[disco_owner]

Event is over. How did it go?

Did the Ricoh Imaging CEO say anything interesting?

Yes , he made a speech and thanked all attendees for making the launch a resounding success. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and congratulated him and The team of Engineers who worked so hard to in bringing Pentax FF IN fruition and making it a reality.aparrently there were 2 x K1's that pentaxians could have a play around with. Ron and Myself stayed at Mercantile just a short walking distance from the venue which is quite handy when you have consumed quite a lot of Red wine.

[Ivor K Ecks]

If I heard him correctly I think the most important statement was from CR kennedy. He said that once the current stock is sold it will be approx. 3 months until they get any more stock due to the very high global demand.

[distudio]

I wasn't overly impressed with the presentation nor the stock on hand to handle. The fact that they had two bodies for approx 150 attendees and none of the new fast glass to handle had me perplexed.

The guy from DIgi that had the camera to play with for a week did the best he could to deliver the virtues of the system but it was plain that he wasn't a Pentax user and had little prior experience with other recent Pentax kit. Is there no local pro Pentax shooters that they could utilise for such an event?

Also I'm not sure that they know who their market is, a quick comparison of the prices between the specials of the night and the DCW pricing for the Tamron equivalents reveals that both the 15-30/2.8 and 24-70/2.8 from Pentax attract almost a 100% premium in price, and the well regarded Canon Lens EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is in fact cheaper than the Pentax equivalent. The body might be great value but that value is lost very quickly when you consider the cost of glass.

[rawr]

The fact that they had two bodies for approx 150 attendees and none of the new fast glass to handle had me perplexed.

How many did they have on sale?

The guy from DIgi that had the camera to play with for a week did the best he could to deliver the virtues of the system but it was plain that he wasn't a Pentax user and had little prior experience with other recent Pentax kit.

In other parts of the world where I've seen K-1 launches on YouTube (Taiwan, Japan), the local Ricoh team handled the presentations. Maybe that would have been a better idea. The photo booth stuff I saw on the CRK Facebook page for the Sydney launch also made the event seem silly. Those things should be banned.

The body might be great value but that value is lost very quickly when you consider the cost of glass.

True. Some of those new D FA prices are off the planet. It seems in Oz, CRK has adopted Nikon lens pricing, not Canon pricing, alas. At those prices, those D FA lenses are going to gather a lot of dust in stores.

[p38arover]

This was what was in the launch pack. (Pic of disco_owner and me with girls).

Media booklet, Pentax/DigiDirect Chocolates, K-1 mug, lens cloth, mints, jelly beans, K-1 drinks coaster, fine art print $100 voucher, lanyard.

[robjmitchell]

Also I'm not sure that they know who their market is, a quick comparison of the prices between the specials of the night and the DCW pricing for the Tamron equivalents reveals that both the 15-30/2.8 and 24-70/2.8 from Pentax attract almost a 100% premium in price, and the well regarded Canon Lens EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM is in fact cheaper than the Pentax equivalent. The body might be great value but that value is lost very quickly when you consider the cost of glass.

Its painful to look at those tamron prices vs the pentax ones thats for sure. Fact of the mater is that the tamrons were probably imported when the AU$ was high, and thus represent exceptional value at the moment. The same can be said for a few pentax lenses like the 77ltd.

[clackers]

. At those prices, those D FA lenses are going to gather a lot of dust in stores.

They're being bought. Shots have been taken by Aussies from all of them bar the 28-105, AFAIK. A guy from Bendigo posted his 24-70 pics just today.

Of course, with legacy lenses going back to 1975 it might be argued no one needs anything to shoot full frame other than the K-1 itself.

[distudio]

How many did they have on sale?

I have no idea to be honest but I'm sure they did well, there seemed to be a perpetual line at the counter, good on them too, I just wonder once all the die-hards have had their fill who else will come to the table?

