[philbaum]

That Alpha line seems to be a dead end, Spocko, unfortunately for anyone invested in it. That's the Sony way. Launch lots of products and hope. Ricoh won't be looking to emulate what's presumably a sinkhole.

If you adapt Canon or Pentax lenses for the E mount, say goodbye to the flash system, autofocus and auto aperture.

I do it every now and again, but it's not the solution for anyone but the hardcore or masochists like me.

Sony may have the last laugh on a lot of mfrs. Sure, they threw a lot of spaghetti at the wall, but some of it stuck

I feel sorry for the newbies out there who may not have enough knowledge or experience to decide what kind of equipment they need. The idea i had in mind when i got seriously into photography 7 years ago, is quite different where i ended up.

Landscape photography has quite different needs than portrait work, wedding work, photo journalism and/or event photography. The newbie tries to do all things, the artist/professional specializes in a few.

I think its fine for Pentax to issue a FF camera with a minimum of FF lenses. And then if its popular, feather the nest out as they go along. Likewise, i think the Sony A7 series is fine for landscape, and with one or two AF primes, would work fine for portrait work as well. For weddings maybe a zoom lens or two. Sport photography and birding - different game altogether. Personally i'm waiting for the 2nd generation Sony A7 or the Pentax FF. As to flash, i've used manual flashes with radio triggers for both theater headshots and group shots. With today's RAW files, one doesn't have to be that precise in flash work. The nice thing about manual flash work is its very repeatable and reliable.

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Last edited by philbaum; 10-06-2014 at 10:36 AM.

[ElJamoquio]

I think its fine for Pentax to issue a FF camera with a minimum of FF lenses.

I don't want them to discontinue ANY of their substantial FF portfolio of lenses!!!

[clackers]

Sony may have the last laugh on a lot of mfrs.

I think they'd exit the camera market before Canon, Phil.

They've already left TVs and computers. Only the insurance, movies and music branches of the corporation are subsidizing the losses of the consumer electronics arms, and shareholders may decide enough is enough.

[philbaum]

I think they'd exit the camera market before Canon, Phil.

They've already left TVs and computers. Only the insurance, movies and music branches of the corporation are subsidizing the losses of the consumer electronics arms, and shareholders may decide enough is enough.

Well that sounds like major progress to me if they're second behind Canon If cameras have survived the other cuts, there must be something about the photography niche thats promising. Hope so, they've been in consumer electronics a long time :-)

@ElJamoquio: i agree - we shouldn't encourage Ricoh to cut any existing FF lenses

[clackers]

Well that sounds like major progress to me if they're second behind Canon

Who said they were second?

Sony have really tumbled from when they owned consumer electronics when I was growing up in the Eighties.

That inter-division warfare has them reeling. Phones may be next to go (as good as they actually are).

[Cambo]

Definitely NOT what Canon just did...A big countdown to the Apple ad from 1990 they decided to copy, and a really, really slow loading, low-res 'flash' type website that everybody was sick of by 2001:

Canon See Impossible

And now, the fans' sarcasm:

http://www.canonwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/1939676_102019639966563...49336835_o.jpg

Wow. And you thought Pentax was bad...they're giving us GREAT gear!

Cheers,
Cameron

[mamethot]

It's more like Display: Impossible lol

[Clavius]

That inter-division warfare has them reeling. Phones may be next to go (as good as they actually are).

Seems so unfair. I got the Xperia Z1 and it's fantastic compared to the Iphone 5 I had prior to it.

[bossa]

Older list - lenses advertised or patented by Pentax as full-frame lenses

1. FA 31mm f1.8 Limited
2. FA 43mm f1.9 Limited
3. DFA 50mm f2.8 macro
4. FA 50mm f1.4
5. DA 50mm f1.8
6. FA 77mm f1.8 Limited
7. DFA 100mm f/2.8 macro
8. DA* 300mm f4

Also FF-covering:
9. DA*200mm f2.8
10. DA 35mm f2.4
11. DA 40mm f2.8
12. DA 55mm f1.4

About 40 lenses including third party...
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/183420-curr...#ixzz3FHu65d19

I count 15 lenses for Fuji right now.

