[lesmore49]

I don't work in the camera industry, but what I think is that Canon and Nikon joined the mirrorless bandwagon, as DSLR sales were lagging, as many in the 'good' camera market have got a good camera that they're relatively happy with.

So they come out with a 'new' system...mirrorless...sell it as the new and improved product...and a number of people have bought them...and new lenses..and new accessories. Pretty good deal...for Canon/Nikon if you ask me.

However the 'good' camera market will eventually get saturated, once again sometime in the future...and then what.

Well think of something a bit different...then flog that new and improved product.

I'm happy with my K1 and K5, and the Pentax lenses I have. But I'm an old guy, hoping that these K series bodies/lenses...will last me, till I shrug off this mortal coil...at least 20 more years, anyway.

[Lord Lucan]

So they come out with a 'new' system...mirrorless...sell it as the new and improved product...and a number of people have bought them...and new lenses..and new accessories. [snip] However the 'good' camera market will eventually get saturated, once again sometime in the future...and then what [?]..

Change the lens mount again.

After all, current MILCs are pretty much like DSLRs without the mirror; OK the body depth is a bit less but there is potential for radical re-design. It is like how the first cars looked like horse-drawn carriages without the horse, but then evolved their own way. The next stage in "good" camera design will be much flatter bodies, more like a tablet with a (new) lens mount, and more electronics moved into the lens. That way the body can be sold relatively cheaply as an even better inducement to buying the expensive lenses, where the profit is.

[reh321]

Change the lens mount again.

and disappoint {yet again} the “glass is forever” gang - unless you can stuff everything into an adapter, which you can make sufficient profit on to last you until the next change.

[RichardJ]

I work as a software developer, sitting at a computer, staring at a backlit LCD screen all day. Then phone, TV, tablet all use backlit LCDs. They seem to be everywhere and sometimes at the end of the day I find it becomes a bit wearisome on my eyes looking at a backlit LCD screen. I get a bit of an afterimage which is a bit uncomfortable. So I like hobbies that don't involve looking at more LCD screens, to give my eyes a rest, and photography is one of those. The view through the optical viewfinder, looking only at natural reflected light, is very comfortable on the eyes.

So I'm glad that Pentax is sticking with an optical viewfinder. If all the camera manufacturers switched to an EVF then I'd find it a bit of a barrier to photography. I find myself wondering if any Nikon or Canon customers have the same issue and are bemoaning the industry direction.

I also think that the view through an OVF is particularly beautiful and it is one of the aspects of the practice of photography that I enjoy. I'd be sorry to lose it. So I hope Pentax stick to their guns on this one.

[reh321]

I work as a software developer, sitting at a computer, staring at a backlit LCD screen all day. Then phone, TV, tablet all use backlit LCDs. They seem to be everywhere and sometimes at the end of the day I find it becomes a bit wearisome on my eyes looking at a backlit LCD screen. I get a bit of an afterimage which is a bit uncomfortable. So I like hobbies that don't involve looking at more LCD screens, to give my eyes a rest, and photography is one of those. The view through the optical viewfinder, looking only at natural reflected light, is very comfortable on the eyes.

So I'm glad that Pentax is sticking with an optical viewfinder. If all the camera manufacturers switched to an EVF then I'd find it a bit of a barrier to photography. I find myself wondering if any Nikon or Canon customers have the same issue and are bemoaning the industry direction.

I also think that the view through an OVF is particularly beautiful and it is one of the aspects of the practice of photography that I enjoy. I'd be sorry to lose it. So I hope Pentax stick to their guns on this one.

You might have a different ‘view’ after you have been retired for a view years.

[Wheatfield]

I work as a software developer, sitting at a computer, staring at a backlit LCD screen all day. Then phone, TV, tablet all use backlit LCDs. They seem to be everywhere and sometimes at the end of the day I find it becomes a bit wearisome on my eyes looking at a backlit LCD screen. I get a bit of an afterimage which is a bit uncomfortable. So I like hobbies that don't involve looking at more LCD screens, to give my eyes a rest, and photography is one of those. The view through the optical viewfinder, looking only at natural reflected light, is very comfortable on the eyes.

