[totsmuyco]

I'm not interested in FF but if it's true, I'm happy for those who want it. It would be great to see it come.

As for me, I hope they'll keep us APS-C users happy.

[boriscleto]

LOL

CONFIRMED! Pentax to Release Full Frame Camera! | New Camera News

But thanks to our new corporate overlords, we are happy to announce that in 2015 Pentax will introduce their first full frame digital camera, the first digital Pentax to utilize the sensor size that the lens mount and lenses were designed for, the full 1″ frame Q2!

Currently, Pentax Q owners have to suffer the ignominy of using cropped 1/2.3 and 1/1.7 sensors. But the monkey is finally off of our backs, and in 2015, Pentax users will finally be confident in the knowledge that their Q2 cameras are finally using the full 1″ frame that they were designed for. The Q2 will be released, fittingly, in Q2 of 2015, and will be available in 8,000 different colors.

[normhead]

Pentax better release their FF soon or else many will switch to Canikony for good !!!
I read the article and see promises, no quote cited, no "officially"

The man in the interview was a Pentax spokesman, who clearly only said what he was authorized to say. Since he's a Pentax official, I'd argue the Full Frame has been officially announced. And I love it that it was done in a PF interview. Or does official now mean , on a website on the internet these days?

[Stavri]

SR will have less room not only physical but also within the image circle. So it will not be suited for longer focal distances where more compensation is required. Alternative would be to increase the image circle to larger than the FF-sensor 43.3mm. That is why I think the new telezooms will have sr built in. SR in FF is possible because Sony is already doing it in the A99 and also did in the a850 and a900.

There could be something to that. If you study the shell of the newly announced "under engineering" lenses the speculated 70/80-200mm f2.8 has a wide base, and two switches. Rumor has it that pentax might be introducing IS on their lenses, the second switch could be the IS switch (or just a limiter)
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/273243-buil...zoom-lens.html

Yes, "under development" could simple mean "we've gotten a sheet of paper to start drawing on. Now where's that pencil...?"

I only have maybe 2 lenses that would work on it, so I'm not interested.

These are my lenses that "would work on it": Pentax FF, can't wait!!!

Sigma Ex Dg 12-24mm f4.5-5.6, Pentax-F 28mm f2.8, Pentax-F 50mm f1.4, Sigma Ex Dg 50mm f1.4 HSM, Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 HSM Macro II, Pentax-F 135mm f2.8, Sigma Ex Dg 180mm f3.5 Macro, Sigma Ex dg 300mm f2.8

---

Last edited by Stavri; 09-17-2014 at 07:16 AM.

[Rondec]

Given the amount of technology that could transfer UP from a K-3 and DOWN from a 645Z there is some logic to incrementally increasing the number of units distributing these 'sunk' technology costs. They might not need to sell so many FF's to make a profit, or even to break even and sell lenses.

There always remains the possibility that a body large enough to allow full sensor shift within the 36x24 image circle is bigger than Ricoh's design ethic (and customer demands) will permit. So there also remains the possibility that the designed image capture area on a FF sensor with IBIS is slightly cropped. That decision alone might have cost Ricoh several quarters of R&D development and experimentation, so that they might have decided two years ago to proceed with a FF IF and ONLY IF this problem was solved or decided.

What if they abandoned IBIS in a FF two years ago and have spent their time these last years developing ILIS? Would you feel betrayed? I don't think they have done - but that's a possibility.

Perhaps the change in tone indicates the decision has been made and now 'development' means designing the manufacturing process and other further process engineering. Perhaps 'assessing the market' doesn't refer to sales projections, but rather means negotiating with component suppliers for longer-term contracts, taking into account potential future releases we haven't even thought of but they have on their internal development roadmaps. For instance asahi man commented that planned cameras and 'the next cameras' will have Sony sensors. In that case, the possibility exist that if the market for components doesn't allow low enough cost - no FF. I'm a gaijin, but I'm at least aware that little is ever actually revealed in conversation with a Japanese. OTOH, slight changes in wording can be very meaningful - I assume there is a desire NOT to give false hope.

