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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 02-28-2012, 03:46 AM  
K-mount lenses specifically designed for the K-01
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 75
Views: 12,862
Don't know if this has been pointed out, but everytime I handed over my DSLR to the "P&S crowd" they tried spontaneously to use the screen to frame, using the viewfinder felt unatural to them (more than not being able to zoom)

I believe the K-01 is targetted to those people, upgrading from a P&S, they wouldn't feel lost, yet, the camera is as big and looks like a DSLR so they get "for their money".

And finally, many opinion makers in the photograohic blogosphere (Krik Turk, LLoyd Chambers) are predicting the end of the optical viewfinder and its replacement by the EVF. I wouldn't be surprised that Pentax is planning an "Enthousiat" model with an EVF and K-mount in 2 generation time (1 generation after the K5 replacement) or in parallel with the K5 replacement.
  • Short registration mount has no advantage for tele objectives,

  • The thickness of the sensor + electronics + screen will get smaller and smaller (think that we will eventually get MX thickness),

  • The distance between the lense and the sensor has to be kept relatively big to avoid issues like excessive vignetting

  • A very short registration distance requires much tighter tolerances on the mount to keep everything aligned.


So all in all, I think Pentax has the good approach, making lenses recessing in the barrel is a good solution for wides, and Pentax still has the Q for those who are crazy about compactness.
Forum: Pentax Full Frame 10-24-2011, 08:48 AM  
Pentax Full Frame - An official statement from Pentax (they listened!)
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 3,121
Views: 373,741
In defense of Aristophanes, the 645D was released on the market only after Pentax knew they could get the right amount of performance and sell for the right price to earn money. Pentax could have release the 645D in 2006 and decided not to because they knew it would be at loss.

Same story for the Q, apparently Pentax had it under development for a few year before getting the right sensor and the right moment to release it.

Most likely Pentax is still developping a FF, and is waiting for the right moment to release it. They are not first comers on a market, which is wise IMO given their size.

I agree that the FF market will get bigger and bigger accross time compared to APSC, but the question that Pentax need to ask themselves is "when?" In a couple of year we'll get even better APSC, for the "diffraction limit" argument is kind of b*llsh*t, picture resolution will still increase, albeit slower. At some point, having a 30Mpx APSC camera doing an acceptable 24 000 iso, what do you need more?
For massive prints, for fashion, the MF lineup is actually more relevant than FF. Pentax already has it.
For movies, APSC is actually a better format, closer to the classic 35mm movie format (90° compared to still picture) and it will be easier to fight against moire and jello on APSC sensors.
For sports and photojournalism, Pentax don't address this highly competitive market, where there is much more than sensor format. (the 1Dx has a freakin' Gigabit Ethernet port...)

At the end, FF is lot about "me too", and "I have a bigger camera than you". But this is not the philosophy Pentax is defending. Pentax is about more features in a smaller package. The K5 is much smaller than the D300s or the 7D, and on the same price level as the D7000 and the 60D.
Most likely, the reason Sony failed with the Alpha 900/850 is that they couldn't differenciate themselves from the competition. It was just a "me too" camera. Now that they have successfully differenciated themselves with the pellicule mirror, they may try again.

Provided there is a sensor available, Pentax must be asking themselves a lot of questions at the moment...
Forum: Pentax Full Frame 10-20-2011, 09:42 AM  
Pentax Full Frame - An official statement from Pentax (they listened!)
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 3,121
Views: 373,741
Pentax 645D = 10 000$
Canon 1Dx = 6 800$

Both are not "cheap" products. Now if you're annual budget for photography is 1000$, then you are not the target for digital 35mm.

Older second hand body may come to that price at some point, but glass ain't cheap. No scorn in my comment, but FF is a "rich" product, if Pentax release a body next year it won't be at 999$ with additional 500$ for a decent 28-70mm/f4.

