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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-28-2020, 08:20 PM
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I will get the prototype test from next week, and will keep updating later~
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Forum: General Photography
12-08-2019, 05:51 AM
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The final presentation I attended during the Pentax 100 years month was by TKO, the pseudonym of an in-house designer at Pentax. He works in the Smart Vision division of Ricoh, and works on design and product planning. I think a lot of forum members are aware he was involved in the K-30 and J Limited projects, but it seems he has been involved in much more. Basically, if there is a product’s design that was a bit out there and divided opinion, there’s pretty good chance he was involved!
He started by saying that current design consensus is that things should be as minimalist and simple and functional as possible, but that his opinion is a bit different. He elaborated on this a bit in the Q&A at the end. He told the story of getting his first camera, and how he cherished it - not just as a tool, but as a physical object to own. He seems saddened by current consumer behavior, where people are so quick to upgrade year after year and throw out the old cameras. He wants to make cameras that even when you have bought a newer model, you can’t face to part with.
During the presentation he showed the products he had worked on and I think they embody his philosophy quite clearly.
K10D special edition package
I wasn't a Pentax user at this time, so I wasn't aware of the special edition, but it seems the package he designed for it was rather special. Printed with special ink over silver coated paper, it looks very stylish. The ink was of a special ecological type that reduces water waste in productions and it might have been the first package to use this technology. The design of the package got some criticism because it did not show the camera body in its entirety. However, the packaging company that made it loved it and it ended up winning some kind of design award.
K-30
The camera was not designed by CAD but by old-fashioned sculpting, and some of the shapes are difficult to make using CAD. It seems that the design of this camera divided opinion in the company. Aside from the overall look, the Pentax logo on the K-30 is a bit flatter than the current official Pentax logo. There was some discussion about whether this was OK, but they went with it anyway.
WG series redesign
Although these days the WG series has had a lot of criticism for just iterating on the same design, that design was originally one of TKO’s. A slide he showed really highlighted how dull the waterproof cameras looked until he got involved.
MX-1
I didn’t fully understand what he said about the MX-1, but it seems that there was some kind of delay to the product because of export regulations related to the brass/aluminium blend they used in the top/bottom plates of the camera. It also lost some features during development. The original plan was to make the camera with a hot shoe on the top. If you look at the camera they did release you can see a big blank space on the top where that would have gone, but it was a victim of cost cutting. In fact there was a bit more to it than that. They wanted to make the shoulders of the camera exactly the same height as the shoulders of the Pentax MX and the hot shoe would not have fitted. They also planned a removable ring on the lens, like on the GR, but it was removed.They showed the design concept on the screen, but I only had my phone with me to snap it so the image is not very clear.
I-10
This also has non-standard Pentax lettering on it. In addition, “I” is not a normal letter to use from product names, because it can be confused for the numeral 1. I this case they deliberately used that to evoke the Pentax 110.
Kore-janai robot models
This was a strange model based on a toy that was designed to teach kids that they can’t always get what they want by deliberately disappointing them. Kids in Japan often ask for Gundam robots and toys like that. “Kore janai” loosely translates as “That’s not the one I want!” It seems to have become a cult favorite. Because the Pentax designers really liked the concept they ended up doing a collaboration with the toy maker. They made 100 based on the Kx and they sold out in 3 minutes. Then they did it again with the Kr and sold out in 2 minutes that time. The robot face is painted on by hand by the toy maker, and it can wear off. If users bring it to a toy convention, the company will repaint it
Working with Marc Newson on the K-01
TKO seems to have been involved in the planning of the K-01 in some capacity. Marc Newson had always wanted to do a camera and took a major personal interest in the project. The original brief was just for the camera but he ended up designing the package, strap and DA 40mm XS lens at no extra cost to make it a better overall package. It’s sales were initially slow, but gradually picked up and by the end there were increasingly hearing calls to keep making it. I guess that’s why the blue model was released in Japan.
Redesign of Osaka Imaging Square
TKO was also involved in the design of the Osaka Ricoh Imaging Square. I’ve never been there, but pictures do look very nice.
