How to Boost Pentax Sales x3 in a $50k+euro Niche Market - Click enlarges.
1969 didn't let other choice to Pentax than SLR, now EVIL's More Pertinent.
1969, how did Pentax manage to build such a successful MF camera and,
not for 1 month only, as these Fast-Fashion illusions, but for 40
years long:
pentaxforums.com/Pentax 67II, 67, 6x7 - Medium Format Film Cameras
Zero marketing gadgets shining on PENTAX commercial documentations.
Just Essential Features - achieved by Reliable Electro-Opto-Mechanisms:
For example, the practical Double Bayonet Mount: 100% adapted to small
45mm wide-lenses, also up to Huge 800/4 Tele-Lenses.
the Reduced Field of the TtL-Meter Prism that let you imagine some details
around your View (87%*85%), but that was very Usable in the Dark.
A pinch of Dexterity, Training and it was possible to get Sharp images down
to 1/30s (1/15 lucky) Playing w/ Inertial-Mass of 6x7 (MLU)
A very reliable Electro-Mechanical-Shutter that didn't let any Exposure-Alea
ruin your Precious Transparencies.
Exceptionnal Sharpness and Color Rendition from the 'Smc Pentax' lenses
that had the Widest Apertures of the MF world.
How to Boost Pentax Sales x3 in a $50k+euro Niche Market - Click enlarges.
1969 didn't let other choice to Pentax than SLR, now EVIL's More Pertinent.
let's note size-weight of Nikon D780, Eos 5D-IV, DSLRs w/ all EVIL's features
-vs- size-weight of Sigma fpL, or Sony A7RII-IV which are pure EVIL cameras.
'EVIL' : Electronic-Viewfinder Interchangeable-Lens MirrorLess camera
| MF 53*40mm DSLR - compared to - 67mm Diagonal EVIL camera | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type = Pros | MF 53*40, DSLR camera = 2 | MF 53*40, EVIL camera = 22+ |
| 151 Mpix CMos | BSI : 14208 * 10656 pix | BSI : 14208 * 10656 pix |
| PassiveCooling | More Heat (Motors) to get rid of | More $, Freedom, Room to Optimize |
| Body Style | Bulky, Heavy, Noisy, Shaking ! | Slim, Light, Quiet, Silent... |
| Normal Use | HUGE DSLR, +Tripod, +IBIS | Jacket Hideable EVIL, +Handy, +IBIS |
| SlowSS Expos. | Tripod +MLU= +3s~ +5s delay | HAND-HELD +EFCS +IBIS |
| Lens-Mount ? | Longer BackFocus Distance | Short +Adapters =All Lenses~ |
| RetrofocusLens | Longer, +1Group, Expensive+ | No, Simpler Shorter Lens BigSaving |
| Flip-up Mirror | HUGE, $$, => RetrofocusLens | No, BigSaving |
| Mirror-Motors | Fast-Cntrl, Balanced, Damped | No, BigSaving |
| MechOpticalAF | Mirror-2, Aligned-5/5, Damped | No, BigSaving |
| Auto-Focus... | 2 LightPaths +2 CMos to Adjust: | on CMos PD-CD-AF, BigSaving |
| ...Lens+WavLn | AF Distance, F/, Color Adjusted | No, BigSaving |
| FocusingGlass | HotspotCntrl, Precise, Changea. | No, BigSaving |
| PentaPrism *.9 | HUGE, Heavy+, Expensive++ | No, BigSaving |
| .9 OVF - 1. EVF | Daylight Clear OVF Aligned-5/5 | Afforda. Amplifia. Simula. Tiltable... |
| MLU Features | LCD-View => All EVIL Features | FilmScan, Macro, Micro, Repro, =5/5 |
| VFaccessories | LCD-, OVF-Loupe, Both Tiltable | LCD-Loupe, EVF Tiltable from start |
| FP to Dust Dist. | 0: Mirrors are Closest to Sensor | Much More Distance =Invisible-Dust |
| W x H x D mm | ~185 x ~145 x ~150 | ~168 x ~120 x ~100 |
| Weight kg, Vol.l | 2+, ~4, ( Pentax645+ FujiGx680-) | 1.2-, ~2, ( ~FujiGfx100II ) |
| ReliabilityMTbF | FastMovingMirrors Detach.Prism | + Shutter for both : DSLR +EVIL |
| Repairability | Special Tool to (Re)Align Mirrors | + Sensors Aligned: DSLRx2 +EVIL |
| Parts Rarity | Rare ElectroMechanOptical =$$$ | Common Electronics =Affordable |
| Price Trend | + 1,6-1,9x EVIL Manufactur' Cost | -- Launch Price of 645Z ~$10k€ ? |
2000, Fuji launch the S1 Pro based on Nikon F60 body w/ a 3Mpx CCD sensor.