We accuse them of being hide-bound. I imagine they're pretty smart cookies who know how to make high quality stuff and make money doing it.

Things are what they are. Accept them, complain about them or do something else - but none of those responses will change things.

The problem is that they need a feature or, features that compare well to other full frame options out there. What can those be? IBIS is the only obvious one I can think of. If they abandoned that as not feasible, with all of the fun things it offers on the side (AA filter, astro tracker, etc), I don't know what other feature they can stick in that would sell in the market. Small size? NEX Series cameras are there already. Better ergonomics? That's a tough sell in the market. Not sure how you advertise it. Connectivity? Nikon is already there.

As to sharing tech, I feel that this camera will not be able to share things like focus module, as the K3 one wouldn't have adequate coverage. Medium format is a different beast, since most medium format cameras aren't know for auto focus anyway -- many have only a single auto focus point.

[D1N0]

I have exactly 2 lenses that won't work on it the 18-55 DA WR and the Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4.5. The rest will work fine. (about 40 of them). Bring it on. Most of them are easily adaptable to a nice an compact sony a7 as well. So better hurry up.

[MichalW]

LOL

CONFIRMED! Pentax to Release Full Frame Camera! | New Camera News

hehehe "available in 8,000 different colors" and in Q system.. obviously they have a great sens of humor

[monochrome]

The problem is that they need a feature or, features that compare well to other full frame options out there.

I understand. I agree.

I'm just attempting to suggest people consider the possibility Ricoh might actually know what they are doing, and why (for reasons that we don't see) before going off on how bad they are and benighted and how they're dooming the brand to oblivion.

Probably not worth the effort. One can't hold back the tide.

[normhead]

I understand. I agree.

I'm just attempting to suggest people consider the possibility Ricoh might actually know what they are doing, and why (for reasons that we don't see) before going off on how bad they are and benighted and how they're dooming the brand to oblivion.

Probably not worth the effort. One can't hold back the tide.

Ya, you're trying to put your finger in the dike when the hole was made by a canon ball.
For myself, I don't care about what they should or shouldn't do. If they made a k-1000 clone with a needle to centre to get your exposure right, it wouldn't bother me. For me, I could care less as long as it works. I'm not sure why people get so caught up in these things. They made a K-3, they made a 645z, the FF isn't going to be a wash. Get a little grounded here. And people hoping of a favourite feature, like kids asking mommy and daddy for something for christmas. There's about 50,000 users who will probably buy this camera. It isn't just about you...
If it take great images and uses Pentax glass, at some point I'll buy it. I don't care about the rest. I don't have to. I like all my other Pentax camera bodies, why wouldn't I like this one? I pretty much nixed WiFi when I turned down the Canon6d, most of the features people say they have to have, I've already passed on.

[luftfluss]

Despite Samsung bragging about "Schneider" designing those lenses, they were made by Pentax.

No, they really were made by Schneider...

[dekosuke]

who knows ff model still be "K" mount?

[luftfluss]

Thanks for the support Clavius.

I did think 60-70% was ambitious, but wanted to make a point that even that sort of loss was a lot of money for some people.

Needless to say, I think people like you and I need to make this clear to those who say "don't like it...then go away". It's a bit more than that...we've placed trust and invested in a company that refuses to deliver.

Actually, if you bought FA Ltd.'s a few years ago, its possible you can totally recoup your "investment".

[mecrox]

The problem is that they need a feature or, features that compare well to other full frame options out there. What can those be? IBIS is the only obvious one I can think of. If they abandoned that as not feasible, with all of the fun things it offers on the side (AA filter, astro tracker, etc), I don't know what other feature they can stick in that would sell in the market. Small size? NEX Series cameras are there already. Better ergonomics? That's a tough sell in the market. Not sure how you advertise it. Connectivity? Nikon is already there.

