[RonHendriks1966]

Professionals care a lot about non-color. So they pick the brand which doesnt color their mirrorless bodies blue and red.

Completely unacceptable for self proclaimed "professionals" are for example all products of the brand who does this:
????????????? EOS M SPECIAL SITE?bayblue

I would say all the pictures on that page are a good business card and fully representative for that brand.

Overview:
????????????????????? EOS M???

Well that explaines why the eos M is as succesfull as the K-01. The M with 22mm lens now for $ 299. Any bells ringing on that price?

[IchabodCrane]

I don't think even for a minute that K-01 was designed to be anything more than an experiment, to attract more new users to K-mount.
Pentax must have assumed it will create controversy, that it will keep their name in the press. Buy them time, of at least one year.

I cannot say I blame them. K-01 will go into history as one of the most intriguing cameras and I'm sure K-01 users swear by it and love it. When I saw it, I have recognised it was not seriously thought-out or designed from grounds up like the Q concept was. To me it looked like a minimum of effort unified in a minimalistic shell. But it works because it's so simple, and because it's so simple it has a unique appeal, which all yields in such a low price that it cannot be resisted — even begged for more!

Because of all that, I think it's a brilliantly executed strategy, but Ricoh must know the K-01 is just one trick pony. K5II was too.
Now it's time for some more talented performers.

Has it been revealed what Ricoh is hoping to get for this new blue model in Japan? The answer will say a lot about how closely Ricoh's view of reality is compared to most of the readers of this forum.

[Kunzite]

Probably around 38-40.000 yen? It's not really a special edition, so I'd say they'll sell it for about the same price.

[THoog]

Bundled with a lens, the Pentax Japan webstore says ¥49.800, which dpreview has somehow converted to $749 (they must be using the original K-01 launch price).

I'm not going to touch what readers of this forum's view of reality is.

[JPT]

Has it been revealed what Ricoh is hoping to get for this new blue model in Japan?

The price direct from Pentax is 49,800 yen, but it is being advertised at 44,800 yen in some other shops.

By comparison, the cheapest price online for the same kit is around 39,000 yen in white/black, 44,000 in yellow and black is no longer available. It was cheaper at one point but it has gone up recently as stock has diminished.

I think Pentax's price is reasonable.

[Kunzite]

Bundled with a lens, the Pentax Japan webstore says ¥49.800, which dpreview has somehow converted to $749 (they must be using the original K-01 launch price).

Indeed, dpreview simply copied the prices - sloppy job.

[IchabodCrane]

Bundled with a lens, the Pentax Japan webstore says ¥49.800, which dpreview has somehow converted to $749 (they must be using the original K-01 launch price).

I'm not going to touch what readers of this forum's view of reality is.

So it looks like the Japan list price converts to USD 492 but available for around $445.

[derekkite]

This looks like Ricoh scrambling to respond to the market. At least they are watching. I suspect that they found the Pentax cupboard pretty bare and are having to build quite a bit of capability from scratch. This takes time, especially if it entails something like rewriting the software stack from top to bottom. Or having to rehire and rebuild the prototype to production development facilities. The competition has upped the ante in all market segments as well.

So you get something out, some announcement, something you can sell. All the while work like dogs on the back room stuff that produces these shiny things. An announcement every 30 days. GR, 50 and 500, something to fill the hole, a blue K-01, which is news because it seemed like it was discontinued. August will have something else, who knows, etc. Ricoh to Pentax development: we want something every 30 days. Pentax development to Ricoh: ok, a blue one. Ricoh to Pentax development ... one can only imagine.

[Zygonyx]

Let's praise your prophety to continue, with more serious stuff to come

[monochrome]

What merger? There was never any merger. Ricoh purchased Pentax as a subsidiary from Hoya, 100% outright lock, stock and barrel. That's not a merger, it's a new owner/boss.

Merger of the engineering teams.

[RonHendriks1966]

Would you buy an American Flag K-01?

[Fontan]

Would you buy an American Flag K-01?

Noooooooooo

[THoog]

Would you buy an American Flag K-01?

It depends. If it had the actual US flag printed on it, for me that would cross over into using a national emblem as mere decoration and be disrespectful. If it was more "Captain America"-like, using elements that refer to the flag (red & white stripes, a white star on a blue field) but not the flag itself, then <shrug> maybe.

But really, I already have enough K-01s. They need to make the blue grips available as a DIY kit!

[tclausen]

The price direct from Pentax is 49,800 yen, but it is being advertised at 44,800 yen in some other shops.

By comparison, the cheapest price online for the same kit is around 39,000 yen in white/black, 44,000 in yellow and black is no longer available. It was cheaper at one point but it has gone up recently as stock has diminished.

I think Pentax's price is reasonable.

Oh, have to make sure that the next business trip to Japan happens before this smurf runs out entirely. That's a very reasonable price, IMO.

[tclausen]

Would you buy an American Flag K-01?

No.

I am not anti-american as such (some of my best friends are american...well, not best friends, but I know them), but I'm decidedly not american, so there'd be no sense in me buying an American Flag K-01.

Would you (presumably an american) buy a Chinese Flag K-01 or a French Flag K-01?