New DSLRs from Pentax

Class A · 04-06-2013, 12:40 AM - **1 Like**

Using Monochrome's format:

Fact: James Malcolm stated that he believes Pentaxians don't want FF and that he has never spoken to a Q-focused user. He thinks that Pentaxians encourage Pentax to "Just keep doing what you’re doing.".

My take away message:
Despite numerous conversations with Pentaxians, the CEO of Pentax USA is out of touch with his user base.

bossa · 04-06-2013, 01:22 AM

Originally posted by monochrome

My company was acquired because we had the market leading product in the only growing sector of our industry. In 4 short years our new owners have dismembered the entire old company, installed their business model and personnel and, in so doing, replaced everything that made us us. The products that made us the market leader no longer even exist.

At least they retired our name.

A familiar story.. . one wonders how these types of clowns manage to get to the position where they can actually do that.. but they always seem to.

MMVIII · 04-06-2013, 02:49 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by bossa

That's got to scare the crap out of Pentax/Ricoh.. K1000 is a dinosaur!

From the last few posts here I'm not feeling too positive. It seems that Pentax is no-more but really Ricoh in drag... I cannot see how they could have combinded the two camera tech groups without some pain and without Ricoh actually staying in charge. Pentax is only a name these days.

Just a short interruption:
are you guys shure you are not only stewing in your own juices, produced by an circular hemeneutic momentum derived from nowhere near enough real information and insight?
To be fair, that seems just the nature of internetfora, but don't you think that postings like "never ever before so many have left the ship" and so on are nothing more than selffulfilling statements and should be written with at least some more selfreflexion and critic of your own perception, which might be just biased (by nature)? Maybe never ever before so many Olympus users find their lost spirit of the OM-D5 in the K-5IIs...and so on... we definitely don't know it.
Just my 2c, dan

gazonk · 04-06-2013, 03:04 AM - **1 Like**

I think we need some antidote to all the gloom. Here's the ranking from kakaku.com, every time I've stopped by there lately it has been similar: the K-5 IIs is a hit and the K-30 is also selling well, so well that one of the gazillions of color/lens combos (namely white + 18-135) shows up in the top 20:
http://kakaku.com/camera/digital-slr-camera/ranking_0049/

**Ash** · 04-06-2013, 03:04 AM

There will be no reliable stats on defectors, only total sale numbers. If current sales indicate the K1000 still selling almost as well as the K-5 and K30, something's not quite right with Pentax's high end products.

cali92rs · 04-06-2013, 03:08 AM

Originally posted by MMVIII

Just a short interruption:
are you guys shure you are not only stewing in your own juices, produced by an circular hemeneutic momentum derived from nowhere near enough real information and insight?
To be fair, that seems just the nature of internetfora, but don't you think that postings like "never ever before so many have left the ship" and so on are nothing more than selffulfilling statements and should be written with at least some more selfreflexion and critic of your own perception, which might be just biased (by nature)? Maybe never ever before so many Olympus users find their lost spirit of the OM-D5 in the K-5IIs...and so on... we definitely don't know it.
Just my 2c, dan

I think there is truth in what you write.
However it is also true that many Pentaxians on this board want a pentax FF and a pentax executive blew that item to smithereens.
It isn't clear if what he says comes from the real decision makers at PRIC, but it is all we ha e to go by.

MMVIII · 04-06-2013, 03:35 AM

Originally posted by cali92rs

I think there is truth in what you write.
However it is also true that many Pentaxians on this board want a pentax FF and a pentax executive blew that item to smithereens.
It isn't clear if what he says comes from the real decision makers at PRIC, but it is all we ha e to go by.

Agreed. On the other hand, I have been following this "adventus"-story for a long time quite intensively. Sorry for the religious word, but it seems to have some similarities, also in the character of the belief and the exegesis of bits of information, be it interviews or snippets from the internet

I must say I have not read the latest interview, because it is from a local representor and by history, I have never ever heard any substantial news from any of them in an early phase. I have read the reactions but don't agree that this is now all anyone has to go by. Without knowing what he exactly said I would think that at the moment he would want to calm the pushing claims down, trying to convince readers that the actual offerings are still very capable, that they will for sure try to build products which will have the good attributes of the actual product line, all things you can say without knowing what is really coming, or with knowledge of things that are dicussed, but not scheduled for immediate arrival. Am I wrong?

