[mannyquinto]

With Ricoh-Pentax and other camera makers selling less units (due to people preferring their phones) and new models being updated less frequently , I think new upcoming body will sell for more $$$. Gone are the days will we ever see a new body that will be introduced at less than US $800~1000. I have been hesitating to buy a new GRii as I'm waiting to see what the new GR would bring to the table (been preferring a small camera lately).

For most of us, this is just a hobby and a new camera costing more than US$ 1K I guest is just a bit too much for an average Joe. It will be interesting to see how Ricoh will be pricing the new GR and the K3iii....surely it will be priced around US$1,200 or above for the GR and around US$ 1,500 for the K3iii.

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Last edited by mannyquinto; 12-23-2017 at 09:32 PM.

[loveisageless]

I think the value in a Pentax camera at that price point is that it will be a high quality product with features that the average Joe can grow into over time without feeling a need to upgrade. Smart Phones can be expensive too. Witness the iPhone X. Fortunately, Pentax doesn't throttle the performance of its products to get owners to upgrade. Batteries for Pentax cameras are a lot cheaper too and we can replace them ourselves :-)

[sqrrl]

Pentax K-70 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Black) 16243 B&H Photo Video

The K70 is $594 at bh photo, the GRii is a similar price, while that's not pocket change, it is within the reach of many amateurs. I doubt there'll be a sudden massive hike in price, cos they want to sell cameras, it's easier to just stop making cameras then to price yourself out of the market.

Prices obviously will go up, inflation, market prices, and stuff like that, but historically, in terms of what people earn, camera's seem to be a similar price to 20-30 years ago, possibly cheaper now actually, and you get one hell of a lot more camera than back then - each new generation of camera technology gives you more camera for the money, and conversely raises people expectations for the next generation.

You won't get top end cameras for cheap, but then you never did, the k70 is one hell of a lot of camera for that price, frankly unless you shoot sports or video it's a pretty great camera - None of Pentax's apsc offerings really do much more in terms of image quality.

And smartphone technology is making it's way into DSLR's, so that's a win too.

[DogLover]

It will be interesting to see how Ricoh will be pricing the new GR and the K3iii....surely it will be priced around US$1,200 or above for the GR and around US$ 1,500 for the K3iii.

No way the GR replacement will be that much. I would say more like $700. $800 at the most.

[Adam]

While I'm sure the K-3 replacement will be priced similarly to what the K-3 cost at launch, there's no reason to speculate that they're going to pull out entirely of the entry-level market. The K-70 is still pretty current and a great value.

[mannyquinto]

I'm sure entry camera bodies will still be affordable but the latest pricing being revealed by new camera makers from different brands for flagship models are showing a different scenario. Look on how pricing started on Olympus E-M1, the Panasonic GH5, the Fuji XT2, etc. all flagship models.

Regarding the GR, it is the only Ricoh branded camera left (and Ricoh will not abandon it) and there are a lot of followers for that model. Hope they priced it as DogLover has stated above.

[iGlad]

I think the value in a Pentax camera at that price point is that it will be a high quality product with features that the average Joe can grow into over time without feeling a need to upgrade. Smart Phones can be expensive too. Witness the iPhone X. Fortunately, Pentax doesn't throttle the performance of its products to get owners to upgrade. Batteries for Pentax cameras are a lot cheaper too and we can replace them ourselves :-)

You need to remember nobody buys a smartphone for its camera as it has a multitude of other uses of which the camera is one of them. last year i baulked at the price of a new DSLR and bought a 2nd hand K20D, which i thought was great despite being so many years old. However the K20D started to struggle at taking low level concert shots at my local music venue and so i bought a K70 in a great black Friday deal. I got the body and a free 50mm DA lens for £436 ($567). I don't intend to upgrade anytime soon. Cameras have never been cheap and i can go back to the film cameras in the 80's, which were well out of my price range back then.

There was an article I read somewhere that stated that photography was becoming a rich mans pursuit not sure of that's quite true unless you are talking Leica's but the semi-pro market is expensive.

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Last edited by iGlad; 12-24-2017 at 11:30 AM.

[C_Jones]

People that want to have a real camera will opt for one. It is dependent on knowledge of photography wants of the possible user. There are and have been economical prices for cameras. I bought my K-20D new years ago from B and H and it was not much under a thousand. Knowledgeable people that want the performance of a camera will opt for one. People that want/need something that will not give them the performance that a devoted camera does in features may opt for a phone that is compact and that produces automated images without the accessibility of a proper OVF. I would never choose a phone over a DSLR for photography. I know we all have our own opinions, and individual user needs are different, but DSLR users and phone users are in different categories. I have a K-3II and K5IIS, and will not be opting for a product that is not even in the DSLR category when I shop for a new camera body.

Happy holidays!

[ffking]

With Ricoh-Pentax and other camera makers selling less units (due to people preferring their phones) and new models being updated less frequently , I think new upcoming body will sell for more $$$. Gone are the days will we ever see a new body that will be introduced at less than US $800~1000. I have been hesitating to buy a new GRii as I'm waiting to see what the new GR would bring to the table (been preferring a small camera lately).

