**Alright. The interview is now here in its entirety, translated to the best of my abilities. There are a few holes, and some areas where I was uncertain of what precisely was being said (my Japanese is quite rusty). Nevertheless, I think you can glean the thrust of the interview from this. If anyone is better with their Japanese than I am, by all means please let me know if you see any goofs and I will edit this post accordingly to reflect a more accurate translation***
— リコーといっしょになったことで、ペンタック スにとってなにか変わったことがありますか?
-- Have there been any changes for Pentax now that you've merged with Ricoh?
北沢 われわれがやりたかったことを経営層がよ く理解してくれ、それをバックアップしてくれていま す。これは大きいことですね。
Kitazawa: There are things we've wanted to do [at Pentax] that the management has shown a lot of understanding for. This is allowing us to go back to those things. This is a big deal.
— リコーからものすごく期待されている。
-- There are very high expectations from Ricoh.
北沢 ですから、その期待される喜びよりもプレッシャーのほうが大きいですけどね。
Kitazawa: Exactly, and because of that there is a lot of pressure on us to meet those expectations.
— 結果的にはペンタックスにとってはよかった ですね。ペンタックスのユーザーにとっても今後が 期待できるということですよね。
-- It seems the merger has been a great outcome for Pentax. Pentax users are going to be able to keep their expectations high now going forward as well, aren't they?
北沢 そうですね、ぜひ期待してほしいです。
Kitazawa: Indeed, and we absolutely want them to be excited.
— このPENTAX Qですが、これはミラーレス カメラになるんですか?
-- Now that we have the Pentax Q, is there going to be a move towards mirrorless cameras?
北沢 ジャンル分けするとミラーレスですが、 別にミラーレスというジャンルに入れようとして作ったわけではないです。 一眼レフだと大きい重いというお客さまの意見を聞き、 どこまでぎりぎりサイズダウンできるかやってみたという感じですね。
Kitazawa: Although it's true that the Q would be considered "mirrorless" if you were to try categorizing it, I would not necessarily say it was made with the specific intention of entering that genre. [edit: I have re-translated the preceding sentence to what I now believe it is actually saying, namely that the Q was not made as a response to mirrorless per se, which is in keeping with Pentax's earlier statements about the objective of the Q. My earlier translation suggested that Pentax does not feel they necessarily need to enter the mirrorless market at all, which I no longer believe to be an accurate translation.]. Listening to our customers' concerns about the size and weight of SLR cameras, we felt we should try to see just how far down we could miniaturize our products.
— 去年、このインタビューの企画での北沢さん のお話で印象に残っているのは、ひとつは、一眼レフカメラはもっともっと小型化できるという話でした。
-- In preparing for this interview, I was left with one impression that stood out from many earlier conversations with you, which is that there is still much that can be done to miniaturize SLR cameras more and more.
北沢 そうですね、もっと小型化できますね。
Kitazawa: That's very true -- they can surely be made smaller.
— もうひとつは、一眼レフは機能に特化した一眼レフカメラが出てくるだろうと。それにより安い一眼レフカメラはだんだんミラーレスに 置き換わっていくともおっしゃってました。
-- Another thing that stood out was the prediction that going forward we will likely see SLR cameras come out that are built for increasingly specialized purposes. Meanwhile, cheaper SLRs will gradually be replaced by mirrorless cameras.
北沢 そうです。いまでも同じ考えです。ミラーレスは価格を安くできる。一眼レフの下の層というのは当然ミラーレスに置き換わってくると思います。
Kitazawa: Yes. I have the same thoughts even now. Mirrorless cameras can be made inexpensively. I think it is only natural that the lower levels of SLR cameras will come to be replaced by mirrorless alternatives.
— ペンタックスは今後、PENTAX Qとは違う新しいミラーレスの開発、なにかやろうとしているんじゃありませんか(笑)
-- So, Pentax wouldn't happen to have any new mirrrorless developments this year aside from the Q, would they? (laughter)
北沢 いろいろ検討はしています(笑)。
Kitazawa: We are exploring various ideas. (laughter) [Mike Cash has indicated the word Mr. Kitazawa used here is generally a very empty promise]
— それはいま市場にあるようなミラーレスじゃな いミラーレスですか?
-- Are any of these ideas a departure from what is currently offered in the market for mirrorless cameras?
北沢 それはどういう意味ででか( 苦 笑 )。
Kitazawa: Whatever do you mean by that? (sarcastic laugh)
— ペンタックスですから、ほかと同じものを出してもしょうがないですもんね。
-- Well, what I mean is that with Pentax, even when you show us something that's the same, it is inevitable [that it will be different].
北沢 むずかしい質問ですねえ(苦笑)
Kitazawa: Now that's a tough question. (sarcastic laugh)
— たとえばですけど、センサーサイズが違うとか、大きいサイズのセンサーのミラーレス。
This is just an example of course - but let's say it was a different sensor size. A mirrorless camera with a larger sensor.