2002, it's time for the S2 Pro, still on a Nikon F80 body w/ a 6Mpix CCD sensor.
2004, the S3 Pro is basically the same, with Dual S and R Pixels for Higher-DR.
2006, the S5 Pro is still the DR-Champ. on a Faster +More Modern D200 body,
despite sales in progress, Nikon 'F' Mount, DR+, none of these 4 was big seller.
Fujifilm 4 rare DSLR cameras -vs- 42 EVIL cameras over 12 years each
A panel of 35 EVIL 'X' APSc cameras were launched and despite their 'Xtrans'
Mosaic (marketing strategy) over the CMos sensor, several were Best-Sellers.
Fujifilm follows Samsy and Sony in launching its APSc 'X' EVIL Cameras
A range of 7 EVIL 'GFX' MF cameras were launched, 5 w/ IBIS and, despite a Price, Size, Weight of MF-EVIL Cameras, most of them were MF Best-Sellers. Pentax had to Stop Production of its MF 645 Bigger, Costlier, Heavier DSLRs.
Now that All CMOS MF sensors are designed for EVIL Cameras with Fast and
Efficient on Sensor Embedded PDAF I think there is no more reason to design
big and heavy DSLR camera with huge Shaking Mirrors. Thus everything in the
Other Chapters and this one is Advocating for an EVIL Design with the Shorter
possible Backfocus Distance. Keep in mind the Thick FilterStack in front of the
Fuji Gfx CMos that greatly lowers the visibility of the dust that stick on it. I never
see 1 only Particle : please Pixelpeep these Shots' flat-color zones at 200% !
( my Canon Eos 5D shows Many well visible Particles in its flat-color zones ) :
Fuji Gfx100s' New Year's day,
pixelpeep the page at 200% please
The whole Gallery shot
around Xmas, New Year's day :
Marseille by
Night, w/ Fujifilm GFX 100s
Same BSI, 50% less pixels.
Shot Hand-Held, f/5.6-6.4, ISO 800-1000, 1/10-1/15sec. Closest to OoC JPGs.
A SLR style camera will be more on the Height, the Flash
Hot-Shoe* at a larger distance from the Lens, vs a Rangefinder like
camera more on the Width. More room on the top to place buttons,
I/Fs, selectors... I don't have much experience with-RF cameras.
I just think it could be Easier to hold a SLR EVIL Horizontally.
EVF ~in the center~ helps standing in Balanced Zen attitude when shooting ?
* the Flash Hot-Shoe is normally the Higher Place of the Camera Top.
EVIL PENTAX 67D in an " Historic " presentation suggestion
Pentax 67D with its 50 equivalent, 77mm std lens - Click to enlarge
- 67D: 67mm Diagonal CMos, to keep on with 40 years of Pentax 67 success
- No costly High Precision Mechanics that drive Pentax to save on Electronics:
Old Sensors' Raw-NR (K1, K3). USB-2, UHS-I (K1, KF). FHD Video (K1, KF).
Note the Huge size and weight of a Pro. DSLR w/ a 53*40mm sensor inside !
- Pentax 67D has to be of EVIL type with an Efficient passive Cooling system.
- Pentax 67D launch Price has to be from ~$10k to $13k. The lower the better
to get
the Sensor Cost down, as did Fuji with GFx100, GFx100s, 100II, 100sII.
Launch Price depends on which Lens Adapters are sold in bundle w/ the 67D.
- Pentax 67D size has to be a little bigger than, say the Fujifilm ~GFx100II.
- Pentax 67D max weight has to be around ~1.1 - 1.3 kg, battery included.
- 67D should only have few drawbacks from its Top Qualities.
- The Best Quality / Price ratio, as 6x7 had !
- More Marketing from Ricoh ?
