[Mistral75]

645Z successor？

They didn't talk about it. "Camera in 2020" was singular, not plural, and referred to the K-New.

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Last edited by Mistral75; 11-07-2019 at 11:46 PM.

[Mistral75]

Thanks for the update. Looking like we'll soon find out more about this new camera and the lenses that will accompany it on release.

According to the people I talked to new lenses (plural) will be launched in 2020 but nobody said they would be launched at the same time or accompany the K-New on release.

[fsge]

According to the people I talked to new lenses (plural) will be launched in 2020 but nobody said they would be launched at the same time or accompany the K-New on release.

Thank you Mistral. I like GRIII news, I ve heard rumors about its success but that is the first time we can appraise it somehow.
I was expecting a K70 successor would be launched at some point next year but it seems unlikely from your insights

[ffking]

The Ricoh GR III is a terrific success in Europe: 4 months on backorder, sales in units are 10 times those of the GR II.

I too like this bit - it suggests that the acquisition of Pentax and the sharing of tech is playing out well for Ricoh branded products too - even allowing for the fact that the GRII was a small upgrade and you'd expect fewer sales on that count - but hopefully that should strengthen the logic for the acquisition.

[redpit]

Thank you for the report Mistral! I hope something for the 100 years will be organized here too and maybe be able to learn a few things speaking with the distributors in Greece.

[beachgardener]

I'm just back home from the 100th Anniversary Pentax event in Paris organised in Paris at l'Atelier des Artistes.

Back with a lot of goodies: Pentax 100 Years of History black polo shirt, black baseball cap, black bag, grey/black camera strap, silver lens cap and Ricoh Pentax Photography black chamoisine (cleaning cloth).

And back with a few pieces of information:

• The Ricoh GR III is a terrific success in Europe: 4 months on backorder, sales in units are 10 times those of the GR II.
• Ricoh Theta sales are progressing steadily. Most of them are to professionals, mainly in the real estate sector, therefore direct sales or indirect sales through distributors specialising in professional equipment and almost no sales through photo outlets.
• Pentax products follow the general market trend: minus 20% in sales year on year. One exception: Switzerland, where a new guy took over the relation with the local importer/distributor (Switzerland is not a member of the European Union). His predecessor died suddenly one and a half years ago and hadn't been replaced until recently, hence a rapid decline in sales followed by a surge.
• 2020 will see the launch of (i) the K-New and (ii) lenses (plural)
• The working sample showcased under glass is the real thing. Only the firmware needs fine tuning.

cheers mate

[Serkevan]

Thanks for the update! So, key takeaways:
-The K-new is almost there, yay. Insert "It's happening!" meme
-The K-new has a fixed screen. Could be better and I hope it doesn't hurt sales, although I'm sure the camera itself will be great.
-Lenses in plural for next year! Even more yay. Any bets? I'd say 85/1.4 and 70-200/4. Ideally the wide angle prime as well, or the 16-50/2.8 refresh for the K-new.

[Zygonyx]

Thank You Mistral


Here are the goodies - some left today for those who didn't collect already - take your PENTAX Gear !



---------- Post added 09-11-19 at 01:44 ----------

645Z successor？

Basically, there is a stronger "omerta" as for anything else when talking about future Pentax medium format products.

I tried with 3 of my best in-house contacts, and they actually don't have any clue of what is happening with this product-line.

IMHO, Ricoh are still struggling to decide what they should do - or even stop that format.

There are some probably substancial "cons" to continue :

1- Pentax has been passed away by Fuji and Hassy and their compact yet affordable GFX & X1D line
2- The MF market is now "crowded" with only a few hundreds of annual sales
2- High definition 100 Mpix sensors could be a real problem considering the "old conception" of most of the 645 lenses. Actually they have only issued 3 modern lenses in 8 years since the 645D launch.
4- Considering the limited R&D funds and the priority given to FF product-line, they cannot afford to develop a new MF mirrorless mount
5- My conclusion : there is more than 80% probability that Ricoh Imaging are just selling 645 inventories, and will end-up leaving the MF boat

[nnky]

Thank You Mistral


Here are the goodies - some left today for those who didn't collect already - take your PENTAX Gear !



---------- Post added 09-11-19 at 01:44 ----------



Basically, there is a stronger "omerta" as for anything else when talking about future Pentax medium format products.