北沢 う~ん。
Kitazawa: ::non-committal grunt:: [thanks, Mr. Cash]
— じゃあ質問を変えますが、ミラーレスカメラを ペンタックスが作るとすればフルサイズっていうの は可能ですか? 不可能ですか?
Well okay, to reword the question then: if Pentax were to make another mirrorless camera, is it possible that it would be full frame? Is that not a possibility?
北沢 そう来るんですか(苦笑)。えっとですね、 そのフルサイズができるかできないかという質問に 対してはイエスですね。当然のことながらペンタックスとしてねらうところは画質です。
Kitazawa: So it's come to that point, has it? (laughs) Well... regarding your question of whether or not it is possible to build a mirrorless camera with a full frame sensor: the answer is yes, it is. Now of course, at Pentax what we are aiming for is the highest in image quality.
— なぜ画質なんでしょう。
How are you going about that?
北沢 4Kとフルハイビジョンを見比べるとフルハイビジョンがとてもプアに見えるんですよ。10 年前にあれだけ感動したフルハイビジョンが 。実際に、4Kの風景の画像とかみると鳥肌がたってきます。
Kitazawa: When you compare 4K and regular high-definition television, regular high-definition really looks quite poor. This is the same high-definition that just ten years ago was so impressive. In practice, when I look at 4K footage -- of landscape scenery for instance -- I get goosebumps.
— 私も見比べたことありますが、差は歴然。
-- I've compared them too, and the difference is clear.
北沢 各家庭にフルハイビジョンのテレビが普通に置いてあるなんて 10 年前は想像しなかった。 あと5 年または10 年くらいで4Kまたは8Kの画質が家庭で楽しめるとしたら......。一度すごい画質を 見てしまうと元に戻れないんですよね。
Kitazawa: Ten years ago no one would have imagined every family would now have a high-def television. Keeping this up, we might all be enjoying 4K or even 8K images in 5 or 10 years... Once we saw incredible image quality, there was really no going back, you know?
— うん、確かにそれはいえますね。
-- Yes, one could certainly say that.
北沢 それは写真も同じだとすれば、ねらうところ はフルサイズかなと、個人的には思います。
I wonder to myself whether we should be aiming for full frame to see the same happen for photography.
here's some more....
— じゃあ、いっそのこと645をミラーレス化すれ ばどうですか?
-- Well then, wouldn't you rather see the 645 go mirrorless?
北沢 645 ですが、そのうちミラーレスを作りたいですね。 理由は一眼レフのミラーショックです。この微振動ってかなり画質に影響しているんです。 将来的にはフルサイズや645でミラーレス化をねらいたいなと思います。
Kitazawa: Well, regarding the 645, sooner or later we will want to make it into a mirrorless. The reason is the mirror shock inherent to SLRs. Those very tiny vibrations do have an effect on the final image. I think in the future I would like to pursue mirrorless full-frame and 645 cameras.
— おおっ、大胆な話ですね。どちらが現実味があるかというとフルサイズのミラーレス化。
-- Oh my, these are quite bold statements. If we were to look at which is more likely, it would be full frame going mirrorless.
北沢 そうですね。
Kitazawa: It seems that way.
— もうだいぶん進んでいるんですか。
-- Have you already progressed to that point?
北沢 ぜんぜん進んでいません。言ったじゃないですか。僕の個人的な思いだって(笑)。
We absolutely have not. I didn't say that, did I? These are just my personal feelings. (laughter)
ー それはウソです（笑）。ペンタックスがフルサイズで勝負をするなら、一眼レフじゃなくてミラーレスで勝負したほうが勝ち目はある。 ミラーレスのフルサイズっていうのはいまのところはライかだけ。それをペンタックスの技術でフルサイズを出すってことは期待大ですね。
-- Now that's a lie (laughter). If Pentax is to enter the full frame battle, it looks like the path to victory will be with mirrorless rather than SLR. Right now Leica is the only one offering a full-frame mirrorless camera. There's a big expectation that Pentax will use its efforts to release a camera in that space.
北沢 ほかのメーカーがフルサイズのミラーレスをだしていませんから、いま現在出せばですね、いわれたようなことがあるかもしれないですね。
Kitazawa: Because no other manufacturer has yet released a full-frame mirrorless camera, [...]
ー そうなるとやっぱりレンズも一新しなきゃいけないですね。
-- If that happens, naturally you'll need to completely reformat your lens lineup, won't you?
北沢 そうですね。まあレンズはどっちにしろフルサイズ専用のレンズでデジタル設計のものを開発しなきゃいけないので、それはもう必須です。
Kitazawa: Yes, that's right. It would be necessary for us to do this because we will need to come up with designs suitable for digital in order to have dedicated full-frame lenses.