**Rondec** · 04-06-2013, 03:47 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by gazonk

I think we need some antidote to all the gloom. Here's the ranking from kakaku.com, every time I've stopped by there lately it has been similar: the K-5 IIs is a hit and the K-30 is also selling well, so well that one of the gazillions of color/lens combos (namely white + 18-135) shows up in the top 20:
http://kakaku.com/camera/digital-slr-camera/ranking_0049/

Definitely. Pentax actually has a presence in Japan, while in the United States, there are no cameras to be seen. Of course, in the United States, the majority of SLRs and MILCs are probably sold through big box stores like Wal Mart, Best Buy and Costco, where they are sold based on price, promotion, and presence, not on a salesman pushing them.

Anyway, it is no wonder that sales figures are pretty lousy in the United States for Pentax as compared to the rest of the world.

tclausen · 04-06-2013, 04:00 AM

Originally posted by Rondec

Definitely. Pentax actually has a presence in Japan, while in the United States, there are no cameras to be seen. Of course, in the United States, the majority of SLRs and MILCs are probably sold through big box stores like Wal Mart, Best Buy and Costco, where they are sold based on price, promotion, and presence, not on a salesman pushing them.

Anyway, it is no wonder that sales figures are pretty lousy in the United States for Pentax as compared to the rest of the world.

Presence in Japan? That's a huge understatement, at least in the Tokyo area.....not only does Pentax run a showroom, pretty much all B&M camera stores have the full lineup of Pentax (and even often many/all of the color options for Q10/K30) cameras and lenses - lined up and on par with the other big brands.

There's a huuuuge difference in how Pentax as a brand is present in the US, in the EU and in Japan.

Medium FormatPro · 04-06-2013, 06:09 AM

Originally posted by ElJamoquio

Today on amazon sales ranking:

53. Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens and 3-Inch LCD (Black) (Highest ranked Pentax)
54. Pentax K-5 IIs 16.3 MP DSLR Body Only (Black)
55. Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Blue)
56.284 days in the top 100 Pentax K1000 Camera with 50mm (f/2.0) Lens

So there's about 5-10 FF's ranked above Pentax's highest ranking... and a Pentax FF film camera introduced 35+ years ago and discontinued 15 years ago is selling as well on Amazon as any current Pentax.

Soon Pentax will even be out of the top five of camera companies; and will never regain that back

Kunzite · 04-06-2013, 06:40 AM

Yeah, yeah, the sky is falling; run to the caves, I'll follow later... maybe. Or maybe not.

Fogel70 · 04-06-2013, 07:17 AM

Originally posted by twr

Pentax needs to rekindle the magic of the K1000. Quality, affordable, and just the fundamentals.

l would say Pentax always made cameras like this, and todays version is called K30. It's just that most users today demand much more from the camera than 40 years ago.

What was fundamentals back then is not near enough today.

beholder3 · 04-06-2013, 07:30 AM - **1 Like**

[deleted]

Wired · 04-09-2013, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by beholder3

At the same time average knowledge and skill have not been growing.

It's quite common to read stuff like "I must have a camera with tilting screen because I pretty much purely use that for convenience. And the camera must have super-fast sports AF. I read that the xyz has that fast AF." Where even a mediocre skilled amateur should think of brain damage.

Quite the opposite. I think the skill has been replaced by auto modes. I think one reason I practice with film is because it brings me back to the fundamentals.

Too many people want a bazillion auto modes and AF points. And it's akin to the mega pixel wars. MP means less and less everyday... so now it's AF points and sensor size that seems to be driving the market.

I don't thinj we will ever see a consumer product like the K1000 or anything else from that era again. Just bare bones simple.

I know I would be tickled pink if I could have a camera that had only dials for shutter speed, iso, and aperture. Only one highly accurate center AF point, a dial for manual or auto focus, a drive dial, and a white balance menu. And iso woukd not have an auto mode.

I'd try and keep things like bracketing and interval shooting...but I guess that falls under drive modes.

I would be the best camera to learn on. But I few a boutique offering, probably costing thousands. Maybe built by Leica...or ricoh?

**Ash** · 04-09-2013, 07:17 PM

Yes, but all of those simple features can all be do-able on any camera with an M mode. Therein are your manual shutter speed, ISO and aperture dials.
Most 'learner's want to stay on their training wheels (full auto modes) and not ride unaided on a smooth bitumen road (semi-auto modes), let alone venture out into the off-road territory (M/B modes)...
The problem is the user of the tool...

04-06-2013, 07:30 AM - 1 Like	#358
beholder3 Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 3,112	[deleted] Last edited by beholder3; 08-11-2013 at 07:11 AM.