Remember Pentax 6x7 MF back in years '70-80s. This unique Medium format
SLR gave you 55*70mm slides 4.44 times larger than 135 ones. And when you
Enlarged these 55*70 up to the same Magnifying Ratio than Best 24*36 slides,
then you got exactly the same Color, Contrast, Detail, Microcontrast quality. The
Big 120-220 Film SLR was as Easy to use as a tiny 24*36 - say a Pentax MX -
except Volume and Weight to carry w/ you. MX that I used to enjoy just before
buying this Pentax 6x7, a showcase model of Fnac shop at Lille :
pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/Pentax-6x7
2 Sharp Lenses, Standard prime, SMC 90mm f/2.8 :
pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-67-90mm-f/2.8
Telephoto prime, SMC 150mm f/2.8 :
https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-6x7-150mm-f/2.8
Sample images, shot Hand-Held with Pentax-6x7 +Smc 90mm f/2.8 :
le Chateau de Rambouillet, 1983 *** Fujichrome-Blue Sky ***
- All scanned with Epson Gt-7000
les Gorges du Verdon, 1983 *** Icarus View ***
Pentax has even managed to make it look way smaller than it was. Remember
the photographer who held this tiny 6x7 Slrtoy in his Huge Hands. That said,
it was useful to have long fingers to Help you push the MLU button w/ this one,
then, 1 second later, push on the Shutter release button with that 2nd one. Both
w/o Shaking the camera in a Zen Sequence that needs Everyday Training. No
6k ISO film. No IBIS(in body stabilization). No OIS (Optical Image Stab) in '80s:
Hand-Held shot of a busy street at Christmas time, 1986~87
my (used MX, used MEsuper), Pentax 6x7, Pentax LX, superA...
ISO 80, Pentax K-5 +tiny SMC-M 135/3.5 - Click to enlarge
Now that 200k ISO CMos, IBIS, plus all the afferant and more Features are just simple as that to implement, I'm confident Pentax will design an HQ EVIL 67D.
BFD for Backfocus Distance, the Shorter the higher number of lenses Mounted.
Since MILC change, Adapter makers for Mounting other Lenses are Numerous.
Will 67D buyers be prisoner of the existing Pentax 645 tiny world ? Or, will they
be-able to choose their lenses among the whole MF+FF worlds ? That was the
Main argument for Not buying a Pentax k-01. And, at first times, its price wasn't
so low as its Contrast Detect AF Performance was. Then, as it didn't bring any
Decisive Advantage over, say a Pentax K-5, the mass was said :
2013, Diagram of k-01 Fiasco - Click to Enlarge
Pentax has designed and built a wide range of lenses. 32 cover MF 56*42mm
at-least, the 645 Film Format. From which, 15 ScrewDrive AF lenses and only
4-FastAF SDM lenses. To which you have to add 2 TeleConverters, a 645 to
6x7 Adapter. Pentax has to build Adapers for these 32. From the 645 lenses
in-Pentax bank, only a handful are still available for sale New, not everywhere.
To these 32 you may add 30 6x7 lenses, that cover 56*70mm Film Format. To which you may add 5 6x7 TeleConverters. Total is already 70 Optical items. Not-so bad to start with such a range ?
If you already own some of these 62 that often are very good lenses and
for Still Life, Macro, Proxyphotography, Objects, Portraiture,
the 67D will be the Perfect
tool right now w/ all Good existing lenses. Of course, Pentax has to design New
645 Lenses for Architecture, Landscapes, Arts and Docs Reproduction, etc.
62 Pentax lenses already usable on that 67D 53*40 camera via Adapters :
www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews
62 645-Film (56*42mm) Lenses +7 Converters +1 Adapter - Click to enlarge
-- only the HD-DA 645 28-45/4.5 ED AW SR, 55mm image circle is removed
CMos sizes from APSc up to Full-MF 53*40, 67mm Diagonal format:
-MF 53*40, 67mm Diagonal CMOS Sensor = from 4 APSH stitched together.
-MFc 44*33, 55mm diagonal CMos sensor = from 4 APSc stitched together.
Everything is in millimeters - Click diagram, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
The picture above shows you that the 645 film format, for which all, except one,
Pentax 645 lenses are designed, is 2-3mm larger than the Digital Medium Full
Format, 67mm Diagonal. This 67mm MF sensor being itself only 7-9mm larger
than the 645Z MFcrop Sensor dimensions. Please don't go telling that, as they
were designed for film, the Pentax 645 lenses won't be sharp until their border.
Not to say that - of course - Pentax will have to design and launch New Lenses,
especially SDM ones which are fairly rare in the actual 645 lens range...
-A simple Manual-Focusing Affordable Adapter to use All above Pentax Lenses
-C a Customized Adapter for every specific Mount which Lenses show interests.
-F an AF Motorized Adapter that Fastly Focuses ~All the Above Pentax Lenses
etc...
Thousands of Pentax MF compatible 645 lenses are in use all around the world
today with sample Proofs on photography Forums. Nobody seems to Complain
about their Color rendering, Reliability, Sharpness, etc. Some stitched HQ wide
Panos from these 645 lenses vs some stacked Astrophotography with other or
same P645 lenses. All that promises a flying start for this Pentax EVIL 67D...
