[Raffwal]

Well, I think Sony is doing some very interesting things today. Very interesting. The re-introduced the pellicle technology. They make the smallest system cameras with an APS-C sensor. They're still one of the few brands offering FF DSLRs. And according to the rumors, they're announcing in a couple of days the NEX-7 which is the MILC that Pentax should have made instead of some idiotic Q. So hell, yeah. Sony is definitely a great option in my opinion. I'll actually probably buy some on the side.

[SpecialK]

If you are looking at a 70-200, a "new" one won't be from Pentax. The Tamron is very nice and way under $1,000.

I would not worry about a company going under years down the road - the equipment will not suddenly stop working (SDM not included...)

[Philoslothical]

Sony. I will not forget the rootkit fiasco. Nor their draconian attitudes towards DRM in general. I will not forget the negligent loss of thousands upon thousands of customers' payment information and personal data, over and over again this year. I also will not forget the cheap quality of their other consumer electronics that I did use before the whole rootkit thing.

People often say to vote with your wallet, and while it isn't realistic to think that this is a practice likely to bring down a corporation, or even get their attention, it is good for one's own peace of mind. They're on permanent boycott for me.

[jamesm007]

My trusty K20 is starting show some wear I have been thinning about upgrading it and then when shopping for a 70-200 for a recent need that came up suddenly i started questioning spending another 1k on Pentax Glass knowing a body replacement is not far away. I do have an existing nominal (probably sub 1.5 k) investment in Pentax accessories, lenses (mostly older manual focus primes) flashes, batteries etc.



The K5 is the natural move to make staying in the Pentax line but $1,300 for a new body alone would effectively double down my current investment in Pentax gear (ignoring the need for the new 70-200)... two things that are weighing on this decision point for me.

• Sony - Specs on the A77 look fantastic. Body investment looks to be about the same as the K5 (or within ~30% factoring in moves in the next 90 days) but then comes replacing lenses, grips batteries etc and a quick swag of lens to replace my current "go to" glass would be in the 1.5k range but it would also replace many of my older MF primes with current AF glass (good or bad debatable for sure). Adding to the pull to Sony My second camera is a little NEX-5, and quirks aside, for a small shooter i love it and take it everywhere with me. So some cross lens use on some AF primes would be a nice option between the alfa and nex mounts.

• Future of Pentax - Ricoh Move will it change anything? Future of Pentax and their directions is less than clear at this point (Q... 645D and...?). They seem general mute at the moment with respects to product road map.

So bottom line am i completely stupid to write off a under 2k of investment in Pentax at this point - hop rails to another manufacture (Sony) and start over? Or do i invest another 1k or more in Pentax and stay with them for another couple of years.


Long time lurker here - not so active on posting but this form has some great pragmatic members so i thought I'd post this quandary and solicit some thoughts

Thanks in advance!

Well I am really close to 50,000 clicks and my K20D never hip-cuped. I mean it never did anything strange. Its the only camera I have owned that never locked up or did something weird. But alas a few months ago the rear edial started to skip here and there. I don't see this as a big black mark on Pentax or negative because I was turning that dial daily and a lot! I use it to zoom in on pics... So having the 3 year extended warranty paid off as I just sent it in to CRIS Cameras (Pentax repair site in the USA) got it back in a few weeks and they cleaned it and adjusted the AF as it was out of spec and I did not know it. Not just words they did as I had to redo the AF fine tuning on all my lens!

I like Pentax and Pentax dSLRs a lot. I really enjoy them and think, they are the best thought out cameras for the enthusiast. They seem to fit everyone's hands perfect, built like tanks, and have outstanding ergonomics to suit your needs. Problem is I really don't like what Hoya did with Pentax (I think there are issues at this time...) so before I buy anything more I will wait.

That's my advice, if your K20D is not broke wait and pop some popcorn sit back enjoy your K20D, and watch the show. Is there a pressing need? Is there anything wrong with waiting?

[SpecialK]

Sony. I will not forget the rootkit fiasco. Nor their draconian attitudes towards DRM in general. I will not forget the negligent loss of thousands upon thousands of customers' payment information and personal data, over and over again this year. I also will not forget the cheap quality of their other consumer electronics that I did use before the whole rootkit thing.
.

I have no clue about any of that, but their micro-genital guard hassled me about taking pictures of their building. I was on the sidewalk in front of it looking up the pointy end.

This one...

[devorama]

I guess a move to Sony would beg the question of what attracts you to Sony? Just the fact that you could share some alpha lenses with your NEX (with adapter)? I owned a NEX-5 for a whie and used some of my k mount lenses with it. My Pentax 50mm F/1.2 lens would practically shoot in the dark with this thing! But I realized that besides novelty, the reason to bring a mirrorless camera INSTEAD of my dslr was portability. So for that I wanted smaller, lighter lenses. The NEX-5 with the pellicle mirror adapter and an alpha lens will not be a small kit. So besides the novelty of it, I'm not sure I see the big benefit of shooting an NEX-5 plus adapter versus the A77 you'd have.

Also I was wondering if Pentax will eventually get the 24MP sensor as well, but without the 1/2 stop light loss of the pellicle mirror setup. The Sony A55 and A580 have the same sensor, but the A580 outperforms it in all sensor categories, due to no light loss.

