[LXNights]

Well it has been over three years and one pandemic later, a global chip shortage, supply chain disruptions, and Pentax comes out with the K3iii. The K1ii wasn't the last Pentax and I predict the future will be more unpredictable than any of us can imagine.

The prediction that is more likely is that Pentax will be the last to continue making and supporting DSLRs.

When Canikony shooters call Pentax "old-school", perhaps it's not because they think Pentax doesn't exist, but that it is the brand that didn't jump on the mirrorless new school.

Just about everyone and his illegitimate sister-in-law has been trying to be THE ONE to put Pentax's last foot in the grave, and it hasn't happened yet. Alex645 is right, Pentax has introduced the K-3iii and new Ricoh GR cameras, and with a returning CEO starting a Pentax revival group on his first day, there is very good reason to be cautiously optimistic. Let's wait and see.

[andy271]

I think the best thing pentax can do and i hope they read this join the L alliance with panasonic ,lecia sigma and they produce a mirroless camera that opens up a whole new market for new lenses

[clackers]

I think the best thing pentax can do and i hope they read this join the L alliance with panasonic ,lecia sigma and they produce a mirroless camera that opens up a whole new market for new lenses

I think that would be great for us, disastrous for the company.

I think Panasonic, Leica and Sigma will eventually discover this.

The Panasonic/Olympus alliance is really just Panasonic now, the common m43 platform was a disaster.

[biz-engineer]

I think that would be great for us, disastrous for the company.I think Panasonic, Leica and Sigma will eventually discover this.The Panasonic/Olympus alliance is really just Panasonic now, the common m43 platform was a disaster.

The best is when customers are trapped into a lens mount, they must buy your lenses coz camera mount, they must buy your cameras coz lens mount, and once they are invested in a lens mount it cost a ton of money to go to another lens mount.
BUT, that's not quite true anymore: some B&M camera shops now offer a part exchange program, mainly to compete against online retailers such as amazon & others.
I bought almost all my Pentax product to a B&M shop because it's very flexible, I could swap lenses and bodies, at reasonable cost (about 25% to 35% of list prices).

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Last edited by biz-engineer; 11-07-2021 at 10:53 PM.

[BigMackCam]

I think the best thing pentax can do and i hope they read this join the L alliance with panasonic ,lecia sigma and they produce a mirroless camera that opens up a whole new market for new lenses

Pentax wouldn't have a hope if Ricoh joined it to the L-mount alliance. Panasonic, Leica and Sigma each have a long head-start in producing mirrorless cameras and lenses for L-mount, and have reached a level of maturity therein. If Pentax were to share the same mount it would forever be in "catch up" mode, and there'd be less reason for folks to buy Pentax-branded lenses. As it now stands, Pentax has a niche, almost-unique selling point -- that of being more-or-less the only actively-developed DSLR platform in a sea of competing mirrorless offerings. It's an anachronism to folks who've bought into the whole concept of "mirrorless as the future", but there's clearly still demand for cameras that provide an unadulterated optical view through the lens, and demand for lenses that fit those cameras. If Pentax were to give up that almost-unique selling point and its proprietary K-mount, it'd be just another mirrorless platform competing with a whole swathe of similar products...

[MMVIII]

Pentax wouldn't have a hope if Ricoh joined it to the L-mount alliance. Panasonic, Leica and Sigma each have a long head-start in producing mirrorless cameras and lenses for L-mount, and have reached a level of maturity therein. If Pentax were to share the same mount it would forever be in "catch up" mode, and there'd be less reason for folks to buy Pentax-branded lenses. As it now stands, Pentax has a niche, almost-unique selling point -- that of being more-or-less the only actively-developed DSLR platform in a sea of competing mirrorless offerings. It's an anachronism to folks who've bought into the whole concept of "mirrorless as the future", but there's clearly still demand for cameras that provide an unadulterated optical view through the lens, and demand for lenses that fit those cameras. If Pentax were to give up that almost-unique selling point and its proprietary K-mount, it'd be just another mirrorless platform competing with a whole swathe of similar products...

I think you are right. Ricoh in L-mount would mean: they produce a camera that can take lenses from other companies. The existing K-mount lenses can not be sold any better than now, nor can they be produced in L-mount without complete reconstruction. A complete new set of lenses needs to be developed and by that, even for the own cameras, stands in concurrence to already existing ones in all price brackets...
I can see where the wish from the consumer side comes from, but from the company's perspective this does not sound overly attractive to me.

[Kunzite]

I can see where the wish from the consumer side comes from, but from the company's perspective this does not sound overly attractive to me.

Precisely.
And often the consumer side is "I want a camera/lens just like this, but cheaper".

