[fs999]

Really?

"Far smaller"?

Compare camera dimensions side by side

It is even bigger than K-01

[pinholecam]

I think I stated something about this already a few years ago. People like my sister in law, wich is a Pen user, has just bought the two-kit lens pack and is using that until it dies. Before that they had a Nikon bridgecamera. For her this Olympus isn't an investment, just a tool to make family pictures and with the long lens vacation pictures. When it dies, it all goes down the bin and something else will be bought. Most PEN customers (as is with customers for camera's like K-x/K-r/K-500) just are onetime customers. They enjoy there product or put it in the basement. As long as you have enough off those customers you will have a good bussiness. I think Olympus biggest problem is the estimation about future sales and thus far to many products leaving the factory.

Yes, thats exactly the layman buying pattern.
There is brand and price consciousness which dictates the purchase. (need to be 'known' brand and needs to be cheap)
Its also considered an expensive item (even if its $299) and stays as the 'family cam' until it meets some inglorious end. (dropped; dunked; lost; or if lucky die of old age)

This has been so for the pns market of old, and a lot of m4/3 at closeout is now filling in this gap (as are some other MILC )

[Aristophanes]

a very well-written passage of Olympus, thanks sir

I just want to point out one thing. A Ronin is a samurai who has no lord or superior, and is completely on his own. So a samurai can't lose his ronin. He can lose all his soldiers.

And I thought I was being clever. Thx.

[Winder]

Milbeaut and EXPEED | byThom | Thom Hogan Not much of a Thom fan, but since this is about the new Fujitsu processor.

[thibs]

Milbeaut and EXPEED | byThom | Thom Hogan Not much of a Thom fan, but since this is about the new Fujitsu processor.

Already posted a couple days ago

[Clavius]

With the announcement of the K-3 supposedly just weeks away...

Where did this info, from a few weeks ago, come from?

[monochrome]

Originally posted by Adam With the announcement of the K-3 supposedly just weeks away... Where did this info, from a few weeks ago, come from?

To paraphrase a salesman, Adam has his finger on the pulse of all Pentax information.

[Clavius]

To paraphrase a salesman, Adam has his finger on the pulse of all Pentax information.

I just now imagined what a heart monitor would sound like if it was hooked up to Pentax.

Anyway, I'm just now recovering from the K-3 April fools joke of... 2011 was it?

[monochrome]

Sorry to be obtuse. In my business that is a well-known joke. I once asked a salesman what made him so special that he could tell me what I should do with my clients' money. He replied, with a perfectly straight face, "[Name of no-longer-existing Investment Bank] has its finger on the pulse of all market information."

[Wired]

I have heard the Oly EM-5 sold poorly

This comment has been sticking in my head for a long time, and I've been trying to find supporting claims...but I can't. I'm very well connected with my local shop chain, many of the employees know me by name and call me when Pentax stuff shows up in used, or when new product comes out just to see if I want it (ie: Q7 was automatically put on order for me when it loaded into the system).

When I bought my EM-5 they were all telling me how awesome it is and how they get nothing but great feedback from it. They tell me they have sold more EM-5's over the summer than Sony NEX cameras, Pentax K5 (been selling a lot of K30 apparently), or D600's.

Now I don't know if it means anything, but there are way more EM5 reviews on Amazon and B&H than the K5. There are tons of blogs out there touting how amazing it is and how well it's selling. There was a large back order locally on release in my city. In fact even when I bought mine I grabbed the last black body in the system and there were no silver bodies available for a couple of weeks. and I've seen more EM5's in the wild than Pentax DSLRs combined. So... how is this a poor seller?

[Uluru]

So... how is this a poor seller?

We should pay no attention to what people say about any sales figure; they're just pure nonsense mixed with prejudice.

See following examples:

• Leica admitted X1 camera was selling extremely well, despite people yelling in forums "who's gonna buy that?"
• Pentax admitted in several interviews that K0-01 sells really well, despite people yelling in forums "who's gonna buy that?", or "K-01 was a poor seller".

Just nonsense.
People have no clue, and then don't trust even official statements, thinking they must be lies "because that thing doesn't have the XY, looks weird, I won't buy it, so it can't sell well".

[Aristophanes]

This comment has been sticking in my head for a long time, and I've been trying to find supporting claims...but I can't. I'm very well connected with my local shop chain, many of the employees know me by name and call me when Pentax stuff shows up in used, or when new product comes out just to see if I want it (ie: Q7 was automatically put on order for me when it loaded into the system).

When I bought my EM-5 they were all telling me how awesome it is and how they get nothing but great feedback from it. They tell me they have sold more EM-5's over the summer than Sony NEX cameras, Pentax K5 (been selling a lot of K30 apparently), or D600's.

Now I don't know if it means anything, but there are way more EM5 reviews on Amazon and B&H than the K5. There are tons of blogs out there touting how amazing it is and how well it's selling. There was a large back order locally on release in my city. In fact even when I bought mine I grabbed the last black body in the system and there were no silver bodies available for a couple of weeks. and I've seen more EM5's in the wild than Pentax DSLRs combined. So... how is this a poor seller?

Olympus has only said its sales are "firm". Then they shut down 3 of their 5 production lines, mostly in compacts which is a market they've largely exited, and have still bled red ink.

