[liukaitc]

image stablization???

[fuent104]

Kodak is a victim of post-retirement costs related to 53,000 legacy employees (the filing will offload these costs onto a Federal Agency) as well as capital trapped in Plant, Equipment, Patents and Goodwill that rapidly lost their cash-flow supports (film, paper and chemicals). Had Kodak been able to sell the legacy businesses they might well have, but who would have bought them, and at what price? The competition didn't need to buy Kodak - they could just wait for it to collapse.

And now it has. That is all. Happens all the time.

This is a pretty harsh assessment. To say that understanding a market = being successful in that market is a bit simplistic, in my opinion.

Kodak has introduced many digital imaging innovations over the last couple decades. Several of them were so far ahead of their time that they preceded the markets.

Bankruptcy isn't the end of the world, and Kodak will most likely continue to soldier on. I hope.

[hcarvalhoalves]

Oh my god.

If this rumour turns out to be true, I'll be on Pentax nirvana. I just wish it's EVF to be "big" (like a full-frame OVF), good battery life and some smart focus confirmation/assist. If that happens, I will, finally, have the digital equivalent of a MX - in all its manual focus, classic sized body glory.

Damn, I think I'll kill someone if Feb 9th arrives and this doesn't get announced!

[Alizarine]

K mount mount. Other DA 40mm F2.8XS, there will be three lens kit with the existing lens.

Mmmmm I am so reading this... finally! New pentax lenses! for K-mount! i sure hope they're true.



and then I saw this...

Pentax new aircraft will be announced by CP +.

If that's what they meant by "full frame" ... I r impressed! lol (no harm meant, I'm just wondering what word was it to have produced "aircraft" in the translation)

[monochrome]

This is a pretty harsh assessment. To say that understanding a market = being successful in that market is a bit simplistic, in my opinion.

Kodak has introduced many digital imaging innovations over the last couple decades. Several of them were so far ahead of their time that they preceded the markets.

Bankruptcy isn't the end of the world, and Kodak will most likely continue to soldier on. I hope.

Whether we think such an assessment is harsh is not relevant. The present value of these post-retirement pension and medical obligations is greater than the net-current-value of the company's assets, therefore Kodak is insolvent on the Balance Sheet.

In order to preserve the opportunity to exploit their patent portfolio Kodak will voluntarily reorganize, allowing the Delaware Chancery Court and a Court-appointed Trustee (a Conservator) to administer the liquidation of assets and obligations in the legacy operations (Film).

The digital portfolio will emerge from the reorganization, perhaps as an independent company, perhaps captured by private investment funds or perhaps sold to a competitor.

To the extent legacy assets (Film) continues as a viable business after reorganization, they will become a cash cow to retire current and future indebtedness (asset-backed and unsecured debt, and post-retirement liabilities) that have been reduced by an orderly adjudication. Expect little future investment in Film and related businesses - they will simply fade away.

Citigroup doesn't extend $950,000,000 of debtor-in-possession financing out of sentimentality for yellow boxes. It does so because it knows it will make a profit under the protection of the Court.

Reality. The 53,000 former employees of the legacy divisions are the reason EK has entered Chapter 11. They are former employees only because consumers bought less of the product they made.

[LFLee]

All purchase on hold until Pentax announce it.

Good news for all Pentax user!

[crf529]

You really can't win at all, someone always manages to have a whinge.

Pentax say nothing, and no rumours afoot = Ricoh are killing off K-mount (end of the world). Or rumour of a new K-mount APS-C mirror less entry level camera = Pentax didn't make the exact camera I dreamt of and it's going to flop (end of the world).

Le sigh.

[fuent104]

Whether we think such an assessment is harsh is not relevant. The present value of these post-retirement pension and medical obligations is greater than the net-current-value of the company's assets, therefore Kodak is insolvent on the Balance Sheet.

In order to preserve the opportunity to exploit their patent portfolio Kodak will voluntarily reorganize, allowing the Delaware Chancery Court and a Court-appointed Trustee (a Conservator) to administer the liquidation of assets and obligations in the legacy operations (Film).

The digital portfolio will emerge from the reorganization, perhaps as an independent company, perhaps captured by private investment funds or perhaps sold to a competitor.

