[ffking]

That Cameraville guy claimed that he had inside knowledge that this video was going to be about the end of Pentax, a goodbye message.

I think he's just casting around desperately for a formula that will grow his chanel, and unfortunatey annoying his previous watcher base seems to be a part of it at present.

[BarneyL]

Has Tamron ever made a MF lens?

They acquired Bronica and made some stuff for Bronica 645 rangefinder.

Duplicating the existing 645 Lens range would seem to me to be a good way to lose money. I’ll repeat what I said earlier: a hybrid viewfinder in a full-frame mirrored Pentax 645 body makes a lot more sense, for those who must have an EVF.

The existing range is mostly screw driven stuff from the days of yore. Introducing new mount and new lenses, assuming having a partner, shouldn't be that much of a problem in MF sector, as medium format never demanded a range of lenses as vast as smaller formats.

[clackers]

The thing is, we don't actually know what Pentax's standing in Ricoh's "Smart Vision" division is; it is possible that Pentax is in the red, Theta and GR and whatever else keeping things in the black.

What's wrong with that - cameras that sell? You might say, 'But I don't want a street camera or a 360 degree camera'. But the point is, other people did.

The result is what Ricoh did last year with the Smartvision portfolio is what the other manufacturers have been unable to do - actually make more money. Boards respect that.

Take Olympus, for example.

According to Mistral75's figures, they sell twice as many cameras as Ricoh, and they're completely mirrorless.

But the result? A $150 million dollar loss in twelve months. Let's put that disaster into context. All of Pentax, its employees in Japan, its factories in Vietnam and the Philippines, its IP, was bought for $120 million.

So, which company has been smarter?

And in the case of Canon and Nikon, their revenues have dropped even further since they moved to their new mirrorless platforms. The Canon guy admitted they did not result in a growth in the market or even an arrest in the decline, instead he found each mirrorless sold just subtracted one from their own DSLR sales. That's the worst possible result. And if Canon cannot serve both R and EF mount users (they've basically abandoned EF lens development, for example), how will smaller Nikon and Pentax handle two mounts?

[clackers]

I think he's just casting around desperately for a formula that will grow his chanel, and unfortunatey annoying his previous watcher base seems to be a part of it at present.

He spent much of last year, week by week proving Pentax cameras and lenses were better than Fuji.

Now, he's switching his desired viewer base to Fuji?

He must hope they have short memories. I think he attacked the quality of their lenses, the colours coming out of the sensor, the sharpness of the pictures, etc. At best, he must be regarded as a double agent.

[Cerebum]

He spent much of last year, week by week proving Pentax cameras and lenses were better than Fuji.

Now, he's switching his desired viewer base to Fuji?

He must hope they have short memories. I think he attacked the quality of their lenses, the colours coming out of the sensor, the sharpness of the pictures, etc. At best, he must be regarded as a double agent.

He's a c**kwomble! I thought that when he cheered for Pentax! I think we need to apologise to Fuji users for sending him over

[clackers]

He's a c**kwomble! I thought that when he cheered for Pentax! I think we need to apologise to Fuji users for sending him over

Yeah, we probably need to put a tag on him saying 'Not to be returned'.

Excitable, nervous on-camera persona aside (as if he'd been force fed six cans of Red Bull beforehand) he was very haphazard, very sloppy with methodology.

His explanation of the significance of focus breathing was headache inducing, for example.

Another time, he hammered the DFA 70-200 for sharpness. It took Pentaxians in the Youtube comments to say he must've been mistaken, and after pressure, he rented a second copy. Of course it was fine. Some decentreing must've happened to the first in delivery, was the explanation he offered.

This is the problem. Roger Cicala tests a minimum of ten copies before announcing a performance measurement. Li is an amateur, and the Internet is full of amateurs making judgments. As I am now, but I'm not trying to make money from it.

[BarneyL]

Another time, he hammered the DFA 70-200 for sharpness. It took Pentaxians in the Youtube comments to say he must've been mistaken, and after pressure, he rented a second copy. Of course it was fine. Some decentreing must've happened to the first in delivery, was the explanation he offered.

This is the problem. Roger Cicala tests a minimum of ten copies before announcing a performance measurement. Li is an amateur, and the Internet is full of amateurs making judgments. As I am now, but I'm not trying to make money from it.

To be fair, it's kinda difficult to get ten copies of a lens to test if you're not running an equipment rental company. Lenstip doesn't get that many either.

Li hated that lens mostly because of the issue which most of non-video people don't care that much about - focus breathing. It sure is there, quite pronounced in fact, and it's right to point it out as a flaw to be fixed in a next version of the lens. He also made some vague statements about focus breathing having something to do with lacking sharpness, but I'm not sure what the link is. His sharpness tests are pretty weird in general - old FA* 85/1.4 performed better than Sigma Art 85/1.4, the latter being either severely decentered or misfocused. D-FA* 70-200 vs Tamron 70-180 also had the first one obviously misfocused.