As to sharing tech, I feel that this camera will not be able to share things like focus module, as the K3 one wouldn't have adequate coverage. Medium format is a different beast, since most medium format cameras aren't know for auto focus anyway -- many have only a single auto focus point.

If you don't want to spend much money, what is a good way of making your existing money go further? You think of clever ways of re-presenting what you've already paid for. That's why (imho) Ricoh are not investing big time with new everything in their camera business but are concentrating on marketing manoeuvres which are fairly cheap to do and which can be wrapped around older tech and positioned to attract a new audience. Hence the K-S1. The result doesn't mean a camera that is deficient in any way even if the parts bin has seen some heavy action, but it does keep the costs down.

I'd guess that any FF camera would go this route: fairly standard tech wrapped into a body that does for FF what the K-S1 does for APS-C. It's that and the kind of audience it presupposes which will be the differentiator for Ricoh, not the electronics or sensor which will be good but not stellar or brand-new fare. That might cost a little bit too much. In this, it could be argued that Ricoh are taking a leaf from the Great Book of Canon. Some brands take one bite from the cherry before chucking it away and buying a new cherry. Canon and Ricoh eat it right down to the very last little bit. I guess one advantage of keeping clear of any "features war" is that Ricoh can't be deep-sixed by a competitor nearly so easily. Provided Ricoh include good enough features, and nearly any standard package these days will provide those, they can concentrate their aim on audience and lifestyle preferences, leaving the behemoths to slug it out on features alone.

That still leaves out the lenses, the one really crucial part of the equation. Without them, there is no system. Er, and the customers. Yes, Ricoh will need plenty of those. If Ricoh continue to run down their APS-C portfolio, however, in the sense that they aren't keeping it up with all the other systems out there, then I guess those pesky customers may turn out to be elusive. A newly confident and aggressive Samsung, the progress of Fuji and so forth. Really, the headaches are beginning to form into a single monster migraine. Trying to eke out a $500 dollar stake in a game when the other players seem to have a never-ending supply of $1000 chips in front of them is kinda hard.

[Stavri]

In the interview the Pentax spokesman stated the trend of continuous decline of DSLR sales. Pentax wants to make new ones, by capitalizing on the iphone/smartphone shooters who want to venture into dslr or mirrorless territory. This is the reasoning behind the somewhat peculiar design of the KS-1, and novel smartphone and point-and-shoot features like face tracking and interactive lights. All the PF members are converts, they're already consuming Pentax products, Ricoh has its eye on making new ones. Product like KS1 and K-01, K-3 show that they're willing to take risks and innovate. I'm fully convinced that official news confirming the release of FF will be coming very soon, Ricoh will hopefully use the same unveiling strategy for the 645Z and not announce it two weeks before the product is unveiled. On a side note, I think the reason they didn't mention FF at Photokina is because they'll plan their own separate event for the unveiling of their first FF DSLR, its that monumental.

I think that all those who are jumping ship because of lack of pentax FF, they'll be coming back in little time

[K-9]

I know this is about FF and when for Pentax to release their entry in this field.

It seems that Pentax now decided IF to do it (yes), hence the FF lenses. But just not WHEN to do it, still studying and waiting.

In this regard, I consider the release of the Samsung NX1 a much larger event. It is a much larger threat to Pentax APSC business than, e.g., Sony A7 or Nikon D750 / D610. Esp. should Samsung ever come out with a good K mount AF converter.

Something they have all right to do, given their K mount lenses done for the GX10 and GX20. And reason (catch the K mount market) and know how too.

If I were Pentax, I'd start to panic rather than study the market ... Pentax, thull throttle now or never.

The NX1 looks to be a very nice camera. I already own an NX20 and a few lenses. There have also been rumours of a FF NX body.

who knows ff model still be "K" mount?

That would be the ultimate slap in the face to all existing Pentax users. In my opinion, it would be the end of the brand. However, I wouldn't put it past Ricoh to change the mount.