[Fila]

If you look carefully at the statements made by Pentax around the K-3 III launch then you will note they have put a lot of effort into upgrading the pentaprism, operating system, autofocus system and use of the newer designed BSI sensor. They noted that these were once in a decade level changes. Having made that investment, it would seem illogical not to recover that across a wider DSLR range and longer time period.

Based on that observation I would expect Pentax will release a K-70 and K-1 upgrade with the newer systems and hardware. Most of the hard work to achieve this is already done.

I would vote for KP II instead of K-90

[Class A]

Credit where credit's due: DPReview have changed their headline from "Ricoh to cease mass production and sales in Japan, opting for a more direct-to-consumer and 'workshop-like' approach" to "Questioning the value of 'mass production and mass sales,' Ricoh is looking to take a more direct-to-consumer approach in Japan".

Is it the best headline version imaginable? I don't think so, but I appreciate that they are striving for more accuracy in the headline and furthermore included the response by Ricoh Imaging Americas about relying on mass production to continue. As a result, the prior connotation of significantly winding down production is no longer there.

[biz-engineer]

What about the clunkiness of having various bits of irrelevant data all over your viewfinder?

So true. I have all overlays disabled on my K1 , when enabled it gets in the way of viewing / composition. I've used histogram overlay, but never kept it for long, that's already too much clutter the view. A frame and a center focus square is all I have now.

---------- Post added 22-01-22 at 16:21 ----------

Ricoh/Pentax new strategy

is not a tragedy

[brewmaster15]

I think that whatever the changes are Ricoh does in Their Japanese market will be a test run. If the changes are accepted by consumers there and
are profitable its very likely they will expand the offerings to the international market. It would be a questionable decision if they did not yet had the capabilities in place for it already.... provided its profitable. I know the statement says no change for international markets but both their domestic and international markets are linked to their bottom line and company strategies should change as needed to make the highest profit it can.

Time will tell...

I kind of almost wish the doom and gloom lasted another day or so though... might have been able to score a steeply discounted k3-3 from someone buying the .." omg Pentax is doomed "again..and jumping ship..

Ah well.. another time.

Al

[luftfluss]

Credit where credit's due: DPReview have changed their headline from "Ricoh to cease mass production and sales in Japan, opting for a more direct-to-consumer and 'workshop-like' approach" to "Questioning the value of 'mass production and mass sales,' Ricoh is looking to take a more direct-to-consumer approach in Japan".

Is it the best headline version imaginable? I don't think so, but I appreciate that they are striving for more accuracy in the headline and furthermore included the response by Ricoh Imaging Americas about relying on mass production to continue. As a result, the prior connotation of significantly winding down production is no longer there.

Not blaming anyone, but is the damage already done? The way the information came out sowed some doubt in the minds of current and potential Pentax users.

[house]

Ricoh is like a machine manufacturing fud opportunities and there's a whole host of web sites hungrily waiting to misinterpret everything into dramatic content.

Ricoh is doing this so often you have to start wondering if it's on purpose. The problem is, as is well known, redacting articles don't change what the vast majority of people take away. Demagogues use it frequently. People believe the initial falsehoods and forget that it was false. With Pentax you have a lot of these situations and the image in peoples heads are one of DOOM!

[Roadboat24]

'workshop-like' approach". From "Applied Mechanics and Materials".
Workshop is gathered place and exchange centre of product manufacturing process information (PMPI), which is divided by enterprise heterogeneous systems. This led to the integration and sharing difficulty of PMPI and constrains the information system application in workshop, like MES. To solve this problem an information integration method based on semantic BOM was proposed. Firstly, a global ontology model USBOM of PMPI was constructed which given the unified semantic description of PMPI. Based on USBOM a PMPI integration framework was proposed. Finally, a workshop product manufacturing monitoring system was used as an example to verify the feasibility of this approach.