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04-06-2013, 12:40 AM - 1 Like	#346
Class A Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251	Using Monochrome's format: Fact: James Malcolm stated that he believes Pentaxians don't want FF and that he has never spoken to a Q-focused user. He thinks that Pentaxians encourage Pentax to "Just keep doing what you’re doing.". My take away message: Despite numerous conversations with Pentaxians, the CEO of Pentax USA is out of touch with his user base.

04-06-2013, 01:22 AM	#347
bossa Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 4,546	Originally posted by monochrome My company was acquired because we had the market leading product in the only growing sector of our industry. In 4 short years our new owners have dismembered the entire old company, installed their business model and personnel and, in so doing, replaced everything that made us us. The products that made us the market leader no longer even exist. At least they retired our name. A familiar story.. . one wonders how these types of clowns manage to get to the position where they can actually do that.. but they always seem to.

04-06-2013, 02:49 AM - 1 Like	#348
MMVIII Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: EU Posts: 1,121	Originally posted by bossa That's got to scare the crap out of Pentax/Ricoh.. K1000 is a dinosaur! From the last few posts here I'm not feeling too positive. It seems that Pentax is no-more but really Ricoh in drag... I cannot see how they could have combinded the two camera tech groups without some pain and without Ricoh actually staying in charge. Pentax is only a name these days. Just a short interruption: are you guys shure you are not only stewing in your own juices, produced by an circular hemeneutic momentum derived from nowhere near enough real information and insight? To be fair, that seems just the nature of internetfora, but don't you think that postings like "never ever before so many have left the ship" and so on are nothing more than selffulfilling statements and should be written with at least some more selfreflexion and critic of your own perception, which might be just biased (by nature)? Maybe never ever before so many Olympus users find their lost spirit of the OM-D5 in the K-5IIs...and so on... we definitely don't know it. Just my 2c, dan

04-06-2013, 03:04 AM - 1 Like	#349
gazonk Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oslo area, Norway Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,746	I think we need some antidote to all the gloom. Here's the ranking from kakaku.com, every time I've stopped by there lately it has been similar: the K-5 IIs is a hit and the K-30 is also selling well, so well that one of the gazillions of color/lens combos (namely white + 18-135) shows up in the top 20: http://kakaku.com/camera/digital-slr-camera/ranking_0049/

04-06-2013, 03:04 AM	#350
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	There will be no reliable stats on defectors, only total sale numbers. If current sales indicate the K1000 still selling almost as well as the K-5 and K30, something's not quite right with Pentax's high end products.

04-06-2013, 03:08 AM	#351
cali92rs Veteran Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 3,354	Originally posted by MMVIII Just a short interruption: are you guys shure you are not only stewing in your own juices, produced by an circular hemeneutic momentum derived from nowhere near enough real information and insight? To be fair, that seems just the nature of internetfora, but don't you think that postings like "never ever before so many have left the ship" and so on are nothing more than selffulfilling statements and should be written with at least some more selfreflexion and critic of your own perception, which might be just biased (by nature)? Maybe never ever before so many Olympus users find their lost spirit of the OM-D5 in the K-5IIs...and so on... we definitely don't know it. Just my 2c, dan I think there is truth in what you write. However it is also true that many Pentaxians on this board want a pentax FF and a pentax executive blew that item to smithereens. It isn't clear if what he says comes from the real decision makers at PRIC, but it is all we ha e to go by.

04-06-2013, 03:35 AM	#352
MMVIII Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: EU Posts: 1,121	Originally posted by cali92rs I think there is truth in what you write. However it is also true that many Pentaxians on this board want a pentax FF and a pentax executive blew that item to smithereens. It isn't clear if what he says comes from the real decision makers at PRIC, but it is all we ha e to go by. Agreed. On the other hand, I have been following this "adventus"-story for a long time quite intensively. Sorry for the religious word, but it seems to have some similarities, also in the character of the belief and the exegesis of bits of information, be it interviews or snippets from the internet I must say I have not read the latest interview, because it is from a local representor and by history, I have never ever heard any substantial news from any of them in an early phase. I have read the reactions but don't agree that this is now all anyone has to go by. Without knowing what he exactly said I would think that at the moment he would want to calm the pushing claims down, trying to convince readers that the actual offerings are still very capable, that they will for sure try to build products which will have the good attributes of the actual product line, all things you can say without knowing what is really coming, or with knowledge of things that are dicussed, but not scheduled for immediate arrival. Am I wrong?

