[monochrome]

Monochrome, I think you're right. Those guys from Holland don't know. They only read a script.

I don't think Japan knows. That's my point.

[Kenn100D]

Nice report Ron.

About the Pentax Photo gallery. I believe Pentax Europe can make a gallery geared towards European Countries. We here in the Philippines it's just started and Ricoh/Pentax Philippines have a our own website. Pentax/Ricoh Philippines is active in seminars and shows here together with promotion from digitalphotogaperphilippines.

Now i'm thinking fwd, is their a chance a modular camera with Q-mount lens from Ricoh much better than Sony QX10 a replacemnt from Ricoh GXR?

[danny09]

Thank your for such a great write up. Very informative indeed. The part where you mentioned thousands of 'Professional' photographers vying for same clients and not making money is sad. But such is the reality of digital world. Not only in Holland/Belgium but I guess everywhere in the world.
The FF part doesn't concern me much, the clamor for FF is unwarranted for a variety of reasons which are beyond the scope of this post right now I for one am not holding my breath.
Bottom line is RIcoh Imaging reps are bullish on the Pentax brand and thats what matters for our investment in the gear

[quant2325]

Great write-up.

From the business perspective, it is obvious the lower end of the market is as good as gone thanks to the iPhone and other similar devices, and that the high end (fashion, sports, etc.) is getting farther away from what Ricoh wants to produce. I imagine Ricoh ran through the numbers regarding supporting a FF with new lenses, and due to the smaller demand decided to cut a deal with either Sigma or Tamron to guarantee lens mounts. We'll see. Right now there is no company with a great technological lead in cameras or optics (some produce better products because they can, not because of their proprietary technology), so the determining factor of what to produce comes from marketing and what can be sold. A lot of us age 55+ ex-film jockeys who love retro looking cameras with all the knobs and dials that make us creative will be either dead or legally blind in 25 years, and Ricoh has to account for this. So, what becomes of all the "me-too" brands? Ricoh should be a survivor, even if the Pentax name is phased out (I could care less provided my lenses can be used on the mount). Ricoh has to be happy with the K-3, because consumers found they are getting more bang for their buck. I hope they continue offering similar products that give more for less, and do something other than become a "me-too" product distributor.

[bobmaxja]

tHis is the only report that make sense , no bullshit . We will not learn any more at CPE

[HawaiianOnline]

Trying to figure out the future of Pentax has turned into a "game..."

[pinholecam]

Thanks for the report.



The report seems to give lots of insight, some of which have been speculated and argued over here again and again.
The total disappearance of the compact market.
The low percentage of the FF market as a whole.
How Pentax sees themselves as a player in a potential FF (ie. hard to get pros; hard to reach new entrants)

It also touches on how they would like to step in (at least in the Netherlands )



It does seem that Pentax FF is a risky investment in Ricoh/Pentax's opinion/analysis.
Just hope that they don't shelve the idea again.

[NKK]

Great and detailed report - thanks for taking the time to do this.

Looking good for the future

[ogl]

Last Wednesday, January 15th I had a meeting from 14 – 16 o’clock at Ricoh Europe in Amstelveen (the Netherlands). I talked with Thijs Ekelschot (European Marketing & Communication Manager working from Paris) and Michel Sangers (Sales Manager the Netherlands). This is a comprehensive report about that meeting.

The market share for FF camera’s is below the 10% if you count all DSLR’s and mirrorless options (including the Sony compact FF) with all sensors like APS-C, 4/3th, 1-inch and the little Q from Pentax, having the smallest sensor. Because Pentax has only a small part of the total market, they can’t expect a Pentax full frame camera to be a resounding sales hit. It would mostly appeal to the current Pentax users, that want to step up a notch (if the price is right for them).
.

Do they really think that 10% of market is low??????

[eurostar]

Do they really think that 10% of market is low??????

Maybe the expectancy of being the 3% of the 10% of the whole market IS low.

[Uluru]

Digital cameras of all sorts are still selling MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than film cameras. I am not quite sure why the doom and gloom stories perpetuated in digital photography websites, such as this one too, as people there have no clue in what volumes original cameras (film cameras) were selling through decades. And no one ever cried there so loud in the days of film!

Digital cameras market practically exploded well beyond any common sense, and now is contracting. Ricoh Imaging is ready for it. However, the contraction will never reach levels of sales of film cameras which will always be lower in number than digital, even with smartphone market flourishing.

But what will certainly change, is the belief in illusions. One is the attitude of all the wannabes who believed that a digital DSLR can transform them overnight into a pro-photographer. And the other are the illusions of digital photography websites that relinquish reality for imaginary trips for dream cameras rooted in fantasy scenarios about their manufacture, and sales. I never saw a mindset so widely separated from any reality and common sense than the photography camera online community and some of their manufacturers.

The whole digital photography balloon was inflated way, way above its capacity to contain such an amount of nonsense. It is now deflating, all coming back to normal, so to speak, and thank God, we may finally see some sense and steady imaging vision instead of this market's madness! Some good values and paradigms of the film camera imaging times may even come back again!

I mean, seriously, in one year now, Canon alone outsells its own decade worth of production of film cameras! So, goodness, it may mean that we won't see insane number of camera models issued every season thanks to 'crisis', but rather ... once in few years? So we won't see Rebels numbered in double digits this year?

Well, good riddance! Indeed, who is greedy there, who is unrealistic, and who cries foul and doom of gloom of digital cameras and for what an end?! I'm at least glad that Ricoh Imaging understands this, at least to some extent it is visible from the interview, and that the situation most likely works in favour for them in some respects — they already are small yet still cannot meet demand for their products — albeit they don't boast about it in such a way.

[goubejp]

I think they are telling the absolute truth. FF is coming, but they don't know when.

They can't unweil their plan to the competitors...

[wed7]

Thank you Ron for sharing this.

[RobA_Oz]

The Pentax K-3 is a sales hit and has been sold much better in Europe then was expected at the introduction.

Nice to hear that it's not just Sony who has sold more cameras than they expected.

[Kunzite]

I don't think Japan knows. That's my point.

Even if Japan knows, how far in advance would they tell?
Assuming Photokina as a launch date (I doubt we'll see a camera launch at CP+), I guess basic information about it will start flowing at the beginning of the next fiscal year. That's because the distribution network would have to be ready, estimations made, marketing, trainings etc. Of course, it won't be made public.
If it's not Photokina, well... that means one year or more and that the products are nowhere near completion; it makes no sense to set release dates so far in the future, you don't know what will happen. This is the "Japan doesn't know" scenario.