[Mistral75]

Well, for me this list show only one really new Pentax product in the last twelve months... Compact camera and Theta are completely different markets....

They are but they have the advantage of making money and allowing Ricoh Imaging to report their results with black ink instead of red. Without them, there wouldn't be any Pentax business any more, at least not at Ricoh's.

[monochrome]

Well, for me this list show only one really new Pentax product in the last twelve months... Compact canera and Theta are completely different markets....

We keep forgetting Pentax and Ricoh are merely brand names. They’re all Ricoh Imaging products. Pentax does not exist as a company.

RI released 12 or 15 products last year, depending how you count them. Doesn't the KP IR count as new? Or does nothing count unless you want to buy it?

Mirrored cameras and associated lenses in this company help keep the engineers and assembly employees employed and productive, and add to net positive cash flow. I see no real difference between the 11~18 (a ‘new’ product) and the HD 35 (an updated product) and the 70-210 (a rebadged product), except snobbery. They have an affordable, very good 35 and a useful, affordable zoom in the catalog, plus a low-volume, high-margin OEM Star zoom. When they bring the DFA*85/1.4 95% of the Forum will complain it is too expensive and a waste of resources. Same for the *35/1.4

AFA any of the small cameras that might be contract manufactured, so what, as long as they’re profitable?

[Zygonyx]

Mint? Will be expensive.
Maybe used FA*85 will fall to acceptable price (to me)

AFAIR i got it for 1.140 € 5 years ago.

[thibs]

AFAIR i got it for 1.140 € 5 years ago.

Not surprised but OUCH.

[TwoUptons]

When they bring the DFA*85/1.4 95% of the Forum will complain it is too expensive and a waste of resources. Same for the *35/1.4

It will only be 5% of the forum, but they will say it in every thread, so it will seem like it is 95%...

There are a lot of things Ricoh makes that I won't buy (does anyone even use copiers any more? )
But I'm glad they're there to pay the bills for what I do want...

-Eric

[monochrome]

It will only be 5% of the forum, but they will say it in every thread, so it will seem like it is 95%...

There are a lot of things Ricoh makes that I won't buy (does anyone even use copiers any more? )
But I'm glad they're there to pay the bills for what I do want...

-Eric

One thing I think the shutdown will finally kill is office machines. I haven’t printed or photocopied a document since March 12th. Everything is eSign and secure online access now. Commercial office space will never be the same. I can sit in my basement and do the same thing using Skype for Business as I formerly did in a conference room with comb-bound pitchbooks.

Yesterday I was on a Skype session with a portfolio manager in London, a quorum of a client’s investment committee spread out around Boston, an administrator in Minnesota and my analyst who went to his parents’ home in Ohio to ride it out. Last year we would have all met in Boston and done the performance attribution and quarter review in a conference room.

The only downside was I couldn’t read non-verbal cues so I could know to prompt the portfolio manager to expand on a point (or shake her off).

[thibs]

One thing I think the shutdown will finally kill is office machines. I haven’t printed or photocopied a document since March 12th. Everything is eSign and secure online access now. Commercial office space will never be the same. I can sit in my basement and do the same thing using Skype for Business as I formerly did in a conference room with comb-bound pitchbooks.

Yesterday I was on a Skype session with a portfolio manager in London, a quorum of a client’s investment committee spread out around Boston, an administrator in Minnesota and my analyst who went to his parents’ home in Ohio to ride it out. Last year we would have all met in Boston and done the performance attribution and quarter review in a conference room.

The only downside was I couldn’t read non-verbal cues so I could know to prompt the portfolio manager to expand on a point (or shake her off).

Any administration around teaching here in Europe, at least in public schools, is still VERY much a paper thing

[MarkJerling]

One thing I think the shutdown will finally kill is office machines. I haven’t printed or photocopied a document since March 12th. Everything is eSign and secure online access now. Commercial office space will never be the same. I can sit in my basement and do the same thing using Skype for Business as I formerly did in a conference room with comb-bound pitchbooks.

Yesterday I was on a Skype session with a portfolio manager in London, a quorum of a client’s investment committee spread out around Boston, an administrator in Minnesota and my analyst who went to his parents’ home in Ohio to ride it out. Last year we would have all met in Boston and done the performance attribution and quarter review in a conference room.