I tried with 3 of my best in-house contacts, and they actually don't have any clue of what is happening with this product-line.

IMHO, Ricoh are still struggling to decide what they should do - or even stop that format.

There are some probabily substancial "cons" to continue :

1- Pentax has been passed away by Fuji and Hassy and their compact yet affordable GFX & X1D line
2- The MF market is now "crowded" with only a few hundreds of annual sales
2- High definition 100 Mpix sensors could be a real problem considering the "old conception" of most of the 645 lenses. Actually they have only issued 3 modern lenses in 8 years since the 645D launch.
4- Considering the limited R&D funds and the priority given to FF product-line, they cannot afford to develop a new MF mirrorless mount
5- My conclusion : there is more than 80% probability that Ricoh Imaging are just selling 645 inventories, and will end-up leaving the MF boat

But over the years, the MF is the core and essence of PENTAX.

[Mistral75]

(...)

Basically, there is a stronger "omerta" as for anything else when talking about future Pentax medium format products.

I tried with 3 of my best in-house contacts, and they actually don't have any clue of what is happening with this product-line.

IMHO, Ricoh are still struggling to decide what they should do - or even stop that format.

There are some probably substantial "cons" to continue :

1- Pentax has been passed away by Fuji and Hassy and their compact yet affordable GFX & X1D line
2- The MF market is now "crowded" with only a few hundreds of annual sales
2- High definition 100 Mpix sensors could be a real problem considering the "old conception" of most of the 645 lenses. Actually they have only issued 3 modern lenses in 8 years since the 645D launch.
4- Considering the limited R&D funds and the priority given to FF product-line, they cannot afford to develop a new MF mirrorless mount
5- My conclusion : there is more than 80% probability that Ricoh Imaging are just selling 645 inventories, and will end-up leaving the MF boat

Your contacts don't have any clue of what is happening with medium format because nothing is, apart from some low-bandwidth R&D (buy a few copies of the latest sensors, test them, do some technology monitoring).

I totally agree with your list of 'cons'. I would add that even Phase One had to fall back on 40x53.4 sensors and leave the 33x44 field in response to the surge of the Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad X1D mirrorless lines. Concerning a 'full 645' line Ricoh are nowhere (unlike Phase One) since there is no prior 'full 645' Pentax DSLR and there are only two modern lenses covering this format, one of which (the 25mm f/4) is discontinued without any possibility to resume its production.

[Mistral75]

But over the years, the MF is the core and essence of PENTAX.

I'd say the core and essence of Pentax is the 24x36 / small format SLR, from 1957 (1952 if one includes the Asahiflex series in spite of them not having a pentaprism and not being labelled Pentax) until now.

[nnky]

I'd say the core and essence of Pentax is the 24x36 / small format SLR, from 1957 (1952 if one includes the Asahiflex series in spite of them not having a pentaprism and not being labelled Pentax) until now.

No，PENTAX 135 fell behind in the 1980s.

[Zygonyx]

Your contacts don't have any clue of what is happening with medium format because nothing is, apart from some low-bandwidth R&D (buy a few copies of the latest sensors, test them, do some technology monitoring).

I totally agree with your list of 'cons'. I would add that even Phase One had to fall back on 40x53.4 sensors and leave the 33x44 field in response to the surge of the Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad X1D mirrorless lines. Concerning a 'full 645' line Ricoh are nowhere (unlike Phase One) since there is no prior 'full 645' Pentax DSLR and there are only two modern lenses covering this format, one of which (the 25mm f/4) is discontinued without any possibility to resume its production.

Well, amongst modern lenses :
- DFA 55/2.8
- DFA 90/2.8 macro
- DFA 28-45/4.5

The two DFA 25/4 are Indeed discontinued.

[Mistral75]

Well, amongst modern lenses :
- DFA 55/2.8
- DFA 90/2.8 macro
- DFA 28-45/4.5

The two DFA 25/4 are Indeed discontinued.

The 55mm f/2.8 and 28-45mm f/4.5 are DA 645 lenses, not DFA 645 lenses. They are not supposed to cover the 'full 645' format.

[Kunzite]

The 55mm f/2.8 and 28-45mm f/4.5 are DA 645 lenses, not DFA 645 lenses. They are not supposed to cover the 'full 645' format.

The 55 is a D FA.