Originally posted by johnmflores Or they could keep the AF but optimize the MF experience with a large, bright, high resolution EVF with aids like focus peaking and automatic zooming when the focus ring is turned.
This is not a technology challenge; it's a product marketing one. Not everyone wants or needs the latest tech. Some crave a unique experience. Millennial are the biggest buyers of vinyl records and the Fuji Instax is such a hit that Leica copied them. I was at the epicenter of Hipster last summer, Williamsburg Brooklyn, and some cat sitting at a folding table banging away at a typewriter while his friend leaned up against a brick wall and played saxophone. These aren't rational choices, they are emotional ones.
Release a mirrorless camera that looks like a K1000 and that doesn't have a rear LCD but can connect quickly to a phone and Ricoh may tap into that market.
Yes because that is the majority market right there.. in hipster millennials geeking out on old technology. Next you'll tell me we should give up computers and go back to typewriters because some kids decided they were the
in thing this week.
Back in reality, where you and I exist, and also where big money is risked and shareholders are chomping at the bit for big returns, you know these companies have to appeal to the largest number of people possible. I think that is why Pentax throws in video support even though it is lackluster comparatively. That is why they offer the multitude of new step-up-from-kit lenses.
We're MUCH more likely to get a camera that has the modern amenities but looks retro versus an actual retro build camera (full manual only but with a digital sensor).
We have a vocal minority of hyperniche here trying to push their weight around asking for something the market isn't quite buying in abundance. MILC in general still only holds around 10% of the market vs DSLRs that hold around 30% (based on 2015 CIPA data). And looking a few years back from then too it wasn't MILC eating DSLR share. BOTH rose eating up non-interchangable lens camera share (bridge and cheap pocketables where smartphones took over).
Now take that and think how a manual focus only, manual exposure only MILC is going to sell. It is safe to say dismally! It will appeal hugely to a select few, but they alone won't return big money back to Pentax like a K-1 has at this time.
It is really easy to dream up toys but it is another thing to expect companies to invest in them... those millenials may play with a typewriter or the instax at the moment, but they are also going to pull out their iphone or galaxy and snap photos... with a camera that is auto-everything.