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10-11-2014, 11:56 PM   #31
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QuoteOriginally posted by bobdobbs Quote
I wonder how many more Isuzus were sold because of the "Handling by Lotus" badge on them. Probably not many. I'll bet it was a good deal for Lotus, though.

Yeap..., but what 99% of car buyers worldwide never knew about this "strange marriage" is the following two facts:

1: The "Handling by Lotus" badge on the ISUZUS was based on a special suspension tuning. That's all, but at the same time, all Lotus Elan roadster convertibles were built with ISUZU drivetrains ( engine + transmission).

2: While ISUZU was beleived to be Japanese and LOTUS a British car maker, only people within the auto industry ever saw the connection between them. The fact is that by those years (mid to lat 80's), both companies (plus others from Europe and Asia) were subsidiaries of GMODC (General Motors Overseas Division Corporation.

Such occurrence should remind us that there may be far more extensive and intricate connections between brands and manufacturing companies, that show us the face of "competitors" when in reality they co-exist under the same roof and under the same management.

10-13-2014, 09:02 AM   #32
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I always said camera companies should get their names into the smartphone business....I believe several PF members told me it was a stupid idea but it looks like Ricoh and Canon don't think its such a bad idea. Just look at how smartphones have taken a chunk out of the P&S market.
10-13-2014, 04:21 PM   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by GateCityRadio Quote
I always said camera companies should get their names into the smartphone business....I believe several PF members told me it was a stupid idea but it looks like Ricoh and Canon don't think its such a bad idea. Just look at how smartphones have taken a chunk out of the P&S market.
I believe we are on EXACTLY the same page here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/275204-ricoh-wg-30-wg-30w-3.html
(see post # 39, from just YESTERDAY!)

Regular cameras, as in "image capturing devices" could be easily seen as what use to be the "snail mail system" worldwide with stamps included. With the web and e-mail, plus e-trade and safe transactions, added to digital signature, the regular mail (snail mail) has almost no reason to exist. Except maybe in some fourth world small country or abandoned island who still live in the dark ages. All mail companies that have survived the e-mail, e-trade business, have transformed into "couriers" that do nothing more and nothing less than to carry back and forth all the stuff bought, sold, traded, "stolen" or whatever, by the e-trade business.

It is not Nikon or Canon who Pentax has to fear about for future markets, especially in the compact camera market. Its precisely Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Blackberry and maybe others, that already have a good chunk of the smartphone markets and are everyday improving their built in "image capturing devices" (cameras), with the facility of instant sharing, storage (cloud) and social networking interaction.

Remember that for many years, the pro photographer market was "subsidized" by the Sunday shooters. It is because of their size of business, that pros had film availability, pro labs for printing and slide developing and such. As soon as the regular Jane and John switched to digital and no longer purchased film and developing (printing) services, the photo market avalanche started with an obscure and sometimes unbelievable ending. Film is no longer available at the regular channels, neither is photo finishing and whatever is left, it is on unbelievable prices and very scarce in availability.
10-13-2014, 07:55 PM   #34
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The whole idea is totally pointless, unless the lens, in some future smartphone from Sharp, is not made for a larger sized sensor (like the latest Panasonic) and is rather brilliant optically.

The whole fame of the GR name and line was made in 35mm film era. Then the fame and flame was almost lost for a decade, in Ricoh’s haze of unclear thought about what to do with its only star product, and almost killing the whole idea by using uber small sensor and inadequate processing inside the compact digital GR. Only valuable point was its handling. Then with the purchase of Pentax, the GR has finally became something worth mentioning again — Ricoh finally had a thinking force to move it from digital obscurity.

So the history and significance of the GR has somewhat resurrected with an APS-C GR, but is still far from being a brand name that can sell smartphones that use some uber small sensor and tiny optics. It didn’t work for the GR itself — it almost killed it — nor it will work for the smartphone as such. Even now, the GR brand name also means default bad or below average video performance.

There are some lines companies should never step over, or at least, should think over and over again before making silly moves. I hope this GR buzz is not one of those pure nonsense hubbubs signed off by self-indulgent and drunk managers that no one will ever care about (as it usually happens).


Last edited by Uluru; 10-13-2014 at 09:38 PM.
12-11-2014, 12:47 PM   #35
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On the other hand, we photographers would look seriously at this smartphone. I have a Nokia 808 and the two things that annoy me about it are the hard-not-to-blow highlights and the abandoned operating system. If this sharp phone has wider dynamic range, android and otherwise competitive image quality, then I'd be very interested.
12-15-2014, 12:30 PM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by Uluru Quote
The whole idea is totally pointless, unless the lens, in some future smartphone from Sharp, is not made for a larger sized sensor (like the latest Panasonic) and is rather brilliant optically.

The whole fame of the GR name and line was made in 35mm film era. Then the fame and flame was almost lost for a decade, in Ricoh’s haze of unclear thought about what to do with its only star product, and almost killing the whole idea by using uber small sensor and inadequate processing inside the compact digital GR. Only valuable point was its handling. Then with the purchase of Pentax, the GR has finally became something worth mentioning again — Ricoh finally had a thinking force to move it from digital obscurity.

So the history and significance of the GR has somewhat resurrected with an APS-C GR, but is still far from being a brand name that can sell smartphones that use some uber small sensor and tiny optics. It didn’t work for the GR itself — it almost killed it — nor it will work for the smartphone as such. Even now, the GR brand name also means default bad or below average video performance.

There are some lines companies should never step over, or at least, should think over and over again before making silly moves. I hope this GR buzz is not one of those pure nonsense hubbubs signed off by self-indulgent and drunk managers that no one will ever care about (as it usually happens).
from a North American perspective you might be right but in Asia the GR has done quite well and is respected by the same community that respects leica and zeiss (with good reason the GR has always been a top performer) , it's also bee relatively popular in Europe (it's only recently they've more actively pursued selling it here)
And getting tied to the #3 phone maker is not a bad thing in what has to be the most advanced phone market in the world. Almost all advancement in mobile tech seems to test first in japan and has for a long time. Items that you couldn't give away here frequently are mainstream mass market products there (remember Mini Disc)
Anything that keeps the brand and product line in the mind of the biggest sector of camera users (Smart Phones) is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, In fact I think they are a little slow getting there to be honest.
Will i change my iPhone for a Sharp? not likely between the phone and the iPads in the house we share far too many apps to start over unless there is a really compelling reason (a good camera isn't one for me I own several good cameras from several companies)
12-15-2014, 01:24 PM   #37
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Check out this new Sharp Aquos Crystal. Pretty cool looking…

Review: Sharp Aquos Crystal | Android and Me



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