Originally posted by mattdm Yeah, this. It's not a fantasy world where we can have it all. Pentax needs to continue making smart moves. I don't doubt that many core fanatics who frequent here...
Careful ^^ , and try to keep it civil. You're choosing to insult a lot of folks who frequent this forum, not to mention the forum owner. We don't need another FF shouting match.
One of my worries is this -
what would Ricoh's incentive be to invest a lot in a tier (aps-c) that's being entered by an invasive technology (mirrorless) being delivered by increasingly aggressive and competent players (Fuji, Samsung, Panasonic, even Oly.)
A Pentax aps-c DSLR doesn't have the big two to compete against, they have the big two plus
everyone else who can make a DSLR, SLT or mirrorless camera and a set of lenses.
If Ricoh tries to enter mirrorless in a big way, they may find that retaining K-mount is a drawback, because it keeps their kits large and unwieldy compared to the other mirrorless players. Thus, they drop the K-mount idea for their new mirrorless bodies.
While this is happening, sensor costs decrease and wafer yields increase, making the $1500 sweet spot margin-friendly for a FF body - thus squeezing aps-c DSLR from the top, also.
The truly size-conscious folks are buying these new mirrorless bodies with advanced EVFs and blazing-fast on-sensor PDAF. At some point, Pentax's 5% of a shrinking aps-c DSLR market starts looking anemic to Ricoh.
And if they have no FF K-mount sales, because they chose not to go that route back in 2012... Maybe goodbye, K-mount.
If K-mount is the major asset Ricoh purchased here, and it is, they won't let it die on the vine. An 18-month ROI is not required by them.
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