[fsge]

I, for one am distressed that Sigma no longer supports the K-mount. Their 8-16 lens is superb. When I was still considering moving to full frame, Sigma in South Africa collected my 50-500, modified the mount of my 50-500, and delivered it back to me free of charge. I am a big Sigma fan, and their absence from the K-mount, even for those of us who don't use or like their lenses, impoverishes the K-mount unfortunately.

I agree with you, it is a loss for us customers as Sigma increased its quality of lenses over last few years. I also love the UWA 8-16 which is within my top 3

[ChristianRock]

It's all in the context...

Sigma released lenses for the K-mount while it was profitable to do so, and I'm thankful for that. Due to the whole market shrinking, they had to stop making them otherwise they would just lose money. It makes no sense to be mad at them or disappointed with them.

Pentax is playing the most conservative strategy possible in the current camera market. They haven't released an APS-C camera in almost 3 years. And even if you count the K-1 II as a camera release, they released that in early 2018. So they have at least made sure that we know they are still in the game by showing us the upcoming new APS-C body, but they currently have no existing product that they can pitch to distributors. But that's their strategy - when they think they have a viable product, they release it.

It makes no sense being disappointed or mad at them either. The way I see it, at least they are still in the game, though at this point they are not the brand that appeals to the tech nerds, they are more of a no-nonsense brand for people who like to take good pictures. Pentax lenses are, to me, the reason for the system, so even though I have one Sigma lens and I like it, if Sigma had never made any Pentax lenses I'd still be a Pentax shooter.

[totsmuyco]

Just FYI and x-posted ...

I was at the Paris Photo Salon/Expo last Saturday and I stopped by the huge Sigma booth to look at the new full frame "fp".

I told the rep that I was not happy at all that Sigma had stopped supporting Pentax ... to which the rep replied, "We didn't stop supporting Pentax, Pentax stopped supporting themselves."

Then he added, "Where are they?" ... to which he was quite right.

Pentax did NOT have a booth at the annual Paris Photo Salon/Expo.

ZERO. NADA. ... and with 100 years to celebrate as well ... ZILCH.

Who was there? Canon (huge booths), Nikon (huge), Sony (huge), Fuji, Olympus, Leica, Hassy, Tamron, Samyang, Irix, dji, French national camera chains, resellers of lighting/strobe equipment, etc., etc., etc.

NO PENTAX ... sorry to break this news to you, but it's the reality here.

It's okay to be disappointed. I would also ask why they weren't there considering that this is the 100th year of Pentax and I also would like Pentax to do a lot of publicity particularly this 100th year. As to the reason why they didn't join, it's only Ricoh who knows. Maybe they have their own game plan and I leave it up to them.

[PentaPrime]

There was no Pentax participation in third party support, regarding Sigma: Sigma used reverse engineering on Pentax products.
There is no "multiple third party brands terminated support so close together". Get the history right.

I don't work for Ricoh/Pentax, I'm just going by what gets reported in photography outlets. Out of curiosity, what is the source on this claim that Pentax does not directly support third party?

[mlt]

With electronic connections there is no third party support in lens mounts anymore. Either the mount electronics are are an open standard, part of a licensing group design (think L mount), directly licensed by a lens manufacturer, or reverse engineered. Better to ask why a third party lens manufacturer reverse engineers mounts and what happens to their bottom line when a camera manufacturer tweaks the electronics (like Nikon did a few years ago) or redesigns basic controls (the change from kaf3 to kaf4).

[Ash]

Okay fellas. It was always going to be a heated topic, but can we leave the more personal remarks out of the discussion.
Just stick to information/facts rather than inciting people with inflammatory statements towards individuals.

[Billy Joe]

If you will look at actual stuff labeled "Polaroid" you will find that they are manufactured and distributed by other companies. The company Polaroid went bankrupt and now the name is used by other companies which have purchased the right to use the name "Polaroid".

Is that not essentially the Pentax Story... The name has be sold to anyone who wanted to pilfer the profitable sections of the company... And they kept the Pentax name alive for the camera division.