And you could say more or less the same for a large part of the 6x7 lenses...
The two lenses limited to 55mm of diameter of coverage :
-1. Pentax SMC DFA 645 25mm f/4 ALIF SDM AW :
Its Hood has to be shrunk ! But the Optics alone are 67mm compatible :
smc-Pentax-da-645-25mm-f4-al-if-sdm-aw, Specs, Reviews
-2. HD Pentax DA 645 ED 28-45 F4.5 AW SR :
That one is only 55mm compatible by Optical Design. No solution :
hd-Pentax-da-645-28-45mm-f45-ed-aw-sr,
Specs, Reviews
Click to enlarge
Pentax has already Solved the Problem, even on a camera w/ IBIS and at least
since the K3MkIII. See the vertical cut of a Pentax K3III body showing its sensor
Heat Sink system. It turns around the PCB to conduct the Heat to the Camera's
back panel. Its job would be much More Efficient if a Fixed LCD didn't Obstruct
the camera back panel from Heat Radiation, Heat Exchange with the Air Flow.
from Pentax at K3-III launch, notes by myself - Click to enlarge
I think several Pentax cameras do already have such a Passive Sensor Cooling
system. Compare the Pentax K-5 with the Nikon D7000's Noise Levels from the link below. Both share the same Sony imx071 CMos sensor :
www.brendandaveyphotography.com/more/long-exposure-sensor-testing/
Please compare the Pentax K-1 vs the Nikon D800, both share the same Sony
imx094 CMos sensor. In both comparisons, Pentax's Noise Levels are down to about the half of Nikon's.
If this Passive Sensor Coolings is True, those are very interesting Adds-on from
Pentax. Please Pentax, Don't Give-up !!
Another Huge Advantage of in-camara Passive Sensor Cooling is stopping the brands to implement Stupid Star Eaters or Strong Raw NRs in their Raw image Files. This instead of just adding Optional NRs in their Raw image Processing.
It's relatively easy to design the camera to allow a cooling air flow between the
body back and the rear LCD to help the camera getting rid of any heat excess,
take a look at diagram below. This allows adding a Fan on this Back Air-Flow,
accelerating it more. It could be very useful to Cool Down CMos's temperature
after a Long Time Finding, Framing, Focusing in AstroPhotography Live-View.
What's the point of Composition Adjustment Feature if you Can't Turn the LCD
towards yer eyes, Ricoh ? Waist level shooting is ideal for Street photography,
the-LCD tilted at 90° : Fixed-LCD's-Savings are unacceptable today, Ricoh !
-Improves the Cooling-Down of the camera when abusing LiveView, Video.
-Mounting the Optional-Fan at Camera-Back improves even more the Cooling.
-Improves the Visibility of the rear Screen for Every Camera Orientation.
-You can't even realize Discrete Street photography without a Tiltable LCD.
P67D's back panel w/ Fins + Optional-Fan improving Heat Exchanges :
Click diagram, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
If anyone in 1967 had told me that '?pentax' was going to design and launch an
Electro-Mechanical 6x7 SLR as Good, Reliable, Practical, Fast as a 24x36 pro
SLR, but in 55x70mm film format, then yes. I would certainly have replied him :
"is this an April Fool's joke ?".
Easy to compare an immense complexity to perfectly Optically Align everything
on the Same Axis from the Viewfinder to this Warped Film, via that Removable
Penta-Prism, the Removable Focusing-Screen, that Flipping-Mirror, the Lens-
Mount and finally, the Removable (tiniest to Hugest) Prime or Zoom-Lenses.
While on a ML camera, the point(0,0) of the LCD and that of the EVF with No
effort, Automatically correspond to the pixel(0,0) of the Sensor. Wow !!!
In 1967 there was also the total lack of any Reference regarding the
Reliability,
MTBF of hundreds, thousands of Electro Mechanical parts whose performance
were totally unknown in such a Fast, Heavy, brought everywhere Large SLR.
Whereas today, Pentax would even lose its Poor Reputation when it comes to
AutoFocus. AF is supplied "on Sensor" and even with the Manufacturer's APIs
to use it the Right Way, Optimally. What more simple could you ask for ?
Apart from Funding to design and launch a First Prototype to Test in front of a
Market of mostly jaded consumers with empty pockets (took the worst cases).
Even though it'll be ~4 times cheaper than the Basic DSLR Config at Phase1.
It won't stop my mind, a 6x7 SLR in 1967 was a Much More Difficult Challenge
in terms of Imagination, Design, Reliability-Search, Best-Implementation, etc...
than a 67D EVIL camera built w/ well known today ~Standard Components~.