I don't have a FF, I don't plan to have a FF or Pentax 645D although I desire it and I can somehow afford it. It is just that I don't practice as much as i would like with my existing cameras and I treasure more compacity than pixel count (although I use a Pentax 67 for street shooting, everydoby has their contradictions)

Asking Pentax to release a FF camera, while not considering first how it would bring value to your own photography is IMO hardware nerdism.

I was making a coment about making a FF camera as business strategy, the 645D is currently a big success, and Pentax made the effort of re-releasing their whole glass range, and develop new lenses.
Releasing a 36Mpx FF camera may harm this product line in term of sales. So Pentax has to move up the 645D system before releasing their FF, to make sure both address different markets and users of the 645D would not be tempted to move to a much cheaper product.

My comment was not directed at me or you buying the 645D.
Forum: Pentax Full Frame 10-20-2011, 08:16 AM  
Pentax Full Frame - An official statement from Pentax (they listened!)
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 3,121
Views: 373,741
I wouldn't be so assertive, when transitionning from Film to Digital, many photographers moved from MF to 35mm/APSC for budget reasons.
I can definitively see someone moving from a 5DmkII/Alpha850/D3X to a Pentax 645D for the added pixels and rendition.

When comparing systems, high-end 35mm tend to get relatively close to Pentax MF in term of prices.

Canon & Nikon bodies have been used for fashion, product, landscape etc... where MF was used during the film era. The Pentax 645D is gaining back that market (more a part of)

But the market for D3s/1Dx is vey different, its core market is photojournalists, especially sport photographers. Model refresh comes 6 months to 1 year before major sport evens. In such market, autofocus speed and accuracy, iso performance and frame rate are extremely critical. Pixel count much less so.

I believe the reason Canon cancel the dual model low pixel count / high pixel count strategy is because this later market is now addressed by MF (and Pentax)

My 2 cents.

Now back to Pentax FF, if pentax was to (likely) adopt the rumored 36Mpx Sony sensor to make their camera, they would have to beef up before the 645D to avoid canibalisation of sales.
So I would count on a 645D mk II with full 6x4.5 sensor, 60 or 80Mpx before any release of Pentax 35mm.
In any case, Pentax has to seriouly beef up processing power and auto focus systems before releasing any of the 2 cameras.

Maybe Ricoh is willing to pour the money in such a project, but they will need also engineering ressources that comes with it.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 09-20-2011, 11:59 PM  
Pentax version of the Sony a77 coming ?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 338
Views: 61,428
Am I the only one wanting this 24Mpx sensor.

I'm printing relatively big (40x60cm) and like to frame loose in order to crop in PP. In my case 24Mpx would be very useful compared to the 14Mpx of my K20D provided this Sony sensor don't have any major flow (and to me sub-par 12800 iso performance is not a flaw, stronlgy patterned noise is)

Looking forward to this camera, hoping it comes around early 2012.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 09-19-2011, 09:42 AM  
Upcoming Pentax Australia announcement
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 27
Views: 9,743
Given Pentax release history, I wouldn't be surprised to see it comming for January / February (Sony keeping the Chrismas sales for their new beasts)

I would be actually very interested, I do print big and crop a lot, which makes the 24Mpx all the more attractive. I can't tell for the zooms but Pentax primes have plenty of sharpness to match the sensor.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 09-19-2011, 01:21 AM  
EXCLUSIVE: Ricoh to Beef Up Digital Camera Biz
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 255
Views: 41,521
Hum, given Pentax history and current lineup, a DFA* 250 - 600F5.6 would actually make more sense.

But all in all, I think we should read Ricoh message as "we have great ambition with Pentax, we'll put a lot of money in it, so stay tune" A message to reassure the user base after Pentax has been sold basically.

Pre-buyout rumors were already talking about 2 mirrorless systems by Pentax, so possibility this message is also to say "we're not shelving anything that was on track".
Forum: Pentax Q 08-31-2011, 02:01 AM  
Pentax Q in the Flesh
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 1,310
Views: 223,124
The Online Photographer on diffraction

I'm not worried about diffraction and I'm pretty certain that lenses will still be usable at f8 and above.

