[Christopher M.W.T]

People need to get over all the negativity surrounding this.

This whole Ricoh / Pentax deal has apparently been in the pipeline for quite some time, right down to Ricoh quietly collaborating with Pentax on the Q development.

Ricoh knows the value of the Pentax brand and has no intention of getting rid of it.

Finally Ricoh is FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR larger and has more resources than Hoya, this move is a win for everyone.

End of story, now move on.

[NicoleAu]

I was but I think I'd regret it, so I'm trying to find a cheaper one or a decent secondhand one. I just have to save more. One of the things about the Kx is that I don't like going up past 800 for the noise. Apparently the K7 isn't as good as the Kx at higher ISO so I think getting the K7 would be frustrating in that regards. Also the AF isn't as good in the K7..

[JHD]

Thanks Falk, appreciate that you have taken the time to point out some facts amongst the flood of speculation

This one of the reasons why forums can be such a huge waste of time.

[Nass]

Fwiw, the press releases I found only confirmed that existing models will continue to be Pentax - nothing regarding the next model

[ogl]

Wrong.

Ricoh are buying the the manufacturing and design assets not just the name (as, say, Cosina did with Voigtlander)

Yes...But all Pentax's assets will belong to Ricoh. Pentax Imaging had some independence inside HOYA. But now - it's "final cut". Anyway...I hope that Ricoh will manage Pentax's assets much better than HOYA.

[Clavius]

Rumors here at Ricoh are that the Ricoh camera's will be transverred / rebranded to Pentax. But I have to make it clear, these are just RUMORS.

[eddie1960]

Yes...But all Pentax's assets will belong to Ricoh. Pentax Imaging had some independence inside HOYA. But now - it's "final cut". Anyway...I hope that Ricoh will manage Pentax's assets much better than HOYA.

I imagine they will have the same level of independence at Ricoh, they will be a Division of the company as they were at Hoya
The big difference I see is Ricoh seems committed to grow the business and has the financial wherewithal to do it being a significantly larger entity than Hoya

[Digitalis]

I wonder if people would be reacting this badly if a more prestigious company had bought pentax.

[eddie1960]

I wonder if people would be reacting this badly if a more prestigious company had bought pentax.

I imagine if Canon or Nikon had there would be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Realistically there are a large number of people who would rather complain incessantly and play chicken little then just go on with life and get out and enjoy there gear
It is what it is unfortunately
Personally i think this will be very good for the brand overall
I don't imagine Ricoh bought Pentax to bollox everything up and kill the brand
They bought the brand to make money and from the statements so far they intend to do that by Growing the brand not strip mining the assets

[falconeye]

Fwiw, the press releases I found only confirmed that existing models will continue to be Pentax - nothing regarding the next model

The Hoya press release has this implication: Hoya only confirms that the Pentax name will be used until the aquisition is complete.

However, I read the Ricoh press release as a commitment to the Pentax brand name. For their forthcoming interchangeable lens products, I mean.

I wouldn't be too surprised to see a Pentax GXR Or to see Pentax Q and Ricoh GXR be fused (w/o shake reduction; by provision of a Q-mount adapter along the lines of the M-mount adapter).

BTW, a GXR with mount adapter is nothing else but a mirrorless camera with changeable/upgradeable sensor module. Could be an interesting thing to market. If the price is right.

[farfisa]

I hear they're bringing back the "Ricoh pin" for all lenses. Any truth to that?

Ok, I'm kidding.

I'm glad to hear they were bought by somebody who respects the name, is interested in innovating and even has a history with the K-mount. Couldn't be better, IMO.

[dgaies]

I hear they're bringing back the "Ricoh pin" for all lenses. Any truth to that?

Ok, I'm kidding.

I'm glad to hear they were bought by somebody who respects the name, is interested in innovating and even has a history with the K-mount. Couldn't be better, IMO.

+1 to everything but the Ricoh pin; that would kind of defeat the idea if an interchangeable lens system

[falconeye]

Oh, all of a sudden I feel to see clear about what the Pentax mirrorless really was meant to be ...

Assuming Ricoh and Pentax actually collaborated for the Q, I now see it as follows:

• Pentax GXR mirrorless with interchangeable sensor.
• Q-module with embedded SR for compact lenses (~1/2").
• M-module for Leica M lenses (APS-C crop only).
• K-module with embedded SR for APS-C lenses.

The stand-alone Pentax Q may have been the early development to prepare this roadmap: Have the Pentax dSLR firmware in a compact (GXR-sized) body; and develop the Q-module.

This may as well explain the rumour about a Pentax mirrorless with K-mount option and the likely fact that there don't seem to be two mirrorless cameras being developed.

[Anton Magus]

If Ricoh sticks to what it is saying now, then the future for Pentax and us customers seems to be quite rosy with maybe an expanded range of excellent products.

If they change their minds and dump Pentax, then all you Pentaxians will have to become Ricohxians Man that just sounds ugly!

[eddie1960]

Oh, all of a sudden I feel to see clear about what the Pentax mirrorless really was meant to be ...

Assuming Ricoh and Pentax actually collaborated for the Q, I now see it as follows:

• Pentax GXR mirrorless with interchangeable sensor.
• Q-module with embedded SR for compact lenses (~1/2").
• M-module for Leica M lenses (APS-C crop only).
• K-module with embedded SR for APS-C lenses.

The stand-alone Pentax Q may have been the early development to prepare this roadmap: Have the Pentax dSLR firmware in a compact (GXR-sized) body; and develop the Q-module.

This may as well explain the rumour about a Pentax mirrorless with K-mount option and the likely fact that there don't seem to be two mirrorless cameras being developed.

This would be Ideal Falconeye

I would buy the last 2 modules myself (if they made it available in Canada unlike the current GXR)