So I'm glad that Pentax is sticking with an optical viewfinder. If all the camera manufacturers switched to an EVF then I'd find it a bit of a barrier to photography. I find myself wondering if any Nikon or Canon customers have the same issue and are bemoaning the industry direction.

I also think that the view through an OVF is particularly beautiful and it is one of the aspects of the practice of photography that I enjoy. I'd be sorry to lose it. So I hope Pentax stick to their guns on this one.

I expect Ricoh has chosen the reflex mirror as the hill they intend to die on.
There will always be something of a market for SLR cameras. There is a percentage of people for whom the EVF is akin to having a pencil stuck in their eye, there are people who will genuinely prefer the SLR experience, and there will probably be a renaissance of SLRs in a few years with the next generation of hipsters.
The market will be small, but it will be there and there won't be a lot of players in it.

[jersey]

I work as a software developer, sitting at a computer, staring at a backlit LCD screen all day. Then phone, TV, tablet all use backlit LCDs. They seem to be everywhere and sometimes at the end of the day I find it becomes a bit wearisome on my eyes looking at a backlit LCD screen. I get a bit of an afterimage which is a bit uncomfortable. So I like hobbies that don't involve looking at more LCD screens, to give my eyes a rest, and photography is one of those. The view through the optical viewfinder, looking only at natural reflected light, is very comfortable on the eyes.

Yeah, I totally get it being software guy too. Actually this is only reason I stay with DSLR. Though me having genetic issue with my eyesight (I will most likely end blind sooner or later) I wonder if I will need to switch to MILC or some compact camera and shot in LV all time to use bigger image and both eyes.

[Rondec]

I expect Ricoh has chosen the reflex mirror as the hill they intend to die on.
There will always be something of a market for SLR cameras. There is a percentage of people for whom the EVF is akin to having a pencil stuck in their eye, there are people who will genuinely prefer the SLR experience, and there will probably be a renaissance of SLRs in a few years with the next generation of hipsters.
The market will be small, but it will be there and there won't be a lot of players in it.

There are plenty of people out there who still shoot film or who like manual focus. Maybe they are people who are just anti-technology, but probably more they are people who like a certain type of tool for a hobby. You don't argue with an artist who likes a certain brand of paintbrush, even if there are "better" brands out there.

Just because new technology supersedes old technology, doesn't mean that the old one goes away. When cars came out, horses did not vanish. Buggy makers still exist and make good money on sales. Car or buggy: Which is cheaper to drive? | News | lancasteronline.com.

The thing is that Pentax needs to have slow but steady release of products -- and information -- to let their users know that there are still good things in the works. If they come out with a K-1 III they probably don't need to release another full frame camera for five or six years. This is in comparison to the mirrorless market where the expectation is that brands will release new cameras every 18 months -- even if there are no real improvements to bring to the table.

[swanlefitte]

I think if I look through photos taken with an evf they are generally more processed and less natural looking. Perhaps it is more young photographers are both more into this trend and more likely to be buying mirrorless.

I tend to think it is more because you start with pixels not the natural seen.

Those who say that bounced light is as unreal as an electionic projection must think bouncing things all turn to recreations.

[reh321]

The thing is that Pentax needs to have slow but steady release of products -- and information -- to let their users know that there are still good things in the works. If they come out with a K-1 III they probably don't need to release another full frame camera for five or six years. This is in comparison to the mirrorless market where the expectation is that brands will release new cameras every 18 months -- even if there are no real improvements to bring to the table.

When I got my first digital cameras, I tended to think in terms of using one ten years, in agreement with my experience at the end of the Age of Film.

Now, my thinking is guided more by my experience with home computers - five years may be a better ‘time horizon’ for a digital camera.

[zapp]

I prefer an optical finder, RF/SLR. Everything has drawbacks and advantages. EVF are easier to implement and mirrorless cameras have many advantages. The world is going that direction. I am happy that Pentax does not follow. Still that also means Pentax still has to fight SLR drawbacks of price for great prisms and alignment of image sensor, mirror/focus screen and af sensor planes. At some point even less third party lenses will be available for Pentax, it is hard to stay in a niche everyone has lest.