[btnapa]

This, for me, is one of the best indicators that Ricoh has nothing much to worry about with Pentax just now.

+1. I also see occasional other brand ambassadors who are closet 645Z and K1 owners!

[Kunzite]

I don't think it's any more misleading than any other brand-specific forum.

Mike, I respectfully disagree - Pentaxforums is misleading, because outsiders are expecting it to be a fanboy site utterly favoring Pentax. And it isn't

[BigMackCam]

Mike, I respectfully disagree - Pentaxforums is misleading, because outsiders are expecting it to be a fanboy site utterly favoring Pentax. And it isn't

He he OK, you got me there. I agree, most of us here have a pretty balanced view of our Pentax gear. We have remarkably few fanboys... especially considering our equipment is absolutely perfect and way better than anything produced in the past, present and future by any other manufacturer!!!!

[biz-engineer]

Perhaps you're not aware that "whatever they're trying" included you. Opening this thread is like trying to cut down a tree, while claiming you'd want it to survive. Except you're using a blunt knife.

Typical case of the last two years is: A pentax user come to the forum use old gear and complain about AF, want to buy Nikon, Canon. We explain how to use the Pentax system to its best, ricoh does not help as they do not provide suitable manual and support. The unhappy customers don't listen to our suggestions, they don't try to understand anyway, and they buy a C or N camera, how can this be? I really hate this. For me, this just a sign that Ricoh fails to deploy enough marketing communication to override the seeds and cultivation of bad Pentax reputation.

---------- Post added 26-03-17 at 22:16 ----------

Assuming 60% first year depreciation on the five-year schedule and an additional discount given that Pentax is doomed, I am willing to offer you $520 USD for your K-1, assuming excellent condition and low shutter count. Edit: Oops! I forgot! No buying/selling on the discussion forums. Steve (...might as well get the liquidation process started...)

You are not short of business acumen

[johnmflores]

As the great landscape photographer Anselm Anselm once said,

"There are no rules for good photographs, there is only risk mitigation of your gear."

[stevebrot]

As the great landscape photographer Anselm Anselm once said,

"There are no rules for good photographs, there is only risk mitigation of your gear."

One has to love and respect Anselm. He had a real way with words and was a real giant in the field. It is not well known or appreciated, but Anselm was a founding member (along with a handful of others from the DPR M43 forum) of the legendary f/1.4 group whose dedication to unattainable bokeh helped make photography what it is today.


Steve

(...OTOH, it they might have all been from the DPR Third-Party Lens forum...I dunno, it all blends together in my head... )

[monochrome]

Typical case of the last two years is: A pentax user come to the forum use old gear and complain about AF, want to buy Nikon, Canon. We explain how to use the Pentax system to its best, ricoh does not help as they do not provide suitable manual and support. The unhappy customers don't listen to our suggestions, they don't try to understand anyway, and they buy a C or N camera, how can this be? I really hate this. For me, this just a sign that Ricoh fails to deploy enough marketing communication to override the seeds and cultivation of bad Pentax reputation.

This last bit about Ricoh not putting their best foot forward has always puzzled me. I suppose I understand that we pay our value price for superior images, some edgy features and 90-ish percent of top performance, and we don't get any of the soft benefits of the other brands. Ricoh sells Pentax cameras to a small group of people who know the interface, the design standard and the strength / weakness compromise, and accept it by choice (or habit).

Ricoh is a Green Leader company. They don't want to print 1,000,000 paper User Guides a year. They'd do brown pulp boxes if they could get away with it. They hate extra cables and unnecessary ports. I get it.

But couldn't they find a place halfway between the Yvonne Bourque Guides and their spare, feature-descriptive, 1/4 sized manuals? If they feel so strongly about Green, just publish finished PDFs. Do How-To White Papers online.

And while you're at it, if you're going to make a Special Site with a sample image catalog, why not hire a pro to shoot and process the images? For heavens' sake, get Derrick James or benjikan to do them.

I don't think this signals financial risk at Ricoh Imaging. Theta alone is a river of cash flow. They really don't want to get too large right now - really. They don't want to do the things they would need to do to be Canon or Sony (or even Fuji). I just think they're totally absorbed designing and making the cameras and lenses and they're clueless about what to do next. They don't even know they don't know.

