Originally posted by jatrax Ricoh is not Pentax. Pentax had a reputation as a bargain brand. whether it intended that or not. Ricoh does not. Look at recent prices for all introductions. 16-85 for example. Cheap Pentax is no more, Ricoh intends to make money in the way they do in their other segments, one sale at a time. Anyway, you stated your opinion, I stated mine. Let's revisit this in December and see who is right.
I think you are $1,000 short on that number, at least for release price. But we will see in 6 months or so. All indications we have had from people who might actually know something is that this camera:
1) Will be aimed at the "professional" market
2) Will be more expensive than Pentax users are used to
3) Will use the latest technology available
If those are the stated parameters I don't see a release price under $3,300 or even $3,500.
I keep hearing that this camera is for the Pentax users with pent up demand. What if it is not? What if Ricoh has found and is going to target a completely different market?
What if as I said in my first post they do not care about the current user base but want to start over with a group willing to pay for a $3,500 camera?
Haven't read the whole thread so risking that....
One could argue that a mythical $2300 camera is aimed at the professional market (which in reality has no definition), is more expensive than Pentax users are used to, and uses the latest technology. You don't need a $3500 camera to do those.
It's an axiom of sales that it's much harder to get a new customer than to keep a current one. Any strategy that alienates current customers in favor of getting new ones is fighting uphill. Also, in the question of features vs price, it's better to disappoint a customer than to alienate him or her. You can recover from the former while you often can't from the latter. Features can disappoint, price can alienate.