??????????????? / ?????? | RICOH IMAGING
J Limited
I had always assumed that J was for Japan, since the camera has only gone on sale in Japan, but it seems it stands for the joker in a pack of cards. The J Limited logo has some meaning in it. I don’t understand some of the explanation, but the sword is supposed to represent workmanship because of the way swords are worked by blacksmiths. The flash cover obviously has the effect of changing the appearance, but it seems that the flash cover had another undisclosed function. It was also intended to conceal the AOCO logo on the prism. None of the publicity shots had shown that, and they wanted it to be a hidden surprise for purchasers. I think it was effective because the first I saw of it was on twitter after the camera was on sale.
To me the products and initiatives TKO has worked on are an important part of what makes Pentax unique. I think what he says about customers wanting to see their cameras as more than a mere tool has a lot of truth in it. I'm looking forward to the next camera he designs that we will be unable to part with.
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By the way, this is the third and last of these reports. I think it was a really cool way to celebrate the anniversary and I know there are many here who like this sort of history but would not be able to go them. If you are interested and missed the two others, here are links to them.
About the FA Limiteds
The FA Limited Development Story (also a little DA Limited) - PentaxForums.com
About Pentax history in the 80s-90s
Pentax 100 - Little-known information about brand history - PentaxForums.com |
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
11-09-2019, 10:32 PM
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Ricoh has a series of talks at their Shinjuku Tokyo and Osaka locations in the month of November to commemorate the 100 year anniversary. You can see a list of them here.
PENTAX 100???? | RICOH IMAGING
I decided to go along to a talk about the FA Limiteds by Kazuo Ikenaga (池永一夫). Ikenaga-san is now retired but was working there at the time these lenses were developed and is an enthusiastic user of them now, with his K-1 II. He gave a very interesting inside story of their development, and also a lens-by-lens description of their unique characteristics.
I’m afraid I didn’t take any photos at the event, but here is an image from the Ricoh Imaging Square Twitter.
????????????? (@RicohImagingSQ) on Twitter
As a big fan of the FA 77mm, I found this a very interesting story and here is an account of what was said. There may be some points I forgot between listening and writing, but it should be pretty accurate. This is going to be a long post.
The concept of the FA limiteds
In the late 90s Pentax was introducing a range of smaller cameras like the MZ-3 and MZ-5, and some people in the company felt they didn’t have the quality small lenses to go with them. They conceived the principles behind the FA Limited series.
- The design should give a soft but precise rendering. For example, hair should look like it is soft, not like hard strands.
- The filter thread should be 49mm.
- The aperture should be faster than f2.
- The design is of high-quality aluminium.
- As soon as you pull the lens cap off, the lens should be ready to shoot, without needing a separate action to attach a hood.
Overcoming internal sceptism
The proposal to make these lenses met with significant scepticism and opposition in the company. The Sales department was not at all sure that they would sell. They believed that Pentax was known for more value-oriented lenses, and that customers would not see the value of such small yet expensive lenses.
This resulted in the original plan of a trio of lenses to be scaled down (or rather slowed down) to one at a time. When the 43mm came out, they faced pressure to keep the cost under 70,000 yen, which was very tough. Fortunately, the 43mm sold better than expected. With their concept validated, they were able to release the 77mm and 31mm at two-year intervals and the price was allowed to go higher.
To reduce the initial costs and make the project feasible, a decision was made not to invest in the machinery to manufacture the lenses in a fully automatic way, but instead to machine the parts in a more manual way. This allowed them to release the lenses in the first place, but prevented them from reducing costs as they scaled up production subsequently.
The unconventional focal lengths
What has become the convention for focal lengths used by most companies was derived from what Leica made, but beyond that there was little justification for using those focal lengths. So the designers decided to free themselves from that constraint.
The first lens to be made was the FA 43mm. The intention was to make a classic normal lens to start with, and 43mm was chosen as the optimal focal length to achieve their design goals - faster than f2 and with a filter diameter of 49mm. There was a precedent for forty-something lenses from old rangefinders, and people had found that useful as their only lens. The fact that 43mm was the diagonal of 35mm film frame was not a principle that informed the design. However, they ended up using that coincidence as a marketing narrative when sales felt they needed to justify the unconventional choice.
