[Shanti]

That can and will change.

so Tamron is in Bed with Ricoh then but is there a market for the few Pentax FF that will be sold to make lenses for it ?? do wonder how many on PF will actually buy the FF??

[D1N0]

There are two scenario's: One Tamron will make more K-mount versions of their lenses. Or Two Tamron will be making Pentax branded versions of their lenses. The former will be cheaper for Pentax shooters than the latter.

Pentax smc Pentax-DA 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 ED SDM Lens 21497 B&H
Tamron AF18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD AF Lens AFB008N-700 B&H

[reh321]

so Tamron is in Bed with Ricoh then but is there a market for the few Pentax FF that will be sold to make lenses for it ?? do wonder how many on PF will actually buy the FF??

That will depend entirely on pricing!
For the lens, a high price will chase most everyone away, but a lower price could attract a lot of APS-C users.

[stevebrot]

I would love to see #1 happen. Current Pentax Service Center is probably one of the worst in any industry.

...and shared with Olympus and Sony...

Just saying


Steve

[Mistral75]

There are two scenario's: One Tamron will make more K-mount versions of their lenses. Or Two Tamron will be making Pentax branded versions of their lenses. The former will be cheaper for Pentax shooters than the latter.

(...)

You forgot to mention an additional possibility: Three Tamron will design original optical formulae and sell them to Pentax, as they did to Carl Zeiss AG (Batis Sonnar T* FE 85 mm f/1,8) or as Sigma did to Olympus (M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8) and Panasonic (Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 Asph.).

[RockvilleBob]

I do not know the history of Tamron yet I find the link to a Pentax FF curious. A full frame for better performance and low noise coupled with a primarily zoom lens company. It appears that Tamrom has 4 macro primes and 18 zoom lenses.

[mee]

...and shared with Olympus and Sony...

Just saying


Steve

You just said something then told us you just said something?

[RebelCharlie]

It may be tied in with their experience running their own service centres for the other parts of the Ricoh business (photo-copiers, data projectors etc), all of which have an imaging component too. It might be very economical for them to incorporate Pentax/Ricoh camera repairs into that.

It may also have something to do with Ricoh's aspirations to attract more big-spending photo professionals to the brand. A full-time US service centre could provide faster turn-around for service, repairs and maintenance, which pros certainly value.

I own a Sony DSLR, dead Sony DSLR, My first (and last, Sony) DSLR after film, no place to get it fixed. Need I say anything else?

[Biro]

They hinted at this as early as CP+ 2014. Also, they've obviously been working with Pentax for the past several years by offering rebadges of the 18-250 and 18-270 lenses.

Exactly. And, speaking of which, where's the Pentax-branded version of the 16-300mm with WR?

[patarok]

i would be happy if this 42MP thingy is just a transposed digits issue. and if we get an astonishing fast 24.5MP with 4K video recording that nearly every fanatic on this forum could and will effort.

I do not see any chances for framerates around 10 Stills per second if we jump on the train on which you can read "MP-Hype-Idiots---Going-Nowhere"...
Even on the 5DS(Can) with fine original Optics(even on the test Pics) you can see chromatic abberations when you zoom to 90-100%
Those pix i reviewed, were the original test-pix from Canon they put online a while after the announcement.

24.5MP is absolutely enough. imagine the sheer amount of data you get out of a pixelshift picture from the K-3II....
And how fast you could go with the Pentax FF... Imagine about 10 stills per second ... That would get us back into sports photography....
Just think about what crisp and clear pictures you would get out of this pixel density... Pentax/Ricoh gets such great results out of those sensors they use - which so ever...(no one will ever really know if there will be Sony Sensors in it ) Canons REAL Top Models... also offer a very low pixel density and bigger sensor pixel size.... and i say it again: if you want big prints talk to people who are big in printing... (The sentence i always heard when i asked for big prints and resolution dependence, i always got the same anwer: Whatever resolution your camera has) Does that finally tell you anything. Or is everyone really wild about the Megapixels? What for?

Anyway... I would be happy to kiss my new Pentax FF and my "Tamron 150-600 VC!!! USD" good night and shoot with it tomorrow...

[Matthew Saville]

Luscious MF feel and luscious raw files that can be pushed and pulled more than us currently even possible from a FF 35mm equivalent sensor. Well that's why I have one and not a Nikon FF or a Sony

I know everybody hates DXO, but the 645D is in 29th place overall, it's behind the K-5 in DR, and only a couple points ahead of the K-5 II in high ISO performance. Even if you consider DXO's numbers to be slightly inaccurate in the real world, or even intentionally skewed, the point is that a 645 isn't as "holy grail" as some might think.

While I'm certain the files do look luscious, and are quite push/pull-able, ...at the end of the day almost any MF body probably only has the two significant advantages, acuity and DOF. (I say acuity, and not resolution, because while the MP's are the same, the size of the sensor allows it to combat diffraction better...)

Either way, if the A7R II sensor is anything like the A7R and D810 sensor, and if the FF Pentax sensor is anything like the A7R II sensor, then we're in for a real treat. It will probably be an incredible jump over any 1.5x APS-C Pentax in every respect, and turn heads in the Nikon and Canon camps for sure.

However I strongly suspect this to all be false, and the sensor will in fact be a "leftover" 36 MP sensor. I really hope I'm wrong, but I'm just predicting based on what I think is likely.

[Rondec]

I know everybody hates DXO, but the 645D is in 29th place overall, it's behind the K-5 in DR, and only a couple points ahead of the K-5 II in high ISO performance. Even if you consider DXO's numbers to be slightly inaccurate in the real world, or even intentionally skewed, the point is that a 645 isn't as "holy grail" as some might think.

