Just another CP+ report [pics included]

Snakeisthestuff · 03-04-2019, 04:05 AM - **15 Likes**

This year I was again able to attend cp+ on its last day (Sunday). As I knew for me there were no exciting announcements this year I could enjoy it more casually and relaxed.

I queued to try the GR III but thats no camera for me so cannot comment on that much. The touch screen is a welcome addition because it tickles down to other cameras even though focus via touch feels laggy atm.
Then I was caught by a staff member which was presenting a new 2.5D printing technique by Ricoh. They use a 3D-printer technique to give depth to a picture, even make it look like a real painting. They said their biggest picture, which they printed yet, took about 4 hours to print. The actual printer is industrial size (3 meters) atm, it is still a prototype and no price for an actual print decided yet. The actual depth for printing the 2D photo is calculated partly by algorithm and partly manually adjusted.

There are other companies using a similar technique but Ricoh is better in providing a smoother surface on the printing. The pictures looked very good, I can imagine many people buying these kind of pictures.

I got to try the new 11-18mm DA* Zoom and surprisingly it nicely covers the FF circle at 18mm. On lower focal length the black edges start to occur and you need to crop that out, at 11mm it is pretty severe. I also tried the new 35mm, it is a nice lens but comes with all the drawbacks such old lenses have, longitudinal CA, hexagonal bokeh balls, AF not so fast, no WR.

Here the zoom at 18mm FF @F9:

Here on 11mm FF @F9:

Then like JPT I stumbled over the guys with the factory custom made KP. They really enjoyed there time there and we talked and laughed a lot (so I greatly enjoyed it too). So they are enhancing several points on the KP. They have a special black coating on the lens mount which is harder and smoother than the original coating and is used originally by a famous Japanese watchmaker (I think it was Seiko). They havedifferent body colors and a flash top which is attached via the hot shoe. If you want to use a flash on the hot shoe you have to remove it therefore. Then there are the custom grips. They showed me one which was walnut and said its the same material Lexus uses for their steering wheels.
They have also a collaboration with a famous Japanese photographer and will preprogram the user-settings on the camera with that photographers preferred settings. They can use Ricoh’sresources which helps them a lot , so you might also be able to order it from the official website later I guess.
No words on pricing yet because its still in development. They will over it first in Japan and later on overseas (I complained a little that overseas people are eager to get these options too and always are second in line

).
Interesting fact, there were two people presenting the custom KP, one is an engineer and the other a designer.The designer told me that he designed the K-30 and the custom flash cover for the KP also inherits this long shape of the flash housing of the K-30.
Here the two guys, the left one is the designer and the one on the right the engineer. They were very commited to their customizations and gladly discussing any comments I made.

Also I saw a new Pentax baseball cap (black with big grey stitched Pentax) at the booth, these were design samples and will be probably available later this year.
At 2pm there was a presentation on the future development on Pentax products hosted in an interview style. They said the 85mm will be available next year. In fact they said that on all lenses on the roadmap xD (the 70-200F4, the large aperture wide DA*, the DA wide zoom and DFA superzoom). The interview guy also noted that the release date of the 70-200mm F4 changed from “spring 2019” to “2019 or later“. It was confirmed there were issues delaying the release of this lens.
I think they also hinted on a new camera for the 100th year release which might be the K-3 successor.

Just to increase the painful wait on the 85mm:

Last edited by Snakeisthestuff; 03-04-2019 at 04:24 AM. Reason: fixed formate and typos

**beachgardener** · 03-04-2019, 04:34 AM

nice one, thanks for your work

Not a Number · 03-04-2019, 04:35 AM

Thanks for the report.

The pictures are not showing except as a place holder. I can right-click and view image which downloads the image and then use an image viewer. I don't think that's what you want though.

Did you get the names of the customization engineer and designer?

**beachgardener** · 03-04-2019, 04:36 AM

edit, pictures view ok here

yucafrita · 03-04-2019, 04:40 AM - **3 Likes**

They should bring out the 85 as a coffee mug...