For most of us, this is just a hobby and a new camera costing more than US$ 1K I guest is just a bit too much for an average Joe. It will be interesting to see how Ricoh will be pricing the new GR and the K3iii....surely it will be priced around US$1,200 or above for the GR and around US$ 1,500 for the K3iii.

I think the nub of the situation is in what you say - cameras have to be significantly better photographic tools than smartphones to be worth buying - there's little point in having a specialised camera for happy-snapping when a smartphone is more than adequate. Cameras are going to become more the domain of serious hobbyists and professional photographers, and lower numbers and higher competencies means higher prices. But we've always been prepared to pay for an edge, there will always be good quality cameras - if you can afford them.

[Rondec]

I think Pentax's entry level camera will be in the 500 dollar range. They have experimented in the past with cheaper cameras -- the KS-1 and K500 come to mind -- and for whatever reason they didn't tend to be very good sellers. I suppose people wanted the perks of a slightly more expensive body -- tougher build, sealing, whatever else -- over the 150 dollars they saved by going with the cheaper camera.

That's still a pretty reasonable price assuming it gives a real image quality boost over smart phones.

[Simen1]

Cheap cameras are a long term investment in aquiring more profitable customers. I guess most of us started in the cheap end and worked our way upwards. Pentax should find new ways to cut production costs and keep the margins low in that end. Color variations, no viewfinder (K-01), no battery (AA), few buttons and wheels, no top LCD, no WR seals. In the future they may consider on sensor PDAF in stead of a dedicated AF chip and an even smaller battery (more efficient electronics). The shutter may turn completely electronic. Maybe they could consider a smaller and cheaper sensor and a built in "speedbooster" to emulate the larger sensor. The Q system was built upon a cheap sensor being extra profitable. Maybe start selling pinhole lenses (that should be profitable at almost any price) or other creative lens-defect lenses like Lensbaby sells.

[mannyquinto]

I think the nub of the situation is in what you say - cameras have to be significantly better photographic tools than smartphones to be worth buying - there's little point in having a specialised camera for happy-snapping when a smartphone is more than adequate. Cameras are going to become more the domain of serious hobbyists and professional photographers, and lower numbers and higher competencies means higher prices. But we've always been prepared to pay for an edge, there will always be good quality cameras - if you can afford them.

You got it ffking! Our full featured camera body are getting expensive and as features and technology advances, lens design have to adapt to it. Look at how bigger new lenses are coming out with price to booth.

Most people in the future would probably be not investing in any dedicated camera to take pictures if their phones with multi-processor/camera sensor can snap better or equivalent pictures than a DSLR using software. Ricoh may had been preparing for this as they have created the Theta. They even have a road map for future feature development. Where is their plan for DSLRs?

[danielchtong]

For most of us, this is just a hobby and a new camera costing more than US$ 1K I guest is just a bit too much for an average Joe. It will be interesting to see how Ricoh will be pricing the new GR and the K3iii....surely it will be priced around US$1,200 or above for the GR and around US$ 1,500 for the K3iii.

I worry a lot less about body than my inability to make full use of my lenses. Bodies are electronics. Nothing less and nothing more. Lenses are the guts. I still use my K20D even though I use the new cheapo K70. So far so good for both

[gm4life]

The fact that Pentax isn’t cranking out sub 600 USD camera bodies is a good thing. They need to make some money or they won’t stay around. 600 as an entry point is fine let those boys at Canon and Nikon race to the bottom for crop DSLR market. If they want to sell junk at 350 or 400 bucks let ‘em have those low margin, poorly built, Walmart entry level DSLR camera market to themselves. For what Pentax offers for 600 in the K70 represents good value for the money. The Ricoh exec who said they want to stay in slightly more premium market and provide good value was right... In the iPhone age no sense in racing to the bottom.

---------- Post added 01-01-18 at 12:48 AM ----------

I think the value in a Pentax camera at that price point is that it will be a high quality product with features that the average Joe can grow into over time without feeling a need to upgrade. Smart Phones can be expensive too. Witness the iPhone X. Fortunately, Pentax doesn't throttle the performance of its products to get owners to upgrade. Batteries for Pentax cameras are a lot cheaper too and we can replace them ourselves :-)

Couldn’t agree more! Oh BTW I love my iPhone X and it takes decent photos when I am not lugging around my K3 II or KP.

[tim60]

Interesting thread. I was looking at the countries from which contributors come, and thinking about the balance of cost of living and income in those countries - and the resulting market positioning of $1000 in the different markets. And then seeing responses from people - which I can only judge based on broad national averages, not the individual situation of the respondents.


Having moved around the world, I also find it interesting how the brand level of various brands can be quite different in different countries - even for example in some of the 'luxury' brands. For example, Boss clothes in UK seems to be an upper middle market brand, in Australia a bit higher and in Taiwan very high. Product is the same stuff. It is cheaper to buy the clothes in UK and post to Taiwan, even possibly paying tax on arrival, than to buy in Taiwan.


Another example is Tetley tea bags. In Australia they are a low end, unadvertised supermarket line, in east Asia they are promoted through billboard advertising in markets which have high status cachet value to things.