While I'm certain the files do look luscious, and are quite push/pull-able, ...at the end of the day almost any MF body probably only has the two significant advantages, acuity and DOF. (I say acuity, and not resolution, because while the MP's are the same, the size of the sensor allows it to combat diffraction better...)

Either way, if the A7R II sensor is anything like the A7R and D810 sensor, and if the FF Pentax sensor is anything like the A7R II sensor, then we're in for a real treat. It will probably be an incredible jump over any 1.5x APS-C Pentax in every respect, and turn heads in the Nikon and Canon camps for sure.

However I strongly suspect this to all be false, and the sensor will in fact be a "leftover" 36 MP sensor. I really hope I'm wrong, but I'm just predicting based on what I think is likely.

There is a big difference between the sensor in the 645D (a pretty old CCD sensor) and the one in the 645Z (newest CMOS tech from Sony). From what I've seen, if DXO Mark ever tests the 645Z, it will be up at the top of their charts. Size of sensor does matter, assuming similar level of tech.

[Matthew Saville]

i would be happy if this 42MP thingy is just a transposed digits issue. and if we get an astonishing fast 24.5MP with 4K video recording that nearly every fanatic on this forum could and will effort.

I do not see any chances for framerates around 10 Stills per second if we jump on the train on which you can read "MP-Hype-Idiots---Going-Nowhere"...
Even on the 5DS(Can) with fine original Optics(even on the test Pics) you can see chromatic abberations when you zoom to 90-100%
Those pix i reviewed, were the original test-pix from Canon they put online a while after the announcement.

24.5MP is absolutely enough. imagine the sheer amount of data you get out of a pixelshift picture from the K-3II....
And how fast you could go with the Pentax FF... Imagine about 10 stills per second ... That would get us back into sports photography....
Just think about what crisp and clear pictures you would get out of this pixel density... Pentax/Ricoh gets such great results out of those sensors they use - which so ever...(no one will ever really know if there will be Sony Sensors in it ) Canons REAL Top Models... also offer a very low pixel density and bigger sensor pixel size.... and i say it again: if you want big prints talk to people who are big in printing... (The sentence i always heard when i asked for big prints and resolution dependence, i always got the same anwer: Whatever resolution your camera has) Does that finally tell you anything. Or is everyone really wild about the Megapixels? What for?

Anyway... I would be happy to kiss my new Pentax FF and my "Tamron 150-600 VC!!! USD" good night and shoot with it tomorrow...

I absolutely agree that 24 is enough for 90% of photographers. In fact I'll even say that Pentax would be smart to borrow a Nikon D750 sensor for their first FF body, and worry about trying to procure the A7R II sensor later once their system catches on and gains support.

However, the BSI aspect of the A7R II sensor could be a huge selling point. It might even have better image quality than existing 36 MP sensors, and nearly match the 24 MP sensors, but who knows. All I know is that, as a landscape photographer, a camera like this would be a real workhorse, and a great compliment to an existing 24 MP camera like a K-3 II.

(Even though I do think they should do a 24 MP sensor first!)

---------- Post added 06-26-15 at 08:00 PM ----------

There is a big difference between the sensor in the 645D (a pretty old CCD sensor) and the one in the 645Z (newest CMOS tech from Sony). From what I've seen, if DXO Mark ever tests the 645Z, it will be up at the top of their charts. Size of sensor does matter, assuming similar level of tech.

You're quite right, for some reason I saw 645Z and thought it was a film camera. Must have gotten it mixed up with Mamiya. Either way, if the 645Z sensor is made by Sony, I'd suspect that its general IQ isn't that much above and beyond what the current champions, the D810 and A7R II allegedly, are pulling off. But I'll look forward to hearing a report if they ever publish one!

[GlassJunkie]

I absolutely agree that 24 is enough for 90% of photographers. In fact I'll even say that Pentax would be smart to borrow a Nikon D750 sensor for their first FF body, and worry about trying to procure the A7R II sensor later once their system catches on and gains support.

However, the BSI aspect of the A7R II sensor could be a huge selling point. It might even have better image quality than existing 36 MP sensors, and nearly match the 24 MP sensors, but who knows. All I know is that, as a landscape photographer, a camera like this would be a real workhorse, and a great compliment to an existing 24 MP camera like a K-3 II.

(Even though I do think they should do a 24 MP sensor first!)

---------- Post added 06-26-15 at 08:00 PM ----------



You're quite right, for some reason I saw 645Z and thought it was a film camera. Must have gotten it mixed up with Mamiya. Either way, if the 645Z sensor is made by Sony, I'd suspect that its general IQ isn't that much above and beyond what the current champions, the D810 and A7R II allegedly, are pulling off. But I'll look forward to hearing a report if they ever publish one!

A 24mp FF sensor, and frankly a 36mp FF is an"also ran" Pentax is not stupid enough to do it since the pixel density of K-3/ K-3II are already better than 36mpFF. It's 42Mpff with PS or 50 to "go broke" Ricoh has more confidence than Canon/ Nikon. They sell to the masses and rely on Pro Hype. If the "Hype" changes, bricks and mortar evaporate....

[JPT]

Reading some of this discussion, I wonder how many of you have read this interview with Sony about the new sensor. It seems to have several new technologies incorporated into it beside BSI - new materials, new read-out technology, processors integrated on the rear side and phase detection pixels.

Sony Q&A: The must-have sensor tech of the future?

Some of the key points are:
- 42mp was not chosen at random. It was chosen to make 4K video quality better after downsampling. So, the sensor should beat everything but the A7s for 4K video.
- The new sensor has better ISO performance than the 36mp sensor, which was great anyway, because it was a bigger version the K-5's 16mp sensor.

The question is whether Ricoh wants to pay for it. And the question that follows is whether Pentaxians are willing to pay for the camera, the lenses required, and a more powerful computer to deal with the files.