[bobbotron]

I'm being entirely honest when I say that whilst I respect your view, I don't share it. We can each of us speak only for ourselves and not for everyone else - yes?

For me, the K-3 platform was (and still is) excellent. I'd be more than happy if the new APS-C flagship continues the general design principles of the K-3 whilst improving on (any or all of) AF.C accuracy and tracking, dynamic range, high ISO performance, continuous shooting rate, buffer depth and clearing, and other performance benchmarks. If Ricoh chooses to release something more impressive and adventurous - without compromising what it got right previously - fantastic; but a new model that builds on the success of the K-3 series whilst bringing all of the DSLR functionality and performance capabilities up-to-date would be just fine with me (and, I suspect, a lot of other folks).



But surely you must realise you're raising your concerns with, and issuing your warnings to, the wrong audience? It's Ricoh you need to be talking to, not existing Pentax users - the majority of whom, whilst keen to see a new and improved APS-C flagship, are otherwise pretty happy with their gear. Claiming you fear things will end "in tears" here on these forums just contributes negativity; nothing positive or constructive.

I applaud your desire for Ricoh / Pentax to succeed with its forthcoming APS-C flagship camera... We share that much, for sure. But we clearly disagree on how that might be achieved, the portent you offer, and the value of negatively-toned "What Ricoh should do" posts in these forums, of which there are many - the most remarkable aspect being how much they differ in their proclamations and advice. If Ricoh designed the camera everyone wants based on these, it would be an Edsel... and look what happened there

I agree, I bought my K3 in 2015, and it's still a good camera in my books. Still taking good photos with it, and it's just a solid brick of a body. All I want in a new body is the same level of beef with a 2020 sensor. And pixel shift if it gets thrown in.

[Rondec]

He might have meant "ten years"...

"in ten years"... "in ten years"... "in tears"... ?

I think it might simply be a typo / spel--check / predictive text issue.

So, great news... you've got at least ten years before the brand dies. Happy days!!!

Well, I think it's more like a ball player where they are talking about his talent and they mention that "He's probably about a year away from being a year away from being good..."

Or as Mark Twain said, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." This has been true for the whole time I've been shooting Pentax and probably will be true for awhile to come. Particularly since fans of other brands are quick to gloat over any bad news for their competitors.

[pres589]

I believe the K-new will have AF beyond anything Pentax offers today based on their improvements with every body from the K-1, K-70, and today's KP. I'm also really interested to see where they land with high-ISO image quality. I still enjoy using my K-5 II a lot but I think this next body will be head and shoulders beyond it and probably the other cameras I've just mentioned in these two areas. Can't wait to go to NY, hold a copy in a store when they come out, and then figure out how to pay for one.

[Larrymc]

Can't wait to go to NY, hold a copy in a store when they come out, and then figure out how to pay for one.

Just pay cash and mention my name. Seriously though, I am expecting a standout camera.

I'm being entirely honest when I say that whilst I respect your view, I don't share it. We can each of us speak only for ourselves and not for everyone else - yes?

For me, the K-3 platform was (and still is) excellent. I'd be more than happy if the new APS-C flagship continues the general design principles of the K-3 whilst improving on (any or all of) AF.C accuracy and tracking, dynamic range, high ISO performance, continuous shooting rate, buffer depth and clearing, and other performance benchmarks. If Ricoh chooses to release something more impressive and adventurous - without compromising what it got right previously - fantastic; but a new model that builds on the success of the K-3 series whilst bringing all of the DSLR functionality and performance capabilities up-to-date would be just fine with me (and, I suspect, a lot of other folks).



But surely you must realise you're raising your concerns with, and issuing your warnings to, the wrong audience? It's Ricoh you need to be talking to, not existing Pentax users - the majority of whom, whilst keen to see a new and improved APS-C flagship, are otherwise pretty happy with their gear. Claiming you fear things will end "in tears" here on these forums just contributes negativity; nothing positive or constructive.