But what really true in your comment (and what really matters) is that no lens but the best ones will be able to resolve enough for the pixel density for this camera. It's like mounting a 6x7 lens on an APSC DSLR, deception can ensue.

Peak sharpness remain at the same aperture whatever is the sensor used, it may just not be visible.
Forum: Pentax Q 08-26-2011, 01:44 PM  
Pentax Q in the Flesh
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 1,310
Views: 223,124
Nice trolling attempt. Now please learn what F-stop means.
Forum: Pentax Q 08-26-2011, 02:13 AM  
Pentax Q in the Flesh
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 1,310
Views: 223,124
FOV equivalent to 200mm approx. When keeping that in mind, it is not that big :)

Put on a FA77/1.8 and you get a nice compact super-tele combo for casual wild life photography on treck.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-24-2011, 01:27 AM  
K-mount mirrorless still in the works.
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 174
Views: 36,029
Yeah, so that means that we wouldn't have non-retrofocus 35mm/f1.2 lenses...

The advantage of having elements close to the sensor is for making wide angle lenses with non-retrofocus compatc design. If we are ready to through out compactness for large aperture, then retrofocus would just do it right.

To me this issue is non signifcant for the concept, which is about adding compactness to the system.



There are already Next and m4/3 camera for the purpose of adpating every mount. And the new Next 7 seems like the perfect camera to do the job.

With an evolved K-mount, you can still use M42 and K lenses, which makes already a very broad choice in weirdo lenses.

Oh and by the way, the F mount is 54 year old, have seen the introduction of electronics, 2 versions of AF and different sensor formats, and Nikon users seem quite happy with it.

The K-mount have shown as well as much versatility, the MX have shown that making compact is not a problem with the mount, but with all the gitzmos around, AF motor, sensors, LCD screens, CPUs, batteries... All of those will eventually become much more compact shrinking the camera around the image sensor.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-19-2011, 09:14 AM  
K-mount mirrorless still in the works.
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 174
Views: 36,029
Leica is redesigning (bigger) lenses and use sofware to compensate for the vigneting. So this is not purely a sensor and microlens design issue.

The iso offset is not about vigneting but about the difference F stops and T stops. It comes from the fact that the more complex a design become, with more glass absorbing light. The more glass there is, the less light is coming through.

You can easily lose half a stop of light at the same aperture between say a Tessar and a more complex design (like a 24-70 2.8).
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-11-2011, 03:55 AM  
Ricoh GXR Leica M-mount APS-C module, K-mount next?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 60
Views: 18,002
Yeah, I didn't go into this level of detail because that when people start confusing things.
- Current AA filters are not very performant filter compared to other domain like sound for example. So a strong AA filter will suppress a lot of spacial frequencies that could be captured by the sensor. And a weak AA filter leave remaining aliasing issues
- Pixel are not dots, the form and the surface of the sensitive area of the pixel (relative the non sensitive area) will act as a low pass filter.
- You're right in saying that a bayer matrix will have more problem than a monochrome pattern (or Sigma's Foveon) for the same reason as above.
The more there is separation between color channels (color accuracy) the more accute the problem will be.
- Aliasing is caused by the high spatial frequencies of the image projected on the sensor. So it is true that the aliasing can be suppressed by "blurring" the lens (mis-focus, low resolution lens, diffraction limited) I believe this is also one of the reasons why MF cameras have no AA filter, good MF lenses have less microcontrast than good 35mm lenses. They have more accross the image, but at pixel level they have less.

The "40kHz sensor vibration overlaid" is a brilliant idea IMO, but lots of good idea don't go past the lab because of implementation issues. But sure some tunnable AA filter would be great for shooting depending on the subject.

