Photo bogs are always speculating what the next 'megapixel war' will be. For high-end cameras, it seems the answer to that question is the high ISO war, but for the entry-level shooters, an argument could be made for a 'burst mode war.'
Case in point, Ricoh just debuted the Pentax XG-1: a new entry-level superzoom that packs in some serious speed and reach, while hobbling the camera in other areas.
When the medium-format Pentax 645Z was announced, we were given a price point of $8,500 and a release date of "June 2014." Of course, there are 30 days in June, so if you've pre-ordered yours and you'd like a more specific date to anticipate, you'll be happy to note that Ricoh Imaging Japan has provided one.
It's here. The Pentax 645Z Medium Format camera has arrived just as the rumor sites said it would, and the camera's release date was far from the only rumor that has proven to be 100% true. In fact, we'll have to look hard to find anything they got wrong.
We weren't able to send anyone all the way to CP+ this year, and some of the products and details emerging from the trade show have us a little sad about that.
We already shared the news that Fuji will soon be debuting a 50mm tele conversion lens for the X100/s, and now we've got some specs and price information for the upcoming Pentax 645D CMOS Medium Format camera.
So much for a medium format CMOS sensor being a novel idea. Following closely behind Hasseblad and Phase One's CMOS medium format announcements is the news that Ricoh is working on its own CMOS MF model, a followup to the 645D that is tentatively being called the Pentax 645D 2014.
In addition to the rugged cameras announced earlier, Ricoh also unveiled the long-awaited 1.4x rear teleconverter first mentioned at Photokina in 2008 (H/T to PopPhoto for that little tidbit). Fortunately, they seem to have done a bang up job with it, so we'll excuse the delay.
It's February, which means Ricoh is right on schedule when it comes to introducing the new 'rugged' cameras in the Pentax WG line... except they're not called Pentax anymore. For the first time since acquiring the brand, Ricoh has dropped the Pentax name from these cameras entirely by introducing the updated Ricoh WG-4, WG-4 GPS and WG-20.
You might not thing there was much economic clout left in the Kodak brand, but apparently it still carries some weight in the courtroom.
The one-time photography monolith recently won a $76 million judgement from Japanese electronics conglomerate Ricoh to settle a dispute over patent licenses and royalties.
The K-3 webpage leaked yesterday (and along with it much of the information we now have) but now we're done with leaks and rumors: Ricoh Imaging's Pentax K-3 is official. A beastly APS-C shooter with a stacked spec sheet, the camera is sure to please serious photographers.
We've said it before and we'll say it again, October is looking to be a big month for camera announcements. And of course, along with announcements come leaks. Case in point: the upcoming Pentax K-3 isn't supposed to be announced for another 24 hours or so, but someone at Ricoh accidentally let the webpage go live briefly.
When you first see the all-new Ricoh Theta, it might remind you a bit of those old Apple remotes. But this is no remote, it's a new-fangled camera that can snap 360-degree panoramas in one click -- no swiping or stitching required -- with some help from the free companion iOS app (Android coming later this year).
Early last month, just days after Carl Zeiss rebranded itself simply as "ZEISS," Pentax Ricoh announced that it would be dropping the Pentax from its name, reverting the "Pentax" name to brand status. Now that people have had a month to let that news sink in, Ricoh is making the first major post-name-change alterations by rebranding the Pentax websites and social network accounts.
A few days ago, we shared the news that Carl Zeiss was rebranding. In an attempt to present a "more consistent image," the company decided to officially change (or rather shorten) its name to just ZEISS. It was minor news but it seems the idea has caught on, because earlier today, Pentax Ricoh announced a name change of its own.
This is a “first look” preview of a pre-production unit of the Ricoh GR, which I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on -- for a day. My time with it is limited to the half-day of shooting I had, and I am only sharing my initial impressions of it.
The images are selected to demonstrate the fast response of the Ricoh GR, and not the noise performance because it will not be fair to make any judgment based on a pre-production unit. Most of the images are in monochrome because I prefer black-and-white in street photography. None of the images have been cropped, to demonstrate the focal length effect of the Ricoh GR.
At the CP+ show in Japan, Ricoh is showing off a new camera prototype its developing that can capture full 360-degree immersive photographs with a singel push of the shutter. The omnidirectional camera looks like a cross between an electric toothbrush and a hammerhead shark. Lift it up into the air, press a button, and it will capture an image that shows every direction around you.
It may not be the most popular series of compact cameras, but the Ricoh GR Digital line has attracted a sizable cult following of photographers around the world -- particularly street shooters. From the time the original GRD was announced at Photokina 2004 until the most recent GRD IV, the cameras have offered smaller 1/1.77-inch CCD sensors. That will soon change: a trusted source tells us that the Ricoh GR Digital V will feature a larger APS-C sensor.
Last October Ricoh sealed the deal with Pentax, buying out the company for a sizeable $124-million. Since then we haven't seen any major changes as Pentax has gone about its business as usual. That, however, isn't going to be the case for much longer. According to the President of Pentax Imaging Ricoh, Noboru Akabane, there is a major change on the way: Pentax will be dropping compact, fixed lens camera development all-together, leaving all of that to Ricoh.
As the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but why not make it better? That's probably the attitude Ricoh is approaching their newest patent with, because they're making modifications to one of the few pieces of camera equipment that hasn't changed since the early days -- the lens cap.
Back in July, we reported that Hoya had agreed to sell the Pentax camera business to Ricoh …
Ricoh is purchasing the Pentax camera business …