DA*200 is a redesigned FA*200 so it is a FF lens.

[clackers]

Seems so unfair. I got the Xperia Z1 and it's fantastic compared to the Iphone 5 I had prior to it.

+1, Clavius. I do kayaking and hiking, so a WR handset would be not vital, but useful. And it's a good phone, period.

[dickgrafixstop]

I'd see a full frame offering as a photographic "hail mary" in today's marketplace. To echo the topic "what Pentax needs to do" is simple, it had better
improve it's marketing and market coverage or pray for yet another buy-out (perhaps Samsung). The products are not available in local camera stores, the advertising for brand awareness in nearly non-existent or at best ineffective, and the user base is slowly deserting or seeking alternatives. The existing product line is excellent, but it doesn't matter if no one knows or cares. Until Pentax increases its visibility and spreads the word about it's products and the capabilities available, anything else it does is merely pissing upwind.

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

I'd see a full frame offering as a photographic "hail mary" in today's marketplace. To echo the topic "what Pentax needs to do" is simple, it had better
improve it's marketing and market coverage or pray for yet another buy-out (perhaps Samsung). The products are not available in local camera stores, the advertising for brand awareness in nearly non-existent or at best ineffective, and the user base is slowly deserting or seeking alternatives. The existing product line is excellent, but it doesn't matter if no one knows or cares. Until Pentax increases its visibility and spreads the word about it's products and the capabilities available, anything else it does is merely pissing upwind.

This doesn't seem to be the case in the UK, where Pentax is in quite a few B&M stores. One main Pentax dealer does not even carry Canon stuff.

[Kunzite]

pray for yet another buy-out (perhaps Samsung).

Pray for it?
Buy-outs are extremely disruptive events, we should know, we witnessed 2 of them (one was actually a hostile takeover). Expect uncertainty. Expect slowdowns in product announcements. Expect lots of internal changes right after the takeover, which could take years. If you think Pentax is behind now, how it would be after another buy-out?
And if it's Samsung, expect Pentax - the brands and the products - to vanish, patents and all resources being diverted for the NX line-up. There's no way Samsung would buy Pentax and support the K-mount much more than their own NX system. There's no reason for Samsung to want supporting K-mount at all - they gave up on that for the NX.

Fortunately it won't happen; Ricoh doesn't need nor want to get rid of their now profitable consumer camera business.

[Clavius]

+1, Clavius. I do kayaking and hiking, so a WR handset would be not vital, but useful. And it's a good phone, period.

I've used it to locate the hiding place of a Mantis shrimp behind the rocks in my aquarium. I completely sumberged it in the salt water whilst it transferred the screen image to our TV via the wifi connection. After that I was able to deal with the unwanted critter.

Seems off topic, but it's not. This only goes to show how having a very good product and good marketing still doesn't even guarantee success. The market prefers certain brands currently, and can't be influenced.

Ricoh is doing a good job at recognizing that. And at slowly and strategically rebuilding the name. It's just never quick enough for us enthusiasts.

[kadajawi]

Samsung has made itself synonymous for smartphone through a massive marketing campaign and having been there from the start. The third Android phone ever was AFAIK a Samsung Galaxy... and they stuck to that brand. They made affordable enough phones, so that everyone could have a Galaxy. I'd expect Sony to be able to fight back, but they are doing too little, too late.

Samsung's flagship phone is water proof too, btw.

But their marketshare is eroding. Chinese brands are attacking on all levels. Lenovo, Oppo and Huawei with entry to mid, perhaps high end phones, OnePlus on the high end and Xiaomi on the mid to high end of things. Xiaomi is extremely successful, they usually have a phone or two in the top ten of best selling phones in the world. I own two Xiaomi phones and am very happy.

Back to cameras. Samsung wouldn't buy Pentax, there is not much value in Pentax for them. Technically they have surpassed Pentax anyway. Maybe the lens designers, but they can get those in other ways I guess.