[surfar]

Its been announced and this $$$ony sensor will be in Next years Fuji.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[rawr]

Probably in any upcoming 645Z II too.
With pixel-shift + the Accelerator chip as well.

[serothis]

Probably in any upcoming 645Z II too.
With pixel-shift + the Accelerator chip as well.

If only I had the money...
.
.
.
...and talent.

[surfar]

Probably in any upcoming

Ha ha, its upcoming after the next "we are still supporting Q" and the DFA primes and the Apsc flagship...And more importantly when $$$onys price on the sensor comes down so RI can afford it.

[rawr]

so RI can afford it

Ricoh never seem to be in any rush, it must be said, to lead the camera market, or spend money.

But Ricoh have money enough to pay 105,000 employees ...

So I think the issue is not the depth of their pockets, but their ideas about the way the camera market is developing, and their strategic priorities.

[surfar]

But Ricoh have money enough to pay 105,000 employees ...

Ricoh isnt RI....how many work there?

The limited resources are stifling development and frustrating plenty of devotees, it will be 30 odd months from announcement to get a prime(not considering the DFAs prime macros that were introduced prior to K-1).A field camera without a wide angle prime,now thats smart business.

[rawr]

Ricoh isnt RI....how many work there?

Last I looked, RI have about 400 employees, in Japan mainly (not including all the factory staff in Philippines and Vietnam, I guess).

I believe RI is able to draw on the resources of the parent when it needs to, so it may not just be about head-count. Importantly, RI can ask the parent to develop in-house technology as needed for RI purposes (eg the custom 68K metering chip on K-3 onwards & the Accelerator chip, which both seem to have emerged from Ricoh chip fabs).

If it was a priority to move faster on their product release cycle, I'm sure they could. But the RI bosses clearly aren't reading the market the same way as devotees are.

Now if they put that chip in a K-02…

[rawr]

What I find interesting about the posted Phase One video is that it has taken Phase One over a year to follow rival Hasselblad (and DJI) into the medium format 100MP sensor drone camera space:

You Tube

You Tube

Also interesting last year was to read the news that drone maker DJI had bought a majority stake in Hasselblad itself:

DJI acquires majority stake in Hasselblad, the iconic Swedish camera company – TechCrunch

To keep up, clearly Ricoh needs to find a drone partner if it has any future big sensor plans of it's own.

[surfar]

RI have about 400 employees,

Ok, i had no idea exactly how many they had...exceptional performance by so few.

To keep up, clearly Ricoh needs to find a drone partner if it has any future big sensor plans of it's own.

Not sure about keeping up, i dont think they can even catch up....They seem to want to be just unique and run their own race,i suppose by years end we will have a clearer picture(is that a pun?) of where they are at.SUPRISES are one of their traits and i expect at least one more this year.

[Rondec]

Ok, i had no idea exactly how many they had...exceptional performance by so few.



Not sure about keeping up, i dont think they can even catch up....They seem to want to be just unique and run their own race,i suppose by years end we will have a clearer picture(is that a pun?) of where they are at.SUPRISES are one of their traits and i expect at least one more this year.

Phase One has 300 employees.

Pentax has said that they remain committed to the medium format market. I imagine they are working on an K-3 III and medium format and K-1 II sequel together. There will be quite a bit of shared technology between them, including auto focus modules. As to whether or not Pentax will use this sensor, I sort of doubt it. The question isn't whether they can "afford" it, but whether the folks who buy their cameras would want to pay the additional cost for it.

If I were going to guess, I would say that Pentax wants to see if they can get in body image stabilization into a medium format camera body. This would allow for use of astro tracer and pixel shift and would make the 645z sequel stand out from the other MF cameras in a way that just putting a 100 MP sensor and keeping everything else the same wouldn't.

[surfar]

If I were going to guess, I would say that Pentax wants to see if they can get in body image stabilization into a medium format camera body. This would allow for use of astro tracer and pixel shift and would make the 645z sequel stand out from the other MF cameras in a way that just putting a 100 MP sensor and keeping everything else the same wouldn't.

That would be exceptional.

The question isn't whether they can "afford" it, but whether the folks who buy their cameras would want to pay the additional cost for it.

My "afford" was meant 2 ways.Firstly the upfront cost of that recently developed $$$ony sensor and 2ndly,the risk RI would take with a production run.Probably a safer way for the Z is the same upgrade that the K-1 got,i wonder if it requires a completely new body or maybe just similar surgery that the K-1 requires???...now that would be interesting.

Competition is coming in the 44x33 sector...Fuji bring a budget model later this year and them and Hassy bring the 100mp BSI next year,or so the rumourmills are sprouting.

[mecrox]

I believe 2019 is the 100th anniversary of Asahi Optical so perhaps that would be a good moment for Ricoh to refresh the 645 line. My guess is they will. I’d expect an announcement later this year or even a finished camera plus perhaps a new lens or two. Since the 645 is as much a signature line as K mount, I’d also expect them to put a lot of effort into whatever they come out with. It would be quite surprising if it was a low-key iteration.

[Mistral75]

Ha ha, its upcoming after the next "we are still supporting Q" and the DFA primes and the Apsc flagship...And more importantly when $$$onys price on the sensor comes down so RI can afford it.

As a reference the RRPs of the two aerial cameras Phase One just announced:

• iXM 50MP: $21,000 / €17,000 (excl. VAT)
• iXM 100MP: $40,000 / €32,000 (excl. VAT).

The only differences between the two cameras are linked to the sensor used: IMX161 (FSI CMOS sensor of 33x44mm and 50 Mpix, that of the Pentax 645Z) in the iXM 50MP and IMX461 (BSI CMOS sensor of 33x44mm and 100 Mpix) in the iXM 100MP.

The new iXM 100MP Camera

Phase One iXM 100MP aerial camera uses world's first BSI medium format sensor: Digital Photography Review

What I find interesting about the posted Phase One video is that it has taken Phase One over a year to follow rival Hasselblad (and DJI) into the medium format 100MP sensor drone camera space:

(...)

Yes but with a different, brand new sensor: IMX461 (33mm x 44mm, BSI) for Phase One vs. IMX211 (40.4mm x 53.7mm, FSI) for Hasselblad.

(...)

Also interesting last year was to read the news that drone maker DJI had bought a majority stake in Hasselblad itself:

DJI acquires majority stake in Hasselblad, the iconic Swedish camera company – TechCrunch

To keep up, clearly Ricoh needs to find a drone partner if it has any future big sensor plans of it's own.

DJI are also Phase One's preferred partner for their iXM series:

The iXM is ready for integration with a wide range of UAV platforms, including Phase One’s DJI Matrice 600 Pro solution.