Paul the Sunman · 03-04-2019, 05:22 AM

On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari.

Why did no-one mention the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and the Rainbow Lorikeet in the Pentax booth? Is there a hidden meaning? Is it a disguised hint about the K3ii successor, or the next lens release? Very deep.

**acoufap** · 03-04-2019, 05:59 AM

Originally posted by Paul the Sunman

On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari.

Same here - really odd ...

**acoufap** · 03-04-2019, 06:05 AM

Originally posted by Snakeisthestuff

I got to try the new 11-18mm DA* Zoom and surprisingly it nicely covers the FF circle at 18mm. On lower focal length the black edges start to occur and you need to crop that out, at 11mm it is pretty severe.

Three days ago I posted a little bit about this topic. If interested have a look here plus an addition here.

Mistral75 · 03-04-2019, 06:18 AM - **1 Like**

@Snakeisthestuff

Thank you for your report and the pictures illustrating it. A small precision: the Japanese watchmaker, the special material of which is used for the lens mount flange of the KP Custom is Citizen, not Seiko.

Originally posted by William Brawley, Imaging Resource:

Diving deeper into the finer details, Pentax has also devised a partnership with Japanese watchmaker Citizen to produce a custom lens mount flange made out of their Duratect DLC material, a titanium-based material coated in DLC (diamond-like carbon) that offers excellent hardness, scratch-resistance and smoothness (presumably for pleasing lens mounting and unmounting).

Source: Ricoh Round-Up from CP+: Hands-on with the GR III, new Custom KP DSLRs & 2.5D printing concept | Imaging Resource

**interested_observer** · 03-04-2019, 06:54 AM

Images not showing up in FireFox, but they are there with Chrome.

The customized KP in both the grey and the slate blue do look nice. The collaboration with third parties is wonderful. It does show that Pentax is willing to try something different. Interesting report on the 2.5D printer. It does appear to me that Ricoh is trying out various reuse approaches with the various technologies they have available.

RonHendriks1966 · 03-04-2019, 07:16 AM

So no new K-mount stuff this year (probably).

The custom KP puzzles me. It's nice to cut open a Lexus and smash an expensive watch to it. Put in a different color body and a cap to prevent people from miss-using the build in flash.......but then does the price of this (still a KP) double?

reh321 · 03-04-2019, 07:18 AM

Originally posted by Snakeisthestuff

This year I was again able to attend cp+ on its last day (Sunday). As I knew for me there were no exciting announcements this year I could enjoy it more casually and relaxed.

Thank you for the photos and information - especially about the 11-18.

Was there any tension evident during the 'interview'? I'm guessing the host/interviewer was Kimio Tanaka; his tweets earlier were kind of peevish, but I haven't seen much since Saturday's session.

**Larrymc** · 03-04-2019, 07:19 AM

Originally posted by Paul the Sunman

On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari.

Why did no-one mention the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and the Rainbow Lorikeet in the Pentax booth? Is there a hidden meaning? Is it a disguised hint about the K3ii successor, or the next lens release? Very deep.

You left out the most important bird.......the Hawk on the left, a bird of prey. I see the hidden meaning already!

reh321 · 03-04-2019, 07:25 AM

Originally posted by Larrymc

You left out the most important bird.......the Hawk on the left, a bird of prey. I see the hidden meaning already!

I'm glad there is a meaning - that they just didn't plan display properly or didn't have enough stuff to fill the display case.

normhead · 03-04-2019, 07:27 AM

Same here, I had to go to Chrome to see the images.

That severe overhang means you're never going to use this camera with a tilt shift lens. Not that that's a thing for many Pentax users.

