SLR technology. They will be the only manufacturer of SLR cameras, and the shareholder expectations are not great on a division that is barely a blip in the financial report.

---------- Post added Jul 21st, 2022 at 09:51 AM ----------

What if Nikon really have ceased all DSLR development: would anyone struggle with the most recent DSLR flagship models? I don’t hear any moans about how crap the D850, D6 or even D780 are, nor do we see dealers desperate to move stock of them. In fact, some buyers have had to wait a while just to get it one.

The optics for the consumer are really bad though. Ceasing development tells the consumer that there will be no more improvements, that they will be left behind. The camera market for the past 35 years has been predicated on continual improvements and then telling the consumer to buy in or be left behind.
Now the company is telling them that they are being left behind.
The real pros won't be affected, they will, at most, buy another back up body and keep on doing what they do. However, the real pros don't represent more than a drop in the camera industry's bucket. They don't really buy that much camera gear. All the pros I know have more invested in lighting equipment than cameras.
Consumers are who drives sales, and those are the people who are sensitive to not being on the last train car. Nikon's announcement not only put's them on the last car, it unhitches it from the train.

---------- Post added Jul 21st, 2022 at 09:54 AM ----------

Ah, release a new full-frame by fall this year or proof they've failed? Well you win Biz, they won't have a new one to buy this fall.

So again, many of us are far more positive about Pentax likelihood of sticking around from a commitment to OVF and DSLR.
Pentax May Have Lucked Out as Nikon and Canon Leave DSLRs Behind | PetaPixel

I predicted some time ago that Pentax won't release a new full frame body until 2024. I've seen no evidence to change my mind on that. We might start hearing rumours in late 2023, but that's about it.

[reh321]

The optics for the consumer are really bad though. Ceasing development tells the consumer that there will be no more improvements, that they will be left behind. The camera market for the past 35 years has been predicated on continual improvements and then telling the consumer to buy in or be left behind.
Now the company is telling them that they are being left behind.
The real pros won't be affected, they will, at most, buy another back up body and keep on doing what they do. However, the real pros don't represent more than a drop in the camera industry's bucket. They don't really buy that much camera gear. All the pros I know have more invested in lighting equipment than cameras.
Consumers are who drives sales, and those are the people who are sensitive to not being on the last train car. Nikon's announcement not only put's them on the last car, it unhitches it from the train.

My recollection is that Nikon’s D5, D850, D500, and D7500 all have the same focus system,
so last night I checked eBay for the D7500. This morning eBay emailed me with five D7500’s priced below $900.
I don’t plan to make any decision for at least twelve months, but it seems as though Pentax will have nothing more
to offer me during that time, and I certainly don’t expect a used K-3iii to droop to that level. I’m not sure what that says about Nikon.

If I were to get a D7500 eventually, I would use it for motion and continue to use the KP for things with little or no motion.

[Wheatfield]

I don't think there is enough room in the market as it is headed for more than a couple of big players. That means one or more of the top 4 companies is likely going to be pushed out of the market. My money is on Fuji and Canon.

Edit: By this I mean that my money is on Fuji and Canon still being in the camera business long term.

[Alex645]

Meanwhile, there is no news again - not even any rumors - from Pentax, and I see there is another K-3iii on the market because yet another person is changing brands away from Pentax.
You people are concerned about the health of the wrong brand.

Fairly sure that 99% of PF members have some concern about the future of Pentax. My take on this thread is that it's more about the concern of DSLRs being phased out by the industry.

Pentax=100% DSLR
Nikon= 0% DSLR

This could be good news for Pentax DSLR users as not all Nikonians will switch to mirrorless and many dislike Canon, and thus may consider Pentax if they know we exist.
This could be bad news for Pentax if Ricoh panics and opts to follow the trend and put all future development into a mirrorless system.

Time will tell but life is sweeter seeing the half full; not half empty.

