Originally posted by JPT I agree that there is no need to be ambiguous if Ricoh has no intention of making a FF camera. They could act like Olympus and Fuji and simply advocate their format. This is what they did for many years, but as Kunzite said, the message has changed now and is accompanied by hints on the roadmap and with the lenses they showed at Photokina.
So, if they are going to release a FF body, why not just say so? When an individual moves to another brand, it's a little sad, but we see just as many if not more welcomes as goodbyes. On the other hand, if a retailer decides to stop stocking Pentax because they have a storeroom full of K-5IIs, K-3s and DA* lenses that they can't sell, that is pretty catastrophic for Ricoh and Pentax as a brand. Would anyone buy a DA*16-50 if they knew a full frame camera was coming within a year?
So, I'm surprised they are even saying as much as they are. It makes me think it's pretty close at hand.
My point is that this has been going for on a long time now. The notion that the "FF? Yes No Maybe" saga has been going on only for two years is fanciful. Furthermore, the idea that lots of buyers would instantly pass over the existing APS-C lines if they heard that an FF was imminent is also wide of the mark. The popular theory is that an FF product at the top of the tree increases your sales at the lower end by offering a halo product and maybe for some buyers an upgrade path, not reduces them. If the retail trade started to return Pentax APS-C products because a Pentax FF was imminent on the grounds they believed they could no longer sell them, then the only conclusions would be that a) Pentax had failed to managed their trade accounts properly by stuffing the channel with soon-to-be-obsolete equipment; and b) that no Pentax products sell to new buyers, only to existing owners. This is surely rather bleak.
The current consensus suggests that FF has maybe around 10 per cent of the market, and the more expensive it is the lower that percentage slides. A buyer might more likely pass over the APS-C-only lenses, yes, but if Pentax are really worried about that then it tells us that their foray into APS-C-only lenses was ill-advised and should have ended years ago and, further, that they are busy selling us stuff they know full well we would not and should not buy if we had a choice. On this reading, barely a year ago they issued newly revised DA Limited lenses knowing full well that a lot of people who bought one might end up regretting it rather soon. That's a terrible reflection on the company and enough to cross them off many a buyer's list, never to be trusted again - but, as I said, I don't think any of this is the case at all. The vast majority of camera buyers are not in the market for FF and probably never will be. It is simply too expensive, period. If it wasn't, Canon and Nikon would long ago have stopped making any DX lenses, but in fact they still do, pretty darn good ones in some cases from what one reads and in the case of Nikon they are frequently asked to produce more of them.
This isn't what happens when you have some fiendishly clever master plan. It's what happens when you've spent too long being indecisive. However you look at it, the company gets hit in the reps. In my view, Pentax would have lost less and been better off reputationally if they had been more candid about it a long time ago. I don't expect many folks to agree with me, least of all the last one or two Pentax fanboys remaining in the wild whom God preserve (you are not they). But it is what I think.
If an FF camera appears, then it will all be water under the bridge anyway. But it is still an if. We've been here before.
One small anecdotal point: a week ago, I sent my camera dealer a list of my Pentax gear and asked for a trade-in valuation. The value offered was far higher than I had anticipated. This doesn't suggest that my dealer (a full-on Pentax Pro retailer with the entire range of products in the shop) sees Pentax FF as meaning that existing APS-C equipment is about to take a complete bath, if there is to be an FF. And, in fact, I would be very surprised if he didn't know. He hasn't remained in business for so many years by not keeping his ear to the ground.