[slartibartfast01]

And the aperture block thing happened exclusively in the cheap entry market segment that today is completely irrelevant, so if that pissed of someone, it only happened to irrelevant consumers.

If you piss off (not of) a customer who bought an entry level camera they certainly aren't going to buy another camera from you or recommend anyone else to buy from you. Anyway it's nice to know I am an irrelevant customer, thanks for that

[reh321]

The K-1 has a prism that is every bit as wonderful as that on the K-33.

Guess who *still* uses the flippy screen every day he takes the camera.

I have used the “flippy” once in the 2-1/2 years I have owned my KP.
I’m tired of the complaining.
First people complained about the KP’s lack of top LED, it’s battery, it’s queue , etc, etc, ad nauseum
now is the back LED.
If you want a moveable LED, get a K-1!
It is the expensive camera designed to photograph mushrooms and over fences.

[FozzFoster]

President Akabane, who speaks like this, does not seem like a financier who came from a bank to rebuild a business. However, a manager should focus on the company's "core business," face the core business more squarely and sincerely than anyone else, and concentrate on increasing the value of the core business.

In this sense, the direction of seeking ways to survive while refining the core business may not have the power to revolutionize the industry, but it is one way of life for a camera manufacturer.

If you have a talent for painting, you can embody what you find beautiful with your own talent and skill. However, with the tool of a camera, you can express yourself without any artistic skill. By focusing on an SLR that captures light and air, everyone can participate in art. That is how I see it."

Makes sense to me.
Thank you

[biz-engineer]

How much money did you spend on brand new Pentax equipment in the last 2 years?

I bought a whole K1 system in 2016 for over 12KE, and a K1 II bundle (with free 35 f2) in 2019 for testing the accelerator chip, hand held PS and supposedly superior AF (I found K1 II made no difference, K1 II not used). After a lot of hesitation I bought the D-FA 70-210 f4 in 2021 at 20% discount, as light weight alternative to the 70-200 2.8, at which point I decided not to buy any new K mount product because I don't like the current Pentax FF prime lens lineup, I don't see much progress on cameras, and I'll pause buying any new camera products until I see more clearly how camera systems unfold. My next system would be either Fuji GFX100S or Nikon Z8 or Z9 depending on specs, or just keep using my K1 until it breaks.

[Pål Jensen]

The K-1 has a prism that is every bit as wonderful as that on the K-33.

Guess who *still* uses the flippy screen every day he takes the camera.

My point is that "it didn't have [feature] before" is a terrible argument, particularly when it has minimal downsides, to the point that basically every other option has said feature (because technology marches on). You yourself left Pentax for more than a decade because they didn't add a feature that you wanted added (silent focusing motors). By your own logic, why should they have added DC/PLM lenses - they didn't have them before.

Minimal downside? The downside is that the camera could not have been made within its design parameters while including the feature; it would need a complete redesign.There are no free lunches.. Pentax wanted to make a professional grade, fast, compact solid, and reasonably affordable top-of-the -line APS body and you won't get every feature under the sun in such a camera. They emphasized the SLR/optical viewfinder experience in tune with their philosophy and prioritized accordingly.

[Serkevan]

Minimal downside? The downside is that the camera could not have been made within its design parameters while including the feature; it would need a complete redesign.

Yeah, to make it roughly 3 mm thicker. That counts as "minimal" to me.

There are no free lunches, but it's fairly easy to find lunches with good quality/price ratio .

Anyway, on topic - it's good, IMHO, to see that they are hopeful in keeping Pentax alive and kicking.

Now, if they started teasing that K-1iii I could properly agonize between keeping the savings for the DFA 21 or saving for the camera...

[biz-engineer]

The downside is that the camera could not have been made within its design parameters while including the feature

That's an assumption.

Yeah, to make it roughly 3 mm thicker. That counts as "minimal" to me.

That's also an assumption.

Sometimes, camera makers add or remove features with a marketing purpose.

Anyway, I'd glad that Pentax has been relaunched.

[Wheatfield]

"I would like to pursue PENTAX cameras with people who share my belief in the pursuit of SLRs when it comes to photography, not convenience or video functions." Yeah, I know, could be a bad translation. LOL, then why bother having video functions in the camera at all? And, by convenience, does he mean things like flippy screens on the back of the cameras? Is that the reason for the boneheaded decision to not have a flippy screen on the K-3III? Oy... Who exactly is Ricoh listening to for customer feedback?

You should start your own camera company since you know so much about how to run one.
Or move to a brand that panders to your wants if you don't like the idea of doing the hard work.

I don't do a lot of video, the functionality of the Pentax implementation of it is fine for my purposes. If I did a lot of video, I'd be looking at something other than a consumer level stills camera that has been Rube Goldberged into shooting video.
Pentax isn't pandering to people who shoot video, probably because they know the people who are really serious are not buying a consumer level camera, and the people who are using consumer cameras for video aren't doing much more than tiktoks.

[biz-engineer]

I’m tired of the complaining.

