[bobmaxja]

Price point is now decided by Ricoh not by Hoya. Ricoh could have a different strategy than Hoya. I strongly believe that Ricoh want Pentax to be the strong #3. But for this they have to get rid of the Prima Donna of Pentax USA. Seem Pentax Canada is doing the right job for the brand as more store now carry the Pentax stuff at the right price

[monochrome]

Good-bye RICHO, Good-bye the Pentax K-01.
Pentax mirror back, or make manufacturing in safe hands.

Good Bye Ricoh? Are you daft? This is just the shot across the bow.

It should be good bye Canon lazy assumptive market dominating crap products - there's a new player in town. Hear all that howling over at dpreview? Fearful screams of a threatened, cornered cat.

Nikon will be a different story.

Just wait.

[philbaum]

Good Bye Ricoh? Are you daft? This is just the shot across the bow.

It should be good bye Canon lazy assumptive market dominating crap products - there's a new player in town. Hear all that howling over at dpreview? Fearful screams of a threatened, cornered cat.

Nikon will be a different story.

Just wait.

+1. Its ironic with the K01 official announcement that the Canon President resigns because of weaker than expected earnings. I had no idea that Canon was that concerned about the K01 Looks like it took only the one shot across the bow.

I don't have any problem with Canon, but this idea that big corporations never stumble is so in error that its laughable. Corporations screw up all the time.

Canon president resigns | News | TechRadar

Shares in Canon have fallen by about 18% since this time last year, but
problems with the economy and the floods in Thailand are likely to have had an
impact, with several other companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange also suffering
in recent months.

Uchida will resign from his post on March 29 and will be replaced by Mitari,
who was Canon's president from 1995-2006, but has since held the post of
chairman.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

+1. Its ironic with the K01 official announcement that the Canon President resigns because of weaker than expected earnings.

Canon users have been buying X100, MFT, and NEX cameras. When I'll see one asking about K-01, I'll let you know.

[Alizarine]

And perhaps this thread has served its purpose too 1869 posts! wooh!

[Votesh]

So think about it...the guy currently hauling around a 5D/7D or D300/700 and looking to add a smaller setup has a number of options.

If anything, rather than buying into a new system and getting a K mount mirrorless with no VF, for a marginally smaller/lighter body, they would probably buy a smaller entry-level DSLR from the brand they already use. Not only would they be able to use their current lenses, they'll also have a built-in VF, a better ergonomic design, and a system they're accustomed to.

Or, they would just go for a much smaller mirrorless system. I suspect, based on the parameters of your hypothetical question, this would be the actual result of their decision.

The K-01 seems to ditch most of the advantages of the SLR, while capitalizing on few of the advantages of mirrorless.

[Smolk]

So what's up with the K-02 then?

[Schraubstock]

So, you will have to hold the camera far enough from your face so that you can see what the LCD panel is showing you - rather an uncomfortable way of shooting, to say the least. How the hell are you supposed to see anything in bright day light?

Oh yes, join the ranks of the Praying Mantises clutching their pray in front of their faces. Hilarious !

I don't usually take videos with my K-5 but two weeks ago I attempted to do so in Japan while walking through meter high snow on a bright sunny day. What a disaster ! With the LCD even at the brightest setting I could not see a thing. There was NO WAY I could frame a shot let alone trying to focus. All I could see was a dark screen with my own reflection in front of me. So,under these conditions the K-01 would be as useful as a brick. And how does Pentax think it would work, without a VF, to shoot fast moving objects as in sports photography even under ideal conditions ? I am speechless !

Even in its most basic configuration a camera, any camera, needs an "interface" between the photographer's eyes and the object to be photographed. Without it you are flying blind. In an advanced camera such as the K-01 this interface in the shape of an LCD cannot be considered, in anybody's language, as being adequate. In fact in many situation it will be totally dysfunctional. Perhaps Pentax think we could revert back to the "good old days" of daguerreotype photography and use a black bedsheet draped over our heads. At my above cited Japan experience I wish I had one with me.