A similar approach led to 77mm being chosen for the next lens. It sounds like the 77mm was a real technical feat at the time, especially the coating. For the 31mm they must have relaxed the filter diameter requirement.
Unique approach to design and evaluation
As they developed the lenses, they were advised by a famous photographer, the late Shoji Otake. The common practice at the time was to use to use computer aided design and evaluate using test charts. They rejected that methodology for the Limited lenses and instead used a painstaking method of human evaluation of prints. This is understandably a very slow way of developing lenses.
They invested in an expensive, state-of-the-art printing system from Fujifilm. Using the images produced, prototypes with different designs and coatings were evaluated. When they started this practice, the designers were not always able to see the differences, but Otake-sensei could immediately see the significant areas and told them where to look. Once they developed the ability to see the differences, they became skilled in the art of evaluating images themselves. Ikenaga-san commented how much they felt their own eyes improving by being part of this process.
For each lens they made a description of what it should be able to do. For example, with the FA 77mm, they wanted to create a lens that suppressed flare to to avoid washed out photographs. They defined this as being able to depict the glint of a white button on a white shirt. Then they went about the process until they achieved it, and this is why the ghostless coating was applied.
Differences in the concept of the DA Limiteds
Although the DA Limited series has some similarities, there were some different decisions made about the scope of that series. While the FA Limiteds were deliberately clustered close to normal focal length on 35mm film, the DA Limited series was supposed to go from true wide-angle to telephoto on APS-C. Also the DA Limiteds are slower than f2.
There was some talk about the DA Limited series in this presentation, but it didn’t go into as much detail about the design story as the FA Limiteds. He did talk about his personal favorites, which are the 15mm and 35mm macro. He also expressed his opinion that the DA 20-40 should be considered more like a prime - a normal with a bit of scope for adjustment. In fact, he seems to be a believer that primes instill better photographic practice.
Close focus ability
The designers took a lot more care about close focus ability than I had realized. The three lenses discussed here were the DA 15mm, the DA 35 macro and the FA 77.
The FA 77 has some kind special mechanism in the design that engages around f2.4 to allow better close focus performance when stopped down. Ikenaga-san mentioned you can feel a little click there if you use the aperture ring, but I can’t detect it on mine. In any case he strongly recommends stopping down to f2.5 for the best close focus performance with that lens.
When designing the DA 35mm, they did not start out with the intention of designing a macro. The original intention was to make a more general purpose normal lens for APS-C, but they ended up designating it as a macro eventually.
Left me with a strong desire for an FA 31mm
That basically all that I remember form the talk. It was pretty interesting overall. After doing a quick search to check some information, I found that Ricoh has an article by Ikenaga-san on their website (in Japanese). It contains a lot of the same things he said in the presentations, but in talk he said much more about the development story.
?2? ?????????? FA Limited??????????????/ Beautiful Photo-life | RICOH IMAGING
By the end, I was feeling a strong urge to buy an FA31 by the end of the talk. Perhaps I can justify it to myself one day.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-27-2019, 05:31 AM
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I had the chance to visit Pentax's booth at the Salon the la Photo in Quebec city last Friday.
I had a nice chat with the Pentax reps there, they were open and willing to discuss. It seems Ricoh, like most Japanese companies, is playing the cards close to the chest even with their reps.
I was able to learn a few things. In no particular order:
1-I asked why a lens like the 60-250 had not been officially modified for full frame, seeing as many users (me among them) have had success with the modification. The answer is interesting. When the engineers and designers tested a lens for full frame, ANY decrease in performance classified the lens as DA only. In the case of the 60-250, there is some extra vignetting when using it on full frame, not surprisingly, so without hesitation it was rejected as a full frame lens. For a North American this is agressive, since A) vignetting is easy to correct, and B) the lens is still a superb performer on FF. But it's not surprising coming from the Japanese culture, from what I know of it.
2-More information about the new APS-C flagship should come in January, and tidbits will be teased in rhythm with the 100 years celebrations. It will use a Sony sensor (of course) but the reps claimed they didn't know more. I tend to believe them.
