[Larrymc]

Yet grousing about theoretical grousing from a vague, undefined party is still grousing too. kettle, pot dilemma

Thanks so much for your wonderfully sanctimonious comment....its much appreciated

[alcstudios]

I get the impression that Pentax is just a hobby for Ricoh

I feel the same way and have for a while now but I stuck around because I really like my Pentax equipment but it's more than a hobby to me, I spent a little over 5 grand last Friday and unfortunately it did not go to Ricoh/Pentax.

[biz-engineer]

I feel the same way and have for a while now but I stuck around because I really like my Pentax equipment but it's more than a hobby to me, I spent a little over 5 grand last Friday and unfortunately it did not go to Ricoh/Pentax.

Did you get a GFX50S or a Phase One XF100MP for professional works? Or were you disappointed that Ricoh did not release the apsc successor for professionals?

[alcstudios]

Did you get a GFX50S or a Phase One XF100MP for professional works? Or were you disappointed that Ricoh did not release the apsc successor for professionals?

I shoot mainly Motocross/Baseball outdoors and Basketball/Volleyball indoors, I bought the D500 with the 16-80 and the 70-200 VRii lenses. I wanted to wait for the Pentax release but my K3 has a tad over 160k clicks on it so it was probably on it's last leg anyway and not a peep from the Pentax pipeline.

I never thought about switching brands but a few weeks ago I got to use another photographers D500 with the 70-200 VRii lens and was quite frankly blown away by it, Pentax has served me well though from the K10D all the way to my K3. I will keep my Pentax gear, it will be used if/when I use my strobes for indoor work, Nothing can produce colors like a Pentax camera with Pentax glass.

[RGlasel]

I shoot mainly Motocross/Baseball outdoors and Basketball/Volleyball indoors, I bought the D500 with the 16-80 and the 70-200 VRii lenses.

Really difficult sports to shoot, I don't blame you for going with a top end Nikon system. I'm curious how the 70-200 zoom works with the dimensions of basketball and volleyball courts on APS-C, do you find a need to switch zooms during games?

[mee]

Thanks so much for your wonderfully sanctimonious comment....its much appreciated

I'm glad you appreciate my pointing out your grousing about future potential grousing is indeed grousing all the same.

[alcstudios]

Really difficult sports to shoot, I don't blame you for going with a top end Nikon system. I'm curious how the 70-200 zoom works with the dimensions of basketball and volleyball courts on APS-C, do you find a need to switch zooms during games?

I just got the Nikon Friday evening, I shot some Baseball yesterday and went to an mx practice track today so haven't tried it indoors but I have the 16-80 so it should be good. With the K3 I used the 16-50 and the 50-135 back and forth until they both died from multiple SDM failures, switched over the Sigma 17-50 and 70.200.

I had the Sig 17-50 on my K7 and the 70-200 on the K3 but the low light capabilities of the K7 were terrible. just went with the K3 and swapped lenses every now and then.

The 70-200 is great for the far side of the court but way to long for the near side. I can get up high in the stands and use it but pictures shot from the stands do not show the emotion or the action very well.

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Last edited by alcstudios; 10-28-2018 at 05:13 PM.

[bdery]

But, more and more, I get the impression that Pentax is just a hobby for Ricoh.. a brand with a lot of history and a national pride for Japan to keep going for the sake of keeping it going. They'll get to whatever they get to whenever they feel like getting to it. That seems to be the train of thought imo..

I'm certainly hoping Ricoh sees Pentax as a revenue source, not a living room decoration...

[Kunzite]

I'm hoping there are some synergies between the consumer cameras and the various business oriented imaging divisions
Having Pentax as a brand is only the cherry on top.

[RGlasel]

I'm hoping there are some synergies between the consumer cameras and the various business oriented imaging divisions

There are many potential synergies (for instance Ricoh manufactures printed circuit boards and customized IC's), but it seems to me that the consumer side of photographic equipment is where state of the art resides and is definitely where most of the competitive pressure to innovate is. The only real benefit from the business oriented business that I can think of is in manufacturing processes, with the ability to produce tooling (Ricoh has a precision machining division) internally instead of sending it out. In theory, Ricoh should be able to bring new Pentax products to market faster than its competitors.

[Kunzite]

AFAIR Olympus once stated that they will never give up on consumer imaging, because of the synergies with the medical division.

We know there's technological transfer and collaboration between Ricoh Imaging and the rest of the Ricoh Group.
A recent example, using Ricoh simulation technologies to more easily design the D FA* 50mm f/1.4. The Clarity Adjustment is yet another Ricoh technology, and the original Theta project was Ricoh's.
Ricoh Imaging, of course, contributes back - though it might be more difficult to give examples.

[RGlasel]

using Ricoh simulation technologies to more easily design the D FA* 50mm f/1.4.

The theory behind finite element analysis has been around since the 1940's (interesting, to me at least, that one of the founders of the Finite Element Method, Alexander Hrennikoff, was a professor of civil engineering at University of British Columbia) and has been implemented in software since the 1960's by NASA and since the 1970's by Boeing and Dassault. Undoubtedly, it helped that Ricoh had engineers familiar with FEA in other divisions, because I wouldn't expect Pentax R&D staff to be experienced in dynamic structural analysis. But my point was that the impetus to innovate in the photographic equipment industry comes from the consumer side, not the industrial side and the only real benefit that I can see to Pentax from being a part of Ricoh is having internal access to manufacturing process technology, as opposed to getting that technology from third parties.


The other side of that equation is that state of the art optical technology is not readily available off the shelf. Whether it is for medical imaging or various other industrial applications, it is the technology transfer from top notch manufacturers of photographic equipment for personal buyers to the large industrial manufacturers that own them that creates value, not the other way around. It really is all about the glass.

[RonHendriks1966]

I would say.....take your pics on where coöperation could ad value.

Industrial Products | Ricoh

They are ending the lenses on security, that part is going to Tokina Kenko.

[woodworm]

Thank you for the write up.

tbh the most disappointing thing for me in that was the Sigma response - personally I've always like their lenses, maybe even more than the Pentax lenses (don't shoot me) - better colours and sharper but missing weather sealing and I do like the quick shift on the Pentax lenses. If the 'internet' and it's reviews didn't exist I would pick a Sigma over any other brand any day.

Regardless of that, I am happy with my existing lenses - all I want is a body that has better auto focus. I want to be able to track animals and get 8 out 10 in focus and not bin 8 out of 10 like I do with my K5ii. I've never believed that any of the more recent cameras would give me anymore than a minor update on that. If I could have one 'wish' - I would want them to go back to the K10d body (I realise this won't happen, but anything smaller is poor show).

This sounds like I'm knocking Pentax and I guess it is - but for 50% of the photo's I take I love them and absolutely wouldn't want another brand. But the 50% I shoot on holiday or as landscape isn't the the other 50% where I'm shooting fast moving pets that (I) need continous AF or now that I'm attempting to make video.

I just had a flash back to when I had a Samsung GX20 and Pentax added video to their K7 (I think) and saying 'if you want a video camera, buy a video camera' and now I'm one of those people wanting 4k! I guess 'needs' change.

[D1N0]

Photoplus isn't really a big release fair. There was a Pentax stand, instead of just a retailer showing of Pentax cameras. It means Ricoh is serious about the US market. Reps are not going to say anything that hasn't been disclosed by Ricoh Japan yet. No need to be disappointed in it or read more than it there is to see in it.