FrozenInTime wrote: johnvanr wrote: EB-1 wrote:
I thought Pentax went out of business like 20 years ago.
Like Contax they failed to make a good digital transition.
EBH
I don’t think Ricoh ever really tried and the move to mirrorless was where their lack of R&D effort forced them to either commit or potentially sink.
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The Ricoh GXR body and five sensor/lens modules, plus a APS-C Leica M mount unit, was a worthy mirrorless move, and well respected.
Upon the purchase of Pentax this system died; to this day, I consider this pivot a massive strategic mistake.
Most of my Pentax 35mm experience is 20-25 years ago. I was given a bunch of K1000s spotmatics and lenses, and to sell them I had to test them. I thought they were well made and of good quality. Recently, I got back into medium format film and digital and Pentax was an obvious choice Sharing lenses in the 645 system etc. I'm impressed with the 645, 645N, and the 645Z. I even bought a rather sophisticated PC-555 data point and shoot for $11, because I wanted it's case. It has excellent auto focus and auto exposure - a true point and shoot. It would be a loss if they gave up, and I hope there is some new direction they intend to go.
I feel Pentax peaked with the MX, PK then LX, PKA; the introduction of AF set 35mm build quality back for many years before the limited lenses appeared; the 645 series remained impressive to the end.
AF brought about the "streamlined, plastic, modular body look" that ruined the aesthetics of their classic cameras.
If Pentax were to release a full frame, manual focus MX that can be used with its manual focus K mount lenses; and produce it with ZERO video features, it would be a hit!
The "content creator crowd" has plenty of plastic hybrids to choose from, so Pentax needs to be different. Pentax has the technology to create a digital, full frame MX. It would compete with Leica if they did this.
I think the MX is too small to make a full frame DSLR the same size. But K2 / LX / Spotmatic size could work. Likely it would be a bit deeper though because of the rear LCD assembly - more like the digital KP but with a bigger viewfinder.
Not sure it should be manual focus only. The Limited lenses have a strong reputation after all.. but I agree it needs to offer a great manual focus experience and imo they should release a few manual focus Super Takumars with it.
If the "digital MX" doesn't include video recording features (no secondary cooling system required) or AF features, I'm sure they can squeeze a basic FF sensor into an MX-sized body. Remember that the originsl film MX still had space for the 35mm film roll plus the film advance mechanism, and it had space for the electronics needed for the metering system.
If Ricoh can fit an APS-C sensor into a GRIII, they can surely fit a FF sensor in a larger MX body.
Jun 20, 2026 at 02:29 PM
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