[banep]

So here we go again. Attack the messenger not the message. The recent Pentax APS-C bodies have been showing how far the technology can go as far as pushing image quality. Full-frame will take away R&D from the APS-C in some ways yet facilitate it in others. Lenses would be one area. That's all.

Some people will tell you Full Frame was mistake because Ricoh should have gone for an APS-H sensor. The messengers in those cases gets roundly attacked too.

As one of my high school gym coaches used to say: "Opinions are like anuses (actual wording was a vulgar term). Everybody is entitled to one".

Original is from "The Dead Pool" movie (1988) by Dirty Harry : "Well, opinions are like as*holes. Everybody has one".
Remake is from actual president campaign.

[HopelessTogger]

I thought Tony Northrup was very complementary about the brand.

There seems to be a move against full frame cameras on the whole as people realise crop format can pretty much do the same yet being much lighter and cheaper.

I just wish Pentax would sort the AF out. Tried the D-FA* 2.8/70-200 on the K-3 yesterday. WOW that's slow!

[rawr]

No need to take this video seriously.

If Tony released a video titled 'The Best Thing Each Camera Maker Ever Did', no one would watch it, hence no income for Tony.

[gaweidert]

If Ricoh makes the money they planned to by developing the K1 then, by the only parameter that matters, it will be a success. I think them well on the way to achieving the financial goals they set for this camera. Compared to the overall size of Ricoh, they may have considered the K1 project chump change and a no lose proposition. Failure would not have affected the bottom line and success would net them good PR for their Pentax line of cameras. It has certainly generated more publicity than any other Pentax model introduced in the last several years.

I own one. I'm glad I got it. It is better than any of my ASP-c cameras. (K5, K5-IIs and K3). Plus, there is a certain quality to the images that appeals to me.

[monochrome]

It's the business model, stupid!

Everyone seems to want Pentax to be CaNikon. Or, since Pentax cannot be CaNikon, to take the appropriate (secondary) rank and be quiet, like Sony.

It is important to understand Pentax does not want to be - nor to beat - CaNikon. Pentax wants to be Pentax, to have its own character, achieve its own goals, carry out its own long-term plan and make its own tidy profit.

These reviewers have a starting point in their evaluation of Pentax. CaNikon. They believe CaNikon is the standard against which Pentax must be measured because they live in the CaNikon bubble. They can never evaluate Pentax as just Pentax.

Consequently Tony Northrup, thinking about Pentax, unconsciously, reflexively asks himself, "What would CaNikon do?" and he answers himself, "Well, CaNikon would never compete with CaNikon in FF, they'd run with their strength. CaNikon would commit everything to professional* APSc."

Ergo 'K-1 was a mistake'.



* completely overlooking the lack of scale necessary to market and support professional anything. Ricoh is unwilling to invest the money in Pentax necessary to compete with CaNikon on CaNikon's terms.

They don't have the same business model!!!

[totsmuyco]

And you are listening to Tony Northrup, why?


I am not going to say that Tony is a bad photographer by any means. I have seen a little bit of his work and it is what you would and should expect out of a professional photographer. My problem with Tony is,...there is just something about him I don't like. I have watched and tried to watch some of the videos he has posted on youtube, but I just can't do it. Something about him just rubs me wrong. Maybe, just to me, he seems like an elitist or a snob. He could be the nicest guy in the world, but when he is in front of the camera...I just don't know.


As for him to call the K1 a mistake, well he is wrong. I don't have one and at the moment, one is not coming my way unless I win the lottery. If I could afford one, I would buy it like right now. With the type of photography I like to do, I think it would almost be perfect. And I would give the auto focus a work out because sometimes I do photograph motorsports.

Why do we listen to him? Because someone posted a link and it seems entertaining. But after listening, I normally hit the ignore button and don't take it seriously. Okay, everyone! Hit the ignore button! Get your cameras! Go out and start shooting! Have fun!

[Class A]

There seems to be a move against full frame cameras on the whole as people realise crop format can pretty much do the same yet being much lighter and cheaper.

How can people realise something that just isn't true?

Bigger formats have advantages that cannot be emulated by smaller formats without paying an extraordinary price.