And finally, don't they say that the Future belongs to those who Dare ?
Pentax world is in fact a Niche Market of 1% of the global camera market, what
count in a Pro Market is the Geniusness /price, the Quality /price, the Reliability
/price, the Performance /price, the Usefulness /price Ratios of that Product. My
Pentax MX, MEsuper, 6x7, SuperA, LX never disappointed me. Except maybe
the Slow Flash Sync speed of some w/o TTL: MX and 6x7. I am still fond of my
Pentax K-5 and its Excellent imx071 Exmor CMos in DR + very Low Lighting :
One of the best Low-Light DSLR : the Pentax K-5, ISO 80 DR King
Genius product never disappoints, you must invest more Money to Design and
Launch zero fault HQ Pentax 67D pro EVIL. In return, w/ 67D Success, Pentax
will Earn lots of Money, huge Margins from the pro MF Market. Its stratospheric
Price, $50k+ from 150 Mpx 53*40 CMos Big DSLR is the "Pass" to enter that
Market w/ a Pentax 67D HQ at a much lower price. A-pinch of Perfectionism,
and the 67D will become the Cash Machine Pentax needs to keep on building
and selling some, say the Best of its more Expensive DSLR models...
Click diagram, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
A Compact and Light 67D
body could be derived further in a 55D body for sale
at-attack price. Therefore it's good to remenber that the market of HQ compact
MF cameras at attack $4k-6k prices, is fully in the hands of Fujifilm since 2018.
With a very little room let to Hasselblad, which is higher priced.
"x2" Recalls that Blue and Red Pixel-Count are only Half the Green one.
Numbers = Equivalent Black% Density of Colors. Example :
Black100, Blue88, Red70, Magenta59, green41, cyan30, yellow12, white0%
-Left.Max.Area: green41+cyan30+yellow12+white0%: light-colors
-Right.Max.Area : Blue88+Red70% : Dark-Colors
Click to View, Ctrl+ to Enlarge More
Pentax 67D doesn't need ISO 800k at all. But if it's able to Reproduce REDs at-least as well as Fujifilm Gfx,
then it will be a Perfect Result for a MF camera intended above all to get the Best Image Quality - whatever the Ambient Light.
Advantages of a Fujifilm More Selective Bayer CFA in Low Light Conditions
Vice versa, what happens in Good Lighting with a Bad Color Separation MILC:
Noise in the Shadows at Base ISO in full Sunlight, Fuji Gfx100 v Sigma SDQH
CFA: acronym for Color Filter Array, 'GBRG' mosaic over the sensor.
-Astro-Tracer Mode : with the Help of GPS Signal, the Sensor is Moved inside
the camera in order to Match the Motion of Stars. Superb Night Landscapes !
-Automatic Horizon Correction : 0 to 2° of Rotation that can be very useful for
Hand-Held Photography.
-Composition Adjustment : shifts sensor 1.5mm in Each Direction in 24 steps.
Very useful for Documents Reproduction or Film Scanning w/ the Pentax 67D.
-Pixel Shift Resolution in 4 Exposures only : enough for Anti-Aliasing purpose.
Anti-Aliasing via Pixel-Shift*4 - Click image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
I didn't find that one on the Fuji Gfx100s when Testing it, 16 Exposures instead,
that's 400% Useless to complicate at this level the Anti Aliasing Pixel Shift.
But, maybe this is another way of inserting Planned Obsolescence ?
-Deep Shadows DR Boost in 4 Exposures : DR as fine as in Good Lighting.
Shadows SNR Boost via Pixel-Shift*4 - Click image, Ctrl+ to Enlarge
Now let's point out some Inconsistencies in Pentax K3-III Features :
-What's the point of this Astro-Tracer Mode if you Can't Turn the LCD Screen
towards your eyes, Ricoh, seriously ?
-What's the point of Composition Adjustment Feature if you Can't Turn the LCD
Screen precisely towards yer eyes, Ricoh, seriously ?
-What's the point of a Passive Sensor Cooling if this Fixed LCD insulates the
Camera Back from ~75% of the Heat Exchanges, Ricoh, seriously ?
-What's the point of a Passive Sensor Cooling if the Fixed LCD prevents from
Mounting a Fan on Camera Back to boost Heat Exchanges, Ricoh, seriously ?
I bet all these Inconsistencies will disappear at the same time all the Overcosts
induced by the Outdated Choice of a Complicated Useless DSLR architecture
that only Prevents Pentax from Earning Money.
DSLRs are lots of Money For absolutely Nothing - say my Brothers in Arms