In other parts of the world where I've seen K-1 launches on YouTube (Taiwan, Japan), the local Ricoh team handled the presentations. Maybe that would have been a better idea. The photo booth stuff I saw on the CRK Facebook page for the Sydney launch also made the event seem silly. Those things should be banned.

Yeah it's not the best, a mix of male females would have prob been more PC, I didn't venture to the booth but I did get shot by a roaming tog and I did have one of the lovely ladies by my side, can't complain.

True. Some of those new D FA prices are off the planet. It seems in Oz, CRK has adopted Nikon lens pricing, not Canon pricing, alas. At those prices, those D FA lenses are going to gather a lot of dust in stores.

The UK has the same problem as does Denmark, their prices track our Pentax/Tamron ratios pretty close whereas they are much more closely priced in the US.

[Tas]

I was expecting to get some hands on with the D-FA's and was surprised that there didn't seem to be an opportunity to try them out.

Prior to attending last night I'd decided to buy a K-1 directly from Digidirect and when I saw the 24-70 and 70-200 on their shelves in the King St store I never thought to ask whether they'd have them there to try; I just assumed they would be. Something to consider though is when you check the CRK page for Pentax D-FA lenses there are a few out of stock. I know this wasn't the case last week. https://pentax.com.au/categories/lenses/series/d-fa and not relevant for all the D-FA's. I'd also have expected there to be a good range of the FA LTD and DA's to allow people to see for themselves how they would work.

Maybe better planning would have ensured at least one copy of each would be available, if a lack of supply was the issue. The comments about the camera's popularity meaining demand has outstripped the supply might also apply to lenses too. A question to CRK directly should yield an answer. If nothing else you are providing feedback to improve the next launch.

Anyhoo, they seemed an approachable lot last night, and they bought the beer, so whilst I'm disappointed not to be able to try these lenses in person, I'm not losing any sleep. I will be expecting however that Pentax is better represented in stores so we can actually take our cameras in and try them ourselves. I'd prefer to do this anyway. Maybe what we need to do is go to CRK (via Farcebook etc) and petition for better presence in stores. More people get to try them this way, and maybe they'd have more of my money.

I need to save some pennies to get some D-FA's, but for now I will be content with what I have. A full frame camera and some excellent glass to use with it.

Tas

[disco_owner]

I was expecting to get some hands on with the D-FA's and was surprised that there didn't seem to be an opportunity to try them out.

Prior to attending last night I'd decided to buy a K-1 directly from Digidirect and when I saw the 24-70 and 70-200 on their shelves in the King St store I never thought to ask whether they'd have them there to try; I just assumed they would be. Something to consider though is when you check the CRK page for Pentax D-FA lenses there are a few out of stock. I know this wasn't the case last week. https://pentax.com.au/categories/lenses/series/d-fa and not relevant for all the D-FA's. I'd also have expected there to be a good range of the FA LTD and DA's to allow people to see for themselves how they would work.

Maybe better planning would have ensured at least one copy of each would be available, if a lack of supply was the issue. The comments about the camera's popularity meaining demand has outstripped the supply might also apply to lenses too. A question to CRK directly should yield an answer. If nothing else you are providing feedback to improve the next launch.

Anyhoo, they seemed an approachable lot last night, and they bought the beer, so whilst I'm disappointed not to be able to try these lenses in person, I'm not losing any sleep. I will be expecting however that Pentax is better represented in stores so we can actually take our cameras in and try them ourselves. I'd prefer to do this anyway. Maybe what we need to do is go to CRK (via Farcebook etc) and petition for better presence in stores. More people get to try them this way, and maybe they'd have more of my money.

I need to save some pennies to get some D-FA's, but for now I will be content with what I have. A full frame camera and some excellent glass to use with it.

Tas

There was one copy of the DFA 24-70 around last night that I know of & every tog was trying to get their hands on it to try it out. Never saw either of the K-1's Digidirect or CRK Had brought in to try out. I asked Eric who just purchased one of the K-1's at the launch to try out his camera as he was shooting with FA31 and attached my DA*55 on lens mount and fired a few shots.

