[Wheatfield]

Not sure how I fell about having the Pentax name associated with cellphone shots. At 64MP with a pixel pitch of .8um and f/1.8 aperture means that the airy disk of a true point light source would at best cover 9 pixels (airy disk diameter of 2.4um) so the theoretical actual best resolution would be a bit more than 7MP assuming an ideal lens. Having seen lots of images from cellphones that while good compared to older phones leave a lot to be desired when compared to bigger cameras. Because of that I don't know if I would want to hang my brand on that although it would bring in more money for Ricoh and if the camera is better than most other offerings may bring people of to buy some of their bigger cameras. I guess that makes me old now.

While everything you say is true, I suspect none of it matters to a cell phone customer. As long as aunt Martha in the back row is in focus that user is happy.
I don't think Huawei sticking the Leica name on their phones hurt Leica.
OTOH, getting the name Pentax onto a cross metchandised product isn't going to hurt them.

[borisII]

Smart strategy IMO, here with Meizu:

Meizu 19 renders reveal its pure white panel with a Pentax camera

I doubt that it's smart....Better to develop K-mount lenses.

[BigMackCam]

Better to develop K-mount lenses.

I don't think it needs to be a choice between doing one or the other. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Panasonic makes its own Leica-branded lenses... all Leica does (I say "all", but it's an important step) is review and approve or reject the designs. It's quite possible - probable, even - that Ricoh's involvement with Meizu would be broadly similar. The Panasonic / Leica relationship goes much further, with Panasonic manufacturing modules and even entire consumer-oriented compact cameras for Leica. Perhaps Meizu will provide manufacturing services or technology input to Ricoh in future? The possibilities and potential benefits are quite interesting...

[Wheatfield]

I doubt that it's smart....Better to develop K-mount lenses.

That really depends on if there are things like technology exchange going on in the background. The mothercorp might benefit from it. Remember that Pentax is just a name on one of Ricoh's many office doors.

[TwoUptons]

I don't think it needs to be a choice between doing one or the other. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Panasonic makes its own Leica-branded lenses... all Leica does (I say "all", but it's an important step) is review and approve or reject the designs. It's quite possible - probable, even - that Ricoh's involvement with Meizu would be broadly similar. The Panasonic / Leica relationship goes much further, with Panasonic manufacturing modules and even entire consumer-oriented compact cameras for Leica. Perhaps Meizu will provide manufacturing services or technology input to Ricoh in future? The possibilities and potential benefits are quite interesting...

That's what I'm thinking... loads of possibilities when paired with a company that builds tiny, portable computers with communication capabilities...
What hardware architecture does the K3iii use for the stuff that isn't the image sensor? What does it use for WiFi and bluetooth? What would a K70/KP replacement use?

But it could be related to Theta or something else...

Like you said, Pentax is just a name on an office door in many respects.
While that doesn't mean Ricoh will ruin its brand, it may mean the trades are to other parts of the empire...

-Eric

[Thwyllo]

I don't for one moment believe Ricoh would simply allow someone to use the Pentax brand name on a third-party product... They're not that desperate

You think?

---------- Post added 02-01-22 at 09:02 AM ----------

Well, it's not as if Leica took a 4G license for including their logo on Huawei phones, did they ?

...or Hasselblad on the latest DJI offering....if Ricoh/Pentax ever did do it they would be unlikely to succeed because (1) they'd be way too late to the party and (2) most people under the age of about 35 don't know who/what Pentax is.

[BigMackCam]

You think?

Indeed I do

...or Hasselblad on the latest DJI offering....if Ricoh/Pentax ever did do it they would be unlikely to succeed because (1) they'd be way too late to the party and (2) most people under the age of about 35 don't know who/what Pentax is.

Late or not, this could be a way of getting the brand name in front of younger folks, maybe some whose mums and dads will see the name on their kids' phones and tell them how Pentax made fantastic film cameras back in the day... and, slowly, it generates interest.

---

Last edited by BigMackCam; 02-01-2022 at 11:30 AM.

[RobA_Oz]

You think?

---------- Post added 02-01-22 at 09:02 AM ----------

...or Hasselblad on the latest DJI offering....if Ricoh/Pentax ever did do it they would be unlikely to succeed because (1) they'd be way too late to the party and (2) most people under the age of about 35 don't know who/what Pentax is.

Neither of those assertions represents a barrier to success. If (1) was true, there’d never be any late entrants to an established market, and I’m sure most of us could think of more than one brand nobody had heard of five years ago, that’s now a significant player. It follows that (2) could not be true for much the same reason.

If you’re struggling to think of an example that fits both, have a look at MG, where a new(ish) company bought an old brand that hadn’t been active (at all, except for a few old folks who clung to past glory) for 40 years or so and ran with it in a very mature market, successfully, so far.

[phoebus]

...or Hasselblad on the latest DJI offering....if Ricoh/Pentax ever did do it they would be unlikely to succeed because (1) they'd be way too late to the party and (2) most people under the age of about 35 don't know who/what Pentax is.

Seeing as DJI own a majority stake in Hasselblad since 2017, I think using the brand name on drone cameras is to be expected..

[Pål Jensen]

You think?

---------- Post added 02-01-22 at 09:02 AM ----------

...or Hasselblad on the latest DJI offering....if Ricoh/Pentax ever did do it they would be unlikely to succeed because (1) they'd be way too late to the party and (2) most people under the age of about 35 don't know who/what Pentax is.

Well, a few years ago I didn't know what Samsung was, or Huawei or Telsa was for that matter. The list is almost endless. Pentax is after all a long established camera brand.

[Mistral75]

After Sony-Zeiss, Vivo-Zeiss, OnePlus-Hasselblad and Sharp-Leica, another partnership between smartphone maker and photographic brand was announced today:

Oppo enters three-year partnership to bring Hasselblad imaging tech to its flagship smartphones: Digital Photography Review

[jersey]

Oppo owns OnePlus so its not new, they just aligning everything.