Ricoh has announced the name and specifications of its forthcoming APS-C flagship camera: the Pentax K-3 Mark III, due to be available in February next year.
In a video that looks back at the role of Pentax in developing the pentaprism, Ricoh restates its commitment to “the future of SLR photography,” announcing a camera that is inspired by the five principles of Pentax: devotion, “the power to capture images that allow for direct communication with the subject,” enjoyment of all of the process of image-making, quality and performance that cannot be captured simply through numbers, and the photographic experience of its users.
The camera features a 26-megapixel CMOS sensor, an ISO range of 100 to 1,600,000, 5-axis stabilization, a burst speed of 12 frames per second, and dual card slots.
Ricoh states that the new camera will see dramatic improvements to image quality thanks to the completely redesigned image sensor, imaging engine, and accelerator.
No price has yet been announced but the update video states that it is expected to go on sale at the “upper 200,000 yen range.” 200,000 Japanese Yen is around $1,910. More details can be found on the Ricoh Imaging website.
Are you excited to see a new Pentax camera come to market? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Yes, they seem to have caved, and offer 4k (16:9) MPEG4 AVC/H.264 video at 30p and 24p. They also offer FHD at 60p, 30p, & 24p.
As for lenses, they have a full complement, including the Holy Trinity zoom, the Holy Trinity prime, macros, telephotos, super-zooms, et al.
Some have argued that they never offered an 70-200 mm f/4, but their f/2.8 is priced similar as others f/4, (but they caved and now offer an f/4 as well), so there has not been the need to provide one. (…But that is an F-type lens, anyway).
You lack nothing. (I have been using the K-3 for years).
There are the current lineup of lenses. (This list does not include older lenses, available in many places, just the current lineup.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/lens/index_list.html
…And here is their roadmap. (New DA* 16-50 mm f/2.8 already here).
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/products/lens/images/K_Mount_Lens.pdf
The main points of the video are :
1. The new optical viewfinder: 1.05x magnification
2. Outstanding operability: "greatly upgraded from its predecessor". New shutter control mechanism for sharp, accurate shutter action; touch-screen LCD panel; new grip.
3. The dramatic improvement of image quality: all main components, including image sensor, imaging engine and accelerator have been redesigned. Max ISO 1.6 million.
4. Continuous-shooting and image-tracking performance. Max. 12 fps. Autofocus improved to widen focus-point coverage and improve tracking performance for subjects in motion.
5. Vidéo : 4k in 30 or 24. 1080p in 60 or 30 or 24.
market price in the upper 200,000 ¥ range (200,000 ¥ is about $1900) (which means it will cost 250,000 ¥ to 290,000 ¥ or $2,400 to $2,800 ?)
Whole spec sheet on the Ricoh Website : http://news.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/rim_info2/2020/20201027_029570.html
Partial spec sheet. The final specs are not complete, and some things are missing from the spec sheet.
I love Pentax cameras but almost $2,000 for a APS-C DSLR in 2020 is a non-starter, no matter how good it is. A Nikon D500 is $1,500 right now, which is probably the most they could reasonably charge and expect to sell any.
...and the D500 is a proven animal. That price should drop by at least $500 by Christmastime if they expect to actually sell them.
Now if they only had lenses for it...
Name one pro lens they do not have for it. Just one!
Let me help you out.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/lens/index_list.html
600 F4, 400 2.8, 800 5.6, 100-400 F4 with built in 1.4tc any tilt shift lens or 50 or 85 1.2 I could probably go on but you can see Pentax is lacking a lot of lenses. And of course a few of their new lenses are just rebadge Tamron lenses that they charge more for than the same lens in a Canon, Nikon or Sony mount.
...and a chunk of their roster are dated optics.
«600 F4»
Oh! So in a discussion about D-type cameras, you bring up a US$12,000 F-type lenses. Fine.
