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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-28-2019, 09:42 AM
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That's the AP 50th Aniv. from 2007 that marks the 50th anniversary of the Asahi Pentax (AP) camera from 1957. The camera is based on K10D. The prototype itself was an empty shell with a chassis made of wood (no viewfinder, no electronics,...).
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-27-2019, 07:51 PM
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In this thread we've already talked about the MZ-1, a professional SLR which should have been released in the late 1990s.
The FA Limited lenses were designed for the MZ-1 as well as for the 24x36 DSLR, the internal codename of which was MR-52 and the unofficial trade name MZ-D.
Pentax spent a fortune in the development of the MR-52 / MZ-D, much more than expected. A rough prototype was presented at Photokina 2000 and a more advanced version at PMA 2001 but the camera was eventually cancelled in October 2001 because of its expensive, energy inefficient and poorly performing Philips CCD sensor (which made it into the poorly received Contax N Digital that Kyocera persisted in launching, which accelerated the demise of Contax).
Given the budget overruns of the MR-52 project, the MZ-1 project had been stopped. Later, what could be reused from the development of the MZ-D made it into the quickly-designed MZ-S.
Back to the MZ-1 and fast forward until mid-February 2019. You've heard of Kimio Tanaka, a professional Japanese photographer mainly known for car photography, also a kind of celebrity photographer who often appears in magazines. He's been involved with Ricoh presentations and product endorsements before. He is the one who published pictures of and taken with the stillborn Pentax-09 Telephoto Macro and who published the first in-depth review of (a prototype version of) the HD Pentax-D FA★ 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW.
On his Twitter account 田中希美男 (@thisistanaka) | Twitter Kimio Tanaka recently published three pictures of a design mock-up that corresponds to the MZ-1. The upper dials can be removed -may be one of the purposes of this mock-up was to compare and choose between different dial designs.
If this mock-up comes out ten days before CP+, in the hands of Kimio Tanaka, it is not a coincidence. I suppose it will be associated in one way or another with the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Asahi Optical. Perhaps a re-edition of this mock-up will be one of the commemorative goods that Ricoh Imaging plan to launch on this occasion.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-08-2019, 04:01 PM
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Don't you think the control (probably metering mode) built into the prism housing suggests the prism was probably not interchangeable?
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-08-2019, 03:05 PM
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It's the other way around AFAIK: the MZ-S was launched in 2001 and its body was based on that of the stillborn MZ-D / MR52 / K-1 showcased at Photokina 2000.
The termination of the MZ-D project and the write-off of the money spent in it (much more than initially planned) caused the MZ-1 project to be abandoned. Pentax 'recycled' parts of the MZ-D to quickly design the MZ-S and launch it in lieu of the MZ-1.
Picture of the MZ-1 prototype:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-19-2018, 07:02 AM
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Most probably so since (i) the Contax N Digital and Pentax MR52 / MZ-D / K-1 shared the same Philips sensor (FTF3020-C) and (ii) at that time, the Bayer filter array came with the sensor (the IR filter did not but its impact of the ISO sensitivity is marginal)..
Philips - datasheet pdf
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-17-2018, 09:53 AM
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I would favour the MZ-1, which is from the same period and has shared the same destiny.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-16-2018, 03:47 PM
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Silly me... It's Sunday night here in France, not Saturday night!
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-16-2018, 03:36 PM
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Indeed it does. Thank you very much for your prompt answer -it's an early Sunday morning in Tokyo.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-16-2018, 02:51 PM
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@JPT
I don't know whether you have other sources in addition to Yaotomi's Tweeter account or some of their tweets were deleted since you made your summary but I can't find in the thread of tweets many pieces of information reported by you, namely:
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-16-2018, 02:38 PM
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Indeed but the same camera sporting the K-1 name only appeared in July 2011.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-16-2018, 02:04 PM
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Thank you very much for your summary of the event and the various tweets.
 
This Pentax K-1 from 2000 is also known under the MZ-D and MR52 names. It was presented, for the first time I think, in Tokyo on the 16th of July 2011 for a 'touch and try' event organised to promote the Pentax Q.
PENTAX Q (Digital Mirrorless) by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
PENTAX Q (Digital Mirrorless) by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
PENTAX K-1 & Q by Hideya HAMANO, on Flickr
PENTAX K-1 by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
PENTAX K-1 by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
PENTAX K-1 (PENTAX Q Event) by detch*, on Flickr
PENTAX K-1 by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
PENTAX Q (Digital Mirrorless) test by M KUROSAWA, on Flickr
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