[falconeye]

Rumors have been crawling across the Photokina floor today that a high level Samsung manager has given a talk which put question marks along the current strategy. Including the question of future Samsung sensors within Pentax.

I heard that the talk was given in Korean language and nobody actually knows what has really been said.

Does anybody know a source for this talk given?


Update:
The talk which is being referred to must have been this one:
http://www.samsungcamera.de/index.php?id=2439
However, there is nothng in the text (except for the word "Strategiewechsel = Change of Strategy") which would explain the extend of worries I have run across in the Pentax community. I guess that the actual talk was less "smooth" than the published text would suggest.

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Last edited by falconeye; 09-26-2008 at 04:46 PM.

[deejjjaaaa]

ask - PentaxForums.com - View Profile: miriya - he is from South Korea

[Gooshin]

so, in laymens terms, you are under the impression that what?

samsung will not supply pentax with chips, in the future?

samsung will pull the plug on chip development all together?

ergo.... pull the plus on the entire samsung DSLR product line?

whats the real issue here?

Rumors have been crawling across the Photokina floor today that a high level Samsung manager has given a talk which put question marks along the current strategy. Including the question of future Samsung sensors within Pentax.

I heard that the talk was given in Korean language and nobody actually knows what has really been said.

Does anybody know a source for this talk given?


Update:
The talk which is being referred to must have been this one:
Photokin 2008 22-09-08
However, there is nothng in the text (except for the word "Strategiewechsel = Change of Strategy") which would explain the extend of worries I have run across in the Pentax community. I guess that the actual talk was less "smooth" than the published text would suggest.

[Jonson PL]

I don’t see anything about Pentax in the German text that you mention.
Nor have I run across any worries in the Pentax community, except from outcoming trolls, or this ill-founded rumour that you have posted here.
I have seldom seen something posted with less fact around it.
Samsung needs the Pentax know-how, from decades of SLR development, and they even use the same lenses.

If something, I think there is more merit in the thought that Samsung might acquire Pentax, for an even closer relationship.
Grab you camera and snap some pictures, mine still works.

All this guessing brings nothing new to the board.
Seems like people are trying to find something to be nervous about.

[Mr. The Guy]

the question of future Samsung sensors within Pentax.

The new MF will reportedly use a Kodak sensor, the K-M uses a SONY sensor. Samsung showed no new DSLRs and is promoting a new mount. The recent Pentax Business Product Development Manager interview stated that they would buy the best sensors available not necessarily by Samsung. Samsung could have bought Pentax, but Hoya did instead. So, bye, bye Samsung. A Korean/Japanese partnership was never going to work. Samsung intimated that they want to make a FF sensor. Ya, just what a world economy about to go into a massive recession needs: a big, expensive FF camera.
A hi-end camera is more about prestige than sales. MF is far more prestigious than FF and Pentax can easily compete against the tiny MF competition. The K-M is a brilliant move. I bet the price will come down alot. Enough to really affect Samsung's P&S sales. The new Samsung micro-mount will fail.
Just because there's no 'partnership' doesn't mean that Pentax won't use a Samsung sensor in a K20D upgrade, but I bet the price will be way less than when they were 'partners'.

My take on this is:

Samsung and Pentax worked together for more than 2 years now and besides the 14 Mp sensor I see nothing that will lead someone to really believe that. They didn't did a tiny amount of what Sony did in the past 2 years although IMO they are the same size as companies and arguably have the same electronics expertise (let alone the sensor business where Sony has far greather experience). Again, IMO Samsung engineers should of rebuild all the electronics inside Pentax cameras by now to state of the art status they had plenty of time to come out with a Prime 2 processor and a very performant AF system worked together with Pentax engineers and at least another 10-12 Mp CMOS sensor with LV for the lower class cameras to replace Sony's 10Mp CCD plus embed some of their ubiquous memory chips to give all Pentax cameras better buffer than any on the market. Also by now Samsung should of produced many times larger quantities of DSLR and market them in SK and the rest of Asia at the very least. Thus they would of bought large quantities of Pentax lenses to rebrand or license them and produce themselfs also helping Pentax to develop. Instead they shut down any models besides GX20 and show no worries about present time and "spring of 2010" when their "hybrid" will presumably come out.
It's quite obvious something is not working though and whatever the reasons for that (cultural and political unease, lack of economical interest, temptation to do other class of cameras than DSLRs in the face of a much harder competition that they initially foresaw) maybe it's better to reach a resolution to this situation.