[Rondec]

I personally am not a big fan of the pellicle mirror. The benefits it gives are not useful to me and I begrudge the light lost to it. It means that Sony cameras don't perform as well at high iso as Pentax/Nikon cameras with the same sensors.

If I ever left Pentax, it would be to go to Nikon. As expensive as their lenses are, their ergonomics and the focus of their company is a lot closer to Pentax than is Canon or Sony.

[bymy141]

So honesty – no concern with Ricoh? I look at the move HP made this week, these are tight times and for a company to cut off an arm to save a body is not unheard of… guess that said they are not going to shuttle it that is obv but a slowdown in innovation would seem likely. … again being attracted by the “new shinny” maybe I should just forget that and go take more pictures for as low an investment as possible….

If you look at what HP is doing with their PC and Tablet business, you should also have a look at the company they just acquired, and not forget that their new CEO comes from SAP (a software business). HP under a new leader is following a course that this new leader is comfortable with.
Instead of turning around the PC business, he abandons it and buys Autonomy for $10.2B. Some would call this a strategy I guess.

What is the background of the Ricoh board of directors? Anybody knows?

Bert

Quote 1:
"Shiro Kondo

Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
Ricoh, Ltd.
Chuo-ku , Tokyo
Sector: INDUSTRIAL GOODS / Diversified Machinery
Officer since juni 2000

60 Years Old
Shiro Kondo, Representative Director. Apr. 1973 - Joined the Company; July 1999 - Deputy General Manager of Imaging System Business Group; June 2000 - Senior Vice President; Oct. 2000 - General Manager of Imaging System Business Group; June 2002 - Executive Vice President; June 2003 - Managing Director; Oct. 2004 - In charge of Imaging Engine Solution Development; Oct. 2004 - General Manager of MFP Business Group; June 2005 - Director; June 2005 - Corporate Executive Vice President; Apr. 2007 - Representative Director (Current); Apr. 2007 - President (Current); Apr. 2007 - CEO (Chief Executive Officer) (Current)."

Quote 2:
"Shiro Kondo
President and CEO, RICOH COMPANY,LTD

Born in 1949 in Niigata Prefecture. After graduating from the Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University in 1973, he joined Ricoh.
His first engagement was with "RIFAX 600S" (released in April 1974), and since then he was continuously involved in product development.
He was successively appointed to Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Imaging Systems Business Group in 2000, Senior Vice President in 2003, Director and Corporate Executive Vice President in 2005. After serving as General manager of MFP Business Division, he assumed the office of Representative Director, President and CEO in April 2007."

[Raffwal]

What is the background of the Ricoh board of directors? Anybody knows?

Perhaps they're Kamikazes?

[RioRico]

Perhaps they're Kamikazes?

That's not how Ricoh became the world's leading office machine maker. Ricoh beats Canon there. I suspect Ricoh intends to beat Canon in the camera biz too. I suspect Canon knows this. It'll be fun, eh?

[Wheatfield]

And yet it's much more likely that Sony will endure than Ricoh when the global economy collapses.

Do you really think they will keep making SLRs if that happens?
As soon as the profit margin falls below whatever level they've set, they will drop SLRs.

Well, I think Sony is doing some very interesting things today. Very interesting. The re-introduced the pellicle technology. They make the smallest system cameras with an APS-C sensor. They're still one of the few brands offering FF DSLRs. And according to the rumors, they're announcing in a couple of days the NEX-7 which is the MILC that Pentax should have made instead of some idiotic Q. So hell, yeah. Sony is definitely a great option in my opinion. I'll actually probably buy some on the side.

Sony did some very interesting things when they came out with VCRs.
Like drop the product line after a few years.
If the NEX is successful, look for them to stop making APS-C slrs, and if 135 format SLRs start to look iffy, look for them to stop making them as well.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well when plans and development of products are good then in future there is money to earn in camerabussiness. So I think that is their goal in longterm.

[JHD]

...if that happens?

Between the state of things in Europe and America, it's not a question of if - but when - or rather how soon?

[zorak]

On the subject of sony quality...I bought a sony slt-33 .IMHO the pellicle mirror is pretty well done on the sony as the EVF makes up for the dim view thru the viewfinder. On the other hand the camera overheats in 90 deg f temps within 15 minutes,turning off SR of the main screen doesn't really seem to help,not that i would consider it a "fix".I am not happy with sony and their quality control,tech support was not very useful either. On the other hand as far as quality goes,Pentax has sony beaten Hands down.

[RonHendriks1966]

On the subject of sony quality...I bought a sony slt-33 .IMHO the pellicle mirror is pretty well done on the sony as the EVF makes up for the dim view thru the viewfinder. On the other hand the camera overheats in 90 deg f temps within 15 minutes,turning off SR of the main screen doesn't really seem to help,not that i would consider it a "fix".I am not happy with sony and their quality control,tech support was not very useful either. On the other hand as far as quality goes,Pentax has sony beaten Hands down.

well that sounds logical since you are using liveview all the time and putting the sensor on a heatwave without any cooling system. That just works in low temperature surroundings.