I applaud your desire for Ricoh / Pentax to succeed with its forthcoming APS-C flagship camera... We share that much, for sure. But we clearly disagree on how that might be achieved, the portent of doom, and the value of negatively-toned "What Ricoh should do" posts in these forums, of which there are many - the most remarkable aspect being how much they differ in their proclamations and advice. If Ricoh designed the camera everyone wants based on these, it would be an Edsel... and look what happened there

BigMackCam: I entirely agree with you. I quote from your post: "But surely you must realise you're raising your concerns with, and issuing your warnings to, the wrong audience? It's Ricoh you need to be talking to," You are right there, but let's be honest again, if Ricoh is a clever company they surely must read what is being shared on any Pentax forum around the world. Many, many years ago Pentax had its own Pentax Club and there was a lot of interaction between Pentax and the club. Every quarter I was send an astonishing issue of their Pentax Magazine and I got another quarterly in my own language. So the remarks of the members were collected by the local club, which was administered by the local Pentax Company. When they introduced a new lens or converter it was offered to the members at a discounted price. (that is how I acquired my F3.5 35-105mm) And perhaps they read all this without letting us know. But it is up to Ricoh to do market research and taking notice of the enthousiasts forums would be a clever way to get the info they need. But if you read interviews with people from Ricoh on i.e. dpreview, they always evade the question and I can understand that, because it is in the way of the people they are. And I am not afraid that Ricoh's Pentax brand will demise. But sometimes I miss them being proud of what they achieve and show it.

---------- Post added 03-20-20 at 11:12 AM ----------

I've been hearing the "in tears" ending for 12 years now. You say it will happen, but you won't say when.
5 years from now, 10 years from now... 20 years from now and I probably won't care.

But it was not about ending in tears, it was about Great Expectations. If you read the posts on this forum there is expected something from Ricoh. A k-new. Also, wishes are ventilated, but will they be fulfilled? I wish for a K-02, but that will never materialize. That is what Ricoh made clear. I do not think that Ricoh's Pentax brand will disappear of the face of the earth. Perhaps it will be the only brand that survives, who knows. On the other hand, "in tears" happened many years ago with the merger with Hoya I think.

[kwb]

I want to break this down into what I see as fact and assumption.

Thanks JPT for this.

Assumption from Yaotomi
- The CP+ "content" they are talking about is new product information.

One small correction, or maybe addition, is that it's not just Yaotomi person's assumption that the "content" will be about product information, it's written quite explicitly that he has heard that from the source. Yaotomi person doesn't explicitly write that it's "new product" information, though.

Original tweet:

あと、CP+向けに用意していたコンテンツは、ベストベターの方法を模索しながら順次公開されていくそうです。CP＋のような大きなイベントがないので、色々と工夫しながら製品情報を届けてくださるそうです。

My translation:

Further, I was told that they'll open the contents they originally prepared for CP+ one by one while studying how best or better to proceed. And that they'll try to find creative ways to deliver product information as there's no big event like CP+.

Both sentences end with the same expression to indicate that the writer obtained the information from some source. The writer didn't explicitly write who the source is, this is extremely common when it's obvious/easy to guess from the context with very high certainty.

[BigMackCam]

let's be honest again, if Ricoh is a clever company they surely must read what is being shared on any Pentax forum around the world.
...
it is up to Ricoh to do market research and taking notice of the enthousiasts forums would be a clever way to get the info they need.

I honestly don't know whether Ricoh follows what's written about Pentax in forums like these, or - if it does - whether it pays much heed... but I doubt it. Seriously, there's an awful lot of dirt to sift through in order to find any nuggets of useful intelligence, much less trends, that might possibly be of any value in setting strategy and developing new products... and in the absence of really obvious trends from a large sample group, how is Ricoh to know whether your opinions - or mine, for that matter - are the right ones to hang its hat on? The time-worn and rather presumptuous "What Ricoh should do" posts and the wildly varying (often contradictory) advice they prescribe, don't offer any useful patterns or trends in customer wishes. None of them in recent memory mentions anything truly new; it's all been raised many times before in different guises by a few vocal members, often presenting their ideas as some great insight or wisdom that the company has apparently failed to elicit with its own wealth of commercial and technical expertise.

I submit to you that Ricoh knows exactly how it wants to run its businesses - what its strategy is, what it intends to develop and produce, how it will handle marketing, what volume of products it needs to sell at what prices, and why... and we'll either like it or we won't (or, more probably, a mix of the two). But it will change not a jot due to a few discussions and individual "crusades" in these forums. When Ricoh releases new products, that's when we can provide truly useful feedback by either buying them or not. Actual vs forecast sales is a message Ricoh will listen to and act upon.

All that said, if you believe you're onto something with your recommendations for Ricoh, get in touch with them directly and present your data... and be sure to let us know how it goes

---

Last edited by BigMackCam; 03-21-2020 at 07:46 AM.

[pres589]

I doubt highly that Ricoh is watching this forum very closely or they would have contacted me about my various ideas about lenses we need and commercials they should make. I'm happy to work with them! I have some great concepts!

