[mecrox]

A "great Hoya no-investment terror" that has produced 645D, K-7/5, Q and quite a few lenses in all 3 mounts...

Today, despite enthousiat declarations in the RICOH take-over follow-up, we don't have that much more innovations (Theta and GR-APSC put aside as pure Ricoh products).
BTW, still no news about GXR's (no) future... and what are Ricoh's engineers doing YET ?

When Hoya were running Pentax, their UK web presence was a couple of pages with typos et al which looked as if it had been run up by a 12-year-old in a bedroom and probably had been. That's how much support they were prepared to extend to my country. Best not even to think about what they did to the Pentax sales operation in North America. It may simply never recover. And given how long it takes to develop a camera, I'd be surprised if things like the 645D and the K5 didn't pre-date Hoya's arrival. Others may not agree. Fine. I judge corporations by how much effort they make where I live, not on the far side of the world where I don't.

None of that means Ricoh are saints. I find them intensely dull myself. But if they do a decent job at Pentax (and there's no reason to think they won't), then they'll get my vote whether I use the brand or not. So far, they have pepped up their local operation here, at least to judge from the website, busy UK FaceBook page, newsletters, advertising in magazines and the like. It's all on a professional level that the Hoya years never came close to. Someone, somewhere is trying - and has some marketing money.

Given the rather dire economic situation in the camera/imaging business as a whole, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Ricoh are being a little cautious. Just over the hill are two hulking giants called Apple and Samsung and no one really knows what they'll do next or what the impact will be. (Well, the impact will be fewer cameras and more smartphones sold I guess - see the just-announced Galaxy K Zoom with 10x optical zoom, stabilization and a 20 mpx sensor, e.g.)

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Last edited by mecrox; 04-29-2014 at 01:41 PM.

[jpzk]

Pentax 645Z vs Panasonic Lumix DMC GH4 - YouTube

Why is this comparison here ?
I thought these two cameras are totally different in pretty much all aspects.

I once thought of comparing my Samsung S2 with my K5 ....

JP

[Zygonyx]

Hadn't seen that.

Really apalling and desparating re. mental state of this clip's creator.

[ogl]

Why is this comparison here ?
I thought these two cameras are totally different in pretty much all aspects.

I once thought of comparing my Samsung S2 with my K5 ....

JP

too many mistakes.
645Z has WR body like GH4 and folding LCD

GH4 - the points 2 and 4 are the same.

What is the strange point 15? GH4 has brand lenses.

[Rnovo]

RICOH IMAGING Newsletter Just for information, this is the announcement made in Europe. Not a bad website...?

[mecrox]

RICOH IMAGING Newsletter Just for information, this is the announcement made in Europe. Not a bad website...?

Ours is here - Home - RICOH IMAGING UK LTD.

[dgdb]

Anyone ordered 645Z? Anyone has it?

[JPT]

Availability in Japan is announced for June 27th.

http://m.dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20140523_649884.html

[dgdb]

Availability in Japan is announced for June 27th.

http://m.dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20140523_649884.html

Thank you for the news. I sold out my Nikon, so another month without camera ahead :-(

[RonHendriks1966]

Thank you for the news. I sold out my Nikon, so another month without camera ahead :-(

hopefully you live in Japan, otherwise you have to wait some months more.

[Uluru]

Thank you for the news. I sold out my Nikon, so another month without camera ahead :-(

Yes, we surely believe you.
Sorry, not an offence, but a person joining in PF just to say it sold a Nikon to buy a 645Z, and will wait for it (and not even compare with Nikon equipment firsthand), sounds too good to be entirely true.

[dgdb]

Yes, we surely believe you.
Sorry, not an offence, but a person joining in PF just to say it sold a Nikon to buy a 645Z, and will wait for it (and not even compare with Nikon equipment firsthand), sounds too good to be entirely true.

What dont you believe? If I had Nikon, that doesnt mean I didnt try 645D. There is not much to compare, 645D has better IQ than D800E, so I hope 645Z will be even better. Lenses are poor, but I had only 85mm so I will be happy with 90mm. Sorry I didnt brag about this before.
I was asking about availibility, because my dealer told me May 2014. So if it was true, someone should have it by now.
If you believe or dont, I dont care, I just want to know if anybody has it.

[VoiceOfReason]

What dont you believe? If I had Nikon, that doesnt mean I didnt try 645D. There is not much to compare, 645D has better IQ than D800E, so I hope 645Z will be even better. Lenses are poor, but I had only 85mm so I will be happy with 90mm. Sorry I didnt brag about this before.
I was asking about availibility, because my dealer told me May 2014. So if it was true, someone should have it by now.
If you believe or dont, I dont care, I just want to know if anybody has it.

Unfortunately no one has it yet, other than some pre-production units. When you get yours post some pics and give us your impressions of it.

[dgdb]

I will.

[Eztony]

Several sites list June 27 as the date it will start being sold.