[surfar]

(even if I disagree)

I can only report and describe what ive seen. My description is accurate....Yesterdays hero(the brand was everyones favourite half a century ago).

They mostly used Kodak film back then too!

a fallen idol is bordering on inflammatory,

Ha ha, reality is just that....Anyone or everyone can interpret things only how their mind works.

there will be a few here that might agree with you

Of course there is,but we all live in hope....In a few days there could be LOTS or nothing!

[reh321]

The Panasonic announcement scheduled the same day.

When is Sony going to announce their plans?

[mee]

OK, back 50ish years ago when i first picked up a Pentax...it was THE brand! I wonder where all that loyalty went?

Did all those users die(we know some have).

Pentax is yesterdays hero,the fallen idol....It will still retain the diehards and they will die being a Pentax user.

Its a brand that can disappear with a Ricoh board room decision at anytime. I dont think that will happen but to survive it has to not continually shrink.

That's a painful jab, a bit crude, and not so tactful, but I'd say largely accurate...


I don't think we need hive mindedness here though so "negative" or not, I would hope you don't change your view due to peer pressure... And especially in the Non-Pentax Cameras section where such honest thoughts should be freely allowed.


However, yes, Canon ate their lunch in the 80s and 90s it seems.. they marketed so much better while Pentax seems to have loitered around a bit. Canon are still highly adept at marketing today. I was watching a yt vid for something totally unrelated recently and even there the guy in the clip was thanking Canon for sponsoring or offering gear (I forget which I was pretty shocked he was thanking Canon)..

Pentax is now a word-of-mouth brand. That might appeal to some, but it concerns and frustrates me. But even at time the K-5 was launched, it was ahead of most of the competition and it still is a solid camera today (well minus the AF). Then the brand got bruised and beaten through an exchange of sales at the time the market began to shrink, and is now not the brand they once were.


Hopefully they are turning the corner now and the crop system will get a serious refresh while D-FAs start arriving more plentiful too... because I, and I think a lot of us who say things honestly but are deemed 'negative' by the diehard brand fans, really want the brand to thrive as much as they do. I don't know about you, surfar, but I realistically don't expect Canon or Nikon sized marketshare for Pentax yet even in their own lane think Ricoh can do a lot better job of building and even growing the Pentax brand. Hopefully that is happening, or soon to be happening rather, now.

[MarkJerling]

OK, back 50ish years ago when i first picked up a Pentax...it was THE brand! I wonder where all that loyalty went?

Did all those users die(we know some have).

Pentax is yesterdays hero,the fallen idol....It will still retain the diehards and they will die being a Pentax user.

Its a brand that can disappear with a Ricoh board room decision at anytime. I dont think that will happen but to survive it has to not continually shrink.

I'm optimistic that the Samsung connection will happen,then its a lottery win atmosphere...ha ha

When I started shooting Pentax (1988) exposure (spot the pun) in camera stores was not much different to now. There were whole shelves of Canon and Nikon goods and, there, in the corner, a tiny shelf of Pentax, Minolta etc.

Then as now, Pentax offered good value goods. Of course, we tend to view these things from a Western perspective. Ricoh may not actually care all that much about any market outside Japan. It's a contracting market so they may take a conservative approach.

It's a well known phenomenon that print media advertising, radio advertising and, to a lesser extent, TV advertising is dead or dying. I'd like to see Ricoh more prominently in social media. But, whether that is how things are advertised in Japan, I can't say. I don't see Pentax as "yesterday's hero" as you put it.

They are the underdog and they fight above their weight. Can they improve? Of course!
There's no reason for Ricoh's boardroom to ditch Pentax.

Please remember that this is a Pentax enthusiast website. Too much negativity, and we may think you're trolling.

[surfar]

we may think you're trolling.

I'm not talking about the ABs!

---------- Post added 09-21-18 at 01:13 PM ----------

That's a painful jab, a bit crude, and not so tactful, but I'd say largely accurate...

Yes, LARGEly accurate!

---------- Post added 09-21-18 at 01:27 PM ----------

Most people with a decent investment in good K-mount AF glass, and who basically like the cameras they have (or had) but want the new model, aren't going anywhere soon.

Yes and No, time will tell.

Soonish, we could know something,thats IF RI want to divulge what they are working on?

The information at hand points to an exciting time for RI,when its official is another thing!

---------- Post added 09-21-18 at 01:35 PM ----------

When is Sony going to announce their plans?

Great Q,Ive been searching for something and havent found anything thats definitive....My view is they are waiting to see what Panasonic are doing .The word from Panasonic sources are the announcement on 25th.

$$$ony were scheduled for something on the 20th(24mm FE) but i'll search for more soon.

$$$ept 25th is another announcement,I'll guess its Apsc body(and could be completely wrong) due to the fact that Fuji have their latest in the hands of the consumer.

Mid October is another $$$ony announcement.

[automorphism]

They are the underdog and they fight above their weight. Can they improve? Of course!There's no reason for Ricoh's boardroom to ditch Pentax.

Yes, I think also one thing Pentax has is that it offers a really solid, well-built camera at its price points. That's not something you get with a lot of other brands. Ricoh can keep the price of their cameras low by keeping some features underdeveloped with respect to the competition, and that is how it has market share. Video is a typical example. Personally, when I bought my first DSLR years ago, it was a Pentax K-50 and I was really happy to get such a solid, weather-sealed camera at such a price.

[PJ1]

Pentax is now a word-of-mouth brand.

Not entirely. A couple of nights ago a "shopping channel" on Brisbane television had a substantial "Pentax Cameras" segment scheduled. I could not get the channel so I don't know what it covered. It took me a bit by surprise. I presume it was put out there by CR Kennedy (Australian distributors) and went Australia-wide. That is a nice step beyond word of mouth. If it was a Ricoh initiative (or partnered with Ricoh) we may be seeing a new approach - and quite a positive one in my opinion.

[surfar]

A couple of nights ago a "shopping channel" on Brisbane television had a substantial "Pentax Cameras"

Thats great news, lets hope the tide has changed.

we may be seeing a new approach - and quite a positive one in my opinion.

Its needed and overdue, perhaps what theyve been working on is nearing completion and it;ll be promoted?

[Kevin B123]

Leica Sigma Panasonic working together.

I don't usually get involved with these threads. However it is interesting to read about what else is going on even if this is still just a rumor.

As usual it has strayed off topic and on to brand bashing, and that against a rumor.

Please stay with the thread title, just saying.

[D1N0]

The system already has a new rumors site: L mount system camera rumors and news – Just another WordPress site

[Rondec]

Doesn't look terribly interesting. The Panasonic is going to be focused on video and Leica gear is all way too expensive for me. Sigma's designing lenses may help get a full lens line up out a little quicker, but honestly this isn't a train I'd try to catch if I was Ricoh.

[surfar]

but honestly this isn't a train I'd try to catch if I was Ricoh.

They wont in the short term,Apsc has to be the next project/surprise.Whether they can juggle that and the DFA lenses?

[Blue]

"Word of Mouth Brand" has to be the silliest thing I have heard this week.

[twilhelm]

If this conglomerate is real, it wouldn’t surprise me at all, and in todays world, I think we’ll see more companies doing the same thing.

[reh321]

Apsc has to be the next project/surprise. Whether they can juggle that and the DFA lenses?

I would think that bodies and lenses would be different 'teams'.