[Tesla]

I find it strange that Pentax didn't have a camera ready for this year; their 100th year. The least they could have done was release a special edition of the K-1 II. Their strategy has never made sense to me. Pentax has been lacking in advertising and little presence at stores and now shows. IMO, fan only sales doesn't seem smart. I wish they would make a bigger effort at reaching new customers.

[clickclick]

In another thread not long ago, it was pointed out that the market focus for Pentax/Ricoh is in Japan, and they are doing well there. And don't forget that in these times, "well" is relative. They are doing well enough to have a GR III (which is beyond sales projections), and to announce and show the long awaited APS-C flagship, and for all appearances still tracking to release some new DFA lenses, including perhaps an f4 70-200. So, figure that while disappointing to not see them when/where/as often as we like in their marketing, they are taking a thin budget and putting it where they get a return. Don't forget in times like these, the costs of running a booth that might have no net gain in sales is competing with the R&D to bring the next camera/lens to market. I'm just happy that they are doing well enough to showcase a new model. In my view of their past releases, this is pretty bold and leading. Not bad given that the cash cow consumer market is being consumed by smart phones.

[reh321]

Is that not essentially the Pentax Story... The name has be sold to anyone who wanted to pilfer the profitable sections of the company... And they kept the Pentax name alive for the camera division.

No - the "Pentax" brand has been sold, but only twice now. The medical brand and the camera brand are now owned by separate companies, but only Hoya and Ricoh use the name, and only Ricoh uses it for photography per see. That is a complete different process than what was done to poor old Polaroid after their bankruptcy.

[mannyquinto]

Company like Ricoh had to do what they need to do. We are still lucky that the Pentax brand still lives though production of new models either camera or lens are in a snail phase. It is the reality. Best we can do is either take it as it is or jump ship.

[guinnessman]

I find it strange that Pentax didn't have a camera ready for this year; their 100th year. The least they could have done was release a special edition of the K-1 II. Their strategy has never made sense to me. Pentax has been lacking in advertising and little presence at stores and now shows. IMO, fan only sales doesn't seem smart. I wish they would make a bigger effort at reaching new customers.

I don't find it odd, it's what they've been doing for 5+ years.

The bodies are fine, cool features like WR and SR, big OVF, but they aren't showing a good presence to people outside the Pentax bubble. They can't remain competitive selling the same iterative cameras to the same flock of people that bought into Pentax 40, 30, 15 years ago.

I've taken some photo courses the past year+ here in Missoula, and people are honestly shocked that Pentax does digital. They remember the K1000, and past that, They don't advertise and people don't know about them.

People want fast AF, they want video, they want quiet/silent shutters, they want lenses. Granted, it's a shrinking market for everybody, and mirrorless isn't necessarily saving the ship, but if they don't offer what the market wants...smartphones will eat them alive from the bottom up too, auto HDR, computational photography, instant sharing. The K3 replacement I thought was going to happen looks like 2020, which seems a bit short, with the Tokyo Olympics in the summer.

[Sandy Hancock]

They can't remain competitive....

But that's just the point; it's not really a competition.

Pentax needs to remain profitable. Spending heaps of money in a futile attempt to be the biggest can get in the way of that.

[VSTAR]

Yeah ... maybe I might notice something if that were to happen here.

But while at the Paris Photo Salon/Expo, I noticed ...

3 Legged Thing
B+W
Benel
Cokin
Eizo
Godox
Hoya
Ilford
Joby
Kenko
Kodak
Laowa
Lowepro
Manfrotto
Metz
Nissin
Novoflex
Optics 7artisans
Peak Design
Phase One
Priolite
Slik
Starblitz
Tetenal
Tokina
Vanguard
Zeiss

... but no Pentax.

Glad I went.

Did I miss something....No Panasonic on the list or in the brochure?????????

[Jean Poitiers]

Did I miss something....No Panasonic on the list or in the brochure?????????

They presented as Lumix and had two large stands next to each other.

I handle a bit of their equipment and found the S & S1 to be quite large ... much larger and heavier than I expected.