[mee]

Talked to Pentax Sweden today at a tech convention about the K-3, the TIPA reward and the mirror flippedy flopp and we talked about that the Tamron 150-600 does not have a K-mount and he said something like "-Well, when we release the full frame this autumn Tamron and Pentax will start making more lenses and ..." and then we were interupted. Who knows...

haha if that is true, that is a big 'oops' on their part to let the cat out of the bag... with actual words spoken..

haha if that is true, that is a big 'oops' on their part to let the cat out of the bag... with actual words spoken..

Yea, I belive it when I see it =)

[LFLee]

Talked to Pentax Sweden today at a tech convention about the K-3, the TIPA reward and the mirror flippedy flopp and we talked about that the Tamron 150-600 does not have a K-mount and he said something like "-Well, when we release the full frame this autumn Tamron and Pentax will start making more lenses and ..." and then we were interupted. Who knows...

over the years we have heard story like this before....

[DSims]

Talked to Pentax Sweden today at a tech convention about the K-3, the TIPA reward and the mirror flippedy flopp and we talked about that the Tamron 150-600 does not have a K-mount and he said something like "-Well, when we release the full frame this autumn Tamron and Pentax will start making more lenses and ..." and then we were interupted. Who knows...

Whether what you heard was accurate or not, Tamron and Sigma have been acting as if they're waiting for Pentax to 'get more serious' (i.e. release FF) before they more broadly support Pentax.

Also, any recent or new lenses that Tamron or Sigma refuse to release in K-mount are potential rebadges that we'll see when FF is released.

[G and T]

Also, any recent or new lenses that Tamron or Sigma refuse to release in K-mount are potential rebadges that we'll see when FF is released.

The japanese camera industry has always had the same lenses rebadged with many names. Who knows what deals Ricoh has done and this would be a clever strategy to get a large number of FF lenses quickly onto the market to suit a new camera, minimal R&D costs and only a small outlay to change the cosmetics and convert to K mount.
Glenn

[Kunzite]

Interesting theory- hopefully, as others have said, it's just a marketing trick to get FF users to consider the 645Z.

With that said, given the fact that Pentax's lineup seems quite strong at the moment (with a complete lineup of APS-C cameras plus the 645Z), I doubt they will launch a FF this year as rumors had hinted at.

I'm sure it is. What's the point in trying to sell the 645Z with a "we won't have a FF anyway"? It makes no sense to me.
It's obviously 645Z vs. Canikon's "FF" line-up.

Pentax/Ricoh said in several occasions that they're working on the FF with the intention of a market launch. However, there are no reliable rumors saying it will be this year.

Talked to Pentax Sweden today at a tech convention about the K-3, the TIPA reward and the mirror flippedy flopp and we talked about that the Tamron 150-600 does not have a K-mount and he said something like "-Well, when we release the full frame this autumn Tamron and Pentax will start making more lenses and ..." and then we were interupted. Who knows...

They read about it on Pentaxforums, probably
Pentax/Ricoh rebadging a large number of Tamron lenses, that's a good way to making sure the competition has the same optics, only cheaper. I find it highly doubtful, and driven by people's desire to have more lenses rather than actual, reliable rumors.

[ElJamoquio]

Cheaper optics? It's already happened with both tokina and tamron. I hope it doesn't happen again.

[jeffshaddix]

The 645Z is not going to fit the budget of most of the smalltime professionals, Ricoh knows this; the competition talk seems geared to the bigtime pros and enthusiasts (which do little to spread the name of Pentax to the consumers - how many consumers have heard of Hasselblad?)

I think Ricoh still has a FF up their sleeve, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it at Photokina.

[ElJamoquio]

I'd put $20 on before the end of the year.

[Rondec]

I'm sure it is. What's the point in trying to sell the 645Z with a "we won't have a FF anyway"? It makes no sense to me.
It's obviously 645Z vs. Canikon's "FF" line-up.

Pentax/Ricoh said in several occasions that they're working on the FF with the intention of a market launch. However, there are no reliable rumors saying it will be this year.


They read about it on Pentaxforums, probably
Pentax/Ricoh rebadging a large number of Tamron lenses, that's a good way to making sure the competition has the same optics, only cheaper. I find it highly doubtful, and driven by people's desire to have more lenses rather than actual, reliable rumors.

