Originally posted by mee However there is a tendency, while waiting, to really work the feature set of a product to a level that exceeds what is deliverable.
Too true - it's almost impossible for camera companies to compete with the vapourware of their users' imaginations, and most cameras are initially a little disappointing - but when people start using them, this usually changes - either the disappointment evaporates, or, when companies over-hye the pluses and keep quiet about the shortcomings, a disappointment grows. I don't think that Ricoh can be accused of over-hyping, so normally the reputation of Pentax cameras grows after a small disappointment dip when specs are released.
---------- Post added 02-11-17 at 12:52 AM ----------
Originally posted by Winder I don't know what the problem has been. I have heard that companies like Canon and Nikon have patents that have made it difficult, but I don't know if that is true. I do know that just 5 years ago both Sony and Fuji had pittiful AF systems, but in that very short period of time they have passed Ricoh in AF. Have you played wiht the AF of a Sony A9 or even the Olympus OMD-EMII? Both are much faster than anything Ricoh has produced.
I've always suspected that the slow progress in AF, apart from lack of funding investment, has something to do with backward lens compatability - if you're reliant on a lot of older lenses which will never ficus very fast, then throwing money at AF in the camera is not a good investment. I could be wildly wrong on this, but I suspect that the user base has partly been guilty of wanting to have its cake and eat it too - but I'm not an engineer, and I have no inside track, so, in the end, it's just an opinion.