ー ペンタックスが、もし仮に、いいや確実な話だと思いすが（笑）、フルサイズのミラーレスを出すとすれば価格は非常に高い? それとも私たちが買えるような価格になる?
-- So... just for argument's sake, in the context of this conversation (laughter), if Pentax were to come out with a full-frame camera, would it be extremely expensive? Or would it be priced within reach of people like me? [translation is a little muddled here. The interviewer is clearly leading Kitazawa and trying to give him an out from making a definitive statement as to whether we should expect FF]
北沢 ノーコメント（笑）。ペンタックスがもし、もし出すとすると一般のお客様が手に届く価格にしないといけないかなと。６４５は別ですが。
Kitazawa: No comment (laughter). If - IF - Pentax releases a full-frame camera, I think it would certainly need to be priced within reach of average customers. The 645 is something else...
ー なんだかほんとに近い将来出てきそうですね。３５mm判フルサイズのミラーレスが。
-- Somehow it feels like a 35mm full-size mirrorless is truly in our near future.
北沢 近い将来？ありがとうございます（笑）。
Kitazawa: Near future? Thank you (laughter).
ー かなりそちらに傾いていますね。話の向きもペンタックスの姿勢も。
-- Certainly things seem to be leaning that way. I mean, from the direction of this conversation, and Pentax's attitude.
北沢 個人的にはですね。個人的にはですよ！
Kitazawa: These are just my personal feelings. Just my thinking!
[edit] UPDATE
ー でも北沢さんの立場とすれば個人的もなにもペンタックスそのものじゃないですか（笑）。
- But even if you say it's just your personal stance, Mr. Kitazawa, surely it's still a reflection of what Pentax is thinking?
北沢 いやそんなことないです。個人的なお話をしただけです。
Kitazawa: No, of course not, this is just my personal thinking.
ー それはともかく、ぜひ早く欲しいですね。
- Be that as it may, I really want to see it happen soon.
北沢 そこはなんとか開発のエンジンをかけたいなと思います。
Kitazawa: I think I'd like to get the engine going on those developments. [?]
ー うん、それを開けばもう今回のインタビューは終わったようなものです。
- If we were to unpack that statement, it would seem to me that this interview has reached its conclusion.
北沢 えっ？そうなんですか。今の話は個人敵な意味ですからね（笑）。
Kitazawa: Eh? Is that so? That's because this conversation has really just been about my personal thinking. (laughter)
ー 画質にこだわっていきたいということであればフルサイズミラーレスもですが、６４５のミラーレスということも考えられるわけですよね．
- With all this fuss you're making over wanting to pursue greater image quality, one would assume that you are thinking beyond full-frame mirrorless to 645 mirrorless, as well.
北沢 両方パラレルで検討したいと思います。
- I'd like to examine both in parallel.
ー 一眼レフはAPS-Cサイズで小型化をどんどんねらっていく。ミラーレスは３５mm判フルサイズ。そして６４５もミラーレス化ということですね。
- So for SLR cameras you are aiming to make the APS-C format smaller. For mirrorless, you will go 35mm full-frame. And finally, the 645 will go mirrorless as well, correct?
北沢 ありがとうございます。田中さんにモードマップを描いていただいたみたいで（笑）。
Kitazawa: Thank you very much. It would seem you've been kind enough to sketch out a product map for us, Mr. Tanaka. (laughter)
ーデジタルカメラはもっと多画素化していくのでしょうか？
- Will digital cameras continue to increase in resolution?
北沢 今後、あの 1億っていうのはちょっといくかどうかわかりませんけど、デバイス的には確実に多画素になってきました。
Kitazawa: I really don't quite know how much further it will go from here, but I will say we have certainly come to a point of high resolutions. [little unclear on the Japanese here]
ー 多画素化に対してよく耳にするのは、これ以上の多画素化がはたして必要なのかどうか、です。これについてはどう考えていませか？
- I have heard people saying that it's no longer clear whether continued increase in sensor resolution will be critical going forward from where we are. What are your thoughts on this?
北沢 必要と思います。細かいところまで解像するようになりますので、いままでとは違う写真表現ができる可能性もあります。
Kitazawa: I think it will remain necessary. Because it remains possible to resolve even finer details, it may be that there are still degrees of photographic expression not yet realized by where we have come to thus far.
ー 将来、AFだとか手ぶれ補正の技術はどうなんでしょうね。これはまあ夢みたいな話でもいいんですけれど、もっと変わって行きますか。
- What will become of AF and SR going into the future? It's alright if this conversation seems like a dream, but do you see more changes there going forward? [I think the interviewer is asking Kitazawa to just speculate, rather than give firm answers on what Pentax is doing with SR and AF in the future, although I can't quite be sure]
北沢 そうですね。いまはもうAFにしても手ぶれにしてもやっぱりハード的にか物を動かす方向でやっているじゃないですか。当然それは今後どんどん進化していくんでしょうけれど、将来的にはやっぱり電子化される技術のかなとは思っています。
Yeah. If you look at autofocus and shake reduction right now, the systems are built as hardware with actual moving parts, right? Naturally I think these systems will continue to improve progressively, but if you look into the future, I believe we will see these functions taken over by electronics.
