[Na Horuk]

I would also like to thank all the members here who are at the show and are posting updates, threads, and blogs. Maybe it would be nice if on the front page there would be a collection of links to these blogs and threads.

[RobG]

(to those wanting FF) Please go buy a Nikon or Canon and STFU ALREADY!
It's 6 am here - I'm going to the beach to take some pictures with my K-5! Because I have no problem sticking with it for another year!

Amen to that!

[audiobomber]

Why does Fuji praise go through the roof when they drop the AA filter, but it's virtually ignored when announced for the K-5IIs? The AF is improved, Pentax kept the 16mp sensor. These things were all asked for repeatedly in this forum, and have been addressed in the new models. Note that neither Canon nor Nikon have replaced their competing APS-C bodies, so why is Pentax being scorned?

Please go buy a Nikon or Canon and STFU ALREADY!

Thanks, about time someone said it in this thread.

If you don't have confidence that Pentax is headed in the right direction, advertise your gear in the marketplace. You'll probably get as much for your lenses as you paid for them. I would be more than happy to see a few crybabies and annoying little snipers get on with their lives elsewhere.

Photokina sees the end of the Hoya influence. I'm staying, and anxiously waiting to see what Pentax and Ricoh can do together.

[Rondec]

I am definitely hanging in there. The problem is really the threads the preceded Photokina (for the last three months probably), predicting huge steps forward. If those weren't there, then people wouldn't be so bothered when Pentax basically took a small step forward, rather than a bigger step forward.

[KHatfull]

Please go buy a Nikon or Canon and STFU ALREADY!

It's 6 am here - I'm going to the beach to take some pictures with my K-5! Because I have no problem sticking with it for another year!

Show off...

[audiobomber]

I am definitely hanging in there. The problem is really the threads the preceded Photokina (for the last three months probably), predicting huge steps forward. If those weren't there, then people wouldn't be so bothered when Pentax basically took a small step forward, rather than a bigger step forward.

True, but it could be worse. We could be Ricoh.

[Mistral75]

It's pink, looks to be a fujifilm



She sure has large lips

It's an instax mini 8

http://2.static.img-dpreview.com/files/articles/7401524086/DSC02959.JPG

(click to see 2,736 x 1,824 picture)

Source: Digital Photo Rumors Photokina 2012: Fujifilm Stand Report: Digital Photography Review

[Cambo]

It's an instax mini 8

http://2.static.img-dpreview.com/files/articles/7401524086/DSC02959.JPG

(click to see 2,736 x 1,824 picture)

Source: Digital Photo Rumors Photokina 2012: Fujifilm Stand Report: Digital Photography Review

...you're looking at the CAMERA???



Cheers,
Cameron

[abacus07]

Personally I think Pentax made some very nice moves this year. They have a nice entry level (K-01), a great mid level camera (K-30) and tweaked the high end camera with a few improvements. The disappointment is that the flagship camera wasn't a massive upgrade but are the new CaNikon models kicking the crap out of the K-5 and K-5II? They obviously need to bring out a new flagship camera but I'm not sure if the development costs were worth the cost and time. It's likely that introducing a totally redesigned camera now would have meant delays for the next potential game changer (like a FF). They don't have unlimited R&D.

I'm also excited by how many new lenses are on the roadmap next year and most of them don't make a lot of sense unless there is a FF.

[monochrome]

I am definitely hanging in there. The problem is really the threads the preceded Photokina (for the last three months probably), predicting huge steps forward. If those weren't there, then people wouldn't be so bothered when Pentax basically took a small step forward, rather than a bigger step forward.

Nail, meet hammer. It was crazy to expect ground breaking introductions when Hoya was preparing the company for sale during the R&D period for what would be introduced this week.

So that's an explanation, but not an excuse. Ricoh must now leapfrog the technology (that's the only tactical answer to "perpetual catch up") and surprise the entire phtographic community.

How about a "Shock and Awe" roll-out of

• Autofocus
• Flash
• Lenses
• Accessories
• Ricoh as mirrorless brand
• Targeted-market professional support
• Q system development
• Dare I type it? ..........

[illdefined]

Nail, meet hammer. It was crazy to expect ground breaking introductions when Hoya was preparing the company for sale during the R&D period for what would be introduced this week.

So that's an explanation, but not an excuse. Ricoh must now leapfrog the technology (that's the only tactical answer to "perpetual catch up") and surprise the entire phtographic community.

