I don't mind EVFs at all, they have a few advantages over OVFs, but Ricoh have re-stated their commitment to DSLRs.

I had been thinking "what if the mirror disappears to the side, sliding into a slot instead of flipping up?" but one of these materials which goes from clear to reflective by passing an electric current through it sounds much better. I'm not sure if they can become completely clear though to let all the light through.

Yes. I got a couple of knock-offs years ago. One of them lasted a year and then held almost no charge, the other did better but never anything close to the power I got from the original that came with my K-3. That original is still going strong and I have another genuine one I bought years ago which is also absolutely fine.

Very nice. Those green mountains look luscious.

The ball seems a strange item for promotional stuff. You could throw it for your dog and snap photos of it chasing after it and bringing it back...

If Ricoh do bring out a new DSLR, perhaps the batteries will be kept the same format, after all, all camera batteries are broadly the same anyway so it would very likely cost them nothing to maintain it.

I recently saw for sale a very old Asahi Pentax tie pin with the original Asahi logo. Quite cool but I'd never use it.

Well, at least it's in motion.

If they can't get the part then you may be able to source one by buying a 16-85mm that is broken but with some other fault.

I have multiple copies of some film SLRs that I particularly like but they're much less expensive than a FF DSLR.

If you're genuinely sure that you will not need anything more capable in some particular way then it makes sense to have two copies of the camera you most like, at least until Ricoh reveals what, if anything, they're bringing out as their "new concept" DSLR.

But if you have two copies of a camera then I'd say it's better to use both of them. I don't think sitting doing nothing for years on end is good for a camera.

From the sounds of it it's amazing it lasted as long as it did!

Good luck replacing it with something.

My 16-85mm did have occasional problems focusing at 16mm. It would appear to focus and then confirm with a beep but I could see in the viewfinder it was out of focus, but that doesn't sound like what the user is experiencing here.

For anyone tempted, I bought another excellent copy of this lens from Lennybloke on this forum and have been using it since the end of March. In that time it has become my favourite manual lens ever, and I've tried quite a few so it's saying something. It really is superb and a absolute pleasure to use.