04-06-2013, 03:47 AM - 1 Like	#353
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,650	Originally posted by gazonk I think we need some antidote to all the gloom. Here's the ranking from kakaku.com, every time I've stopped by there lately it has been similar: the K-5 IIs is a hit and the K-30 is also selling well, so well that one of the gazillions of color/lens combos (namely white + 18-135) shows up in the top 20: http://kakaku.com/camera/digital-slr-camera/ranking_0049/ Definitely. Pentax actually has a presence in Japan, while in the United States, there are no cameras to be seen. Of course, in the United States, the majority of SLRs and MILCs are probably sold through big box stores like Wal Mart, Best Buy and Costco, where they are sold based on price, promotion, and presence, not on a salesman pushing them. Anyway, it is no wonder that sales figures are pretty lousy in the United States for Pentax as compared to the rest of the world.

04-06-2013, 04:00 AM	#354
tclausen Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 1,397	Originally posted by Rondec Definitely. Pentax actually has a presence in Japan, while in the United States, there are no cameras to be seen. Of course, in the United States, the majority of SLRs and MILCs are probably sold through big box stores like Wal Mart, Best Buy and Costco, where they are sold based on price, promotion, and presence, not on a salesman pushing them. Anyway, it is no wonder that sales figures are pretty lousy in the United States for Pentax as compared to the rest of the world. Presence in Japan? That's a huge understatement, at least in the Tokyo area.....not only does Pentax run a showroom, pretty much all B&M camera stores have the full lineup of Pentax (and even often many/all of the color options for Q10/K30) cameras and lenses - lined up and on par with the other big brands. There's a huuuuge difference in how Pentax as a brand is present in the US, in the EU and in Japan.

04-06-2013, 06:09 AM	#355
Medium FormatPro Banned Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Charleston & Pittsburgh Photos: Albums Posts: 1,668	Originally posted by ElJamoquio Today on amazon sales ranking: 53. Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens and 3-Inch LCD (Black) (Highest ranked Pentax) 54. Pentax K-5 IIs 16.3 MP DSLR Body Only (Black) 55. Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm Lens (Blue) 56.284 days in the top 100 Pentax K1000 Camera with 50mm (f/2.0) Lens So there's about 5-10 FF's ranked above Pentax's highest ranking... and a Pentax FF film camera introduced 35+ years ago and discontinued 15 years ago is selling as well on Amazon as any current Pentax. Soon Pentax will even be out of the top five of camera companies; and will never regain that back

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04-06-2013, 06:40 AM	#356
Kunzite Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 15,132	Yeah, yeah, the sky is falling; run to the caves, I'll follow later... maybe. Or maybe not.

04-06-2013, 07:17 AM	#357
Fogel70 Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Photos: Albums Posts: 3,062	Originally posted by twr Pentax needs to rekindle the magic of the K1000. Quality, affordable, and just the fundamentals. l would say Pentax always made cameras like this, and todays version is called K30. It's just that most users today demand much more from the camera than 40 years ago. What was fundamentals back then is not near enough today.

04-09-2013, 04:25 PM	#359
Wired Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Edmonton, AB Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,519	Originally posted by beholder3 At the same time average knowledge and skill have not been growing. It's quite common to read stuff like "I must have a camera with tilting screen because I pretty much purely use that for convenience. And the camera must have super-fast sports AF. I read that the xyz has that fast AF." Where even a mediocre skilled amateur should think of brain damage. Quite the opposite. I think the skill has been replaced by auto modes. I think one reason I practice with film is because it brings me back to the fundamentals. Too many people want a bazillion auto modes and AF points. And it's akin to the mega pixel wars. MP means less and less everyday... so now it's AF points and sensor size that seems to be driving the market. I don't thinj we will ever see a consumer product like the K1000 or anything else from that era again. Just bare bones simple. I know I would be tickled pink if I could have a camera that had only dials for shutter speed, iso, and aperture. Only one highly accurate center AF point, a dial for manual or auto focus, a drive dial, and a white balance menu. And iso woukd not have an auto mode. I'd try and keep things like bracketing and interval shooting...but I guess that falls under drive modes. I would be the best camera to learn on. But I few a boutique offering, probably costing thousands. Maybe built by Leica...or ricoh?

04-09-2013, 07:17 PM	#360
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Yes, but all of those simple features can all be do-able on any camera with an M mode. Therein are your manual shutter speed, ISO and aperture dials. Most 'learner's want to stay on their training wheels (full auto modes) and not ride unaided on a smooth bitumen road (semi-auto modes), let alone venture out into the off-road territory (M/B modes)... The problem is the user of the tool...