I'm constantly complaining that full frame sensors are too small, until I realized full frame is only one size
I would have liked to have a small forehead cooling fan on my K1 hotshoe for photography during hot summer days, which hopefully will come as a limited edition.

,

[biz-engineer]

Pentax has shown us with the DFA*85/1.4 that they can make a lens that is at the top of it's class and price it appropriately.If you want to discuss things realistically, then make your posts realistic. Doing otherwise indicates you don't really know what you are talking about.

No need to get on high horses. The DFA* 85 was released and priced at a time, before the Pentax relaunch , workshop manufacturing, when the camera market was better than now. Now, we've considering Pentax adopting the Leica model, and increase of prices accordingly. A couple weeks ago, Pentax lens prices increased 20%.

[Wheatfield]

No need to get on high horses. The DFA* 85 was released and priced at a time, before the Pentax relaunch , workshop manufacturing, when the camera market was better than now. Now, we've considering Pentax adopting the Leica model, and increase of prices accordingly. A couple weeks ago, Pentax lens prices increased 20%.

I bet everyone's prices have gone up. Big players have to make a lot more adjustments than small players when their market is disrupted.

It's been obvious enough that Pentax is playing the Leica game that a farm boy in rural western Canada noticed it and pointed it out several years ago.
This isn't news though it may appear to be to people who have just woken up from a very long nap.

[Jean Poitiers]

Personally, I think Pentax is going along the only path open to them. They don't have the investment necessary to jump into the MILC market and it wouldn't make sense for them to launch a third rate MILC in a market that is pretty saturated. ...

I would agree on the "only path" idea ... if one invests zero in the R&D for the evident future of an industry, then all that's left is the old technology. Just image where Pentax would be if they never created (as they did really late) a digital SLR and stayed with a film format.

Even a third-rate MILC from Pentax would "save the day" a bit ... but that will never happen, and they continue their slide downwards with no help from Ricoh HQ, which just infuriates me.

Even in France, a traditional Pentax stronghold, the decline is ever so obvious. Take this month's issue of the leading photo mag, "Chasseur d'Images", where there's a 48-page special section on fixed focal lenses.

Only one Pentax lens mentioned, and that being the (Tokina-made ?) DFA 50/1.4, which only got a 4 out of five-star rating. No Limiteds nor anything else. Nothing. No 21 either.

Fujifilm had 10 lenses reviewed (including the original 18/2), 4 RF lenses, 6 Lumix, 7 Z lenses, 14 FE lenses, gobs of Sigma, plus Samyang & Tamron ... and even 6 Olympus lenses ... sigh.

Reality is showing the horrific miscalculations of Pentax business strategy, and I am pretty sure that they are way beyond the point of no return. Good luck to all.

[Wheatfield]

I would agree on the "only path" idea ... if one invests zero in the R&D for the evident future of an industry, then all that's left is the old technology. Just image where Pentax would be if they never created (as they did really late) a digital SLR and stayed with a film format.

Even a third-rate MILC from Pentax would "save the day" a bit ... but that will never happen, and they continue their slide downwards with no help from Ricoh HQ, which just infuriates me.

Even in France, a traditional Pentax stronghold, the decline is ever so obvious. Take this month's issue of the leading photo mag, "Chasseur d'Images", where there's a 48-page special section on fixed focal lenses.

Only one Pentax lens mentioned, and that being the Tokina-made DFA 50/1.4, which only got a 4 out of five-star rating. No Limiteds nor anything else. Nothing. No 21 either.

Fujifilm had 10 lenses reviewed (including the original 18/2), 4 RF lenses, 6 Lumix, 7 Z lenses, 14 FE lenses, gobs of Sigma, plus Samyang & Tamron ... and even 6 Olympus lenses ... sigh.

Reality is showing the horrific miscalculations of Pentax business strategy, and I am pretty sure that they are way beyond the point of no return. Good luck to all.

Regarding the third rate MILC, please tell us how the K-01 saved the day for Pentax? I'm not sure how much credibility an opinion piece from a third rate magazine read by a miniscule % of the world population matters, but I expect not a whole lot.
Pentax introducing a MILC would be akin to the last Zero flying a kamikaze mission with no bombs against a fleet of aircraft carriers.

As an aside, implying the DFA* 50/1.4 is a Tokina lens is an outright lie. Do your research.

[AggieDad]

I am a bit confused. We all read a translation from the Japanese of the Pentax honcho saying not a whole lot specifically about the Japanese market. At no place did I find anything that would apply to the US or the European markets - I may be wrong; if so, correct me.

Why are we getting exercised over this? There has been no discernible new (read “any”) marketing activity here in the US. And, if I understand the comments, anyplace else in the world.

[Pål Jensen]

Yeah, to make it roughly 3 mm thicker. That counts as "minimal" to me. ..

3mm would make the screen flimsy and not at all in tune with brick-like built quality of the rest of the camera. In addition they have to redesign and enlarge the finder system to accommodate the extra thickness, adding to the overall size of the camera (that probably would be closer to 7mm). If you want the same screen as on the K-1 the camera would be about the same size....No free lunch....