3-Pentax is doing VERY well (relatively speaking) in Japan these days. We knew that the GR III was doing great, DSLRs are also at a nice level.
4-The 100 years celebrations are big in Japan, with events, apparel, etc. I got the feeling that the reps wouldn't have been against more action in North America.
5-More of an impression than hard fact: I gather that the current lens designers are extremely strict regarding the quality of the lenses they release. They probably would never release a lens like almost any of the FA zooms these days. I talked about the FA20-35, and an eventual successor, and despite it being a great lens, it has a few shortcomings that would prevent it from simply being re-released.
6-I talked about the updated DA 10-17 fisheye. I'm currently testing the HD version, and have had no access to the SMC older version. One of the reps did, and said the upgraded coatings make a world of difference for this lens. I have no trouble believing it since it's a strong performer for CA and flare.
7-The new FA35mm was on display. The upgraded external look makes it stand out from older FA lenses, it looks good and modern. Especially next to the FA 50mm F1.4. Funny that this lens was also on display (it's still current, but not modern by any standard).
On a personal note, I've been able to handle the KP for the first time, and see how the different grips work. They are pretty nice. A KP with a DA40 is really no bigger than a mirrorless, that's something I would personally market more.
The Theta Z1 is a fantastic tool. Its accessories are as well-made as the camera itself.
I've had the chance to test many of the current Pentax lenses, it was still fun to handle a few of the ones I haven't used before.
The booth was moderately crowded, there was always someone there.
Here are a few shots from the booth. Sorry for the reflections on the glass, I did not notice them at the time.
A transparent KP!
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-09-2019, 01:16 PM
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Show us, we wait with baited breath. This guy has his cameras there I think he knows what he's talking about. And why do you keep comparing to a K-1? When I'm taking the kinds of shots you're talking about I use a K-3 at 8 FPS and single point focus. You keep going on about stuff that is possibly only relevant to you. DO you want good pictures or do you want easier to take worse pictures. Your choice seems to be, I'll take the easy route and suffer with second rate. That's not a choice I encourage myself, but then, you aren't talking to me. Your shooting scenarios are so rare in my shooting I'd never buy a camera for them.
The thing for me is, the guy in the video is taking the kinds of shots I take every day. I don't even know what your comparison is based on. In my experience most on the fly AF-c images are pretty much garbage. In or out of focus.
The other on-line video showing a K-1 against Canon and a Nikon with a 24-70 saw the K-1 hold it's own in AF. What I'm seeing would be that every time someone has actually done a real test, the K-1/K-3 do really well. Every time the reviewer has done no comparisons it does really poorly. Your "review" is just another one to add to that narrative.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-19-2019, 06:28 PM
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THis will be a very very long thread
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-17-2019, 07:12 AM
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How do you get a picture when there's a Grizzly bear 6 feet from you and you can't back up?
Which me reminds me of my neighbour paul who's grandfather was "the" best Algonquin park guide ever..
He asked asked his dad " what do I do if a bear charges me?" His dad said "Throw poop at him."
"Where do I get the poop?"
"Don't worry, you'll have lots."
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
12-28-2018, 07:19 PM
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Whatever Pentax introduces in 2019, it will have to wait until after I buy a crowbar. Only then will I have even half a chance of prying the money out of AggieMom. :)
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
11-22-2018, 10:45 AM
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Code is BF20
Good until 1159 PM PST 11/23.
Adorama is a seller there.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
11-21-2018, 08:06 AM
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App-Exclusive, Sitewide* Coupon! | eBay
You have to use the latest version of the app to get the discount but 15% is pretty substantial. Could be worth it for some people. This goes on until 8 PM Eastern Standard Time.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-09-2018, 07:38 PM
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Next year, I'll be looking out for the Pentax KC. If it's good enough for the Sunshine Band, it's good enough for the Pentax centenary year. That's the way I like it.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-02-2018, 01:24 AM
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Dont know if anyone is interested, but here's a little "feedback".