To the extent legacy assets (Film) continues as a viable business after reorganization, they will become a cash cow to retire current and future indebtedness (asset-backed and unsecured debt, and post-retirement liabilities) that have been reduced by an orderly adjudication. Expect little future investment in Film and related businesses - they will simply fade away.

Citigroup doesn't extend $950,000,000 of debtor-in-possession financing out of sentimentality for yellow boxes. It does so because it knows it will make a profit under the protection of the Court.

Reality. The 53,000 former employees of the legacy divisions are the reason EK has entered Chapter 11. They are former employees only because consumers bought less of the product they made.

You're absolutely right. I somehow quoted the message I meant to quote incorrectly. What I was referring to as a harsh assessment was one in which somebody said that if Kodak had a better understanding of the digital imaging industry, they wouldn't be in the position they are now.

[jeffshaddix]

Again, a camera is a tool. Have you ever heard a carpenter say: "Hey I got the new HL-hammer! HL stands for handle-less, it fits in my pocket now. It's also only 1 inch long and has a nice yellow colour."

Please forgive me for ranting. I'm in total panic.

Best post so far, thx for the laugh.

If this camera includes SR and a fast EVF with manual focus assist, I think I've found my K7 replacement. I do hope it includes WR as well.

I doubt this is a Kr replacement, that would be 100% opposite of what JC stated in his interview.

[bossa]

You're absolutely right. I somehow quoted the message I meant to quote incorrectly. What I was referring to as a harsh assessment was one in which somebody said that if Kodak had a better understanding of the digital imaging industry, they wouldn't be in the position they are now.

Yeah, my name is somebody.

All I was saying was they probably didn't recognize the market the way they could have. There's got to be a reason why Pentax is almost non-existent as a market presence too. It's obviously to do with the people who run the show: either they don't see clearly or they just don't give a toss (highly unlikely).

Back in 1990 the Commodore Amiga was the worlds biggest selling PC and could have buried the MAC had the two guys who owned the company not decided to run it into the ground and take as much profit as possible - Clearly a case of two guys not giving a toss.

Obviously Kodak would have had problems putting themselves out of business by going digital all the way, so they probably have a very difficult scenario to deal with than most other companies.

This conversation is way out of my league so I'll keep my trap shut from now on.

[pinholecam]

You really can't win at all, someone always manages to have a whinge.

Pentax say nothing, and no rumours afoot = Ricoh are killing off K-mount (end of the world). Or rumour of a new K-mount APS-C mirror less entry level camera = Pentax didn't make the exact camera I dreamt of and it's going to flop (end of the world).

Le sigh.

I wish there was anti-whining filter so that I don't need to wade through all of it just to read some info.

[Clavius]

If this camera includes SR and a fast EVF with manual focus assist, I think I've found my K7 replacement. I do hope it includes WR as well.

Word of advice: please try a camera with a EVF first before you jump into this one. I've tried several, and your K7 is a lightningfast supermachine, compared to any of them.

[Chex]

Well I sure won't be fast to upgrade from my K-5, that's for sure.. unless there is a large AF and flash synchro speed gain, as well as a burst mode that is 10+ FPS for more than 50 frames or more till the buffer is filled, as well as time lapse settings to shoot more than 999 frames, I won't be hopping on it.. well there is a way but it's dependent on many things including an announcement of a FF coming down the pipes.

Although it is great to see them putting out a good (Not another Q-type) camera, this is a little disapointing.. but if they are looking to get people to step up FROM the K-x/K-r this might be a good option.. or better yet, just makes the K-5 prices come down enough that people will grab it and have the same IQ as their "latest" offering at a much lower price point.

[drougge]

Back in 1990 the Commodore Amiga was the worlds biggest selling PC and could have buried the MAC had the two guys who owned the company not decided to run it into the ground and take as much profit as possible - Clearly a case of two guys not giving a toss.

As a proud owner of a whole bunch of Amiga computers I expect to have Pentax cameras for a long time no matter what Ricoh does. But Commodore already had a history of being cheap in all the wrong ways before the problems, Ricoh doesn't as far as I know.

(The C64 was very succesful, but it had the worst BASIC of that generation. Why? Because Jack Tramiel already had an unlimited license to a crappy BASIC, and therefore refused to spend any money on getting a decent one. Admittedly is was succesful anyway, but that was quite a gamble for a small cost saving. Not all their gambles turned out as well.)

[Tonto]

Anyone else think that new DA40 could be WR?