How about a "Shock and Awe" roll-out of

• Autofocus
• Flash
• Lenses
• Accessories
• Ricoh as mirrorless brand
• Targeted-market professional support
• Q system development
• Dare I type it? ..........

yes, because "Shock and Awe" is exactly what it's going to take for Pentax to make another real mark in this industry (and I don't mean the K-01 kind). But I fear Pentax doesn't have enough bombs (again, not the K-01 kind).

by the time the FF K-mount DSLR and first lenses are actually available for sale, the big two will be announcing their 6D/D600 Mark IIs.

[vonBaloney]

I think people are shortening these product cycles in their mind -- the K-5 is 2 years old! Yes, and? 3 years life seems to be about industry standard, and they are upgrading that model after 2. So that's good.

And if Pentax comes out with a competitive model FF camera one year after Nikon and Canon, again so what? All this talk of doom and gloom and they are being left behind forever -- it is TOTALLY idiotic. If the pictures you are going to take in the next year with your non-FF Pentax are going to ruin your life because they aren't on an FF sensor, then go buy that Nikon or Canon now because why would you want your life to be ruined? And if it is not going to ruin your life, then what's the problem? I've noticed that people talk as if they won't be able to take a decent picture ever again if they don't get what they want NOW, but really even if for some strange reason you really couldn't take decent shots with the current models the only period of time that matters is from now until such product arrives that will magically make you whole -- a few months or a year depending on what you are looking for. So those shots you can't apparently get in the next few months or a year you must think are going to be your lifetime pinnacle achievement, and if you don't get them, then you'll experience a downward spiral and you'll be living in the gutter next year. If you think that Pentax is NEVER going to make what you want, then get the heck out of here and go be a Canikon as that is your only option, isn't it? If you can afford the Nikon/Canon stuff and that's what you need, go buy it. And if you can't afford it, then this complaining is totally pointless. People act as if because Pentax *might* be at a competitive disadvantage, then they personally are at a competitive disadvantage. But that's not true because you can go buy whatever you like and you'll be on the same footing as any other Canikon. And if those are out of your league, then they are out of your league. You shouldn't even be thinking about them. You are complaining about a phantom. A non-existent product can't put you at disadvantage because it doesn't exist! No one has it! And you are just as free as anyone else to go buy the stuff that does exist, so go do it.

I don't mind people petitioning, even passionately, that Pentax should come out with this or that -- that's fine, and expected. But all this talk they you are totally screwed if you don't get, or Pentax is totally screwed if they don't release it NOW -- it is mind-bogglingly stupid. Pentax is in their best position so far in the digital era -- having a committed ownership willing and able to put resources behind their products. They've made a good start, and all the stuff that people are complaining they should have done by now would have been literally impossible to accomplish. Possibly more legitimate complaints are about communication and strategy -- they should tell us exactly what they are planning, etc etc. That's a reasonable debate, but it also tips off the competition so there is a downside to argue about as well. Either way, keeping things close to the vest is not the brand-killer some make it out to be...

[Cannikin]

I think people are shortening these product cycles in their mind -- the K-5 is 2 years old! Yes, and? 3 years life seems to be about industry standard, and they are upgrading that model after 2. So that's good.

K10D -> K20D: 16 months
K20D -> K-7: 16 months
K-7 -> K-5: 16 months

In the middle of all this the Hoya buyout occured. Pentax still didn't miss a beat with this schedule, releasing the completely redesigned K-7 right on time, so "merger time" should not be an excuse. Each of these was a major step up from the previous one.

On the other hand, we have the K-5 II which is coming in at 24 months (50% longer), and is barely distinguishable from its predecessor.

So either they threw out over a year's worth of R&D, or Hoya deliberately and severely crippled them in the year leading up to the sale to Ricoh.

[audiobomber]

On the other hand, we have the K-5 II which is coming in at 24 months (50% longer), and is barely distinguishable from its predecessor.

So either they threw out over a year's worth of R&D, or Hoya deliberately and severely crippled them in the year leading up to the sale to Ricoh.

Maybe they just didn't feel a need to upgrade, since the D7000, D300S, 60D and 7D have not been replaced.

[vonBaloney]

K10D -> K20D: 16 months
K20D -> K-7: 16 months
K-7 -> K-5: 16 months

Was actually talking about the cycles of Canon and Nikon, which seem to be longer, and people are talking as-if Pentax is a slowpoke.

...or Hoya deliberately and severely crippled them in the year leading up to the sale to Ricoh.

Bingo. Hoya had no FF plans whatsoever, and said so. They pretty much admitted they had no interest in the camera side of the biz at all. Amazing they did what they did.