Is Ricoh finally giving up on Pentax DSLRs and leaving the camera business?
Dec 7, 2022
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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In a recent article on Japanese outlet Newswitch, Ricoh CFO Shun Kawaguchi says that the company is looking to essentially dump some of its business in order to be able to focus its time and money on more lucrative areas of the company. There was no explicit mention of Pentax, Ricoh’s own branded cameras or the Theta series of 360° cameras, although logically, they might be some of the first up for the chopping block – and probably in that order.
Pentax’s defiance of market trends and its steadfast refusal to enter the mirrorless market could be its downfall. Who could’ve seen that one coming, huh? Pentax proclaimed in 2019 that users would start switching from mirrorless back to DSLRs within 1-2 years. Well, it’s 2022, and that hasn’t happened. In 2020, they reaffirmed their commitment to DSLRs. And just last month, they released the entirely underwhelming Pentax KF – which is basically just a K-70 with a flippy-out LCD.
The article begins…
Ricoh, which is shifting from a multifunction machine to a digital service company against the background of the rapid progress of paperless, will introduce an in-house company system in April 2021 and emphasize return on invested capital ( ROIC ). In addition to profitability and investment efficiency based on ROIC, we will evaluate the business portfolio from three perspectives: market position and suitability for digital services. Shun Kawaguchi, a corporate executive officer and chief financial officer (CFO), said, “The time has come for us to choose which businesses to choose.”
The article states that Ricoh currently owns around 30 different businesses, and some of them are moving towards being either sold off or shuttered completely based on return on invested capital (ROIC). Basically, are they making as much as Ricoh’s been putting into them and are they making enough over that ROIC to justify the effort going into keeping them running?
Pentax may not be dead, but they’re certainly not thriving in the same way that Sony, Canon and Nikon are. They’re not even doing as well as Fuji and Panasonic. I’ve no idea where OM Digital Solutions – the new owners of Olympus – sit, but I’ll bet it’s probably not quite as bad as Pentax. After all, it still has some of that Olympus legacy behind it, with a loyal user base and compatibility with Panasonic and other 3rd party lenses. What does Pentax have in the way of 3rd party support? Well, there’s a Godox flash trigger, but that’s about it.
If Pentax is sticking with its “DSLRs or Die!” attitude, then it looks like it’s going to be the latter.
When it comes to Ricoh’s own branded cameras, there aren’t really many. There’s the GR series – which is currently the GR III and GR IIIx – and the WG series of low-end waterproof compact cameras, like the WG-6 and WG-80. While both of these cameras do have some limited unique selling points, they’re probably not going to be enough to justify keeping them around, especially when there seems to be so little advancement between new iterations.
And as far as Theta… Well, they were one of the first in the industry to release pocket-sized 360° cameras with the original Ricoh Theta, and the Theta Z1 is still one of the best on the market. But with the Insta360 ONE RS 1″ Leica 360 Edition costing $200 less than the Z1 and offering arguably more versatility, not to mention Insta360 completely cornering the lower end of the 360° market, Ricoh might just decide that the Theta brand isn’t worth pursuing, either.
It would be a shame to lose any of them. Pentax, the GR series and Ricoh Theta product lines have all, at some time or another, been held in pretty high esteem amongst certain audiences. But it’s entirely possible that all three might be on their way out!
[via Pentax Rumors]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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17 responses to “Is Ricoh finally giving up on Pentax DSLRs and leaving the camera business?”
Interesting but given this daytes back to last year and Pentax have released a new DSLR and lenses since then I think it’s not going to happen.
Honestly they were one fo the first to try mirrorless and for a while it was working for them, they just chickened out for APSC and larger.
It’s too bad, because all they needed to do was add professional video features, and continue with a line based on the k01 and they would still be relevant in the marketplace.. they could’ve focussed on LiDAR focussing and kept the kmount and they would’ve been able to continue making DSLR’s mirror less as well as medium format cameras that would’ve been loved by both traditionalists and hybrid shooters!
My loyalty to the company was not rewarded and having to spend $20,000 to switch to Sony just to get professional video. Features felt like a betrayal.
I love my K-70, but would like to see Pentax begin offering mirrorless models
DSLRs died five years ago. Fujifilm and Sony had seen this long ago.
I’ll be using both mirrorless and dslr’s for years until they literally die. As in the camera fails. For landscape dslr’s are perfectly fine.
For 15+ I see “pentax is doomed” articles, but pentax still here.
Interesting read Bradley Keylock Brett Skolmen
They used to be the leaders, but now they are stubborn on something that is dead years ago.
*ricoh’s GRs are selling very well..
I’m surprised it rook this long. I haven’t seen anyone use a digital Pentax in a decade or more.
I see similar articles here dating back 5 years or more. I figure this piece of clickbait is no more or less credible than the others.
The “DSLR is dead” mantra seems a bit ignorant to me, anyway. I heard a similar chant when vinyl records were “doomed,” and before that when film photography had one foot in the grave.
I think DSLR has a similar trajectory: a technology that will remain a superior choice for certain use cases and that can support a small but lucrative niche market.
Pentax could actually build market share by gathering DSLR users from platforms that are exiting that market and who would respond to a camera maker with a commitment to serving them. But if Pentax intends to do that, it needs to quit screwing around and get serious with a viable, transparent product roadmap and marketing strategy.
So long as they still make a GRIV with a flip up screen, I’m all good. I just want to shoot at waist level, I don’t even need anything extra. 😂
Pentax..huahahahhaha so 2008….
Leica..huahahahhaha so 1928
Ricoh just can’t/won’t dedicate to the R&D. At this point they need a partnership like the L-mount alliance. The Monster LA-KE1 adapter has already shown that Pentax lenses can be adapted to mirrorless to as good or better performance. I’m sure between Sigma and Panasonic, they could share tech to create one with a larger compatibility of lenses.
There are many who hope to see Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic, L-Mount Alliance, Leica and Minolta/Sony GONE! They only want to see Canon and Nikon and that’s it.
Sony obliterated Minolta from the face of the earth and slapped on Sony labels by the absolute hatred for Minolta from canikon users, transferred onto Sony. Sony too is treated like a pariah by many even after Sony gives them better cameras with better AF and video features than canikon. It simply doesn’t matter to canikon users because of the corruption of free cameras and lenses to pros, from Canon and Nikon.
Photography is about trends, and which maker is following the trends, and not whether they make a 645 camera system which is the peak of imaging technology. What matters is that 35mm is now trending in photography and free cameras for pros.