You will remember in the last year's show in Japan, Mr.Torigoe, the head
honcho of imaging System Div gave an interview regarding the K mount lens
and its future evolution etc.
This time, he offer somewhat broader view of their future plan in Photokina.
His interview is obviously peppered with upbeat, positive and very confident
tone, saying that the whole company is now motivated unlike last Photokina
when Pentax were somewhat losing the sight.
If I have time, I try to translate this interview (or perhaps DPReview might
do so anyway), but list some snippets here.
Q. K series digital is the main line, right?
A. K series digital will continue to "high end".
Q. Does that mean the MF (645) Digital?
A. No. It is going to be the K mount. But I wish to pre-empt you.
High-end does not necessarily mean FF. It means we are preparing to launch
a flagship model.
Q. Considering the naming pattern, is it going to be K1D?
A. It's surely a K series camera. K1D could be one candidate but the name
may not necessarily be K1D. I do not want to cause any speculation here so
we want name it here, but it could be any name such as K20D or K30D etc.
But the point is that we will launch more models so that our customers have
a firm upgrade path.
Q. K100D is a very popular model but the short supply of lenses is really a
problem.
A. Indeed it is, and we are fully aware of it. Making lenses lead-free was
taking time, and there was a period when Pentax was struggling.
Q. Specifically how are you going to increase the lens lineup?
A. In the new lens road map, 10 lenses are shown, which will become
available in 2007. However, we know these are too small a number. We are
going to launch far larger number of lenses. Our origin is optics, and we
are determined to accelerate our lens offering capability now. We are in
the process of completing such capabilities in response to the needs by
customers.
Q. Are there any quantitative targets or goals?
A. Sony are said to announce additional 21 lenses. This is a very ambitious
plan. However, we wish to do more than they do. I cannot tell you any
specific target now, but the determination exists and I intend to proceed
with more restructuring to beef up the lens development capability.
Q. Collaboration with Tokina?
A. It will of course continue. Important thing is Pentax are changing.
Staff motivation is so high that the traditional top-down management is now
changing into bottoms-up. We are now talking about the lens dream.
nur die gelben Linsen-Preise sind wirklich ärgerlich...