Anyway, lacking as his tests are, I don't understand the hate flow towards him, especially since his videos dedicated to Pentax (in some of which he compared it to stuff from leading brands and concluded Pentax is much better, I guess Pentaxians have short-lived memory...) cost him views taken away (yes, that happens, videos get "unwatched") by youtube's strange "spam detection" algorithm - and in turn, money.

[DagT]

They acquired Bronica and made some stuff for Bronica 645 rangefinder.

Tamron also made several lenses in the PS series for the SQ-series. They are very good. Especially the PS180mm which is my all tie favorite portrait lens.

[Class A]

I still think it's a pity Pentax will not advance into the mirrorless sector.

I think they are very well advised to not try and compete in the mirrorless market.

There are already too many players as it is and it would require an enormous amount of investment to come even close to the AF performance and video capabilities of the current mirrorless models. I don't think they'd be able to recoup the investment by only appealing to traditional Pentaxians -- the latter seem to have different priorities -- but in order to attract new customers, you'd have to give them reasons to choose a Pentax MILC over a Sony, Canon, Nikon, Panasonic or Fuji. I don't see any such reasons that would make sense with respect to the Pentax brand.

Another is the vast selection of lenses available with adapters when you go to thinner bodies.

Pentax doesn't only produce camera bodies, they produce lenses as well. Selling the latter is already more challenging than for most brands, due to the longevity of the K-mount and the resulting availability of used lenses. If they now additionally gave users the option to essentially mount any lens ever made via adapters, it would most likely seriously impact on their lens business and hence their overall investment budget.

I quite liked the times when I could choose between Pentax and Sigma lenses, for instance, but right now I'd rather see Pentax staying in business by selling excellent lenses as well as bodies than being entirely unconstrained with my lens choices and see Pentax go under as a consequence.

[Paul the Sunman]

The amazing thing is that Ricoh/Pentax can make money with 1.7% of the market whilst Nikon and the other Big Boys struggle with 20% or more. Does Ricoh/Pentax run that much leaner? Are they that much more efficient?

Or is it just that they have resisted the urge to double-up with mirrorless and instead have lived within their means?

Business mystifies me.

[carlb]

The amazing thing is that Ricoh/Pentax can make money with 1.7% of the market whilst Nikon and the other Big Boys struggle with 20% or more. Does Ricoh/Pentax run that much leaner? Are they that much more efficient?

Or is it just that they have resisted the urge to double-up with mirrorless and instead have lived within their means?

Business mystifies me.

You can make money with a small market share if there's enough margin in the products you sell and if you, as you say...........live within your means.

[chessov]

Are we going to read anything into the 645Z being placed nearest to Takahashi?

I hope so!

[house]

I think this list as well as the video hints that it might be a good idea to put the idea of a D500 competitor to rest.

It might be a coincidence but compared to much previous marketing the video lacks the sporty, all weather, frost on guy with hood up aspect. It's much more in line with the KP marketing. In other words it's catering to people like myself Pentax medium format seems to be popular with the kids and I think Pentax is doing the right thing tapping that sentiment.

[robbiec]

• K50 of course - Correct
• K35/3.5 one the very bet PENTAX lenses I’ve owned. - Agreed
• DA21 is the default KP lens right? - Should be

I think you’ve been mainlining the Pentax KOOL-AID again.

Nah, this is just my normal Pentax appreciation mode. I'm not allowed up in News & Rumours if I even have a sniff of Pentax KOOL-AID

[dbs]

To be fair, it's kinda difficult to get ten copies of a lens to test if you're not running an equipment rental company. Lenstip doesn't get that many either.

Li hated that lens mostly because of the issue which most of non-video people don't care that much about - focus breathing. It sure is there, quite pronounced in fact, and it's right to point it out as a flaw to be fixed in a next version of the lens. He also made some vague statements about focus breathing having something to do with lacking sharpness, but I'm not sure what the link is. His sharpness tests are pretty weird in general - old FA* 85/1.4 performed better than Sigma Art 85/1.4, the latter being either severely decentered or misfocused. D-FA* 70-200 vs Tamron 70-180 also had the first one obviously misfocused.

Anyway, lacking as his tests are, I don't understand the hate flow towards him, especially since his videos dedicated to Pentax (in some of which he compared it to stuff from leading brands and concluded Pentax is much better, I guess Pentaxians have short-lived memory...) cost him views taken away (yes, that happens, videos get "unwatched") by youtube's strange "spam detection" algorithm - and in turn, money.

Hi Barney

Why are you surprised that the FA 85 is better than the Sigma 85.?
I would be surprised if it wasn't.
OEM is generally better than 3rd party.

Dave