TN gets this wrong and he couldn't be more wrong by stating the K-1 was Pentax's biggest mistake. If anything, one could argue that delaying the K-1 for so long was their biggest mistake. There was a window of opportunity where a Pentax FF could have really stirred up the market, just like the 645D did. They missed that by a huge margin.

I'm just glad, Pentax finally came through with the K-1 and by the looks of it, Ricoh's accountants will be too with respect to the revenue it is generating. TN has just -- once more -- demonstrated that he can be dead wrong about something. Sometimes, it is just better to remain quiet but that's hard to do if one has to generate viewing numbers.

[pathdoc]

It would have been nice to see a world in which Pentax went ahead with what we now call the MZ-D. But we saw what happenned to the company whose camera ran with that sensor, and Pentax was not at the time in the dominant, sweeping position it had once been, where it could afford a flagship-body failure, however gallant. Only by openly promoting it as a brave experiment with better things to come could they have gotten away with it if it had disappointed.

As things stand - better late than never.

[Winder]

I just wish Pentax would sort the AF out. Tried the D-FA* 2.8/70-200 on the K-3 yesterday. WOW that's slow!

Yes. I have been disappointed by the AF speed. Optically it's excellent. Ricoh still has some catching up to do. Being that it is their newest in-house designed lens, I was expecting a little better.

[Kunzite]

There seems to be a move against full frame cameras on the whole as people realise crop format can pretty much do the same yet being much lighter and cheaper.

What makes you think such a move actually exist? Please ignore Fujifilm's desperate hype - they're a niche player with no other option.

I think on the contrary, FF becomes more popular.

[jlstrawman]

It's the business model, stupid!

Everyone seems to want Pentax to be CaNikon. Or, since Pentax cannot be CaNikon, to take the appropriate (secondary) rank and be quiet, like Sony.

It is important to understand Pentax does not want to be - nor to beat - CaNikon. Pentax wants to be Pentax, to have its own character, achieve its own goals, carry out its own long-term plan and make its own tidy profit.

These reviewers have a starting point in their evaluation of Pentax. CaNikon. They believe CaNikon is the standard against which Pentax must be measured because they live in the CaNikon bubble. They can never evaluate Pentax as just Pentax.

Exactly. Pure and simple click bait. More clicks, more money for Tony. Every time some Pentax "expert" brings out one of these "reviews", it results in multiple pages of Pentax owners defending the latest camera. The best Pentax equipment reviews generally come from Pentax Forum members. I think most od us K-1 owners don't think FF has been a mistake. Just look at any equipment blog / forum (DPR comes to mind).
Much of their contents, these days, are mine's bigger / better than yours postings.

Before the Internet, everyone had to do their own due diligence prior to an important purchase. Now people want others to hold their hand
and tell them what to do. I say enjoy what you have. Learn to make the most of your equipment. Improve your skills. Spend less time hanging on every word spewed by the "experts". Have other interests and activities beyond photography. Make the most of each day, since you don't really know how many you have left.

Rant over. That feels better!

[slip]

can a firmware update help ANY of the focus issues?

Randy

[Wheatfield]

Tony Northrup is not to impressed with Ricoh/Pentax for going ahead with the K-1 in this video. He does like the camera, in fact he choose as one of the best of the year, he just feels that Pentax may have lost the opportunity to really go pro with APS-C.

The Biggest Mistake Each Camera Manufacturer Has Made

Interesting comments on some of the other manufacturers as well.

Its generally accepted in the pro community that you can't really go Pro without a full frame. Northrup is falling into the trap of believing his own hype and writing for the sake of seeing his own bilge on the internet.

[mikeSF]

Its generally accepted in the pro community that you can't really go Pro without a full frame. Northrup is falling into the trap of believing his own hype and writing for the sake of seeing his own bilge on the internet.

this.

[normhead]

Tony is just some dude struggling to make sense of what's happening just like 25 million other dudes. He just does it on-line and out loud.

As guy who doesn't care much for a K-1 I want it there. In some parralellel dimension I could be offered a contract by someone who wants the work done on an FF. I wouldn't have to switch brands. That to me is like an insurance policy even if I never buy a K-1.

As for pro quality APS-c

I'm looking at the Nikon D500 and thinking "is this what Tony meant?"
You're essentially buying a pro AF module on an APS-c body.
In many regards, a K-3II already is a pro-level camera, so I'm not sure where he's going with this.