I only wonder if Hoya isn't really capable to do it all by itself that meaning design better systems for their cameras and build them in colaboration with japanese semiconductor factories of whom they should be suppliers for various products.

My 2 eurocents,
Radu

[regken]

I have to agree with Johnson PL when he says there are very few facts here but there is a great deal of information that has come out of this convention. Combine that with past interviews and it is becoming clearer as to where the market is heading. The players other than Nikon, Canon, and Sony have staked out their niche markets. I'm not thrilled with what the tea leaves are telling me but it will certainly be an interesting market to watch for the next several years. What the other niche players are going to do will be of interest to us because IMO many of us will have to own more than one system to get what we want.

Pentax/Hoya are married to the APS-C sensor and a future MF model. To my surprise Hoya is going to try and make a go of Pentax. Samsung and Pentax have stopped dating and are "just good friends". Pentax will concentrate on IQ and high ISO quality. They will improve AF but only as an aftertought so don't hold your breath for a D300 killer. It sounds like they will stick with a 3 model lineup and introduce one new model per year. The major changes Hoya brings to the table is a new pricing and volumn philosophy. Market share is no longer of interest. Profitability at a small output is acceptable. Expect Pentax to be priced higher than in the past. Their niche is the studio, landscape, static enthusiast that does not want the size of a FF camera.

Samsung, Oly, and Panasonic are all going to go after the micro mount market. It may take another two years but we will all be lusting after one of these as a travel camera. Pentax doesn't have the resources to play in this niche.

Unless Canon steps up their game Sony and Nikon are going to dominate the Soccer Mom and FF markets.

So were does this leave us? If you fit the Pentax profile of Studio, Landscape, static shooter you will be getting an APS-C body that will come close to FF IQ. The AF system will eventually be acceptable for anybody that isn't doing action shots for a living. You might have to wait another two years for the AF improvement. If you want a travel camera with interchangable lens look to Oly, Panny, or Samsung in about two years. FF is going to be a real fight between the big three.

Now back to taking static photos with my K10D and primes or shooting action or low light with my A 700 and zooms.

Regards,
Ken

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Last edited by regken; 09-27-2008 at 06:21 AM.

[thibs]

Unless Canon steps up their game Sony and Nikon are going to dominate the Soccer Mom and FF markets.
So were does this leave us?

Maybe but if K-m and DA-L is anything else then directed at soccer moms, what is it then?

[regken]

Maybe but if K-m and DA-L is anything else then directed at soccer moms, what is it then?

It is a high quality entry level camera that will appeal to someone that is serious about photography and wants a k20D but can't afford it yet.

[mattdm]

The recent Pentax Business Product Development Manager interview stated that they would buy the best sensors available not necessarily by Samsung.

oooh! oooh!

[ogl]

Super CCD EXR is for P&S cameras ONLY.

It seems to me that Samsung can cut or withdraw from DSLR bussiness and sell only Pentax's rebadged version. As for sensors - I have some doubts that Samsung will make FF sensor.

[thibs]

It is a high quality entry level camera that will appeal to someone that is serious about photography and wants a k20D but can't afford it yet.

I do not agree at all. I can't see anyonewanting a K20D being satisfied by a K-M, a K200D (if only that one was a bit upgraded) maybe but not a K-M.

[Zebooka]

As for me - I see future Pentax cameras in this way:

no vertical arangement of bodies. Just 4 branches aimed at different needs.
1) K-m line - for beginners, compact
2) KxxxD successor - Advanced control with AA and compact. Maybe second e-dial.
3) KxxD succesor - body size like it is in KxxD, Li-Ion, some new features, May be SuperCCD/SuperCMOS for example.
4) 645D/Micro645D system. New lens line with built-in shutter. For Micro645D - adaptor for useing old 645 lenses.

And 1-3 are APS-C If in next KxxD cam Hoya will use SuperCCD and new AF - I'll stay on crop. (Until it makes FF )

[deejjjaaaa]

It is a high quality entry level camera that will appeal to someone that is serious about photography and wants a k20D but can't afford it yet.

that person has a good chance just to skip it and go for a used K10D/K200D/K20D instead of buying K2000D and DA-Ls...

[deejjjaaaa]

So were does this leave us? If you fit the Pentax profile of Studio, Landscape, static shooter you will be getting an APS-C body that will come close to FF IQ.

you forgot to predict about exposure/metering domain or we already beat the crap out everybody else there