Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
07-01-2023, 03:37 AM
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So, here are my thoughts on Ricohs or rather Pentaxes Future:
Lets take a look at their current line up of cameras:
The K3 III was a long awaited an very good continuation of the popular K-3 series. Introduced in 2021 it was on par or better to the also respected Nikon D500 from march 2016. It got better AF Performance, more AF Points, finally 4K and an even improved Viewfinder along much more features.
However for about half of a K-3 Mark III you could buy a Sony a6400 (from 2019) with better AF if you can live with an EVF. Given the far better AF Performance of the a6400 through the eye AF and also tenacious tracking in continuos AF i would consider it to be more versatile. Given the fact that it still is a tad more than half as expensive as a K-3 Mark III (without lenses) it is easier to recommend (unless you are heavily invested into K-Mount.) Besides the AF there are also a lot mor lens options nowadays on e mount than on k mount.
How about the K-1.
Introduced in april 2016 it was also long awaited and finally adds a digital Fullframe option to the K-Mount System. The K-1 Mark II did add a few more features but other than that there was no significant upgrade to the K-1 line in the mean time. Meanwhile Canon and Nikon dropped the DSLRs entirely and moved to mirrorless systems which became more and more capable.
And the K-F als an Entrylevel Camera?
Honestly speaking. This camera is just outdated. The AF System though with minor improvements is essentially the same as the one from the K-200D from 2008. For its recommended price from about 1k $ it is just overpriced and the rest of its features are basic (which is not a bad thing, but not enough to justify the high price).
Given their current lineup of cameras it is pretty clear, that pentax can not compete with modern mirrorless cameras and that is also not what the should try. Which in turn also means that the amount of new customers who are looking for good all around cameras deciding for pentax will be rather limited. (Some stores in my city completly ceased to sell Pentax gear and as bad as that sounds I can understand that.)
So will there be a K-1 Mark 3 with 4K, better AF and a higher resolution Sensor? They know that whatever K-1 Update they can bring out, they will only attract pentaxians and an negligible amount of people from other systems. So on one side we have the high development cost and on the other an decreasing amount of potential customers which in turn requires again a higher pricetag to make up for that. That does not really make the camera competitive. So i think a K-1 Mark 3 in the near future is rather unlikely. Will it come eventually? I actually do think so, probably in the next 5 years but don't hold your breath for that.
As Pentax can not compete directly with the mirrorless systems. They can only search for niches. And i think that is their current plan and also something they are quite good at. The K-3 Mark 3 Monochrome obviously hit a nerv, so did the Ricoh GRs and remember the Filmproject. I think that this is the general direction Ricoh will go. Focus on niche markets and grow as well as cater its fanbase.
So what will come next in the Pentax system?
Probably a few good fullframe film cameras with some digital tech. Which again is very niche but also unique. I expect some more lenses focussed on that direction as well. Maybe a few more tiny limited lenses with character. I do not really see any high quality fullframe zoom lenses comming to be honest. Whoever wants that is now far better off with the other brands. I see them rather digout some old designs and improve upon them. A monochrome GR will probably come eventually.
A new K-1 will probably come after the have established some new film cameras. Maybe the film cameras will come in 2024. Which means that a new K-1 may follow in development which migth be done in 2026. And the update for the K-F will probably not come for the next five years. But that is pure speculation.
So is Pentax doomed?
I do not think so. But they are on a different path now that may not be to everyones liking, but it is in my mind a solid way to not just stay relevant but also add something very unique to the photographic community.
So keep fingers crossed, that the make it!
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
12-17-2021, 03:46 AM
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Forum: Video Recording and Processing
11-22-2020, 02:39 PM
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Hi RobG,
i have some experience with a RoninSC. Vibrating motors with the Ronin means, that the motors are not properly calibrated or the balance is off.
I guess it is the same with yours. The app to your gimbal should guide you trough both tasks.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-10-2020, 12:01 PM
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Forum: General Photography
04-26-2020, 03:15 AM
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So, are there any updates on the Interview?
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Forum: General Photography
03-02-2020, 04:38 AM
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Hi folks,
at this time of year we usually get some exciting reports about new developments and products.
I wonder if there will be a replacement for the famous pentaxforums interview with Ricoh and if there are other shows where things could be announced.
Yes, i am waiting for the announcement of the K-NEW, but i am also curious about the opinions of Ricoh HQ.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-21-2019, 02:54 AM
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Hi everyone,
i have been keeping a close eye on our online store from Ricoh Imaging, as i wanted one of these Covers. They are now availabele and can be ordered since about this weekend. Blitzschuhabdeckung O-HC171
I did order mine and they have shipped it already.
Greetings
Tau-Ceti
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2019, 04:33 AM
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Hmm, perhaps i am wrong and this is a frimware issue.