[Tas]

There was one copy of the DFA 24-70 around last night that I know of & every tog was trying to get their hands on it to try it out. Never saw either of the K-1's Digidirect or CRK Had brought in to try out. I asked Eric who just purchased one of the K-1's at the launch to try out his camera as he was shooting with FA31 and attached my DA*55 on lens mount and fired a few shots.

I went looking for the cameras and lenses to trial but couldn't find them either. Then I found the bar and things got hazy.

I was looking forward to trying the wide angle and the tele. I could have tried the tele at the Digidirect store if I'd known they'd not have one at the launch. I've seen some awesome photos out of that thing. And that wide angle; well what a beast and it's weather sealed.

If I get down for Vivid I'll bug you for a go of the DA*55.

Tas

[elpolodiablo]

There was one copy of the DFA 24-70 around last night that I know of & every tog was trying to get their hands on it to try it out. Never saw either of the K-1's Digidirect or CRK Had brought in to try out. I asked Eric who just purchased one of the K-1's at the launch to try out his camera as he was shooting with FA31 and attached my DA*55 on lens mount and fired a few shots.

Yeah, I did struggle a bit with AF of the DA* 55 1.4, it would seems the new AF system is still not idiot proof with back lit subject in low light, but once you achieve focus the result is sweet, I will send you some RAW file taken with it tonight, on a side note, K-1's inbuild lens profile has listed DA*55 1.4 as a crop lens, I had to manually select FF crop.

I did have the chance to try DFA*70-200(heavy bugger) and DFA 28-105 on my K-1 but DFA 24-70 got lost in the crowd very quickly I remember one of the girls was asking around trying to locate it. I think the event went well, yes there was a lot of familiar faces that night but also a good number of shooter from other brands along for the ride(or the bar), the presentation was not very technical oriented and the CEO was talking about making memories instead of specs, which I do like, that and the little welcome note when you open the lit of the K-1 box seems to me Ricoh is trying to evoke emotion rather than smack you in the face with monstrous specs to get you in, which is clever.

[disco_owner]

Yeah, I did struggle a bit with AF of the DA* 55 1.4, it would seems the new AF system is still not idiot proof with back lit subject in low light, but once you achieve focus the result is sweet, I will send you some RAW file taken with it tonight, on a side note, K-1's inbuild lens profile has listed DA*55 1.4 as a crop lens, I had to manually select FF crop.

I did have the chance to try DFA*70-200(heavy bugger) and DFA 28-105 on my K-1 but DFA 24-70 got lost in the crowd very quickly I remember one of the girls was asking around trying to locate it. I think the event went well, yes there was a lot of familiar faces that night but also a good number of shooter from other brands along for the ride(or the bar), the presentation was not very technical oriented and the CEO was talking about making memories instead of specs, which I do like, that and the little welcome note when you open the lit of the K-1 box seems to me Ricoh is trying to evoke emotion rather than smack you in the face with monstrous specs to get you in, which is clever.

Indeed , Mr Akahane mentioned that he would like people who purchase this camera to make beautiful memories with it by going out and taking pictures , He didn't dribble on the specs of the camera. I think that Task was pretty much covered already by Joel from Digidirect.
oh and I did struggle as you said with DA*55 and AF of K-1 with back lit subjects. even with assist light of flash illuminating the subject it couldn't quite nail focus

[p38arover]

I wonder if they have improved the focus assist from that of the K-5?

I know I was very disappointed by the low light focussing of my Pentax DSLRs compared with the SFx which can focus in complete darkness.

[distudio]

I think the event went well, yes there was a lot of familiar faces that night but also a good number of shooter from other brands along for the ride(or the bar), the presentation was not very technical oriented and the CEO was talking about making memories instead of specs, which I do like, that and the little welcome note when you open the lit of the K-1 box seems to me Ricoh is trying to evoke emotion rather than smack you in the face with monstrous specs to get you in, which is clever.

I don't see their approach wooing anyone but amateurs with some past connection to Pentax however.