[biz-engineer]

After all, it's only a press release, mostly a talk. I'm more concerned with looking at the popularity of the Pentax K3 III and the D-FA 21 Limited. So far, the images for both K3 III and D-FA 21 Limited look very good, Ricoh Imaging did a good job, but I don't see a lot of adoption. The D-FA 21 Limited lens club, two owners have posted some images, and I can count on my fingers how many forum members bought a D-FA 21 Limited, it's really not many, I don't even need my two hands for counting, pathetic for Ricoh Imaging engineers who put a couple of years of work to design that fantastic little prime lens. The five last Pentax user reviews are all K mount product purchased used on e-bay, no review of the outstanding D-FA 21 Limited lens. I think that'll be a real problem to solve for Ricoh Imaging. Rougthly speaking , customers mostly don't care about the new premium products released by Ricoh Imaging. It's nice to be vocal about defending the Pentax brand, but if you don't buy the new Pentax products released by Ricoh Imaging, the Pentax brand will disappear anyway.

[c.a.m]

I'm more concerned with looking at the popularity of the Pentax K3 III and the D-FA 21 Limited.

It's nice to be vocal about defending the Pentax brand, but if you don't buy the new Pentax products released by Ricoh Imaging, the Pentax brand will disappear anyway.

I understand your concern. I guess a question is: What strategy and compelling marketing would Ricoh Imaging need to embrace to gain customers for their new products?

I don't know if I am a 'typical' Pentax user, but I like the products. Ricoh Imaging attracted me to the K-3 Mark III, and I bought one of the 'Premium Kits', which was a fairly expensive purchase for me. However, I hesitate to buy any of the new lenses -- their price in Canada is steep for me, considering that I already have a pretty decent set of lenses.

For example, a new 16-50 PLM plus a 50/1.4 would be a CAD $3,000 purchase (plus sales tax). Would the lenses produce much better images than I get with my DA 20-40 Limited and, say, my old rattly Pentax-F 50/1.7? Maybe yes, maybe no. (I know, the new lenses are excellent, and better optically than the two examples I give here. But $3,000 worth? Would they improve the outcomes of my photography hobby?)


- Craig

[biz-engineer]

For example, a new 16-50 PLM plus a 50/1.4 would be a CAD $3,000 purchase (plus sales tax). Would the lenses produce much better images than I get with my DA 20-40 Limited and, say, my old rattly Pentax-F 50/1.7?

Yes, but the D-FA 21 is unique, there is no other UWA prime lens, except the old FA or older lenses. Before its release it looked to fit perfectly a whole in the Pentax lens lineup, such missing focal length had been complained about by customers for many years. I'm surprised it's not selling in large quantities, because 21mm is very useful and long awaited (according to forum posts), I feel like there is something wrong.

[gatorguy]

Yes, but the D-FA 21 is unique, there is no other UWA prime lens, except the old FA or older lenses. Before its release it seems to fit perfectly a whole in the Pentax lens lineup. I'm surprised it's not selling in large quantities, because 21mm is very useful, I feel like there is something wrong.

Well, the stock at Amazon US ran thru quickly. When I initially added it to my cart there were "only 12 left". Three days later they were gone but "more are on the way". With both Adorama and B&H selling it, along with Ricoh themselves, it may be selling better than you guess.

[Kunzite]

It's nice to be vocal about defending the Pentax brand, but if you don't buy the new Pentax products released by Ricoh Imaging, the Pentax brand will disappear anyway.

Some of us are buying Pentax products.
And more are vocal against the Pentax brand, than defending them - defending their choice.

[NZ_Ross]

But $3,000 worth? Would they improve the outcomes of my photography hobby?

My question to myself also. I really like the look of the new 21 Limited and what it brings to Pentax, but I also already have some very nice lenses in that focal range...

[acoufap]

Yes, but the D-FA 21 is unique, there is no other UWA prime lens, except the old FA or older lenses. Before its release it looked to fit perfectly a whole in the Pentax lens lineup, such missing focal length had been complained about by customers for many years. I'm surprised it's not selling in large quantities, because 21mm is very useful and long awaited (according to forum posts), I feel like there is something wrong.

I guess it would sell much better at 900,- € than 1.500,- € … ;-)

[luftfluss]

Well, the stock at Amazon US ran thru quickly. When I initially added it to my cart there were "only 12 left". Three days later they were gone but "more are on the way". With both Adorama and B&H selling it, along with Ricoh themselves, it may be selling better than you guess.

I just took a look, Amazon says 4 left left (black), 2 left (silver); Adorama has black in stock, silver backordered; B&H says both flavors are in stock. And checking the big auction site (USA), there are none available from sellers outside of Japan.

So without knowing how things are on the supply side, it appears the 21/2.4 is selling pretty well.