[reh321]

Pentax/Ricoh has 6 separate lines now, (Q, APS-C, FF, 645, GR, Theta) plus their industrial optics division (which may actually be bigger than their camera division.) Concentrating on only one cuts off the synergy between them, leading to a dead end. They can't afford not to have multiple approaches. The Q-mount is elegant and has potential to be utilized in many ways that phones and larger cameras cannot.

I'm not sure they have the resources right now to improve the "Q" line - FF needs a lot of work.

'm not sure they have the resources right now to improve the "Q" line - FF needs a lot of work.

I agree. There is no impetus for Ricoh to develop the Q line as it is now. The Q mount might well be usable in the future with better sensors and improved in-camera processing. There would have to be at least a doubling of IQ to justify any new body.

[monochrome]

You all do realize Pentax doesn’t make Q lenses, don’t you?

[ZombieArmy]

You all do realize Pentax doesn’t make Q lenses, don’t you?

Usually people would say who then, with sources when applicable.

I was unaware that Pentax did not make the Q lenses, nor did I have a reason to suspect they didn't.

[monochrome]

Usually people would say who then, with sources when applicable.

I was unaware that Pentax did not make the Q lenses, nor did I have a reason to suspect they didn't.

Copal made the Q lenses. I also believe the cameras were assembled in the compact camera facility Ricoh wrote down as impaired and took away to use for automotive imaging, but that’s a business source, not a photography source.

Mistral75 will spank me if I got it wrong again. I said Cosina twice, but they were always outsourced. .

[UncleVanya]

You all do realize Pentax doesn’t make Q lenses, don’t you?

Make is broad. Does this mean they did not manufacture them, assemble them, design them? At what stage does the a company get to say it makes something? Cisco and other network vendors have outsourced physical manufacturing for years but nobody would say they don't make routers or switches. The implied context is different in optic somehow.

[monochrome]

Make is broad. Does this mean they did not manufacture them, assemble them, design them? At what stage does the a company get to say it makes something? Cisco and other network vendors have outsourced physical manufacturing for years but nobody would say they don't make routers or switches. The implied context is different in optic somehow.

See above. Per Mistral75, Manufacturing was entirely outsourced to Copal. Part of modern lens design includes manufacturing process design. Did Pentax design the process or did Copal? I surely don’t I know. Aren’t the Q lens optics 100% polymer? Can Pentax make polymer optics? I surely don’t know. Did Copal make the polymer optics for Pentax compact cameras? I surely don’t know.

But my gut tells me Q was dependent on techniques, tools and relationships that existed in the compact camera era - that no longer exist at all.

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Last edited by monochrome; 10-14-2018 at 12:16 PM.

Outside of the Limiteds, does Pentax make any lenses anymore?

[Rondec]

Honestly, when you write a lot of the criticisms I’ve read you post, you sound like someone who hasn’t tried a quality mirrorless. An EVF isn’t perfect, but it is light years ahead of ground glass at showing you what you will get. Maybe it it isn’t for you right now, but have you tried it to see? I’m a 45 year Pentax user and I can’t see this ‘60s technology with multiple mirrors surviving more than a decade. There are so many advantages to having autofocus and viewing work on the actual image, folks that diss it remind me of TLR users in the 70s. Canon and Nikon are going there, and it is a shame Pentax gave it up after the K01.

Actually, I am in favor of Pentax doing more mirrorless cameras. From a personal aspect I tend to get eye strain/headaches from all of the EVFs I've used, but hopefully I can figure that out over time. At the same time, with Pentax currently trying to support the K mount and medium format and working pretty hard to get new full frame K mount lenses out, I'm not sure if a new mount makes much sense for them.

As far as the viewfinder helps goes, it just isn't a big deal to me. I've shot long enough to know if I can get what I need from a scene and I can chimp pretty easily if I am unsure.

[punkrachmaninov]

You answered your own question. The K-01 flopped. Pentax realized that they could not compete in a very competitive segment (too competitive for Samsung, even!). They can't churn out cheap bodies to compete on price, they can't squeeze the same amount of electronics (= features) into a modified DSLR body with all mechanical linkages and a large empty space in the middle, and they can't pump resources into developing a FOURTH lens mount and ecosystem. (They barely support three now.) So, they do what they can do well, and apparently can do profitably.

If they develop the KAF4 lens line, they might be able to use that to revisit mirrorless some day, but it won't be any time soon.

pardon my french taste—but the k-01 flopped STRICTLY because of the experimental nature of the industrial design. frankly, it is not the best work pentax has ever done; it was par for the course for marc newson. the top-brass took an unnecessary risk in what was admittedly then a already a very crowded market. the best day that never happened in pentax history was the day they could’ve fired the illustrious mr. newson...

insofar as the issues you described above with flange distances and wasted space; canon’s new eos-r uses a sensor protection curtain, this direction is where you will see all mirrorless cameras going in the coming design cycle. nobody wants to spend $1000+ on a dslr unless they work for AP or Reuters—even then we are all chomping at the bit with a D850 on our wrist for something mirrorless and useful. the new mirrorless cameras (with the exception of the A9) are all essentially tantamount to pro-sumer family video cameras.

the lackluster sales of both the underrated kp and the “biggest decision of your life” k-1 series behooves pentax to design something for the mirrorless market that screams of a classic—the fuji numbers are probably helping the more nostalgic industrial designers and engineers within the pentax boardroom argue in favor of the vintage look and feel.

if they release another spacecraft like the k-01 (and it isn’t full frame with legacy support) they are going out of business. (quiet sobbing)

[lytrytyr]

Aren’t the Q lens optics 100% polymer?

From 08 WIDE ZOOM / High-Performance Lenses / Q-mount Lenses / Lenses / Products | RICOH IMAGING :

"Three glass-molded aspherical lenses are used"

That's better than the FA*24 and DA15 which have hybrid aspherics.

From 02 STANDARD ZOOM / High-Performance Lenses / Q-mount Lenses / Lenses / Products | RICOH IMAGING :

"The optical system uses a total of four special optical glass lenses"

[normhead]

Outside of the Limiteds, does Pentax make any lenses anymore?

Do you mean are they manufacturing them right this minute?
There are a lot of lenses that may not be being manufactured at the moment, but that doesn't really matter if their production line could be set up for another run.

I'm counting 42 lenses here that will almost certainly see another production run when stocks run out.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/pdf/pentax_acc.pdf

Do you mean are they manufacturing them right this minute?

Do they still have a plant that manufactures lenses, or do they outsource it?

I don't know, although the Q lenses were supposedly done by Copal, and Tamron or Tokina have made others.
I'm just curious, I don't know if it even makes a difference anymore.

[monochrome]

Do they still have a plant that manufactures lenses, or do they outsource it?

I don't know, although the Q lenses were supposedly done by Copal, and Tamron or Tokina have made others.
I'm just curious, I don't know if it even makes a difference anymore.

Yes, they assemble many of their lenses in-house (and contract assembly for other lenses).

[reh321]

Do they still have a plant that manufactures lenses, or do they outsource it?

I don't know, although the Q lenses were supposedly done by Copal

I thought Copal assembled Q lenses because the embedded leaf-shutter was a complication.