Just on a side note, no "great picture" in the history of photography were great because of sharpness. Early Cartier-Bresson work had poor resolution (I've seen orginal prints in exhibits) even by cameraphone standard. Ansel Adams was part of the group F64 (yeah shooting at F64) and you can guess he wasn't being really much concerned about diffraction limitations.
On the other side the false patterns created by aliasing can completly ruin a shot by being distracting.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-10-2011, 06:17 AM  
Ricoh GXR Leica M-mount APS-C module, K-mount next?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 60
Views: 18,002
By not understanding signal theory. It is not possible to suppress aliasing (caused by subsampling spacial frequencies) with signal processing. It is possible to attenuate the effects somehow in controlled situation but there is no guaranty.

The AA filter + sharpening makes actually a lot of sense when you know a little bit of signal processing theory. However, knowing what is acceptable for real life situations another thing. Another thing as well is Pixel peeping and marketing. Pentax had plans to release the 645D with an AA filter, but since MF user were used to work without it, they released the camera without any AA filter.
Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion 08-03-2011, 12:45 AM  
Full Frame Digital Pentax?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 362
Views: 45,587
- Pentax has still a K-mount APSC mirrorless in work according to rumors.
- Pentax needs to release a replacement to the K-r and K-5 that are at mid-life.
- The rumored new FF Sony would be around 36Mpx, so from a Marketing perspective the 645D should be upgraded to at least 60Mpx before or at the same time they would release a FF.
- Pentax would need to release at least 3 lenses for the launch:
24mm ish wide lens,
24-70mm/f2.8
70-200m/f2.8
while they are developping the lens lineups for Q-mount cameras and 645D.

IMO, even if Ricoh has ambitious plan for Pentax and access to the latest Sony sensor, this would happen before late 2012/ early 2013 at best.

Pentax repeated that they have no plan for FF, but said as well that they are not excluding it in the long term.

If I was really in need of a FF, I wouldn't hold it for Pentax. If you know exactly what you need, 2-3 very good lenses (with good resale value) would contempt it, and when time is to switch back to Pentax, the good resale value of the lenses should make it not too painful.

I'm not a fanboy, Pentax camera have their quirks, but I know why I'm using Pentax (FA limited on film and digital) If my needs were to change, well I wouldn't mind going to Nikon, Canon or Sony.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 08-02-2011, 12:18 AM  
Pentax EVIL NC-1 has smaller sensor than APS-C - your opinion?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 1,096
Views: 179,418
I would say because AF motor.

This is the reason why C&N kit lenses are significantly bigger than Pentax Kit lenses (for the exact same zoom and aperture range)
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 07-22-2011, 12:50 AM  
Facts about the Pentax brand name under Ricoh
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 276
Views: 52,970
.