The D600 has 344 reviews on Amazon.com to the EM-5 with 210, and the D600 is 7 months release behind the EM-5.

I have heard its sales were very good initially, then fell off a cliff. Why? Price to performance ratio.

The NEX 7 has 156 reviews. I think North American shooters above a certain price point want a VF. NEX 6 adds another 136. They have a few months on the EM-5.

B&H #'s are comparable:

D600 = 325
E-M5 = 120
NEX 7 = 174
NEX 6 = 96
Pentax K-5 = 221
K-5ii = 37
Nikon D7100 = 312
Nikon D7000 = 433
Fuji X-Pro = 104
Fuji X100s = 63
Fuji XE-1 = 82

And for old time's sake the K-x had 137 (so it may have outsold in unit volume the EM-5, and the Fuji's).

Pentax is not the issue for Olympus. Losing money is the problem with Olympus. Some of their PEN mainstays on B&H are in single digit reviews. Likely largely due to a less dedicated clientele, but it reflects the general problem with m4/3 and that is as a smaller sensor, if it doesn't have volume sales down low, it is going to have to make that up on the high-end with a "pro" spec camera. The E-M series cannot generate even close to enough revenues at the current price points hundreds of $$$'s above a DSLR. APS-C can do "pro" spec as well but the price premium winnows down the customer base even more, so getting close appears to more than double sales.

The bottom line for m4/3: the PEN series is not seen as a "system" camera. They do not appear to be generating after-market sales of lenses and accessories. Fuji and maybe even Sony appear to have had more success on that front in mirrorless. Out of that sampling of B&H reviews, and given the April 2012 release of the E-M5, it appears as a minnow, especially since I left Canon out of the mix entirely.

My local shop basically tells me the Oly's are awesome. I generally agree. I just think the market for a smaller sensor at this price point is long-term very iffy, and the Olympus financials say the same thing. I think the market will simply see better value in a lower cost APS-C.

[Rondec]

This comment has been sticking in my head for a long time, and I've been trying to find supporting claims...but I can't. I'm very well connected with my local shop chain, many of the employees know me by name and call me when Pentax stuff shows up in used, or when new product comes out just to see if I want it (ie: Q7 was automatically put on order for me when it loaded into the system).

When I bought my EM-5 they were all telling me how awesome it is and how they get nothing but great feedback from it. They tell me they have sold more EM-5's over the summer than Sony NEX cameras, Pentax K5 (been selling a lot of K30 apparently), or D600's.

Now I don't know if it means anything, but there are way more EM5 reviews on Amazon and B&H than the K5. There are tons of blogs out there touting how amazing it is and how well it's selling. There was a large back order locally on release in my city. In fact even when I bought mine I grabbed the last black body in the system and there were no silver bodies available for a couple of weeks. and I've seen more EM5's in the wild than Pentax DSLRs combined. So... how is this a poor seller?

The only thing I would say is that the whole "back order" thing had to do more with the fact that Oly wasn't in a good enough financial situation to over produce the camera right off the bat like they usually do.

[cheekygeek]

I don't think most of the people posting in this thread understand the significance of the original post. Regardless of whether RiceWhine has posted about Milbeaut in the past (and he has) it IS one of the most significant components of the camera system. Each new version of Fujitsu's Milbeaut image processor has opened the door to a whole new host of camera capabilities.

Milbeaut v3... *istD family
Milbeaut v4... K10D era (Pentax called PRIME)
Milbeaut v5... K7 through K-5/II/IIs (PRIME II - that was getting long in tooth - Focus Peaking not possible?)
Milbeaut v6... K30, K01 (PRIME-M - only seen on 12 bit cameras - Focus Peaking possible)
Milbeaut v7... K-3? 645DII? FF? (PRIME III)

READ the v7 specs: Fujitsu Releases New Milbeaut
What this new image processor can do is AMAZING. "the new chip enables roughly twice the processing performance of existing products"

It is worth noting that the early Sept. announcement means that they began producing in volume: http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/fsl/en/release/20130904-2.html. So Pentax engineers have probably been working with the prototype & specs for some time, as they designed the K-3.

There are really four big components to a DSLR: Sensor, Image Processor, Exposure System, AF system
I would suggest that the K-3 is going to be the most significant jump in a Pentax DSLR model EVER because it is upgrading not just ONE of those systems, but ALL of them.
24MP sensor, PRIME III, 2nd processor to help handle exposure & white balance, and SAFOX-XI.

I expect the K-3 to have butt-kicking FPS. The best video in a Pentax product EVAR, advanced in-camera HDR, the best AF ever in a Pentax DSLR, and a huge library of corrections possible for Pentax DA & DFA lenses. This is a camera that is actually going to make your lenses better. With no AA filter and a 24MP sensor, it also goes without saying that this will be the highest resolution APS-C camera on the market.

[troenaas]

"I expect the K-3 to have butt-kicking FPS. The best video in a Pentax product EVAR, advanced in-camera HDR, the best AF ever in a Pentax DSLR, and a huge library of corrections possible for Pentax DA & DFA lenses. This is a camera that is actually going to make your lenses better. With no AA filter and a 24MP sensor, it also goes without saying that this will be the highest resolution APS-C camera on the market."

Amen............