Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
01-12-2012, 12:49 PM   #1
Inactive Account




Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: LONDON
Posts: 136
Why not make a Pentax LX digital?

If Ricoh/Pentax want to develop a mirrorless camera, then why not create a new Dslr (well, you know what I mean) resembling the LX (ie retro style and weatherproofing and highly durable), maybe even with a FF sensor... I doubt they would be able to fit a mirror into it, so it would be the perfect justification for introducing pentaxians into mirrorless systems. That would be my dream and perhaps the dream of nikon and canon users too...Could they do it? Would they do it? Even if it was ASP-C it could outplay a fuiji with K-mount, especially with one of those new sony sensors...

Your thoughts...

01-12-2012, 01:18 PM   #2
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,584
I think if Pentax took a Fuji-esque approach with something like this, they'd have a lot of success, I think. Unfortunately, their marketing department seems to have never taken the sorts of initiatives needed for something like this to happen...

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
01-12-2012, 01:28 PM   #3
Veteran Member
SteveM's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,294
I've also wondered if Pentax ever goes FF, if they would move to the LX naming format and leave the K camera body line to APS-C..(but I'd like to keep the Mirror). For years Pentax considered the pro line to be 645 or 67, and 135 to be amateur, but eventually brought out the LX to fill that pro market. Perhaps history will eventually repeat itself?
01-12-2012, 01:29 PM   #4
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
monochrome's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Working From Home
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 26,276
The rationale for the LX included the associated system camera accessories. It was intended as a technologically superior professional camera body surrounded by a professional set of supporting attachments and cutting-edge optics - IOW a system camera.

Pentax, unfortunately, just didn't have the scale to continue developing that market (they lacked the installed pro base, the cash flows drawn from Canon and Nikon's associated businesses and the willingness to offer pro support services).

Even with Ricoh's resources, I doubt PenCoh have the resources to develop a system camera today. There's really no rational reason for them to develop a digital LX system.

I believe Pentax will continue to aim at the enthusiast / advanced amateur niche, producing interesting, innovative, small cameras and a limited kit of very fine lenses. Hopefully Ricoh will assume responsibility and branding for the downmarket products. At the very least, if they can establish a 5-year business plan that is implemented without yet another corporate change maybe some progress will be made.

01-12-2012, 01:34 PM   #5
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
RobA_Oz's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 8,182
The appeal wouldn't just be retro nostalgia, it would be about size and tactility. The mirror shouldn't be the main design problem in terms of the style or form factor, I imagine it would be fitting the shake reduction gear for a 35mm sensor into the existing height and/or depth. Even without SR, Leica had to make the M8 and M9 noticeably thicker than the film M-series. However, with sensor development, and some clever mechanical engineering design, the increase should be able to be kept to a minimum, but there'd still be some impact on styling or form factor.

Nonetheless, it would be a visually appealing camera to me, too. Whether or not I'd buy would then come down to price, and getting the design refined to a point where it's a good financial proposition would probably involve some stripping back in features (not sure what, though, but maybe that could be a selling point, like a stripped-back track car) to bring it in under the competition's offerings.
01-12-2012, 02:06 PM   #6
Veteran Member
wlachan's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Canada
Photos: Albums
Posts: 2,625
LX is a thing of the past. People should wake up and move on.
01-12-2012, 02:37 PM   #7
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
RobA_Oz's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 8,182
QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
Even with Ricoh's resources, I doubt PenCoh have the resources to develop a system camera today. There's really no rational reason for them to develop a digital LX system.
I doubt that resource capability or capacity is really an issue. Cosina is a small player in comparative terms, yet they managed to produce the Epson RD, as well as the Voigtlander Bessa series, the continued development of the latter in particular indicating their financial success in doing so. Modern 3D CAD/CAM means rapid prototyping is available, particularly for the mechanical and structural components, and tool and die development for the production phase.

Come to that, Pentax-Ricoh could even outsource part or all of the development and/or manufacture to Cosina, if they wanted to. I imagine it's largely a matter of strategic choices as to where they put their engineering and financial resources.

One good reason to develop a digital LX would be to produce the world's first system DSLR for the high-end enthusiast market, which is where a lot of the original LXes have finished up.