Actually Ricoh has a lot of options in developping the market.
- Making a push in Medium Format
* Releasing several bodies (60Mpx, 80Mpx FF)
* improving sensor technologies - how much would cost sourcing a MF CMOS sensor with lire view from Sony
* improving AF coverage, speed and accuracy, processing power of images etc...
IMO Ricoh/Pentax have a possibility to make a complete highjack of the MF market
- Making a push for average "pro" market.
* Many pros (wedding photographers, photojournalists) are using APSC for cost reasons. The K5 basically just miss a "pro" support network (short time to repair, free loaners, ad hoc support center for special events) Ricoh can add value by using their own support infrastructure for business market.
* FF development, the Sony way of doing it by trying to compete with price basically failed. I don't know if Ricoh-Pentax can repeat the strategy that Canon used against Nikon in the 1980s, if they try, that means it will take time and a lot of money. And they will need a strong commitment on long term from Sony at least to source the sensors.
* Lenses, addressing pro market would mean to fill the "holes" in current K-mount offering. Fast wide Primes (20F2-APSC, 24/28F2 FF, 14-24 ish F2.8 zoom) Long lengths 400mmF4, 300F2.8, 200-400mmF4 etc... And some "speciality lenses: T/S, 50mm/F1.2, 85mm/F1.2, 200mm/F2, TC
They don't need to have everything to be a success (Canon didn't have good wides) but in a market in crisis, they will have to be really convincing.
- Movie cameras: IMO this is the biggest opportunity so far. RED has proven that there is an opportunity for a new comer but have been releasing a bit too much vapowares. Canon has proven that the professional are ready to accept a still camera that also shot movies.
* Using the K-mount to release movies that be a great entry in the broadcast business. They need to beef up the electronics and redesign lens mecanisms and they shall be ok at least for broadcast market. (APSC is about the size of the "classic" 35mm, so the look of video shot on APSC camera shall be just fine)
* Sensor sourcing is even more critical here, and it would depends a lot on Sony who may not be willing to let a newcomer enter the market.
- Developping speciality cameras
There is currently no camera optimised for shooting people (color accuracy) shootng BW, shooting IR, astrophotography etc... all are small niches. But a small engineering to optimise achitecture, bayer matrix, remove IR filter add visible light filter etc, and optimising sensor signal processing can lead to cameras much better than current solutions. And add a lot to the k-system attractivity
.
- Developping compact and mirrorless cameras.
This is basically Q-mount, mirrorless APSC, M-mount camera, APSC compact etc... Ricoh has already proven to have a taste for originality in this domain, abeit not very successful. The competition is already there (µ4/3, Sony Next, Fuji, Leica X1, Samsung) or will arrive stronger (Leica upcoming mirrorless interchangeable)
So FF is not the only development plan that Ricoh can pursue and ramping up engineering ressources is not easy and cannot be done efficiently on the next day, even with a lot of money. IMO, we'll see the vision of Hoya-Pentax being released for the next year or so, and see the vision of Ricoh-Pentax unfold only in 2013 where the market will already be significantly different.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 07-20-2011, 01:41 AM  
K-mount mirrorless still in the works.
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 174
Views: 36,029
Not so much, they would have been gone brankrupt. But according to the lastest info from Leica, their factories are running at full capacity for both bodies and lenses, actualy they are saying that they haven't seen this level of production since the M3.

IMO, Leica is not anymore comparable to any other camera companies. It's a bit like Ferrari for car, people don't buy them as a mean of transportation, it can do it, but that's not the point. They are status objects. The same goes for Leica, it can take pictures (and very competently) but this is first a status object.

Maybe a better comparison would be mechanical watches, they measure time and are used for such, are a superb pieces of outdated engineering, but ultimately people buy them as status object.

Leica may be the only camera company in that situation, and IMO, they are making plenty of money at this time. Because, they may not sell volumes, but their margin is definitively higher than any other.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 07-18-2011, 08:09 AM  
K-mount mirrorless still in the works.
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 174
Views: 36,029
I don't know how big are your jeans, but I'm tall and not really slim, and I feel very uncomfortable to put my old Panasonic LX2 in my jean pocket. and I would feel even more uncomfortable putting my ME super even without length.

We must be reallistic, if you want a minox kind of camera, then the Q is the right paradigm. If you want to get back to the MX/ OLympus OM old manual film camera size and feel, then the reason to shoot the K-mount would be only short term.

And fortunately for us, Pentax have a tendancy to think longer term, and be very thoughfull about their length mount.

IMO, the NEXT system is ugly with "fat" lenses on slim and uncomfortable bodies. Olympus/Panasonic do it better, but they are no "I can put it in jeans" camera. They are more "I can put it in my big winter coat" cameras. And the K5 is not so far off that paradigm as well. So if Pentax manages to squeeze it a little more using a mirrorless design, the bet would be won, even with a bigger body than the competition, because:
1. The Q is there when size matters.
2. As you said the technology will allow for savings in space until the camera are the size of an Olympus OM/Pentax MX. I would bet in 5 years times as the tech that will allow this are driven by cell phone business (screen, chips, batteries)