Well done Pentax, I reckon you have shot yourself in the foot.

Greetings

[Falke]

Well done Pentax, I reckon you have shot yourself in the foot.

I don't want to run to P's defence, but I am sure there is a target group. I am not part of it however, unless I want to get a P&S for my wife who likes things simple. And hell, it even has face recognition, so as long as a shot is framed (if that is possible in bright sunlight), then one hopefully can trust the camera to find the face and focus properly.

[Jasvox]

My understanding from the k-5 is that it dropped to $1,200 pretty quickly after release and stayed at that price for a very long time. Only Pentax was saying it was $1,600, while everywhere else was selling it for $1,200. So would be nice to see if the K-01 follows suit.

I wasn't seeing that at all. I was seeing the K-5 at $1499 -/+ for months and months after the release...maybe even up to a year after release. I was hoping to have bought one in December of 2010, but the price was still too high for me. I gave up waiting eventually.

Jason

[gazonk]

Well done Pentax, I reckon you have shot yourself in the foot.

I mostly agree with your sentiments, but you seem to forget that this camera type is selling like hotcakes!

Just have a look at the BCN yearly ranking. I don't read japanese, but google-translating indicates that the second table shows the 10 most sold mirrorless cameras in Japan in 2011:

BCN 2011 rankings

Do you notice something? None of these cameras have a viewfinder! Panasonic makes some great cameras with viewfinders (GH2 and G3) - but it's the viewfinderless models that sell, with GF2 even getting 5,6% and rank 4 of the total DSLR+mirrorless market, only beaten by the most popular beginner DSLRs of Canon and Nikon.

As much as I hate stretched-arms-cameras myself, I have to admit that Sony, Olympus and Panasomic must make a lot of money with them. In fact, the camera business of troubled Olympus would have been completely dead by now if it hadn't been for their viewfinderless cameras (the combined sales of the E-PL* models is more than three times the K-r sales)...

[MMVIII]

Well, obviously it seems to be a tough time in general for japanese manufacturers. Imagine such a headline fromPentax, the doom and gloom section would go wild here.
Panasonic headed for record $10 billion annual loss | Reuters

It may be even wiser for a manufacturer to bring out a product, where he can share most of the develeopment costs with other products, or even use already developed parts. There are some compromises? Ok, but if it helps to broaden the portfolio and stay profitable, it might be just wise.

[Schraubstock]

...but it's the viewfinderless models that sell...

This sounds a bit like as if you mean to say they sell because they are viewfinderless cams. People like mirrorless cams, there is no denying. The technology is good and I too would like one. But people purchase them because they are mirrorless as a first consideration and if they don't have no VF so be it. But why should a camera maker like Pentax do the same. Just imagine how well the K-01 could sell with a VF of some sort ! Would this not be a reasonable advancement in design ? The opportunity was there but Pentax decided to let someone else be the first to do it when the time comes.

Greetings

[gazonk]

This sounds a bit like as if you mean to say they sell because they are viewfinderless cams.

Almost - because current mirrorless cameras with viewfinders have a rather boring design and look like DSLRS - the only exceptions being the NEX-7 and the XPro-1, i.e. one expensive and one outrageously expensive model. And in the first case it's almost impossible to buy yet - and in the second case not yet possible to buy.

But it's also because most of the buyers probably have no idea that they should care.

[johnmflores]

This sounds a bit like as if you mean to say they sell because they are viewfinderless cams. People like mirrorless cams, there is no denying. The technology is good and I too would like one. But people purchase them because they are mirrorless as a first consideration and if they don't have no VF so be it. But why should a camera maker like Pentax do the same. Just imagine how well the K-01 could sell with a VF of some sort ! Would this not be a reasonable advancement in design ? The opportunity was there but Pentax decided to let someone else be the first to do it when the time comes.

Greetings

Against the reasoning of most photographers, the viewfinderless Panasonic GX1 is a hit while the cheaper viewfindered and tilt-screened Panasonic G3 is a yawn.

Human beings are fickle, irrational creatures. All the logical arguments on the Internets isn't going to change that