01-12-2012, 02:43 PM   #8
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
monochrome's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Working From Home
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 26,276
QuoteOriginally posted by RobA_Oz Quote
One good reason to develop a digital LX would be to produce the world's first system DSLR for the high-end enthusiast market, which is where a lot of the original LXes have finished up.
01-12-2012, 03:41 PM   #9
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter




Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Texas
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,446
I don't think SR would be essential in a digital LX. The film LX never had it, and was a great low-light camera. Leica's M9 has no SR, is limited on max ISO, and yet is used most often in low light situations where rangefinder focusing has the advantage. With good technique, which is assumed in the pro market such an offering would address, SR is a bonus, not an essential. If they made an LX equivalent of an M9, I'd buy it!
01-12-2012, 04:44 PM   #10
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Digitalis's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 11,694
QuoteOriginally posted by TomB_tx Quote
I don't think SR would be essential in a digital LX. The film LX never had it, and was a great low-light camera. Leica's M9 has no SR, is limited on max ISO, and yet is used most often in low light situations where rangefinder focusing has the advantage. With good technique, which is assumed in the pro market such an offering would address, SR is a bonus, not an essential. If they made an LX equivalent of an M9, I'd buy it!
the rangefinder is a contributing factor to why the M9 is so good at low-light work - there is also the fact that Leica puts a great deal of effort into the design of the shutter mechanism and they do their best to keep it smooth and accurate- and as a consequence you can hand hold a Leica at significantly lower shutter speeds than you can with an SLR because of the design of the shutter and the fact that rangefinders do not have the sharpness killing reflex mirror in the optical path.
01-12-2012, 06:20 PM   #11
Veteran Member
DaveHolmes's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 1,501
QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
Pentax, unfortunately, just didn't have the scale to continue developing that market (they lacked the installed pro base, the cash flows drawn from Canon and Nikon's associated businesses and the willingness to offer pro support services).
I think it is the 'pro support services' that Pentax will really have to work on if they want to entice more pro-shooters to the K-mount system... I think to a certain extent 'service' or 'support' is even more important to 'pro' shooters than whether or not Pentax offers a FF camera...
01-12-2012, 06:22 PM   #12
Pentaxian
hcarvalhoalves's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,016
For Pentax to come back to compact bodies (compared to DSLR) with lots of manual controls like a LX (or like the new Fujis), it cannot be a reflex. Since rangefinder is not Pentax market, it would have to be some really clever mirroless with good electronic viewfinder.

Guess what? That's almost like a Ricoh GXR, but with K-mount and SR.

Given the fact Ricoh didn't released a K-mount yet, and Pentax haven't announced any new pro/semi-pro bodies, I have a hunch that we can be seeing something like this coming from Ricoh.

One thing I know for sure: SLR is a dead end. We are at an inflection point, and the next 1-2 year window will start seeing pro-grade, compact mirroless bodies. Some manufacturers will innovate and surprise (Fuji, Sony), and the ones too slow to adapt will die. That would also imply the current Pentax DSLR lineup is probably one of the last of its generation. Their lack of a roadmap and the Ricoh acquisition hint me that.
01-12-2012, 06:33 PM   #13
Pentaxian
hcarvalhoalves's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,016
QuoteOriginally posted by wlachan Quote
LX is a thing of the past. People should wake up and move on.
Try telling Fuji to wake up and move on.

There's certainly a market for compact, well-built, high-quality cameras with manual controls, as they demonstrated. Current DSLRs are big, bulky, have small optical viewfinders and are nowhere as rewarding to operate compared to earlier SLRs. People have just got used to it because digital is much more convenient, but DSLRs are real frankensteins from a product design perspective.
01-12-2012, 08:26 PM   #14
Veteran Member




Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Manila
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,185
QuoteOriginally posted by hcarvalhoalves Quote
Current DSLRs are big, bulky, have small optical viewfinders and are nowhere as rewarding to operate compared to earlier SLRs.
but according to the Kitazawa interview, Pentax is aiming at making their DSLRs even smaller, put better OVFs and perhaps improve ergonomics... so I guess it's trying to extend the market life of DSLR's?
01-12-2012, 08:30 PM   #15
Veteran Member
SteveM's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,294
The M (ME, MX etc) line was intended to be smaller than the preceeding K line (K2, KX etc) so perhaps a M10d or something similair for a mirrorless....leaving the L for FF with a mirrorbox
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
bodies, camera, controls, dream, dslr, dslrs, fuji, k-mount, lx, mirrorless, pentax, pentax lx, photography, ricoh
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
If Pentax make a K3 (or whatever...) DaveHolmes Pentax DSLR Discussion 79 10-05-2011 05:43 PM
Make room for one more Pentax. Redtabby Welcomes and Introductions 2 01-20-2011 05:01 AM
What DA* ZOOM's would you like PENTAX to make? Adrian Owerko Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 49 01-08-2011 05:05 AM
Digital can make you a much better photographer-am I right? lesmore49 Photographic Technique 41 06-09-2009 07:52 AM
How to make Slide films digital hrishi Photographic Technique 14 07-01-2008 03:30 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:56 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top