[BigMackCam]

I doubt highly that Ricoh is watching this forum very closely or they would have contacted me about my various ideas about lenses we need and commercials they should make. I'm happy to work with them! I have some great concepts!

They didn't contact you yet? I gave them your details at our last strategy meeting

If Yoshinori Yamashita is reading this, please get in touch with pres589...

[RobA_Oz]

They didn't contact you yet? I gave them your details at our last strategy meeting

If Yoshinori Yamashita is reading this, please get in touch with pres589...

You know, I was thinking there could be a mole in our midst, even if they don't go by the name of Burgess or McLean (or Blunt, or maybe Sorge). But BigMackCam? Hmm.

[boriscleto]

You Tube

You Tube

[JPT]

Thanks JPT for this.

One small correction, or maybe addition, is that it's not just Yaotomi person's assumption that the "content" will be about product information, it's written quite explicitly that he has heard that from the source. Yaotomi person doesn't explicitly write that it's "new product" information, though.

Original tweet:

あと、CP+向けに用意していたコンテンツは、ベストベターの方法を模索しながら順次公開されていくそうです。CP＋のような大きなイベントがないので、色々と工夫しながら製品情報を届けてくださるそうです。

My translation:

Further, I was told that they'll open the contents they originally prepared for CP+ one by one while studying how best or better to proceed. And that they'll try to find creative ways to deliver product information as there's no big event like CP+.

Both sentences end with the same expression to indicate that the writer obtained the information from some source. The writer didn't explicitly write who the source is, this is extremely common when it's obvious/easy to guess from the context with very high certainty.

kwb - Thank you for the correction, I misunderstood "くださるそうです". I think the source is the Ricoh rep, since it follows on from the previous tweet which says "昨日は某R社の幹部の方々から".

I see that the K-mount roadmap has still not been updated after the 70-210/4 release, but it was probably not an oversight because the product catalogue has. It seems like the map was going to be updated at CP+, so there was something else to be revealed on it that they missed the chance to share. I guess they will say something when the public health situation improves and there is more chance people are in a mood to listen and make a purchase.

[Mistral75]

(...)

I see that the K-mount roadmap has still not been updated after the 70-210/4 release, but it was probably not an oversight because the product catalogue has. It seems like the map was going to be updated at CP+, so there was something else to be revealed on it that they missed the chance to share. (...)

Probably the full name of the HD Pentax-D FA★ 85mm f/1.4, which they would have revealed at CP+ together with a first set of specifications and a tentative launch date, as they did with the HD Pentax-D FA★ 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW at CP+ 2018.

I honestly don't know whether Ricoh follows what's written about Pentax in forums like these, or - if it does - whether it pays much heed... but I doubt it. Seriously, there's an awful lot of dirt to sift through in order to find any nuggets of useful intelligence, much less trends, that might possibly be of any value in setting strategy and developing new products... and in the absence of really obvious trends from a large sample group, how is Ricoh to know whether your opinions - or mine, for that matter - are the right ones to hang its hat on? The time-worn and rather presumptuous "What Ricoh should do" posts and the wildly varying (often contradictory) advice they prescribe, don't offer any useful patterns or trends in customer wishes. None of them in recent memory mentions anything truly new; it's all been raised many times before in different guises by a few vocal members, often presenting their ideas as some great insight or wisdom that the company has apparently failed to elicit with its own wealth of commercial and technical expertise.

I submit to you that Ricoh knows exactly how it wants to run its businesses - what its strategy is, what it intends to develop and produce, how it will handle marketing, what volume of products it needs to sell at what prices, and why... and we'll either like it or we won't (or, more probably, a mix of the two). But it will change not a jot due to a few discussions and individual "crusades" in these forums. When Ricoh releases new products, that's when we can provide truly useful feedback by either buying them or not. Actual vs forecast sales is a message Ricoh will listen to and act upon.

All that said, if you believe you're onto something with your recommendations for Ricoh, get in touch with them directly and present your data... and be sure to let us know how it goes

Again I agree with you that Ricoh exactly knows how to run its business and of course they have a strategy. And what's more, they deliver a product and it is up to the market to buy or not. And as you are in contact with them, maybe you can introduce me to them?

[BROO]

I honestly don't know whether Ricoh follows what's written about Pentax in forums like these, or - if it does - whether it pays much heed... but I doubt it.

I suspect the sudden emergence of the D-FA 70-210 f 4 was partly a result of some forum members here banging on about it as their preferred future lens after a couple of Ricoh survey discussions. (from memory)