K-3 II Equivalents:
smc PENTAX-DA★300mmF4ED[IF] SDM (US$1,100 Max price)
HD PENTAX-DA 560mmF5.6ED AW (US$5,000 Max price)
HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mmF4.5-5.6ED DC AW [F-type] (US$2,000 Max price)
Now, you may argue that the first one is “only” a 450 mm equivalent, and I will grant you that, (although, I will argue that they are in the same class). You may also argue that the second one is one stop darker, but I will argue that it is an 840 mm equivalent, and out-classes the 600 f/4.0, and that neither Canon, Nikon, nor Sony has one. *[Mic Drop]*
*[Picks up mic]*
You may argue that the third one is not a prime, and not a D-type, and one stop darker. I will argue that it is a 600 mm equivalent at its longest, is in the same class, and does the job.
Long and short, the lens is not really missing, anymore than Canikony is “missing” the 560 mm f/5.6.
«400 2.8» (US$12,000+)
smc PENTAX-DA★200mmF2.8ED[IF] SDM (US$1,000)
That is a 300 mm equivalent, which Canikony has, and that is fine. My argument is now, “Why does one need a 300 mm, a 400 mm and a 500 mm prime?” They are all in the same class, and boasting of having all three is as ridiculous as boasting that one has a 45 mm f/2.0, a 50 mm f/1.4, and a 55 mm f/1.8. They are all in the same class.
Pentax has you covered.
«800 5.6» (US$13,000+)
See the first point. 840 mm equivalent.
«100-400 F4»
Funny, but I could not find that one in the Canikony current lineup at all, however….
smc PENTAX-DA★60-250mmF4ED[IF] SDM (US$1,300 Max price)
(90-375 mm equivalent). You were supposed to name lenses which others have, that Pentax is lacking, not the other way around.
Either you meant the 100-400 mm f4.5-5.6, (US$2,400+), or you meant the 200-400 mm f/4.0 with 1.4tc (US$11,000+). Either way, The one Pentax lens has got you covered, but I will sill mention the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mmF4-5.8ED WR, and the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mmF4.5-6.3ED PLM WR RE (82-450 mm equivalents) for good measure. [The second lens is the “update” but both lenses are still “current,” in that they are both still being manufactured and sold.]
Ah! but what about the teleconverter, which can take it to 560 mm f/5.6? Sorry. I thought we already covered the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mmF4.5-5.6ED DC AW (225-675 mm equivalent). My bad. (And since the HD PENTAX-DA AF REAR CONVERTER 1.4X AW is not built-in, nor needed to get the same coverage, I will not mention it).
«any tilt shift lens»
Oh! You mean for doing architectural photography! Yes, sorry. We have two entire ecosystems —67 and 645— for that. (Sorry, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, & Sony). But, if you are interested in doing Architectural photography on a D-type Pentax, there are third-party lens makers who offer tilt/shift lenses or adaptors for the K-3 x system.
Plus, there are always the non-current lens lineups, such as the Pentax K SMC M 28 f/3.5 shift.
«50 or 85 1.2»
Really? You will cry over less than ⅓ stop? That is very knit-picky. If ⅓ stop exposure difference will stop one from capturing an image, then perhaps one ought to take up painting. (My 2¢).
Pentax has you covered. There is nothing a photographer might need, which cannot be had by a Pentax D-type photographer, in the current lineup. (…and for a lot less money). Also, all the Pentax lenses (and converter) mentioned here are 5.5-stops SR (IBIS) & weather-sealed, (without requiring the “optional ClearProtect® front filter”).
The da300 F4 is good optically but has horribly slow auto focus. The da560 is just garbage, I owned it for two years before switching to Canon and a 600 F4 IS II, you can’t compare the two.
And you can’t bring up equivalency to try and match Canon Nikon and Sony lenses because you and just throw a crop body on any of them and they will out reach any Pentax lens.
And if you want to bring in 20-30 year old lenses Canon has a 1200mm 5.6 and 50mm F1.0 200mm 1.8 and Nikon has some goon old glass also.
If you look at what you can buy right now brand new Pentax lacks a lot of lenses compared to the big three and third party lenses are are very few.
You said name one pro lens they do not have, I named a bunch.
«And you can’t bring up equivalency to try and match Canon Nikon and Sony lenses because you and just throw a crop body on any of them and they will out reach any Pentax lens.»