What Cactus device do you have attached?
A RF60 Flash or a V6 Trigger?
You can download a special Pentax Firmware for the Trigger at least.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2019, 04:13 AM
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Did you shoot in high continuous shooting mode until the buffer was completly filled?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2019, 04:02 AM
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I see. I doubt that the Cactus can have such an effect. Afterall they are simple transceivers and i am using them too without such an effect.
After the Image is taken, it gets processed and then stored in the cameras buffer from which it will be written to the card. Perhaps the buffer of your camera is faulty.
You could check for this by taking a series of images and checking if you can reproduce the error more or less regularly.
I would still check the SD Cards though.
(I had about 3 files this year, which look like this. Saddly i did not find out in time to check the redundand images on the other card.)
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
08-18-2019, 03:43 AM
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Hmm, looks to me like a corrupted file. I am very certain, that this was caused by a defective sector on a SD card.
As you said, you copy them from one card to another AFTER the data was written to one card. Try using the redundancy setting for your SD cards.
There are several Tools with which you can test them for Errors.
For example H2testw from the Heise Media Group. (The tool basically fills up your storage and then checks the written data for errors.) H2testw | heise Download |
Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
06-19-2019, 07:03 AM
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Security of your files is neither the easiest task, nor the cheapest.
I would not recommend using USB Sticks.
- they can be lost easily
- they can break easily trough a few bad handlings
- they won't be more reliable than a usual harddrive
Before you buy into stuff, you should consider this common and good working rule for securing your data.
The 3-2-1 Rule:
- 3 Copies of your Data
- 2 places for them
- 1 out of your house (a friends house or a family members house)
Why is this a common principle?
- Some people say Data stored at one place should always be considered lost, no matter on what physical storage it is safed. (Harddrives fail, USB Sticks fail, SSDs fail, SD Cards fail, everything failes eventually)
- Data at your home can still be lost. For example through fire, lightning or burglary.
So, what are common solutions for this.
You might buy something like a NAS. (Network attaced Storage.) QNAP builds some of these and they are easy to use. (But expensive)
Thant NAS would then be filled with several HDDs. (Make a RAID 5 and you are safe from the failure of one drive.)
After that your data should still be safed on a additional HDD. Maybe again a RAID System.
Yes this is quite an expensive solution. But recovering 1 TB of Data through a qualified Service Company will cost you almost as much AND there will be no guarantee, that your Data can be restored.
If you have the money to buy expensive lenses an cameras, you should not spare on your data security.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-25-2019, 08:24 AM
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Forum: General Photography
01-07-2019, 09:01 AM
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Forum: General Photography
12-09-2018, 09:47 AM
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-08-2018, 05:51 AM
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Sadly not. I could find the patterns in the K-1 Mark II of a local store and on my own copy as well.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-07-2018, 03:26 PM
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The pattern is spotable not only there...
See the same szene at ISO 100.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-07-2018, 03:07 PM
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This pattern is far to regular to be random noise.
Perhaps it is more visible here:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-07-2018, 02:44 PM
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If you take a closer look you can see a kind of fabric mosaic pattern. The space should be grey only. I mean the dot pattern besides the chroma noise.
All images i checked were RAW files.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-07-2018, 02:25 PM
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Hi folks,
DPReview just published their review of the Pentax K-1 Mark II. (See here)
Based upon the previous sample shots (mostly concerning Details and High ISO behaviour) these are the most professional Images i came across so far.
Besides the loss in Detail i spottet something different in their images. A strange regular pattern which only the K-1 II has.
(I checked the K-70 for such patterns and couldnt find any.)
(This is a sample from ISO 104.200 at about 3:1 magnification.)
The same pattern is also visible in the sample shots, which i took earlier with the K-1 Mark II.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-05-2018, 01:27 PM
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Well, that was the most detailed object around.
Take a look at all the fine Details on some of the books.
(No, i dont get paid for Advertisement. Had nothing against it, though.)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-05-2018, 10:49 AM
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
01-10-2018, 08:43 AM
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Hmm, sadly this is a common SCAM Method in the german Amazon.
Usually some retailer offers products for a ridiculously low price and then proceeds to demand the payment outside of Amazon.
Your money is gone and you never see what you ordered. Amazon seems to be rather powerless about this, as scammers open hundreds of accounts and sometimes even hack into trustworthy and proven retailers accounts.
Though the amount of these offers went back here.
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Forum: Pentax Price Watch
08-26-2017, 06:07 AM
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I spotted two Deals on Amazon.co.uk
The GR II Deal is currently running (at 460 Pounds) until the end of the Day.
The Pentax K-S2 Deal will start at 7:15 PM Shop The Future Deals @ Amazon.co.uk |