Pentax and Canon working together?!?!

[KenjiS]

http://photorumors.com/2010/07/08/some-pentax-rumors/

That last one caught my eye...

a. Pentax have really listened to feedback and made big changes, DFS can go bye bye for real. b. body is based on the K7 but slightly larger c. intended to compete with nikon d300s d. aimed at sports and action photographers, AF algorithms have been optimized for high speed and action (canon helped here alot). Pentax have had their 2 prototypes at the world cup this year. e. x-sync 1/250 but possibly up to 1/500 if electronic shutter is properly debugged. f. No AF motor for screwdrive g. pentax testing with 2 sensors one from canon the other from sony, both are 18mp decision is resting on final costs of production, if use canon sensor video performance same as EOS7D. g. no inbody stabilization (big shock!) but is it a coincidence sigma is releasing so many OIS lenses for pentax? h. new range of Pro* pentax zoom lenses basically DA* + OIS they will be black with red look very sexy and standout. h. single SDHC slot but optional battery grip will give second SDHC slow, pentax firmly against sdxc.”

Wow....just..wow

forgive me if this is in the wrong place..but I feel that since it insinuates Canon and Pentax are working together it might apply

[MrWho]

If that's true, some very enticing bodies will come from the partnership. Continue to add excellent lenses and we might have a "Big 3" in the camera world.

[tkbslc]

This is no more a big deal than Nikon using Sony sensors. It doesn't mean much other than Pentax doesn't make its own sensors so they need someone with a Sensor fab facility to buy them from.

[lukeap69]

Nikon appears to have optimised the sensors made by Sony. If Pentax can do the same, then that will be very interesting...

[Er1kksen]

Nikon appears to have optimised the sensors made by Sony. If Pentax can do the same, then that will be very interesting...

You mean like they did with the K-x? It already has been interesting. :D

As regards the original rumor: It would be great if this were true. However, it was originally posted by a new guy over at Pentaxforums who claimed to have the info from the world cup (where prototypes were supposedly being tested). He then posted an image supposedly from the new "pro" camera.

Then, the joke-of-a-pentax-blogger Rice High picked up the info from that thread and stuck it on his blog. Then photorumors and pentaxrumors picked it up and threads ran wild on DPReview.

And then someone noticed that the supposed image from the "pro" camera was in fact a doctored image stolen from another pentaxforums member. The whole story unraveled and it turned out the guy posting the rumors didn't know jack. He disappeared.

So, the rumor is just that: a rumor, and with not a shred of credibility. The opposite, really.

The rumor even got picked up by some tech news show on TV in Asia. Crazy.

[KenjiS]

This is no more a big deal than Nikon using Sony sensors. It doesn't mean much other than Pentax doesn't make its own sensors so they need someone with a Sensor fab facility to buy them from.

We're not just talking sensors..apparently Canon forked out some of their expertise in AF systems

Plus you know..black lenses with red..Sound familiar?

Wouldnt it be cool if Pentax and Canon's partnership resulted in a K-EOS adapter with full comaptability...Think of some of the cool Pentax glass!

And as stated above Nikon does do some tricks to Sony's sensors...Sony optimizes theirs for a very highly saturated look right off the sensor as well as ultra-resolution at low ISOs

Nikon optimizes things for better performance at high ISO and a bit less saturation (Though Nikon is still more saturated looking by default from my experience)

[frankchn]

I would say this is nonsense. The AF sensor and predictive algorithms are the "secret sauce" for Canon and Nikon - a major part of their appeal to sports photographers. I don't see why either of them should help any other camera maker with their algorithms.

[Er1kksen]

We're not just talking sensors..apparently Canon forked out some of their expertise in AF systems

Plus you know..black lenses with red..Sound familiar?

Wouldnt it be cool if Pentax and Canon's partnership resulted in a K-EOS adapter with full comaptability...Think of some of the cool Pentax glass!



There's no reason to believe there's any Pentax-Canon partnership. As I detailed in my earlier post, the rumor was practically fraudulent.

However, that doesn't mean that such a thing is impossible, and I would really like seeing a fully-functional K-EOS adapter. :D Unfortunately, it would probably only work with SDM lenses (which have been problematic for some) unless they could figure out a way to shoehorn a screw-drive motor into a thin adapter. And the aperture pin on most lenses can interfere with FF Canon mirrors.

[TweakMDS]

There's already a great "partnership" going on in my camera bag, between some Tokina glass (11-16, 35 macro and 80-400). Tokina is developed by pentax afaik, or they have a design partnership anyway. To me it feels like best of both worlds - in an affordable package ^^

[Er1kksen]

Tokina glass is great. :D Some of it is developed by Pentax, and some Pentax glass is developed by Tokina. I'm not aware of an official partnership, however, and they do many independent designs as well. One of the things that irks Pentax users more than anything is that of ALL the lenses in Tokina's stable, the 11-16 is not available for Pentax mount (in either Pentax or Tokina form). God only knows why; there's certainly a market.