[BigMackCam]

couldn't they find a place halfway between the Yvonne Bourque Guides and their spare, feature-descriptive, 1/4 sized manuals? If they feel so strongly about Green, just publish finished PDFs. Do How-To White Papers online.

When I bought my A7 Mark II, I was fortunate enough to find Tony Northrup's A7-series YouTube tutorial. Now, whatever you may or may not think of Mr Northrup (I quite like him), his presenting style in this tutorial is superb. He covers pretty much everything, and whilst I knew much of it already from the A99, his style was such that I was happy to watch it all regardless, and go back to it a few times later. Anyone watching that video (and perhaps referring to it later as necessary) can quickly become proficient with any of the A7 models.

This is exactly what I'd like to see Ricoh producing for their Pentax cameras. 60 - 90 minute tutorial videos that teach new owners how to actually use their cameras - not some manual that simply repeats what you can find yourself in the menus...

[cali92rs]

When I bought my A7 Mark II, I was fortunate enough to find Tony Northrup's A7-series YouTube tutorial. Now, whatever you may or may not think of Mr Northrup (I quite like him), his presenting style in this tutorial is superb. He covers pretty much everything, and whilst I knew much of it already from the A99, his style was such that I was happy to watch it all regardless, and go back to it a few times later. Anyone watching that video (and perhaps referring to it later as necessary) can quickly become proficient with any of the A7 models.

This is exactly what I'd like to see Ricoh producing for their Pentax cameras. 60 - 90 minute tutorial videos that teach new owners how to actually use their cameras - not some manual that simply repeats what you can find yourself in the menus...

I feel the same about Thom Hogan's Nikon manuals. He doesn't regurgitate info, he tells you when you might want to use a specific setting, his preference, pros and cons of the setting etc.
Why the OEMs don't do it themselves is beyond me.

[rawr]

Pentax probably makes [modest] money, and has been free of scandals and disasters. So I bet Ricoh HQ is quite happy to keep their little Pentax business unit alive for the foreseeable future. It seems a pretty low risk buying proposition.

[stevebrot]

I feel the same about Thom Hogan's Nikon manuals. He doesn't regurgitate info, he tells you when you might want to use a specific setting, his preference, pros and cons of the setting etc.
Why the OEMs don't do it themselves is beyond me.

You brushed against the pertinent point that Nikon user guides, while thick, are no better than Pentax. They suck


Steve

[ZombieArmy]

Pentax probably makes [modest] money, and has been free of scandals and disasters. So I bet Ricoh HQ is quite happy to keep their little Pentax business unit alive for the foreseeable future. It seems a pretty low risk buying proposition.

I wouldn't say the aperture block issues is really "free from disaster". But yeah it's not the worst.

[tromboads]

Just.
Make.
Pictures.

[Nicolas06]

Pentax probably makes [modest] money, and has been free of scandals and disasters. So I bet Ricoh HQ is quite happy to keep their little Pentax business unit alive for the foreseeable future. It seems a pretty low risk buying proposition.

No disaster? All is relative. So let me recall. First FF attempt uter failure. Overall late to digital, terrible AF until recently (and now just decent). problem with flashes with the K5, SDM lenses failures that even when they work are slow as hell but the brand took years to decide to change technology, the apperture lever on K30 and K50... But this is the same for all brand Sony A7 with it reflections on the sensor, Nikon and its oil issues on D600, Canon FF that wasn't much better than m4/3 for high iso and dynamic range for years... Everybody had some disaster and I guess the other have has many as Pentax but I don't know I much as I don't go to their forums.

[Nicolas06]

Typical case of the last two years is: A pentax user come to the forum use old gear and complain about AF, want to buy Nikon, Canon. We explain how to use the Pentax system to its best, ricoh does not help as they do not provide suitable manual and support. The unhappy customers don't listen to our suggestions, they don't try to understand anyway, and they buy a C or N camera, how can this be? I really hate this. For me, this just a sign that Ricoh fails to deploy enough marketing communication to override the seeds and cultivation of bad Pentax reputation.
You are not short of business acumen

If the goal of going in Pentax was to have the most popular brand, most loved by photographers, for sure Pentax was a wrong choice...