[TwoUptons]

Pentax - last non-WR camera in 2014, the entry level K-S1.
Fujifilm - last non-WR camera in 2020

Pentax - last new non-WR K-mount lens in 2012
Fujifilm - last non-WR lens in 2020

Yeah, I can see how Fujifilm wins!

Image Resource AFAIK didn't test Pentax' weather sealing at all. We know Olympus had a very aggressive marketing... but I though we were talking about weather sealing!

Though I would argue Pentax (Hoya) gave away their leadership in ruggedized compacts.

Ricoh still makes them (or has them made by whatever OEM build them, using apparently the same lens assembly as Olympus), but the Olympus cameras are better regarded in things I've seen.

But I'd rather not have Ricoh follow Olympus' financial example...

-Eric

[Breakfastographer]

i don't know about Fuji.

Roger Cicala disassembled a 10.000$ Fuji GFX100. I am stunned at the amount of plastic that is used on this MF camera. Still worse, quoting from his lensrentals blog:


The K3 III is in a completely different class constructionwise; so is the K1 or 645Z...

Correct, and yet it took a Roger Cicala teardown to discover that and clear up the facts. The fact of the market is that weather sealing is a little bit like insurance - few people ever truly put it to the test.

You could look at Fujifilm's lens line-up and take away the message that they have a lot of weather-sealed lenses, and you can grab one of their weather-sealed bodies and come away thinking you are well-prepared.

If we look at their weather-sealed range, we could easily get the impression that they're taking aim at Pentax particularly, with many of their more compact primes being weather-sealed:
16mm f/2.8 (and f/1.4)
23mm f/2
35mm f/2
50mm f/2 (and f/1.0)
80mm f/2.8 (macro)
90mm f/2
200mm f/2 (not compact at all, just for completeness)

And, since you mention G mount, all of their G mount lenses are designated as weather-sealed.

Now, if you think about this more deeply, why would you take a prime lens on an interchangeable lens camera into inclement weather? You won't be able to change lenses in good conscience without drying off your camera quite carefully first, which may not be easily possible if you have no shelter nearby. So weather-sealed zooms make a lot more sense unless you're a die-hard prime shooter that only ever uses one focal length per trip, or takes several bodies for flexibility.

But, as one famous book title said, "Don't make me think". Fujifilm offers the opportunity to buy all-WR lenses and have all your bases covered. About half their primes aren't weather-sealed, but you could avoid those and still have one for every major focal length (the exception being the widest lens at 14mm being unsealed, but the 16mm WR gets you fairly close). You can put yourself in a situation where you can grab any lens from your shelf, run out the door and not think twice about weather-sealing, because they would all have it.

This sort of thing can make an impression on a customer, even if the geeks may think the weather-sealing isn't as good as some other brand. A lot of camera buyers still don't frequent forums much before purchasing, and Fujifilm definitely caters to that market.

[RGlasel]

I think the intention here is to design a sort of "last of a lifetime camera". It makes sense in a declining market and if you believe you may be selling the same model for quite some time.

There is more than one way to take this statement, but I think you are onto something. Because Ricoh Imaging has been so slow to release new products for the past three years (after Ricoh Company underwent some major changes, what the jargonistas call "a paradigm shift") much of the talent that had been designing and developing Pentax cameras and lenses in the past has had the "opportunity" to take their time working on landmark products instead of rushing to get updates and me-too products out the door. Whether through dumb luck or enlightened management, keeping this talent together on Ricoh's payroll has probably saved the Pentax brand for a generation and will, I believe, end up giving photography enthusiasts something to talk about for at least a decade.

[Kunzite]

Though I would argue Pentax (Hoya) gave away their leadership in ruggedized compacts.

Ricoh still makes them (or has them made by whatever OEM build them, using apparently the same lens assembly as Olympus), but the Olympus cameras are better regarded in things I've seen.

But I'd rather not have Ricoh follow Olympus' financial example...

-Eric

I wouldn't judge them after cameras neither Ricoh nor Olympus could be bothered to make.

[AggieDad]

While like almost everyone, I am very excited about the new K-3-III. But it seems a number of people have expressed their concern about what they consider as necessary "features" that will apparently be missing on this hot new camera. It really is a matter of perspective (well, isn't much photography a matter of perspective?).

Here are my thoughts about some of the things that seem to have some folks exercised – thoughts from the perspective of a 78 year old.

• One Card Slot – No problem. I probably can't last more than about 8GB max.
• Weather-resistance – No problem. I'm not allowed (and don't want to be) out in the rain any more.
• Tilty-Screen – No problem. I no longer take photos if the camera isn't right in front of me.
• No GPS – No problem. If I wander too far, someone will probably send out a Silver Alert.

If I have any one real concern about the new K-3-III, it is that I hope they finally bring it to market before I reach 80! How many little teasers can an old man take?

[Breakfastographer]

While like almost everyone, I am very excited about the new K-3-III. But it seems a number of people have expressed their concern about what they consider as necessary "features" that will apparently be missing on this hot new camera. It really is a matter of perspective (well, isn't much photography a matter of perspective?).

Here are my thoughts about some of the things that seem to have some folks exercised – thoughts from the perspective of a 78 year old.

• One Card Slot – No problem. I probably can't last more than about 8GB max.
• Weather-resistance – No problem. I'm not allowed (and don't want to be) out in the rain any more.
• Tilty-Screen – No problem. I no longer take photos if the camera isn't right in front of me.
• No GPS – No problem. If I wander too far, someone will probably send out a Silver Alert.