[Wheatfield]

Fairly sure that 99% of PF members have some concern about the future of Pentax. My take on this thread is that it's more about the concern of DSLRs being phased out by the industry.

Pentax=100% DSLR
Nikon= 0% DSLR

This could be good news for Pentax DSLR users as not all Nikonians will switch to mirrorless and many dislike Canon, and thus may consider Pentax if they know we exist.
This could be bad news for Pentax if Ricoh panics and opts to follow the trend and put all future development into a mirrorless system.

Time will tell but life is sweeter seeing the half full; not half empty.

Ricoh has already indicated their commitment to SLR technology. Ricoh got to oversee the mirrorless fiasco that was the K-01, so they've already been burned once.
Ricoh has no interest in getting into mirrorless, they know that if they do they will be an also ran that get's squeezed out of the market before they even get into the race.
I'm pretty sure the wonks at Ricoh know more about running a camera company than anonymous people hiding behind cute avatars on websites in spite of the "they aren't doing what I want, therefore they will fail" attitude among posters who are not running camera companies.

[Rondec]

Meanwhile, there is no news again - not even any rumors - from Pentax, and I see there is another K-3iii on the market because yet another person is changing brands away from Pentax.
You people are concerned about the health of the wrong brand.

The idea that Pentax is small and probably not a viable company on its own isn't news. We all know that. When I first bought a Pentax camera, their imaging side of things was supported by the medical division. That medical division was not got Hoya to buy Pentax. They eventually sold the imaging side of things to Ricoh and its seems clear that Ricoh is willing to let imaging continue as long as they don't lose too much money, but they also aren't going to sink a bunch of money into them.

In this scenario, Pentax will continue to release a lens or two a year and a camera every two years -- maybe with some interesting takes on existing camera bodies, like a K-3 III monochrome.

With their small footprint and investment level, it seems unlikely that will either gain market share (they'll gain SLR market share by default as others drop out, but it will be a tiny market) or lose a bunch of money.

They are what they are and those who like the cameras they make are probably married to them for the time being. Of course, divorce is possible, but most of us will hang with them through the hard times because the glass is still excellent.

As for the K-3 III, it is an excellent camera and the fact that it didn't work for someone doesn't say that it hasn't been generally well received. Its only negative from my perspective is that it isn't full frame.

Edit: You mention someone selling their K-3 III. There is another thread I saw where someone had sold their Pentax gear and bought Fuji and discovered they actually enjoyed Pentax more and bought a K-1 II and lenses to go with it. These sorts of stories go both ways and I don't know what to make of them -- Pentax certainly isn't growing, but I think many people do value what they offer over other brands out there.

[Kunzite]

My recollection is that Nikon’s D5, D850, D500, and D7500 all have the same focus system

The D7500 has a 51-point AF system.

[Kunzite]

Fairly sure that 99% of PF members have some concern about the future of Pentax.

I'd say most of those abandoned Pentax a while back.

[iheiramo]

Fairly sure that 99% of PF members have some concern about the future of Pentax. My take on this thread is that it's more about the concern of DSLRs being phased out by the industry.

Pentax=100% DSLR
Nikon= 0% DSLR

This could be good news for Pentax DSLR users as not all Nikonians will switch to mirrorless and many dislike Canon, and thus may consider Pentax if they know we exist.
This could be bad news for Pentax if Ricoh panics and opts to follow the trend and put all future development into a mirrorless system.

Time will tell but life is sweeter seeing the half full; not half empty.

I'm fairly sure that those who worry just make a lot of noice. I have no concern. Pentax has publicly said that their plan is to keep building cameras and concentrate on DSRL. I have understood that they have been able to keep business profitable despite small market share. All is good. Products will come when they are ready and they tend to be awesome.

If Pentax goes out, I'm sure I can go for a long time with gear that's already on market. And when all the K1's are out of used market, I'm sure there is some silly mirrorless body to stick my lenses on. It's an downgrade, but I'm sure I will survive.