My new life with Canon, is making my days easier. Faster AF, no buffer issues, don't have to use separate camera for video, third party gear world is MUCH bigger + + +
BUT, when it comes to quality of the files out of camera, Pentax is a BIG step ahead of the rest. Thats something Pentax can and should be proud of. If AF and buffer etc become a bit better in the future (yes, Pentax has a future), there is nothing stopping them from competing with the big boys in the pro world :)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-20-2018, 12:30 AM
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If Pentax will only deal with FF, I will not buy anything from Ricoh as of next year, perhaps I will spend my money on a m43 system.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
10-06-2018, 03:59 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-05-2018, 12:57 PM
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Unless you want a photo the skater doing a bow/curtsey and the end of the performance with the crowd giving a standing ovation all in focus, the idea is to shoot wide open (blur the background) at a faster shutter speed. The Tamron is a bit sharper wide open and the Sigma (which I own now) has a faster autofocus. There is a third option: rent the Pentax D FA* SMC 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW Lens (it is sharp wide open) and spend your money on something else. The problem with a used lens is that you have no idea if it is off-centered, a "bad copy," etc. I've returned quite a few over the years. The better rental outfits, e.g. Borrow Lenses, make sure the equipment is in good order.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
10-02-2018, 03:14 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
10-02-2018, 06:39 AM
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I invite you to post some pictures you like that have a good enough quality and were taken using old lenses.
Kind of "old glass surprises with nice pictures" thread :)
I already started a thread on the K-1 subforum with the title "Post your K-1 pics with vintage glasses" https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/190-pentax-k-1/333372-post-your-k-1-pics...es.htmlhttp://
That one is dedicated to the full frame, though.
This one could be open to any camera, using really old glass (with a special accent on "non-celebrated" optics).
Today I tagged a number of pictures taken with the K-01, of a little concert at an art gallery.
The photos were shot at a time when I didn't always tag the raw's with the lens name and aperture.
These pics have no aperture value cause it was long ago and I didn't take notes.
I am almost sure that most of these shots were taken wide open, and the others around f/5.6.
Considering this old triplet is very slow (f/4.5), I thought that most pictures would have the subject sufficiently in focus.
I was wrong, with a 105mm the focusing has to be checked with great care.
I didn't, so many shots had to be rejected because of poor focusing.
Some are barely acceptable. At first I put the blame on the lack of sharpness of the lens.
When I finally found some pics that were correctly focused I realised that the problem, as often happens, was the accuracy of the focus plane.
I have been sloppy, and because of that many nice images had to be deleted.
This lens does not produce soap bubbles like some other triplets, but the bokeh is smooth and pleasant.
It should behave quite close to the CZJ Triotar, just not as sharp.
It's not bad, though. No increase in contrast and Lightroom default sharpening:
Feinmess Bonotar f/4.5 105mm V
 IMGP1806 by spaulein, on Flickr
 IMGP1689 by spaulein, on Flickr
 IMGP1686 by spaulein, on Flickr
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Forum: Sold Items
09-30-2018, 07:40 PM
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Beautiful lens and recommended seller
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Forum: General Photography
09-29-2018, 02:19 PM
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I had regret listing my Super-Takumar 85mm f1.9 for sale. Then there were no buyers. So now I have additional regret that it didn't sell.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-29-2018, 11:57 AM
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It's not my job to fix everything wrong on the Internet.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-29-2018, 11:31 AM
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Ricoh calls it a high-end digital compact camera. If you don't see the difference between it and the WG-50, it's not the camera nor Ricoh.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-28-2018, 04:09 AM
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the report from PF will come nearer to the end of the show.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-25-2018, 01:38 PM
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The latest Capture One update 11.3 (perfectly timed for Photokina) makes me think that Fuji pulls all strings they can grab. The GFX 50s is now supported by Capture One which makes it the only none-PhaseOne medium format camera there afaik.
There is even a dedicated version of Capture One for Fuji. I wish Pentax (or Ricoh) could pull this off too.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
08-08-2018, 11:38 AM
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Holy thread resurrection, Batman :eek:
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
09-25-2018, 01:23 AM
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HD Pentax-D FA 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW Lens Review
Great review concentrating on the real quality and handling. I've never seen a similar MTF50 chart, this lens is a true gem. The CA is well controlled also according to the measurements.
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