If I have any one real concern about the new K-3-III, it is that I hope they finally bring it to market before I reach 80! How many little teasers can an old man take?

It sounds like this camera will be perfect for you. Just one correction - there are two card slots, but only one of them is UHS-II rated. This means that if you want to write to two cards at the same time, the best way of doing that to not slow your fast card slot down too much is to write raw to the fast slot and jpeg to the slow one. And if only one of your cards is UHS-II rated, you have to make sure to put it in the correct slot, or it will behave like a slow card.

It's really an unnecessary complication to have two slots that are different speeds, but this may not be relevant to you as it doesn't sound like you spray-and-pray much.

[repaap]

Correct, and yet it took a Roger Cicala teardown to discover that and clear up the facts. The fact of the market is that weather sealing is a little bit like insurance - few people ever truly put it to the test.

You could look at Fujifilm's lens line-up and take away the message that they have a lot of weather-sealed lenses, and you can grab one of their weather-sealed bodies and come away thinking you are well-prepared.

If we look at their weather-sealed range, we could easily get the impression that they're taking aim at Pentax particularly, with many of their more compact primes being weather-sealed:
16mm f/2.8 (and f/1.4)
23mm f/2
35mm f/2
50mm f/2 (and f/1.0)
80mm f/2.8 (macro)
90mm f/2
200mm f/2 (not compact at all, just for completeness)

And, since you mention G mount, all of their G mount lenses are designated as weather-sealed.

Now, if you think about this more deeply, why would you take a prime lens on an interchangeable lens camera into inclement weather? You won't be able to change lenses in good conscience without drying off your camera quite carefully first, which may not be easily possible if you have no shelter nearby. So weather-sealed zooms make a lot more sense unless you're a die-hard prime shooter that only ever uses one focal length per trip, or takes several bodies for flexibility.

But, as one famous book title said, "Don't make me think". Fujifilm offers the opportunity to buy all-WR lenses and have all your bases covered. About half their primes aren't weather-sealed, but you could avoid those and still have one for every major focal length (the exception being the widest lens at 14mm being unsealed, but the 16mm WR gets you fairly close). You can put yourself in a situation where you can grab any lens from your shelf, run out the door and not think twice about weather-sealing, because they would all have it.

This sort of thing can make an impression on a customer, even if the geeks may think the weather-sealing isn't as good as some other brand. A lot of camera buyers still don't frequent forums much before purchasing, and Fujifilm definitely caters to that market.

It is true that it does cater to that target group. Pentax cater to that group of photographers who actually do stress their WR when they go out to get that shot. Or do get surprised by storm(I did, at China when weather was fine when we did hike at the mountain and thunderstorm did appear quite fast. Did not want to open my camera bag even. Left my DFA 15-30 on my K-1. And I did get very nice images out of it too) I would have freaked out with light WR if I knew it was not going to propably make it. Or I would have kept my camera at my bag. And missed those shots from that mountain I’ll propably never visit again.

[RobG]

Fujifilm - last non-WR lens in 2020

Yes, I was surprised that the XS10 wasn't weather sealed. It doesn't sound like the weather sealing on the XT4 is an effective as on my K3 though.

[shyrsio]

Call me old fashioned but I dig these little in detail articles abut the design process and the philosophy behind it. I get it that many are viewing this as Pentax buying time and keeping interest high but I want to be naive and believe that they do it just for the shear joy of it.

[Mistral75]

Call me old fashioned but I dig these little in detail articles abut the design process and the philosophy behind it. I get it that many are viewing this as Pentax buying time and keeping interest high but I want to be naive and believe that they do it just for the shear joy of it.

A bit of both, perhaps? The two are not incompatible.

[Breakfastographer]

A bit of both, perhaps? The two are not incompatible.

I get the impression that these articles are quite carefully worded, with a fair amount of marketing sauce thrown in. I would not be surprised to learn that there's a lengthy back-and-forth between engineering and marketing before they go live.

So, sheer joy, maybe, but then a lot of both elbow and palm grease.

[DWS1]

I enjoy these looks into the why things are designed the way there are. Something we very seldom get.

[zapp]

With story 7 out on the web, how many KP cameras is Pentax still selling. K3lll interests me as fast FPS and TC addition for K1, but if you are currently looking for an APSC camera only, this type of marketing can kill sales. Unless everybody understands that K3iii will be positioned far above KP w.r.t. price and features.
Waiting for K1 was different, a completely new format with competition by the rest of the market. In that case it helped to keep users updated early.
So KP is selling for decent price and with season rebates while K3iii is a signal to the market, saying lok. at Pentax. Customers here are used to wait, so why bother.

[noelpolar]

I must admit..... this is so drawn out I'm losing interest.... not that I expect anyone to care. Hopefully they will spring a K1 replacement on us without such a long labour.

[BROO]

While like almost everyone, I am very excited about the new K-3-III. But it seems a number of people have expressed their concern about what they consider as necessary "features" that will apparently be missing on this hot new camera. It really is a matter of perspective (well, isn't much photography a matter of perspective?).

Here are my thoughts about some of the things that seem to have some folks exercised – thoughts from the perspective of a 78 year old.

How many little teasers can an old man take?

That depends on the size of the teaser compared to the size of your ticker😋