[Mistral75]

(...)

This brings up an interesting point. AFAIK the shortest-register 135/FF system was/is Leica M-mount at just under 28mm. What was the first mountor announced for the GXR? M-mount. Coincidence, or... ??? L39-LTM Leica threadmount register is just 1mm longer; adaptation is trivial.

Just suppose, JUST SUPPOSE, that the new Pentax MILC has that 27.8mm register? WOULDN'T IT BE FUNNY if Pentax-Ricoh licenses M-mount technology, and produces a line of M-mount lenses? ARE WE READY for possible Pentax-Ricoh-Leica synergy?

There is no need for any such licence. The M mount is in the public domain, hence the M mount Voigtländer lenses following the LTM/L39 ones and now the GXR M mount mountor.

[Emacs]

AFAIK the shortest-register 135/FF system was/is Leica M-mount

It's E mount of Sony NEX today: 18mm.
Most of Leica lenses works on it (There are some exceptions. Super Angulon 21 is an example).

[DaveBlack]

Exactly the same lag, of course. Which is why I want both not evf only. Evf adds value IMO,it IS useful but so is ovf. That's why I want an hybrid viewfinder in a Dslr like an EosRT. You get both, no compromise.

A few years ago Pentax did file a patent for a a hybrid slr viewfinder. Maybe it will be seen in the upcoming high-end model. Camera will still be dslr size camera but with liveview in the viewfinder one can use the liveview focusing aids for better manual focusing. PLus live histograms will also be handy.

Dave

[Clavius]

Well, I've spent the morning searching through Ricoh's intranet and bulletin boards. (I'm a Ricoh Employee.) And I cannot find anything at all that confirms the OP's article. Which is strange, because normally employee's get to know such news slightly before it's disclosed publicly.

(Yes, I'm impatiently awaiting attractive employee discounts... )

[RioRico]

There is no need for any such licence. The M mount is in the public domain...

Ah, maybe we can expect some M-AF lenses. Excellent. [/me flies to fantasyland]

AFAIK the shortest-register 135/FF system was/is Leica M-mount

It's E mount of Sony NEX today: 18mm.

Is Sony E full-frame or crop? And is there a native NEX fisheye?

[Aristophanes]

Why to produce obsolete stuff?
It's Pentax advantage of not having large DSLR userbase: they can drop current userbase and switch to modern technology. Or even better: switch to mirrorless + K-mount AF adaptor for the current userbase.
Both Nikon and Canon are being held by their huge userbase and just can't make such a turn.
BTW, the mirrorless market is not so busy as it seems. Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung were strangled themselves by limiting their sensors by mounts design (4/3, 4/3 and APS-C respectively). It's time to make sensors larger than APS-C being a new mainstream. Short flange distance helps to produce compact lenses for compact mirrorless bodies. The advertisements should point on this difference, promising the superior image quality over the oli-pana-sams mirrorless and mainstream DSLRs

DSLR's are still pretty modern. They account for the huge surge in photographic popularity in the last few years. People are wowed by the IQ and the lower and lower prices, so the market has been all about value. Even the kit lenses now produce excellent results for average shooting situations. Small as Pentax is, it still has a large user base for this product line.

I don't see the K-mount DSLR going away. Sales volumes will decline with another mirrorless mount, but may still stay healthy enough to continue. In fact, I predict they will for quite some time. This is sunk cost tech with very high rates of return. Also, the OVF with prism is a pro piece of equipment and advanced tech in its own right. The OVF has no latency and 100% DR. Hard to beat as Leica knows.

Pentax (like Sony) wants you to buy 2 (or more) systems from them (think the Q). The whole idea that a single camera body will do all things with all lenses is a fallacy. It makes no design sense nor market sense. I also don't think the whole support structure for multiple mounts is as much of a barrier as it used to be. The market is fracturing and that's good for consumer choice. DSLR may go higher-end, but guess what? Maybe the pentamirror goes away and we get a uniquitous pentaprism. Bonus!

[Aristophanes]

Is Sony E full-frame or crop? And is there a native NEX fisheye?

The e-mount is a FF image circle.

Samyang produces a fisheye, but Sony hasn't got one yet:

http://www.photozone.de/sony-alpha-aps-c-lens-tests/665-samyang8f35nex?start=2

[gazonk]

Why to produce obsolete stuff?
It's Pentax advantage of not having large DSLR userbase: they can drop current userbase and switch to modern technology.