Yes, I can; for two reasons.
1. A lens made for D-type bodies have better performance on D-type bodies than those made for F-type bodies. This has been hashed out before, so I will not go into it here.
2. If you want to talk about the K-1 vs any Canikony F-type, that is one conversation. We are talking about two —or four; Canon, Nikon, Pentax, & Sony— photographers going out with “Systems”, and what the “Systems” have to offer.
This discussion was about the Pentax D-type system, and what it allegedly lacks. You then jumped in with the unfair comparison to F-type systems. Would it be fair if I said that Olympus does not have a 400 mm f/4.0 when they absolutely do have a 200 mm f/4.0? Being fair is comparing the capability of the systems to capture the same images. This means comparing F-numbers, (amount of light), and FoV. I would not expect the Olympus lens lineup to match every focal length of a 10×8 view camera lens lineup by focal length, but to match it by capability is a horse of a different colour.
The Pentax D-type systems gives the photographer everything he needs.
«And if you want to bring in 20-30 year old lenses….»
No, I do not. The discussion was always about the “Current lens lineup.” I brought that one lens up only in the realm of tilt/shift, a technique most often used for architectural photography, (not that it does not have other uses), which was invented as a hack to replace the loss suffered by “Pocket” and “compact” cameras, when we moved away from the 10×8 and the 5×4 view cameras.
So if you are bringing up hacks for old technology which we had abandoned, it would seem fair. Instead, I turned to systems more suited to the purpose. (Right tool for the right job, and all that).
«If you look at what you can buy right now brand new….»
What do you think it was that I had linked to you?
«…Pentax lacks a lot of lenses compared to the big three and third party lenses are are very few.»
Pentax has 28 modern, D-type lenses in their current lineup. Taking out the repeats, (two lenses of the same class, just slight differences, such as the smc PENTAX-DA 14mmF2.8 ED[IF] and the HD PENTAX-DA 15mmF4ED AL Limited), We are down to 20 D-type.
Canon and Nikon both have 70+ lenses in their current, (as in, available for sale), F-type DSLR lineup. Doing the same culling process, (and counting only IS and WR lenses, since we are talking “pro”), they fall below 20. Between them, they have seven 70-200 mm f/2.8 lenses, (this does not include 70-200 mm f/4.0 lenses, or constant diameter lenses). Pentax D has two in that category, a 50-135 mm, and a 50-200 mm. (I counted the two 55-300 mm in a different category, as they are 80-450 mm equivalents; super-zooms). Between them, they have seven 50 mm lenses, (none of which are macro lenses). Pentax has one 35 mm, (two, if you count the macro, and they do have two 40 mm), and, for the F-type, two 50 mm, (three, if you count the macro).
A system can have 400 current lenses in their lineup, but it does not matter if many of them are the same lenses; it is not really more artistic choices; just more budget choices. People kept asking why Pentax does not offer a 70-200 f/4.0 lens. My answer was that the Pentax 70-200 mm f/2.8 WR lens with IBIS, was comprable in price to the competitors 70-200 f/4 IS weather-sealed lenses, so what is the point? No one needs both a 70-200 mm f/2.8 and a f/4.0. Having acquired the f/2.8, the f/4.0 becomes irrelevant.
[ASIDE] Because of this unnecessary pressure from bloggers, Pentax has released the HD PENTAX-D FA 70-210mmF4ED SDM WR lens, (US$1,100), for about US$1,000 less than the f/2.8, and about the same price as the D-type smc PENTAX-DA★50-135mmF2.8ED[IF] SDM, (US$1,050). [/ASIDE]
Still, rather than comparing D-type systems, you claim that I am unfair by claiming equivalency. What is the Canikony D-type DSLR lens lineup? C'mon! Show it! Even Olympus has a full lens lineup, but Canikony shills keep denying it, saying garbage such as, “But what about a 400 mm f/4.0?”, as if that was somehow relevant to the system.
The KP seems to be sold for 140.000 yens in Japan so I'm not sure the end price will be $2.000, we will have to wait to be sure.