Off course this is a matter of taste, but I think we can thank Pentax to attack the market from bigger and smaller than the competition. If the tradeoffs don't suit you, then you can go M4/3 or NEXT, but at least more choice is better.
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 07-18-2011, 01:07 AM  
K-mount mirrorless still in the works.
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 174
Views: 36,029
This makes sense to me, on the telephoto side, the registration distance is not a problem for lens design as it is seen for existing mirrorless (compactness is more related to the sensor size, at same focal lenth, it is much less obvious). On the contrary it is a problem when design wide angles. Allowing the lenth to receed in the mount would be a smart idea as there wouldn't be any need for retrofocus design, allowing for more compact/faster lenses.
In digital, color cast and vigneting issues don't allow to get the back too close from the sensor anyway.

IMO the real problem that camera makers face with compactness is the thickness of sensor + electronics + rear screen. If Pentax managed to deport it with a new architecture (like with the mirror discussed previously) then they have won some significant compactness for the camera as a system.
Forum: Pentax Medium Format 07-13-2011, 08:24 AM  
100% compatible shutter release for 645d
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 9
Views: 3,056
Actually, I was advising to buy Pentax branded accessories:
Wireless
Wired

It's a bit odd IMO to try to save 20bucks on accessories for a 10K$ camera.
Forum: Pentax Medium Format 07-13-2011, 06:19 AM  
100% compatible shutter release for 645d
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 9
Views: 3,056
Well, you could be a bit more detailled in you request.

But generally speaking, all accessories are kept compatible between the 645D and the APSC line.
That inlude flash, batteries and shutters releases.

So get a genuine Pentax shutter release wired or not. (unless you are speaking of cable for leaf-shutter lenses where I can't really help)
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 07-06-2011, 02:02 AM  
Pentax branded M lenses?
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 18
Views: 7,861
Zeiss and all other 3rd party lens makers make their lenses on several mounts.

I don't see wher is the problem in terms of customer awareness, outlet holding M-mount lenses are not the Best-Buy type, and people using rangefinders are most likely well aware of what they need.

However regarding the Pentax lenses, the FA43 was released in very small amounts in M39 mount not M-mount, this is like M42 vs K. IMO, there's a bit of work before Pentax would be able to release M-mount lenses like with RF coupling and moving from AF tune thread to a thread done fo manual focus.

According to Leica, there is a very high demand of M-mount lense now, so commercially it may make sense to release the FA limited in that mount (no licencing required, apart from the electronic encoding)
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors 07-04-2011, 07:50 AM  
Facts about the Pentax brand name under Ricoh
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 276
Views: 52,970
Just to avoid any more speculation, the approval of local organisations is pending because of the local laws. The employee organisation have to be consulted before the sale, but they have no veto.

Anyway, apart from the logistics people, I don't think there are many position s threaten there, Ricoh is pretty much delivering business products (printers, scanners etc...) while Pentax is consumer products, which mean different channels and environments to approach.
Forum: Pentax Medium Format 07-02-2011, 02:43 AM  
Pentax - Ricoh and the Medium Format (MF)
Posted By ghelary
Replies: 27
Views: 6,277
No, the expert is just not relevant (which tells a lot about "experts") there are real and significant reasons on why a photographer would like to buy a PhaseOne or an Hasselblad over a 645D, but 16bit raw isn't one of them. I posted a comment about it.

This is down to the "APSC is for amateurs" subject which is utterly ridiculous (most pros have less budget than many wealthy amateurs)

Anyway, I checked the background of the author (well googled it) and his street cred is quite low. He is an "expert" mainly because he speak about those subjects in camera magazines. Being a journalist doesn't make you the last word in every subject.

If I was to trust the word of anybody regarding the respective processing qualities of Raw output from different makers, I would check for people like Ctein from Online Photographer who is a master printer and photographer and is actually capable of telling if it makes a difference in real life situations.
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