[Wasp]

To be objective, Pentax is not in great shape. It is a niche player in the DSLR market. With everybody going mirrorless, the DSLR could become a niche market. Canon has been releasing new mirrorless lenses at a furious pace whoile quietly discontinuing DSLR lenses. Nevertheless, the K3 III is here and the lineup is in great reasonable shape.

The K70 is pretty old and due for retirement replacement. The 645Z is pre-historic quite old while reviewers are going gaga excited about the the Fujifilm GFX line.

[mikesbike]

I don't get this sensor "density" thing. The outcome of a 26 MP sensor will have a corresponding number of pixels and resolution. Does this mean less noise at higher ISO or what?

---------- Post added 04-06-21 at 09:42 PM ----------

To be objective, Pentax is not in great shape. It is a niche player in the DSLR market. With everybody going mirrorless, the DSLR could become a niche market. Canon has been releasing new mirrorless lenses at a furious pace whoile quietly discontinuing DSLR lenses. Nevertheless, the K3 III is here and the lineup is in great reasonable shape.

The K70 is pretty old and due for retirement replacement. The 645Z is pre-historic quite old while reviewers are going gaga excited about the the Fujifilm GFX line.

Yeah, I can see the article's criticism of the new K-3 III, and maybe it will settle at around $1,500 or $1,600. This would increase its attraction. And yes, the mirrorless options are gaining the attention over DSLR offerings. And why not, since one can now choose a very high resolution and very high performing FF mirrorless model with a lot of features and a high quality build, maybe even for less and maybe even lighter in weight than the new Pentax APS-C body, which is a shade under 30 oz. The KP remains the best APS-C alternative to a high-quality APS-C mirrorless option.

But who knows how many serious photographers will still prefer having a top-quality OVF over the EVF of a mirrorless model, and willing to tote the extra weight. Especially since one still has the rear screen's electronic finder as well. Since other brands are now offering fewer and fewer DSLR models, perhaps Pentax will gain more attention from those photographers.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

You cannot see the Leica or the Fuji GFX, because of all the bodyguards!

[Rondec]

To be objective, Pentax is not in great shape. It is a niche player in the DSLR market. With everybody going mirrorless, the DSLR could become a niche market. Canon has been releasing new mirrorless lenses at a furious pace whoile quietly discontinuing DSLR lenses. Nevertheless, the K3 III is here and the lineup is in great reasonable shape.

The K70 is pretty old and due for retirement replacement. The 645Z is pre-historic quite old while reviewers are going gaga excited about the the Fujifilm GFX line.

Pentax is quickly becoming one of the "only" players who is investing in new SLR tech. I don't know if this makes them a dinosaur, but to me it seems very intelligent. I think it is clear that the SLR market is going to continue -- it will be smaller than the MILC market, but it also will have significantly fewer players in it and will not have the same aggressive level of tech required to continue in it.

There is a solid group of photographers who don't really enjoy the experience of using an EVF. If Canon and Nikon are no longer releasing gear that meets their needs, this could actually boost Pentax's sales.

There are a lot of SLRs sold ever year and honestly, looking Nikon's MILC sales doesn't appear encouraging with the idea that you invest a bunch of money in a new mount and lenses, launch a bunch of cameras and are a distant third in the MILC market, neck and neck with Fuji.

[UncleVanya]

An interesting observation about where we are today. Seems as we are hitting the wall in a way. Most digital pro and enthusiasts camera makers struggle

I found that this article is hitting the nail.

Of the Nikon Z9 and other new and upcoming gear - Luminous Landscape

Of cause author is wrong about Pentax. How many times has Pentax been doomed? 😁😁😁

The author also mistakenly says no one other than Nikon ever had a dslr with a 20mp sensor. (KS-1,KS-2 ring any bells?)

[swanlefitte]

(KS-1,KS-2 ring any bells?)

Just got back from a photo walk. The ks-2 does not ring bells. It has taken nice 20Mp photos of bells including the one I walked past today.😀

[DeadJohn]

I think the article is mostly correct about the state of Pentax. It seems written for a USA audience and things like "one could be forgiven for forgetting that Pentax even makes cameras" are reasonable when talking about the USA. Current Pentax users know about Pentax. Many old-timers who use different brands and new people entering the hobby, though, simply don't know Pentax exists.

I'm not criticizing Ricoh's strategy of not heavily investing in advertising. The camera market is very squeezed due to smartphones, so maybe spending as little as possible is smart.