03-04-2019, 04:05 AM - 15 Likes	#1
Snakeisthestuff Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Photos: Gallery Posts: 136	Just another CP+ report [pics included] This year I was again able to attend cp+ on its last day (Sunday). As I knew for me there were no exciting announcements this year I could enjoy it more casually and relaxed. I queued to try the GR III but thats no camera for me so cannot comment on that much. The touch screen is a welcome addition because it tickles down to other cameras even though focus via touch feels laggy atm. Then I was caught by a staff member which was presenting a new 2.5D printing technique by Ricoh. They use a 3D-printer technique to give depth to a picture, even make it look like a real painting. They said their biggest picture, which they printed yet, took about 4 hours to print. The actual printer is industrial size (3 meters) atm, it is still a prototype and no price for an actual print decided yet. The actual depth for printing the 2D photo is calculated partly by algorithm and partly manually adjusted. There are other companies using a similar technique but Ricoh is better in providing a smoother surface on the printing. The pictures looked very good, I can imagine many people buying these kind of pictures. I got to try the new 11-18mm DA* Zoom and surprisingly it nicely covers the FF circle at 18mm. On lower focal length the black edges start to occur and you need to crop that out, at 11mm it is pretty severe. I also tried the new 35mm, it is a nice lens but comes with all the drawbacks such old lenses have, longitudinal CA, hexagonal bokeh balls, AF not so fast, no WR. Here the zoom at 18mm FF @F9: Here on 11mm FF @F9: Then like JPT I stumbled over the guys with the factory custom made KP. They really enjoyed there time there and we talked and laughed a lot (so I greatly enjoyed it too). So they are enhancing several points on the KP. They have a special black coating on the lens mount which is harder and smoother than the original coating and is used originally by a famous Japanese watchmaker (I think it was Seiko). They havedifferent body colors and a flash top which is attached via the hot shoe. If you want to use a flash on the hot shoe you have to remove it therefore. Then there are the custom grips. They showed me one which was walnut and said its the same material Lexus uses for their steering wheels. They have also a collaboration with a famous Japanese photographer and will preprogram the user-settings on the camera with that photographers preferred settings. They can use Ricoh’sresources which helps them a lot , so you might also be able to order it from the official website later I guess. No words on pricing yet because its still in development. They will over it first in Japan and later on overseas (I complained a little that overseas people are eager to get these options too and always are second in line ). Interesting fact, there were two people presenting the custom KP, one is an engineer and the other a designer.The designer told me that he designed the K-30 and the custom flash cover for the KP also inherits this long shape of the flash housing of the K-30. Here the two guys, the left one is the designer and the one on the right the engineer. They were very commited to their customizations and gladly discussing any comments I made. Also I saw a new Pentax baseball cap (black with big grey stitched Pentax) at the booth, these were design samples and will be probably available later this year. At 2pm there was a presentation on the future development on Pentax products hosted in an interview style. They said the 85mm will be available next year. In fact they said that on all lenses on the roadmap xD (the 70-200F4, the large aperture wide DA, the DA wide zoom and DFA superzoom). The interview guy also noted that the release date of the 70-200mm F4 changed from “spring 2019” to “2019 or later“. It was confirmed there were issues delaying the release of this lens. I think they also hinted on a new camera for the 100th year release which might be the K-3 successor. Just to increase the painful wait on the 85mm: Last edited by Snakeisthestuff; 03-04-2019 at 04:24 AM. Reason: fixed formate and typos*

03-04-2019, 05:22 AM	#6
Paul the Sunman Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,843	On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari. Why did no-one mention the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and the Rainbow Lorikeet in the Pentax booth? Is there a hidden meaning? Is it a disguised hint about the K3ii successor, or the next lens release? Very deep. Last edited by Paul the Sunman; 03-04-2019 at 05:27 AM.

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03-04-2019, 04:34 AM	#2
beachgardener Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,842	nice one, thanks for your work

03-04-2019, 04:35 AM	#3
Not a Number Moderator Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Venice, CA Posts: 10,526	Thanks for the report. The pictures are not showing except as a place holder. I can right-click and view image which downloads the image and then use an image viewer. I don't think that's what you want though. Did you get the names of the customization engineer and designer?

