Ricewhine is as good a prognosticator as your average psychic, which is
to say not very. His last set of predictions included a FF 24mp DSLR
and an Updated 645D, to be announced at the last Photokina I was going
to keep close track because Ricewhine just annoys me but I didn't bother
because he's not worth the effort so I have to rely on my memory. IIRC
he was wrong on 8 of 10 predictions at that time. That's a lot worse
than random chance.
Will there be an announcement soon? The best predictor is what are the
prices of Pentax Cameras doing, and you know they're holding pretty
steady. The street price of the K-5II keeps drifting lower, but that's
what happens with pretty much every digital camera after it's released.
Sure Pentax is behind in the APS-C megapixel race, but you don't gain
all that much by simply doubling the megapixel count on the same size
sensor. It gives a 18% larger print at identical resolutions, which
isn't much, and that's only meaningful if the lens used can at least
match resolution of the sensor. and or that 18% improvement in linear
resolution you need to update imaging software, memory, if your picture
processing machine is a bit older, you'll have to update the processor.
Oh and don't forget storage space, all for a fairly small improvement in
image size and maybe a decrease in over all quality.
On 9/22/2013 12:55 PM, Zos Xavius wrote:
http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2013/09/latest-k-3-technical-details-from-my.html
It sounds like an announcement is right around the corner. Photorumors
source says 20mp. Rice High's source says 24mp. I'm gonna take a wild
shot and bet on 24mp as 20mp is not competitive with the D7100.
On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 12:07 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <[email protected]> wrote:
On Sep 21, 2013, at 3:10 PM, Brian Walters <[email protected]> wrote:
Quoting "P.J. Alling" <[email protected]>:
Ricoh used to make a line of second string K mount SLRs, prior to that they
made a line of second string m42 mount SLRs, and apparently they marketed a
Nikon mount SLR, made by Mamiym. They put some pretty nice technology into
them, often the K mount bodies seemed to have somewhat better tech and more
features than Pentax, and they were pretty nice cameras, but there was always
something off about their ergonomics.
Back when Pentax still had a presence in most Cameras stores, (not that long ago
actually), one of the best local camera stores in the area went out of business, (they
had one of my LXen in for repair, and I was worried about getting it back, I did
eventually), at their going out of business sale they had a used Ricoh, I forget the
model number, it resembled a Pentax A3 but included a ME Super style button system for
setting manual shutter speeds IIRC. This particular camera seemed to be pristine
condition and the price was certainly right, I was seriously considering buying it as a
body to carry where I didn't want to risk a LX or MX, when one of the buttons simply fell
off. The salesman who I knew, (it wasn't a paid liquidator running the sale), said,
"That seems to happen a lot, it just snaps back on." I decided to take a pass.
Ricoh abandoned the SLR market sometime in the 90's. I don't remember when,
exactly. I don't remember any big announcement, such as when Yashica stopped
making cameras, Ricoh just sort of stopped, making SLRs.
I had a Ricoh XR-2 in the 1970s/80s. It may have been a second-string brand but
it was an excellent camera - functionally equivalent to the ME Super in a slightly
larger body and without the push buttons. Sadly, it was stolen in the mid 80s
but, on the positive side, the theft brought me back to Pentax :-)>
I think Ricoh decided not to get involved in the SLR autofocus race. They
continued to make a few manual focus SLRs until the mid 90s before pulling the
plug.
You're probably right. The conversion to AF SLRs was difficult for most
manufacturers. Canon was roundly despised by their user base for doing the
right thing and obsoleting the FL/FD mount in favor of the EOS mount, which was
specifically designed for the future AF and electronic control models. It
was/is very successful even today as it is a very large diameter bayonet flange
on a relatively short mount register, allowing a smooth conversion to digital
capture. Nikon and everyone else without a purpose designed mount flange have
struggled a bit.
Ricoh made an excellent line of SLRs. We used to buy them for the student photo
staff/camera club when I was in high school as they were less expensive than
Pentax and seemed to need service much less often in the hands of a bunch of
high school kids.
G
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