End of an Era?

As a 'Pentaxian' since 1967 am I now part of a dying breed, as the brand seems to be on its way out?

Probably down to brexit or covid, seems to be the cause of most doom and gloom stories as i suspect this is. just another one in a long line.

Be proud to be almost unique and still well supported!

i believe Pentax will end up in a niche market as has been the case for years anyway.
Pentax will be rewarded eventually via Ricoh investment , its a given
The history alone will ensure Pentax survival
Pentax could have disappeared many times before but haven't
That is a testament to their resolve
My hat is off to the core team of optical engineers at Ashia (i know :wink
Ricoh deserve total respect also for supporting this team as things are definitely improving, K3iii , dfa *1.4, Dfa 21 and many others da, inc 16 50 new 11 18 all opticaly superb.
I will always love Pentax not in innocence but in a practical sense

Nicely put, Flan. Sums it up perfectly for me. I like the Pentax cameras and lenses I have, they're perfectly fit for (my) purpose.

Define "on the way out" ?

Pentax seems to concentrate its efforts on the Japanese market, when the K3.III was launched it was briefly the best selling camera there. I also came across an article outlining the different attitudes the Japanese have to established commercial products; here in the west if it loses money we cease production and sell the brand name to the Chinese to stick on tat, whereas the Japanese have a great affection for and loyalty to brands that helped the country’s status and commercial recovery after the Second World War and will not let them go or die even at a cost.

It's an interesting paradox to me.

We are treated to new releases of cameras and lenses which would suggest there's a fair bit of development work still going on and that there is still backing for the Pentax product line. I agree with RobL, the Japanese market and brand history are very important.

On the other hand, Pentax isn't even mentioned in the latest financial report link. The camera business within 'Other' is mentioned as having favourable sales of new products and returning to profitability which is encouraging for us Pentax users but the 'Other' segment as a whole made a loss. You have to wonder whether the challanges Ricoh must be facing in their core business may limit investment in some low volume niche areas. It must be tough for the office services and printing areas with the new wave of working at home, not to mention the global challanges of semiconductor availabiltiy, logistics and other material price rises. The same challenges may also apply to Pentax which has much less purchasing power than some competitors in the camera market.

If we continue to get great new Pentax products at sustainable prices (for customers, retailers and manufacturers) I'm more than happy for Pentax to remain a niche brand which does things slightly different to the others.

Pentax as a brand have been on their way out even before I was introduced to the brand....

'Late' to the AF party - even though the 1st AF SLR was the ME-F
'Late' to digital - the MZ-D prototype was full frame long before Nikon and Canon introduced the D3/1D
'Late' to full frame - but came with the right product
Not enough lenses - oh yes there is
No mirroless - so what? Not everyone can live with EVF (I still can't)

So, basically since around 1984-5 our beloved brand has been doomed. LONG LIVE PENTAX

Pentax have been rumoured to be on their last legs since I bought into their DSLR system in (I think) 2009. Since then their products have improved vastly to the point where new ones are met with great anticipation.

Don't be too confident that the Japanese market will always keep things afloat. I was in the minidisc camp and they said exactly the same thing. I've been to Japan and Pentax cameras are few and far between there too. The Japanese tend to be loyal but they also love having the latest gear, especially if it's small and cute, which is much more true of mirrorless than DSLRs.

Ricoh printers are exclusively in the commercial end of the market, but wouldn’t it be nice if they introduced photo printers?

Recently Pentax was voted the favourite camera brand in Japan. https://petapixel.com/2021/05/17/japans-favorite-camera-brand-isnt-canon-nikon-o...

That's really interesting. Always has been my favourite brand - since 1967 - closely followed by Mamiya (sorry!). It would just be good to see it competing in the current fray and producing a/some mirrorless camera(s). Such a shame to not see the brand in AP's Best Cameras of 2021. Let's hope 2022 sees a strong revival and return to greatness.

Just imagine if that was replicated globally.

I have just watched a YouTube of a professional saying how wonderful his Sony is - if you avoid the opaque menu, set four or five anonymous buttons to function how you want, keep blowing dust off the sensor and hope the weather sealing works, as well as tape the lenses so the aperture ring doesn’t accidentally move from A mode. Really? Why are they buying this badly designed stuff? Any other manufacturer would be slammed for this so I am puzzled why so many in the survey list Pentax as their favourite brand then buy something else, unless it’s the huge marketing through all media that Sony do and all the pundits declaring mirrorless is the only way to go.