03-04-2019, 04:36 AM	#4
beachgardener Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,842	edit, pictures view ok here

03-04-2019, 04:40 AM - 3 Likes	#5
yucafrita Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 459	They should bring out the 85 as a coffee mug...

03-04-2019, 05:59 AM	#7
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	Originally posted by Paul the Sunman On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari. Same here - really odd ...

03-04-2019, 06:05 AM	#8
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	Originally posted by Snakeisthestuff I got to try the new 11-18mm DA* Zoom and surprisingly it nicely covers the FF circle at 18mm. On lower focal length the black edges start to occur and you need to crop that out, at 11mm it is pretty severe. Three days ago I posted a little bit about this topic. If interested have a look here plus an addition here.

03-04-2019, 06:18 AM - 1 Like	#9
Mistral75 Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Paris, France Posts: 7,527	*@Snakeisthestuff* Thank you for your report and the pictures illustrating it. A small precision: the Japanese watchmaker, the special material of which is used for the lens mount flange of the KP Custom is Citizen, not Seiko. Originally posted by William Brawley, Imaging Resource: Diving deeper into the finer details, Pentax has also devised a partnership with Japanese watchmaker Citizen to produce a custom lens mount flange made out of their Duratect DLC material, a titanium-based material coated in DLC (diamond-like carbon) that offers excellent hardness, scratch-resistance and smoothness (presumably for pleasing lens mounting and unmounting). Source: Ricoh Round-Up from CP+: Hands-on with the GR III, new Custom KP DSLRs & 2.5D printing concept \| Imaging Resource

03-04-2019, 06:54 AM	#10
interested_observer Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Tumbleweed, Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,707	Images not showing up in FireFox, but they are there with Chrome. The customized KP in both the grey and the slate blue do look nice. The collaboration with third parties is wonderful. It does show that Pentax is willing to try something different. Interesting report on the 2.5D printer. It does appear to me that Ricoh is trying out various reuse approaches with the various technologies they have available.

03-04-2019, 07:16 AM	#11
RonHendriks1966 Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,675	So no new K-mount stuff this year (probably). The custom KP puzzles me. It's nice to cut open a Lexus and smash an expensive watch to it. Put in a different color body and a cap to prevent people from miss-using the build in flash.......but then does the price of this (still a KP) double?

03-04-2019, 07:18 AM	#12
reh321 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: South Bend, IN, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,180	Originally posted by Snakeisthestuff This year I was again able to attend cp+ on its last day (Sunday). As I knew for me there were no exciting announcements this year I could enjoy it more casually and relaxed. Thank you for the photos and information - especially about the 11-18. Was there any tension evident during the 'interview'? I'm guessing the host/interviewer was Kimio Tanaka; his tweets earlier were kind of peevish, but I haven't seen much since Saturday's session.

03-04-2019, 07:19 AM	#13
Larrymc Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Mississippi, USA Posts: 5,251	Originally posted by Paul the Sunman On my Mac, picture show in Chrome but not in Safari. Why did no-one mention the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo and the Rainbow Lorikeet in the Pentax booth? Is there a hidden meaning? Is it a disguised hint about the K3ii successor, or the next lens release? Very deep. You left out the most important bird.......the Hawk on the left, a bird of prey. I see the hidden meaning already!

03-04-2019, 07:25 AM	#14
reh321 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: South Bend, IN, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,180	Originally posted by Larrymc You left out the most important bird.......the Hawk on the left, a bird of prey. I see the hidden meaning already! I'm glad there is a meaning - that they just didn't plan display properly or didn't have enough stuff to fill the display case.

03-04-2019, 07:27 AM	#15
normhead Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Near Algonquin Park Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 40,451	Same here, I had to go to Chrome to see the images. That severe overhang means you're never going to use this camera with a tilt shift lens. Not that that's a thing for many Pentax users.