[BigMackCam]

Precisely.
And often the consumer side is "I want a camera/lens just like this, but cheaper".

Other times, it's "Company X should make the exact camera / lens / system I want, at the price I want, regardless of the economic folly in doing so and the fact that a thousand different consumers want a thousand different things"...

[Kunzite]

Other times, it's "Company X should make the exact camera / lens / system I want, at the price I want, regardless of the economic folly in doing so and the fact that a thousand different consumers want a thousand different things"...

"And it must be available today."

Yeah. Non-buyers are easy to spot.

[Lord Lucan]

The existing K-mount lenses can not be sold any better than now, nor can they be produced in L-mount without complete reconstruction. A complete new set of lenses needs to be developed

Would it really be that difficult to make L mount versions of the existing K mount lenses? As the L-mount (like all mirrorless) has a smaller flange to sensor distance, would it not just be a matter of replacing the existing lens K-mount ring by a short length of length of "plain tube" (but carrying the electrical connections) terminating in a L-mount ring? That is effectively what the K-to-mirrorless adaptors do after all, and I could probably do such a thing in my home workshop, given a K lens and a scrap L-mount lens "for spares and repairs", if I were put to it. You would not get any advantage of more compact lenses of course, but it would be a stop-gap (almost literally ).

I'm not advocating this, Pentax are better to keep to the DSLR niche. I'm just looking at it technically.

[BigMackCam]

Would it really be that difficult to make L mount versions of the existing K mount lenses? As the L-mount (like all mirrorless) has a smaller flange to sensor distance, would it not just be a matter of replacing the existing lens K-mount ring by a short length of length of "plain tube" (but carrying the electrical connections) terminating in a L-mount ring? That is effectively what the K-to-mirrorless adaptors do after all, and I could probably do such a thing myself in my home workshop, given a K lens and a scrap L-mount lens "for spares and repairs", if I were put to it. You would not get any advantage of more compact lenses of course, but it would be a stop-gap (almost literally ).

I'm not advocating this, Pentax are better to keep to the DSLR niche. I'm just looking at it technically.

I doubt L-mount users would buy Pentax lenses if they were simply longer versions of the existing models. They'd want lenses that were designed to maximise the benefits of the short flange focal distance...

[Rondec]

There is a reason that other brands, like Nikon and Canon, didn't choose to joint the L mount alliance. It sounds much bigger than it is -- Panasonic, Leica and Sigma -- except that we know that Leica and Sigma don't sell many camera bodies. In the long run, there is more profit if you can make a new mount, make desirable lenses and camera bodies for that mount. It just seems likely a very unlikely path for Pentax.

As far as making L mount versions of existing lenses, you could basically put an adapter on current lenses that have in lens motors and KAF-4 mount and they would work pretty well. Not sure how easy it is for lenses with an aperture lever that needs to be moved mechanically. Screw driven lenses would be tough.

[BigMackCam]

As far as making L mount versions of existing lenses, you could basically put an adapter on current lenses that have in lens motors and KAF-4 mount and they would work pretty well. Not sore how easy it is for lenses with an aperture lever that needs to be moved mechanically. Screw driven lenses would be tough.

My Sony LA-EA4 A-to-E-mount adapter has screw-drive, and it works very well. Aperture control is electronic with A-mount, though... I'd think an electro-mechnical diaphragm control, as needed for many Pentax lenses, would be quite a challenge and result in a rather chunky adapter.

[reh321]

I think that would be great for us, disastrous for the company.

I guess we would ‘gain’ a K-Mount to L-Mount adapter, but based on what Pentax provided in their K-Mount to Q-Mount adapter {where they owned both mounts}, I’m not sure that would be much of a true gain.

[clackers]

The best is when customers are trapped into a lens mount, they must buy your lenses coz camera mount, they must buy your cameras coz lens mount, and once they are invested in a lens mount it cost a ton of money to go to another lens mount.
BUT, that's not quite true anymore: some B&M camera shops now offer a part exchange program, mainly to compete against online retailers such as amazon & others.
I bought almost all my Pentax product to a B&M shop because it's very flexible, I could swap lenses and bodies, at reasonable cost (about 25% to 35% of list prices).

Of course, B&M shops - which I have an affection for are - like Amateur Photographer magazine - doomed, IMHO, except at the niche end.

No camera company should listen to their owners' opinions, because they speak from desperation.

In economic terms, they're like blacksmith foundries, in this modern age, a layer of unnecessary additional expense to our purchases. If we buy directly from a warehouse, we save.

After all, that's all they ever do.

Anyone under the age of 40 has no problem buying technology online without ever holding it in their hands first. In fact, the same applies to clothing, which has always baffled me. Guess I'm an old fuddy-duddy.