[rparmar]

It's funny how many people here like this piece of lens. It's tokina 35mm macro, its real price is one of tokina, not the current of 35Ltd. And it shouldn't be Ltd, it's not just good enough.

It has excellent sharpness, distortion and other figures. The bokeh is lovely, especially at close focus. The micro-contrast is astounding. Build is the usual high Limited quality. It is the best flower lens I have used (and I still own three macros). Your opinion does not accord with mine.


Bee Home



(About time this thread had a photo.)

[jamarley]

FWIW, here's my .02 (wonder what that is in yen )

> From The Muppets Take Manhatten - "Peoples is peoples". So we all chime in with different and differing opinions on what the future will bring for our favorite camera brand. It's so easy to know the future, isn't it? Sure, just wait around. Peoples being peoples means those of us who stick it out may be rewarded with better equipment and more lens choices. Maybe even better marketing. Or, we might agonize through a protracted death spiral and kick ourselves for not having jumped ship when we had a chance. And those who bail right now might be ahead of the curve and receive fair value for their stuff. Then again, they might miss the exhilaration if/when Ricoh re-energizes the Pentax brand.

> On the subject of brands, well, Brands is brands. Certainly, the longer a brand exists and the more it dominates, the more it can build on its own momentum. And yet, corporations are keenly aware that when a brand becomes generic (think Kleenex) it opens the door wider to competition. Significant here is the use of the word "xerox", which originally meant document copies output from a Xerox copier, but now is generic in the extreme. Xerox is now not the largest photocopy machine manufacturer in the world. That distinction goes to ... RICOH!

> Personal note to Ricoh. Your tenure as "guardian" of the Pentax name begins October 1 - more than enough time for a whiz-bang holiday season ad campaign. Why not try to build some brand recognition by offering spectacular savings? Might even be a good way to clear out some inventory in preparation for the new toys we loyalists crave.

> Lastly, has anyone considered the Ricoh layoffs a pre-cursor to the deal? What better way (corporationally speaking) to free up some yen?

[jeffkrol]

sorry, I'm coming in late to this so forgive any repetition........

ricoh PR release:

Ricoh intends to maximize the synergy from the merger between Ricoh’s digital camera business and PENTAX Imaging System Business in various ways.
1) Strengthening the digital camera business
�� Enhanced interchangeable-lens cameras to meet expected future growth
�� Expansion of product lineup and interchangeable lens portfolio
2) Creation of new business delivering added value to consumers
�� Creation and development of value-added businesses such as making it easy to view, save and retouch photos.
3) Other benefits
�� Possible entry into the image archiving business using medium format digital cameras
�� Expansion of security related products

http://www.ricoh.com/release/2011/pdf/0701.pdf

Funny, when I was buying my first NEW SLR I had boiled it down to 2 choices, Pentax Super program and a Ricoh (don't remember the exact model).
BUT Pentax won out overall for one of the same reasons I'm still here.. the lenses.

GO Ricoh!!!!!

Hoya, eat dirt..... (sorry they were always a terrible fit and did nothing worthwhile in reality.)

Ricoh - Camerapedia

[EyeSpy]

Top 2010 Brands: Rank of corporations with a camera product.
#19 Samsung
#33 Canon
#34 Sony
#73 Panasonic

[glanglois]

$124 million? That doesn't sound like a lot in the big business world. I think youtube was sold for $900 million.

I hope this post was tongue in cheek ....

[dgaies]

I hope this post was tongue in cheek ....

I wasn't sure when I read it either

[glanglois]

Top 2010 Brands: Rank of corporations with a camera product.
#19 Samsung
#33 Canon
#34 Sony
#73 Panasonic

Ranked by what? Capitalization? Gross revenues? Net profit?

I'm not disagreeing with that ranking - I just don't understand what it means. Source??

[Pål Jensen]

I see several positive moments:
If Ricoh couldn't manage Pentax efficiently, Pentax will be sold one more time...and lose brand name forever...
Maybe mount K and 645 will be bought by any photo company, but it will be ANOTHER history...

Nobody will buy a company if they don't want something with it. As opposed to Hoya, Ricoh will buy Pentax because of the camera division (this is after all what they are buying!). There are no reason to expect anything but more resources poured into Pentax R&D.

[mattdm]

Ranked by what? Capitalization? Gross revenues? Net profit?

Number of magical ponies!

[uccemebug]

I don't know why no one wants to make cameras here in North America; every one just wants to consume. Perhaps Research in Motion should be making cameras instead of tablets. I am more comfortable driving a GM instead of Toyota.

I imagine that the shared-patent fortress in Japan would exclude any US companies from getting anywhere.

I could see Ricoh producing a variety of K-mount GRX modules .. the more innovative designs they produce (even if only to sell in relatively small numbers) the more users they'd draw into the system. It wouldn't have to have antishake for instance. I'd love to have one that didn't need a green button to support MF lenses, though I imagine that that's not a huge market.

[Nass]

Re-price, just thought I'd point out that the actual amount hasn't been released, these are all estimates.

[glanglois]

From what I've read, the $124 million figure is not official - just an estimate made by Nikkei. The real number is secret, and it will remain so.

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It is not the officially-announced price (we have not see that yet) but Ricoh is a publicly-held company. The purchase price must be made public at some point, at least after the deal concludes.

[johnmflores]

You know what, sign me up for a GXR module that has an aps-c sensor and af capable K-mount. I could rock with a DA 21, 35, 40 and 70 ltd on that puppy.

Now you're cooking with gas!

[robgo2]

Whether this all turns out good or bad in the long run, I wonder what is its effect on product development and release timetables. Considering the deal becomes effective in some months. Will Pentax engineers now just drink coffee, clean their tables and wait for commands from their new overlords? Also, Ricoh was planning to let go of 10% of their staff even before this. I'm sure quite a few former Pentax employees will be axed too.

I would bet that the successor to the K-5 is already in a fairly advanced stage of development, which will continue unabated. It is in Ricoh's best interest to keep the flow of products moving without interruption. But first, they should issue an unequivocal statement that they intend to continue and expand the development of K mount dSLRs and lenses. That would do more to restore confidence and create optimism than anything else.

Rob

[m8o]

I hope this post was tongue in cheek ....

Actually, I'm in complete agreement with justtakingpics. I was thinking about this very same thing earlier today; the price seems quite 'reasonable'. Anyone that has been into SLR cameras at some level from enthusiast on up for the last 3 or 4 decades has at least heard of Pentax. The last purchase my company made was in the $200 million range, and I'd never heard of that company's name. The price seemed kinda low to me too; but it's all based in relation to annual sales and what the buyer [Ricoh] feels is a reasonable number of years to reach a ROI after reduction of expenses based on synergies.