There is no chance of Ricoh going bust due to the performance of it's very small Pentax/Ricoh camera division, it would simply be an unprofitable division overshadowed by its core business which lies elsewhere. Quite a different proposition. But to appeal to the wider audience is clearly the most commercially sensible way to proceed.

I guess that means that the long awaited wide angle prime will remain over the horizon.

I worked there for a few months back in the day.To be honest I just enjoyed getting lost in Tokyo. It's completely safe so you can do that. As it is so different that I found ordinary things just as enjoyable as any sights. There are some nutty things in Japan, try a love hotel.

Kamakura is worth a trip, still pretty sprawly though like everywhere. I liked Yokohama too. Didn't go to Kyoto as the train ticket was mortgage sized. Did go to a traditional ryokan for the weekend at a hot springs (onsen) place. It was fun as nothing was in English. I think that's the appeal of somewhere like Japan. The sumo is a good thing to go and see. You have a choice of urban sprawl or very lumpy countryside which isn't that easy to get around. Lonely planet has some suggested itineraries.

In Tokyo there are plenty of really expensive food halls in Ginza where you can eat for nothing by trying out all the (generous) samples. Otherwise noodle bars abound, plentiful around Shinjuku station for example. As do chicken yakitori stands.

Take the train from the airport, don't even contemplate a taxi.

There are plenty of places to see a sunset and a sunrise too, more so the further from the summer solstice.

Here are the results from the French jury, DA18-55WR vs 01 prime on the Q. The 18-55 was used somewhere in the middle of it's aperture range, was tripod mounted with remote release. The 01 prime was used handheld.



18-55:



01:



100% crops 18-55:








100% crops 01:







18-55:







01:




100% crops 18-55:







100% crops 01:










My conclusions from the weekend are that the Q is far better with Q mount lenses, the adapted 18-55 is not recommended for general shooting and that beer, wine, mojitos, margaritas and jack daniels seems like a good idea at the time.

I have done some more tests out of curiosity. I have taken some shots tripod mounted with remote control. I have also taken the same shots with the 01 prime so you can see the difference. I'm off to a BBQ shortly and will be way to ****faced to put up the images up tonight. I'll post them tomorrow. Just based on the screen the O1 prime images look pretty good, the 18-55 images pretty dreadful.

Here are some snaps accompanied by 100% crops. They are not scientific. I could pop the camera on a tripod and photograph a brick wall but these are just some real world handheld shots, how I would use the setup if I did actually use it. I do find the setup a little fiddly but you get used to it. I think the biggest issues is that manual focus is quite difficult in bright conditions, so I used the focus peaking at times.

18-55mm is like 70mm-200mm on APSC, or thereabouts.

The adaptor is not the official one. The official one has a built in shutter which eliminates some of the weird effects you get with the electronic shutter and adapted lenses. But the official adaptor also sosts a lot. I think it's a waste of money for general use but worth it for situations where there is no better option. For example if you want to take a telephoto to an event where large lenses are prohibited if you want a record wildlife shot and don't have a super duper lens.

There are plenty of examples knocking around from adapted lenses on the Q. I honestly haven't seen anything that I think is any good for general shooting, although there are some good niche uses.

I couldn't tell you the settings I used, it's just to give a brief initial impression. The portraits are shorter lengths and the bird table longer. Others are in between. DNG's run through Lightroom default settings. If you want me to test out specific subjects and settings then I can try for the best possible results I can. The dog is okish. :

I could try it for you and post a few results but I think it would be far better with a Q mount lens.

Maximum respect there. I'm delighted with a bed and breakfast even though my beer gut suggests more prowess.

I think the answer to the original question is very much dependent upon the photographic situations in which you find yourself. My personal priority far and away is image quality at low iso. I'm not too fussed about autofocus, less still auto metering and couldn't care less about in camera processing. So I can see no reason to upgrade from a K5,although I can understand why others feel it is a worthy upgrade, especially low light af. Had my first Pentax been a K10 then the K5 would have been the first temptation to upgrade. I think it will take at least the apsc model after next to tempt me to upgrade from the K5. I just think there are very many things one can do to improve before changing cameras.