[Adam]

Guess what Pentax. The k-r and k-5 are in no way unique, yet make up what % of your sales in comparison to your all so important 'niche' products?

The niche stuff does work though, believe it or not. People do fall for the "limited" designation, special edition models, etc.

Adam
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[ogl]

Hidden content may not be quoted

Here are a few preliminary "off the top of my head" points from the Japanese interview:

XS line of lenses - what is future plans?

[7samurai]

Adam,

Thanks for getting the interview. Please thank Pentax for giving the interview. For me, this is the best sign the company is moving forward. Can't wait for the full translation.

Looking forward to the future with Pentax.

[K1D27H]

Good luck. Bye-bye!

Heh, I never made a switch, you know. I own 7 brands but I still count myself a Pentaxian. I already save up for about 4-5 cameras for this year. Guess I will buy Olympus, Fuji, Sony and a replacement of K-r if it comes out. What I said is about those who have chance to get more money from me.

[Adam]

An update on the interview: we're aiming for Monday or Tuesday for the text and Wednesday or Thursday for the subtitled video

Some more photos will go live on the homepage at noon EST today.

[falconeye]

In the meantime, I would be curious to learn more about the interview. Who was interviewed (name and function within Pentax)? And did somebody fly over to Tokyo or did some local represent PF?

On another topic...
The response about FF only if niche... It reminds me of what Pentax said under Hoya -- where the budget was too tight to develop anything really new anyway. Now under Ricoh, Pentax should be more aggressive and ready to compete rather than avoiding competition by hiding in niches. Because their is no other way to gain lost market share.

So my question is: Are we sure the person interviewed is close enough to Ricoh's strategic planning for Pentax? Otherwise, he may just have repeated "old" wisdom from the Hoya era ...

[Class A]

Who was interviewed (name and function within Pentax)?

Hiraku Kawauchi the Planning Group Manager for Pentax (I got this info from the PF homepage article).

[ihasa]

I can't see that they would give any information away about full frame until they have a camera ready to launch. If it ever happens!

[fast50]

on the release of the K-01: Pentax says that they are trying to address the needs of the niche market

They did that, alright. They created a camera for a tiny number of people who don't want a viewfinder, like composing their shots at arm's length on a low-reslution, non-tiltable screen, but don't want a small body and happen to have a large collection of Pentax lenses worth using.

Yes, there's merit in a large flange distance for optical quality, I fail to see what problem the K-01 solves, other than just being seen to be launching new products and ticking the mirrorless box to keep the industry analysts happy. All they've done is take a K-5 and make it worse, just so I can use a pancake that's a few mm shorter than the one I already own.

I can't see that Pentax will sell K-01s to anyone but a tiny proportion of existing Pentax DSLR owners. Their only saving grace is that it would have cost them little to develop as most of the technology is lifted from the K-5. Marc Newson's bill, some tooling, some new AF, a new (niche) lens...

I couldn't care less about full frame, even with all my FA lenses. All I want is to see some real commitment to the K-7/K-5 line, with improving sensors, improving AF, more quality lenses, the sort of innovation Pentax used to do in the LX, Z-1p... The Q and K-01 give the impression Pentax are all over the place with no focus and that worries me. If the K-01 with no EVF is a sign of things to come, I think I might just sell my Pentax gear while it's worth something.

It's reassuring to see the 560mm; I will never buy one, but it's this sort of range of products that give people confidence when they're choosing a camera brand.

[Fontan]

I am sure that they were very very anxious tell everything about the future plans.

[RonHendriks1966]

I wouldn't hope for a Pentax full frame until next year.

Still no surprice to me:

The poll is closed (mmm wrong timed):
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/154242-pentax-full-frame-poll.html

Still expecting a surprice to see at PhotoKina in september and sale starting in early (march) 2013.

[filorp]

I can't see that they would give any information away about full frame until they have a camera ready to launch. If it ever happens!

Guys, would you explain something to me...? I can see huge really monstrous craving for the pentax full frame on this forum - there is lot of fuss about it around our community and they release colour-ish brick with small hole, saying that they need to address the hole in the market? What kind of ethical or pragmatical imperative is "filling the gap in the market hole" if they have thousands of people craving for full frame.... what kind of logic hides behind?

[arnie0674]

No EVF for K-01, and no full frame DSLR in the coming future? Well....it is back to Fuji and Sony for me, then.

Not judging you, obviously you should use the best camera for your needs. But I honestly would like to know.

You say that you plan to switch because there is no EVF for the K-01, and no full frame. 2 questions come to mind:

1. If an EVF would suffice, why wouldn't the K-5 fill the same need for you?
2. Why is full frame so important? I'm a bit clueless here about this. What advantage does full frame offer you?

Please dont take this the wrong way. I just want to understand these issues better.

[arnie0674]

All I want is to see some real commitment to the K-7/K-5 line, with improving sensors, improving AF, more quality lenses...

I would say that releasing the K-01 is an indication of Pentax commitment to k-mount lenses, so on at least one of your desires (more quality lenses) the K-01 is good news. I'd be more concerned if they had released a new mount, as that would require an entire new line of lenses, meaning even fewer resources for k-mount lenses.

[SteveM]

Guys, would you explain something to me...? I can see huge really monstrous craving for the pentax full frame on this forum - there is lot of fuss about it around our community and they release colour-ish brick with small hole, saying that they need to address the hole in the market? What kind of ethical or pragmatical imperative is "filling the gap in the market hole" if they have thousands of people craving for full frame.... what kind of logic hides behind?

From BCN......a year old, I can't find this years list, but I don't suspect it has changed that much.

Percentage DSLR APS-C: 71.5%
Percentage DSLR FF: 1.8%
Percentage Mirrorless: 19.1%
Unknown: 7.6%

If you check the latest data for the US, which goes to the 80th most popular DSLR.....Pentax doesn't register. Not one camera.

If you check Japan stats....3 of the 80 most popular dslrs are combinations of the "Q". The only other Pentax listed is the K-5 in spot #42.

Considering the Pentax Q is not the most popular DSLR on this forum, but it is (presumably) for Pentax sales, how representative is this forum for Pentax?