ー ということは、そう遠くない将来にはシャッターだとか絞りの機構が電子化されると。
- Speaking of which - what about the replacement of shutters and aperture mechanisms in the not-so-distant future?
北沢 もう見えていますからね。
Kitazawa: We can already seeing that happening.
ー絞りについても昔から偏光フィルターを使って絞りの役目をするとかって話がありました。
- Even in regards to the aperture, there has been talk about using old-school polarizing filters to fill the same role. [does anyone know what he's talking about? that seems pretty interesting to me]
北沢 そうですね。そういう偏光フィルターとか液晶シャッターとか、液晶の絞りも含めて、いままでメカニカルに動いてたものが電子化される方向になっていくのかなとは思いますよ。
Kitazawa: That's right. Polarizing filters, liquid-crystal shutters, liquid-crystal apertures... I think all the components which have always until now been objects that moved around mechanically are on their way to being replaced by electronics.
ーそうなるとカメラを動かしている機械がですね、ギアがまわったり、パタパタいったりする、そういうものがなくなって、写真を撮っていても味気ないカメラになりそうですね。
- All those moving parts... gears spinning, the mirror flapping, all of that will be gone. With these mechanical components it feels like your camera is wearing down even as you take photos.
北沢 そうですね。みんな味気なくなっているんですよ。ミラーレスになると今度はミラーのパタパタもなくなってくる。電子化されると稼動部分がなくなるのは宿命なのかな。
Kitazawa: Right. All those parts wear down. When things switch to mirrorless, the rattling of the mirrors in today's cameras will be a thing of the past. The conversion of all these components to electronic equivalents seems inevitable to me.
ー かめらというのは精密機械としてのよさも価値もあるはずです。ダイヤルを操作したりすることでかめらの内部で小さなギアが動いたり小さな部品があちこち動いたりする。それを頭のなかで想像しながら触っていることが快感だったわけですよ。それがなくなって、ただ写るだけの機械になっていいものでしょうかね。
Surely cameras also have value and merit simply because they are fine precision instruments. When you turn a dial on your camera, you know that on the inside little gears are spinning, many small components are moving about. It's a pleasant feeling simply holding that in your mind when you are operating your camera. Once it [those mechanical components] go away, it seems cameras will simply become nothing but machines for taking images.
北沢 本当はわれわれからするとメカニックな機械のところって残したいと思っているんですよね。高級なもの、付加価値の高いもの、存在感があるものっていうのはそういうところの感触ですね。人間の感性を揺さぶるようなものっていうのはどうしても必要だと思うんです。
The truth is, from my own perspective, I think I'd like see the mechanical aspect of these machines remain in place. There's a feeling there, like 'this is high-grade', 'this is a value-added item', 'this is something that makes its presence felt'. I think it's absolutely indispensible for us to be able to connect with the things we are using on this level.
ーカメラは撮れればいいじゃないか。自分が思ったように写ればいいじゃないか。操作だとか感触だとかそんな情緒的なものはどうでもいいじゃないかって、そういう人が増えてきたのかなあ。
Isn't it great to be able to take photographs? Operating a camera, that tactile sensation, the feelings -- they're wonderful and I wonder if more people have come to feel that way.
北沢増えてくると思いますが、逆にカメラにこだわりをもつ人も増えてきますよ。
Kitazawa: I think such people have certainly increased in number, but on the other hand, so have the people who are obsessed with the camera.
ーペンタックスはファインダーひとつとってもこだわって作ってますよね。Kー７からは小さなカメラなのに視野率１００％で、ファインダーの見えもすばらしいと思う。やっぱりカメラにとってファインダーは大切です。それはミラーレスになっても大切？
The viewfinder is one of the features that Pentax puts a lot of attention into. Ever since the K-7, Pentax has been giving us cameras that -- though they are small -- offer 100% coverage in a beautiful display. Really, to a camera, the viewfinder is very important. When we go mirrorless, do you think it will remain so?
北沢 大切ですね。去年、ミラーレスと一眼レフでなにが違うといえば、やっぱりファインダーと言ったはずです。ペンタックスの一眼レフはエントリーモデルも今後１００％にしたいですね、これはぜひ。
Kitazawa: Yes, it is very important. Last year, if you were to point out something that makes mirrorless cameras different from SLRs, it would certainly have to be the viewfinder. Moving forward at Pentax, we want to make even our entry-level SLR models offer full coverage. Without fail.
----