So many of Sigma and Tamron's lenses are full frame and I suppose they would be more likely to release them for K Mount if Pentax has such a camera. I think the bigger issue is whether Pentax can grow their overall market share. If they could get to, say, 5 percent market share, I think third party makers would be much more inclined to support them.

I don't know current numbers, but I do think market share has been growing for Pentax, particularly in Japan.

[normhead]

Pentax have said they'll release a 36x24mm sensor in a Camera... when they can come up with something unique, and when marketing thinks they can sell it... what are the odds of those two things happening at the same time?

The obvious thing to notice is, those are both "ifs" not "whens".

If there is one thing I am getting an education in here, it's how a marketing department can try and maintain interest in their brand, without actually saying or doing anything or committing to anything.

The best thing you can say is, someone is probably thinking about it, someone is probably working away somewhere in their engineering department, trying to come up with the camera that marketing will think it can sell. But how many people, whether or not they are full time or it's a hobby, etc. etc., we may never know.

[tuco]

... that this is their answer to the call of 135 camera... that it is much better solution (of course) than a 135 and even though it is a MF, it operates just like a 135 that other companies offer.

I for one look forward to faster and more nimble MFD cameras. But it doesn't operate just like FF DSLRs in all categories. Capturing action with the equivalent of say a 70-200/2.8 sports lens on a 35mm camera it still falls a little short for example.

[cali92rs]

I for one look forward to faster and more nimble MFD cameras. But it doesn't operate just like FF DSLRs in all categories. Capturing action with the equivalent of say a 70-200/2.8 sports lens on a 35mm camera it still falls a little short for example.

I don't know if Pentax is really interested in the sports photography market.

[JimmyDranox]

Maybe is something else.

When Nikon D800 was launched, it was instantly compared with MF cameras, especially with Pentax 645D. It was even considered a '' MF killer''. In fact, due to lower price and a much bigger range of lenses available, many pro photographer turn to Nikon D800.

What is the situation today? D800 it is not the only high MPs FF camera on the market. Sony came with his A7r, and everybody expects that Canon will launch a 40+MPs FF camera this year.

Considering the price, and, sorry, I'm repeating myself, the bigger range of lenses available for FF camera, the general context for MF is not very good. Not good at all. So, maybe the Ricoh marketing strategy is intended to regain some part of the market lost in the last 3 years. Not to tell that they will not make a FF camera.

I saw that it is considered that Ricoh is not aiming the sport photo market. Maybe. But if they do, it's a mistake, IMHO. Because, in fact, nobody cares what a company wants. Everyone is interested in what he wants. And I think that every photographer likes to have a more flexible system, capable of different tasks. Not to mention money.

[normhead]

Maybe is something else.

When Nikon D800 was launched, it was instantly compared with MF cameras, especially with Pentax 645D. It was even considered a '' MF killer''. In fact, due to lower price and a much bigger range of lenses available, many pro photographer turn to Nikon D800.

What is the situation today? D800 it is not the only high MPs FF camera on the market. Sony came with his A7r, and everybody expects that Canon will launch a 40+MPs FF camera this year.

Considering the price, and, sorry, I'm repeating myself, the bigger range of lenses available for FF camera, the general context for MF is not very good. Not good at all. So, maybe the Ricoh marketing strategy is intended to regain some part of the market lost in the last 3 years. Not to tell that they will not make a FF camera.

I saw that it is considered that Ricoh is not aiming the sport photo market. Maybe. But if they do, it's a mistake, IMHO. Because, in fact, nobody cares what a company wants. Everyone is interested in what he wants. And I think that every photographer likes to have a more flexible system, capable of different tasks. Not to mention money.

The really exciting thing about the 645Z is the low light capacity and dynamic range at high ISO, and that's enough of an improvement over a 645D, I'm thinking I'd be better off waiting until the price falls on a 645Z, than looking for a cheap second hand or discounted 645D. For what I plan to use it for, the extremely sensitive pixels are worth more than the added resolution. So, just looking at my own idea of how I plan to use the camera, there's nothing in a D800 or A7r that impresses me. At 25,600 ISO they already show considerable noise. I suspect then the images finally come out, the 645Z is going to be a considerable improvement. And from what I can tell, improved noise capability is the next technological challenge, now that the MP race has pretty much played itself out.