[tkbslc]

In order for a partnership to be attractive, their would need to be something to gain by both parties. What would Canon have to gain from Pentax? I think Pentax makes some great stuff, but they don't really have anything Canon needs. I can see Canon selling a sensor to Pentax, but anything else is nonsense.

[NickSimcheck]

You know... I kinda like Pentax as a company. (has little to do with the topic)

They seem to let the major players pour their money into R&D and Advertising... while Pentax waits a year or two then releases a product of similar quality at a reduced price.

Pentax also likes to be different with their products as well. Nobody makes Pancakes like them, and nobody makes anything as unusual as the 31mm, 43mm and 77mm Limited lenses.

[Bodryn]

What I liked about Pentax is they made a DSLR camera, the *istDS, which would accept my existing stock of 35mm lenses that were previously used by 35mm film cameras like 2 Ricoh's and a Pentax K1000. I took some time exposures with it that could never have been done with my other (non-DSLR) digicams.

[Tom W]

In order for a partnership to be attractive, their would need to be something to gain by both parties. What would Canon have to gain from Pentax? I think Pentax makes some great stuff, but they don't really have anything Canon needs.

Pancake lenses.

[lukeap69]

Pancake lenses.

would be good for my 5D.

[CanonGarcon]

You mean like they did with the K-x? It already has been interesting. :D

As regards the original rumor: It would be great if this were true. However, it was originally posted by a new guy over at Pentaxforums who claimed to have the info from the world cup (where prototypes were supposedly being tested). He then posted an image supposedly from the new "pro" camera.

Then, the joke-of-a-pentax-blogger Rice High picked up the info from that thread and stuck it on his blog. Then photorumors and pentaxrumors picked it up and threads ran wild on DPReview.

And then someone noticed that the supposed image from the "pro" camera was in fact a doctored image stolen from another pentaxforums member. The whole story unraveled and it turned out the guy posting the rumors didn't know jack. He disappeared.

So, the rumor is just that: a rumor, and with not a shred of credibility. The opposite, really.

The rumor even got picked up by some tech news show on TV in Asia. Crazy.

Sounds like how the CR dork works. Posts silly rumors and doesn't know jack.

[CanonGarcon]

Pentax is in financial trouble. It's been losing money for years and the grandson of Hoya's (Pentax current parent company) has been critical of Hoya's aquisition of Pentax. Hoya tried to sell Pentax to JVC last fall, but the deal fallen through.

There has been talk about Canon trying to acquire Pentax, perhaps for the medium 645 technology.

[CanonGarcon]

You know... I kinda like Pentax as a company. (has little to do with the topic)

They seem to let the major players pour their money into R&D and Advertising... while Pentax waits a year or two then releases a product of similar quality at a reduced price.

Pentax also likes to be different with their products as well. Nobody makes Pancakes like them, and nobody makes anything as unusual as the 31mm, 43mm and 77mm Limited lenses.

Good business practice if you want to lose money.

[krb]

There's already a great "partnership" going on in my camera bag, between some Tokina glass (11-16, 35 macro and 80-400). Tokina is developed by pentax afaik, or they have a design partnership anyway. To me it feels like best of both worlds - in an affordable package ^^
Tokina and Pentax are both owned by Hoya.

[Er1kksen]

Pentax is in financial trouble. It's been losing money for years and the grandson of Hoya's (Pentax current parent company) has been critical of Hoya's aquisition of Pentax. Hoya tried to sell Pentax to JVC last fall, but the deal fallen through.

There has been talk about Canon trying to acquire Pentax, perhaps for the medium 645 technology.

Again, rumors that were a lot of talk and no substance. Hoya has turned Pentax profitable, the Hoya-founder's grandson was criticizing the timing of Pentax's acquisition just to use as an example to criticize what he sees as flaws in the current corporate structure of Hoya, and Hoya never tried to sell Pentax to JVC (as stated by Hoya officials). Heck, Hoya buying JVC is more realistic than JVC buying Pentax (if JVC weren't already bleeding money from Panasonic, anyways...).

The past few years have been a restructuring and minor renaissance for Pentax, they're turning a profit and holding strong with Hoya, and the "death of Pentax" threads have all but disappeared. Nothing to see here.

Canon acquiring Pentax is highly unlikely. All of the Canon-Pentax connections suggested so far (here and otherwise, including the sensor-sharing speculation) have been found to be based on pretty much nothing but a few crazy ideas in hopeful minds. It wouldn't be terribly difficult, if Canon so desired, for them to develop their own 645-format products, but why do that when they're doing so well in the high-end 35mm-format market? The more money they put into maximizing the profitability of their current range of glass and accessories (all designed for best use in the applications 35mm is best suited for, rather than MF) rather than buying Pentax (if Hoya would sell) or developing a 645 lineup, the more money they will make.

Also a clarification; Hoya does not technically own Tokina. They have a very close working relationship and Hoya likely holds a majority of Tokina stock, but they are seperate corporate entities.