Pentax FF Dead, Maybe

Not so sure about that.

I think over the years pretty much all the wants that have been put forward on this forum have been delivered. The problem has been that once delivered a percentage of people still don't seem very happy.

Pentax 110 Digital wanted, Q delivered
CSC using K mount wanted, K-01 delivered
High end compact wanted, MX-1 delivered
645D wanted, 645D delivered
Longer telephoto wanted, 560mm delivered
18-270mm wanted, 18-270mm delivered, albeit after some wait

And probably more.

Not surprised a high percentage remain unhappy
Q - released at a ridiculous price
K-01 - horrible looking thing
MX-1 - seems very decent (pity about the name though)
645D - wonderful at the time. But others are now catching up on image quality with FF. At a much cheaper cost
560mm - ridiculous. A consumer, not a pro priced product was needed. Until such time as Pentax can offer AF like the big two, then hardly anyone is going to invest in this.
18-270 - can't really comment. Haven't took much notice

Best thing they've done for me of late is the 18-135.

A percentage, not a high percentage is what I actually said. A very vociferous small percentage!

Sounds great to me.

Regards, Horst

And yet again you are right, maybe I should've quoted; You can please some of the people some of the time etc etc etc

Like you know whatever they bring out some Pentax users will not be happy, I suppose we should just be happy Pentax is still bringing things to the market.

I myself moaned about the K50 when it was released, until I tried one and now my mind has changed.

I laughed out loud when the K-01 came out, but now 12 months on I want one.

Nowt strange as folks

Some people are just hell-bent on finding something to moan about... I mean, come on - the name's fine and who cares anyway!

Not me now. But I had hoped for a pared down DSLR in the MX style and was disappointed to see that name on a compact.

I don't mind you moaning about me moaning

Never say never, but I think that's a very unlikely product. It would appeal I think to a very small number of actual buyers.

Latest reports I've seen on Dpreview indicate declines in all sectors of the camera market. 'Consumer' grade Compacts collapsing catastrophically, mid & high CSC types struggling to gain any foothold, higher end DSLR types holding up better (but with much lower numbers obviously).

The money would seem to be more there for high quality / larger sensor & niche products. Must be a very difficult time to be any camera company Exec or product designer.

Well the lesson to learn for pentax here is ...

Don't release the FF with a bloated high price like the Q, don't get Marc Newson to design it and don't call it something like the MX-1

And yes the 560mm was ridiculous. I think they've sold the grand total of ONE in the UK

What I find hard to understand is the rhetoric. What is "ridiculous" about the 560mm lens? It's a long lens, which the range needed, and the price is very competitive.

How many sold in reality we have no idea, but it's there if it's needed. It's no more or less ridiculous than any other lens. Why be so negative?

"but it's there if it's needed"

Manufacturers can't just make stuff so it's "there if needed". And it isn't just there if needed if you haven't £6,000 or the money to rent one.

Anyway why not just get a DA*300 f/4.0 and put a 1.7AF teleconvertor on it?

Ok, it's only 510mm, but ...

£1200 at the most

Choices. I don't resent someone who can afford to spend £6000 doing so if it's what they need to do.

I can't afford it, so that's my tough luck, but I'm not going to stop anyone else who can afford it. Good for them if they can.

AP this week has reported that Fuji's camera division made a loss of £6 million in the last three months - they're going to concentrate on high-end gear - but it hasn't stopped them announcing a new instant film camera: link