The only downside was I couldn’t read non-verbal cues so I could know to prompt the portfolio manager to expand on a point (or shake her off).

Absolutely. With Accounting Software - Do Beautiful Business | Xero US for invoicing, full integration with tax agency, no need of paper invoices or bills, there was very little I needed to print anyway. I'm fast contemplating if I really need to keep renting office space.

[ThorSanchez]

Doesn't the KP IR count as new? Or does nothing count unless you want to buy it?

Yes, it's new. At least the configuration of the sensor in an otherwise 3-year-old body. But how many of those do you suppose they sold? A few dozen? Maybe a few hundred at most? Here, at the epicenter of non-Japanese Pentax world, has anyone bought one?


It would be like Subaru releasing a Crosstrek Safari with jerry cans for gas on a large roof rack, but otherwise identical to all the other Crosstreks they've been selling for years. And counting that as an all new model.

---------- Post added 04-26-20 at 08:58 AM ----------

When they bring the DFA*85/1.4 95% of the Forum will complain it is too expensive and a waste of resources. Same for the *35/1.4

They won't really be any more wrong than the people who remind me that it's kind of foolish to wish or hope that the K-new will have D500-like autofocus. I'm regularly told that that isn't Pentax' thing, and it's a waste of resources for them to attempt something like that. We all don't have the same wishes or even requirements. I like to take pictures of soccer matches, some others like to take portraits. None of us is wrong, we just do what we like to do. For me, an 85 f/1.4 is something I will probably never buy unless my shooting style dramatically changes. For me it's not what I want Pentax to focus on. But that's not up to me to decide.

[monochrome]

Actually, I think (for no reason) the AF will be a major selling point.

[CarlJF]

We keep forgetting Pentax and Ricoh are merely brand names. They’re all Ricoh Imaging products. Pentax does not exist as a company.

RI released 12 or 15 products last year, depending how you count them. Doesn't the KP IR count as new? Or does nothing count unless you want to buy it?

No, the KP-IR isn't a "new" model. It's only a variation or a different version of existing model.

Mirrored cameras and associated lenses in this company help keep the engineers and assembly employees employed and productive, and add to net positive cash flow. I see no real difference between the 11~18 (a ‘new’ product) and the HD 35 (an updated product) and the 70-210 (a rebadged product), except snobbery.

The difference is that a new design, like the 11-18, means that the manufacturer still have the will and capacity to develop and support their line of products. Rebadge and minor update of existing products mean the reverse. And when most of the launches are rebadged or updated product it means a lack of will or capacity (or both) to really develop the product outside of minimal maintenance. Which is rather worrying... There's a limit on how much you can do by making new stuff with old one.

AFA any of the small cameras that might be contract manufactured, so what, as long as they’re profitable?

It's ok if they make profits on compact camera, but this doesn't help either showing RP see much future in their DSLR line or have much interest in developing it outside the minimum needed to maintain the line.

[monochrome]

If that’s the case I think a whole lot of people better sell all their gear while they still can.

[RGlasel]

It's ok if they make profits on compact camera, but this doesn't help either showing RP see much future in their DSLR line or have much interest in developing it outside.

You are right, but given the current state of the photographic equipment industry, anything short of officially shutting down the entire SmartVision division is a positive sign (in my opinion).

If that’s the case I think a whole lot of people better sell all their gear while they still can.

Based on Samsung NX and Pentax Q, used equipment might be worth more once Pentax K-mount is discontinued.

[ThorSanchez]

If that’s the case I think a whole lot of people better sell all their gear while they still can.

Or just use it until it fails then figure out what to do next. That's better than selling everything at some fraction of new cost then buying into something else at a lot higher price point. The K-new might actually appear at some point, and it's really good, so even if Pentax goes belly-up we're all good for another 4, 5, 6 years.

[Zygonyx]

Actually, none of my pentax gear broke down be it *ist DS2, K200D, K20D, K-5II, K-01, Q/10/7, K-3, KP, K-1 since i bought it and use it relatively frequently on a roll-over basis.
Not to mention m42 and film K bodies...
I'd say i'm ready for another 30 years to go without new equipment really needed