Obsolete? EVFs still have some distance to go before OVFs are obsolete.

[ogl]

It's E mount of Sony NEX today: 18mm.
Most of Leica lenses works on it (There are some exceptions. Super Angulon 21 is an example).

There is the BIG problem with Leica wide lenses at NEX. Nobody says it.
But...One well-known web-site says about biggest problem which none from fans of Sony tell us:
The problem lies in the fact that while a Leica M adaptor allows the lens to mount on a NEX-7 (or any NEX or Micro Four Thirds camera) the sensor on these cameras is not designed with the micro-lenses needed to properly handle the extreme off axis rays from a lens of the Summilux's design.

Leica's lenses can't show FULL potential in terms of resolution. It can work well (sometimes VERY GOOD) only at closed apertures - f8-f11.
It's almost useless wide-opened.
Sony NEX-7 First Impressions

[Aristophanes]

There is the BIG problem with Leica wide lenses at NEX. Nobody says it.
But...One well-known web-site says about biggest problem which none from fans of Sony tell us:
The problem lies in the fact that while a Leica M adaptor allows the lens to mount on a NEX-7 (or any NEX or Micro Four Thirds camera) the sensor on these cameras is not designed with the micro-lenses needed to properly handle the extreme off axis rays from a lens of the Summilux's design.

Leica's lenses can't show FULL potential in terms of resolution. It can work well (but not even VERY GOOD) only af closed apertures - f8-f11.
It's almost useless wide-opened.
Sony NEX-7 First Impressions

It's a problem for the M9 as well, which is why Leica is furiously pumping out new glass at all FL's. The sensor micro-lens design has its own limitations.

[thibs]

A few years ago Pentax did file a patent for a a hybrid slr viewfinder. Maybe it will be seen in the upcoming high-end model. Camera will still be dslr size camera but with liveview in the viewfinder one can use the liveview focusing aids for better manual focusing. PLus live histograms will also be handy.

Dave

I remember that, Dave. It'd be very nice to get, indeed (/me goes to fantasy land too)

[deadwolfbones]

There is the BIG problem with Leica wide lenses at NEX. Nobody says it.
But...One well-known web-site says about biggest problem which none from fans of Sony tell us:
The problem lies in the fact that while a Leica M adaptor allows the lens to mount on a NEX-7 (or any NEX or Micro Four Thirds camera) the sensor on these cameras is not designed with the micro-lenses needed to properly handle the extreme off axis rays from a lens of the Summilux's design.

Leica's lenses can't show FULL potential in terms of resolution. It can work well (but not even VERY GOOD) only af closed apertures - f8-f11.
It's almost useless wide-opened.
Sony NEX-7 First Impressions

This is one of the constant topics of discussion on the Alt forum @ FredMiranda.

[Caat]

I suspect we shall see the Pentax brand disappear from compact cameras and only see Ricoh compacts - that's what I take away from that article (which is what Hoya had been planning to do since the beginning - abolish the Pentax compact line).

There have been rumours of a second mirrorless body for ages, and that this body would be higher end than the Q - this article continues this general rumour.

If Ricoh/Pentax does release a second mirrorless body then it will obviously accommodate a larger sensor than the Q. The question about this new camera is the mount specifications not whether the mirrorless boday that bears it will be high end or low end.

To my mind Pentax is better off producing a mount that can support as large a sensor as possible and optimise the lenses for that mount specification - compatibility with the K-mount should not comprimise the new mount, it needs to be purely incidental.

[uccemebug]

K-mount was not mention, so assume the status quo, albeit with much slower development.

Well just how much development is really needed in Pentax's SLR line-up at this point. Keeping up with the Sony sensor line and some incremental additions?

Just suppose, JUST SUPPOSE, that the new Pentax MILC has that 27.8mm register? WOULDN'T IT BE FUNNY if Pentax-Ricoh licenses M-mount technology, and produces a line of M-mount lenses? ARE WE READY for possible Pentax-Ricoh-Leica synergy?

Yeah, the same thing occurred to me when they announced the purchase of the Pentax line. Again, though, the (presumed) APS-C crop steals some of the appeal.

[jsherman999]

.... DSLR may go higher-end...

Good to see you're coming around!

Pentax/Ricoh keeping DSLR in aps-c only is just asking for squeeze-death. As I've been saying for a while.


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