Would you buy a K-1 EVF?
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter December 3, 2025
Should Pentax follow Leica into EVFs?
Ricoh Imaging continues to pile up sales and revenue wins, and that continues to validate its “Workingman’s Leica” strategy, filling the same niches as Leica, but at a quarter of the price.
Both companies have flagship lines based on legacy viewfinder and focusing technology. Both offer black and white only versions of those flagships. Both offer new film cameras. Both offer fixed lens compact cameras so popular they appear to be made of pure unobtanium: The Leica Q3, and the Ricoh GR series. Leica has offered a Q series Monochrom for years; the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is coming in the spring.
So Ricoh Imaging’s Workingman’s Leica strategy has brought sales and revenue and profit growth. Does that mean it should echo Leica’s latest step and introduce a K-1 EVF? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Elsewhere this week, Site Supporter Hektor45 shows off his Pentax SL; New Member Freez gets all bubbly bokeh with the Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Domiplan 50mm F2.8; and Junior Member Super645 likes the Pentax ME F so much that he bought two!
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the more than 1,500 Pentaxians who have subscribed to our free curated compendium of the hundreds of great images and post shared each week in our Pentax community. Please let us know your thoughts here in the comments and on our Pentax Forums, and have a perfect Pentaxian week!
Threads of the Week:
November 26, 2025 • Welcomes and Introductions • 7 replies • 121 views
RScottie said — I am from northeastern Kentucky and have played around with being a photographer since Jr. High. In Junior High, I took the Photography Class as one of my rotating elective classes and really loved it. I became the School Photographer which I carried ... Read more »
Nuke and repave online photo collection
November 29, 2025 • General Photography • 8 replies • 299 views
madison_wi_gal said — I have been using Lightroom classic for years to organize my photos, and I use the publishing feature to get them to Flickr where I bought a membership so I have pretty much unlimited storage That being said, I look at other people’s Flickr accounts and there’s two kinds of themes, one is places and events, and the other is specific lenses (and some people might do both). i’ve got a lot of junk up there and lens tests and some curated vacation pictures and some I dumped all 300 up there just to get them published. Read more »
November 29, 2025 • Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras • 14 replies • 286 views
Hektor45 said — This is a gorgeous camera by my standards except for a problem with the mirror which won’t return with low shutter speeds. Someone on Facebook suggested the sticky foam on the mirror could be the reason. I will send it to a shop for a CLA. Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Third-Party Pentax Lenses
Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Domiplan 50mm F2.8
Reviewed by New Member Freez
Review Date: December 2, 2025 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 8
Pros: Bokeh Cons: Minimum focus distance
Sharpness: 7 Aberrations: 7 Bokeh: 10 Handling: 8 Value: 10 Camera Used: Sony A7 IV
Nice little lens. Two main features of the lens - soap bubble bokeh and low price.
The main disadvantage - minimum focus distance, 0.75m (photo). But it can be easily fixed by macro rings or adapter with built-in helicoid.
Pentax Cameras
Pentax ME F
Reviewed by Junior Member Super645
Review Date: November 12, 2025 Recommended | Price: $700.00 | Rating: 8
Pros: In focus assistance, build quality, retro design. Compact
Cons: maligned as a derivative of the ME Super.
A truly underrated camera that deserves more kudos than simply being a derivative of the ME Super. I have two MEF’s, one I use as a ‘go to’ camera (silver) coupled usually to an FA 77mm limited and the other I purchased mint in box (black) along with all the paperwork, warranty card, user’s manual in Japanese etc. and plan on keeping it that way. The MEF deserves its own place alongside the great range of Pentax cameras produced in the same era. Pictures taken with the MEF.
Comment of the Week:
Dartmoor Dave on Would you buy a K-1 EVF?
In brutal terms of what would make the most profit over investment for Ricoh, a much better option than a K-1 EVF would be a new camera in the GR series with interchangeable lenses, plus a new mount and an EVF. The GR series sells out as fast as they can make them, and a GR with a couple of interchangeable pancake lens options -- say a 28mm and a 40mm to start with -- would surely be a winner.
Would it leech sales away from the existing fixed lens GR line? I don’t think it would. It would bring in new customers who want that GR magic but with interchangeable lenses. And of course a K mount adapter would be inevitable.
Would you buy a K-1 EVF?
The Best of Pentax Forums Dec 3 Poll
Ricoh Imaging continues to pile up sales and revenue wins, and that continues to validate its “Workingman’s Leica” strategy, filling the same niches as Leica, but at a quarter of the price.
Both companies have flagship lines based on legacy viewfinder and focusing technology: Leica with its M-series rangefinders, and Pentax with its K-Mount dSLRs. Both offer black and white only versions of those flagships: Leica with M-Series Monochroms, and Pentax with the K-3 III Monochrome.
Both offer new film cameras: Leica, the M6, and Ricoh, the Pentax 17. Both offer fixed lens compact cameras so popular they appear to be made of pure unobtanium: The Leica Q3, and the Ricoh GR series. Leica has offered a Q series Monochrom for years; the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome is coming in the spring.
Lately Leica has even returned the favor and joined the imitation game. In 2021 Ricoh launched a second version of its wildly popular GR III fixed lens compact with its 28mm (equivalent) lens. The GR IIIx was the exact same camera, but with a 40mm (equivalent) lens. Last year Leica followed, launching the Q3 43, a 43mm (equivalent) lens younger sibling to the 28mm (equivalent) Q3. Which has also proven to be a hit.
So Ricoh Imaging’s Workingman’s Leica strategy has brought sales and revenue and profit growth. Does that mean it should echo Leica’s latest step and introduce a K-1 EVF? In October Leica announced the M EV1; basically, an M11 with the Q3’s electronic view finder. Should Ricoh follow suite, replacing the K-1’s – or the K-3’s – optical viewfinder with an electronic one?
Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know why you do what you do in the comments!
This poll closes December 9
And here are the results of the last poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Project 52-13-49: Texture of Time, 11/30 - 12/7 (Sunday): Texture of Time invites you to photograph the quiet stories written on the surfaces around us — rust creeping across metal, paint peeling in lazy curls, moss softening old stone, or the graceful wear of objects that have lived a long, useful life. Look for evidence of aging, weathering, growth, decay, or simple daily use. Anything that shows how time leaves its mark is fair game. Let the details do the talking… and most of all, have fun.
And here’s Loyal Site Supporter BertieK’s entry: Floor-K-3iii Mono DFA 21/2.4
PentaxForum Front page stories Nov 19-Dec 2:
The Making of “East River Valley Sunset Squall”
How the winning photo of the “Panorama” contest was made
By mattb123 in Photo Contests on Nov 26, 2025
I’m fortunate in that I live in a scenic area and I love landscape and nature photography. I’ve found daily (or at least as frequent as possible) excursions to nearby locations to be good for my head and sometimes even pretty successful in terms of the images produced. Creative and compositional skills are similar to athletic ones in that to be at your best, you need to get out there and train. So I try to keep my photo skills sharp with regular exercise.
Would you buy a K-1 EVF?
Ricoh Imaging has followed Leica into monochrome and film cameras; should that continue with the M EV1?
By cjfeola in Photo Industry News on Nov 30, 2025
Ricoh Imaging continues to pile up sales and revenue wins, and that continues to validate its “Workingman’s Leica” strategy, filling the same niches as Leica, but at a quarter of the price.
So Ricoh Imaging’s Workingman’s Leica strategy has brought sales and revenue and profit growth. Does that mean it should echo Leica’s latest step and introduce a K-1 EVF? In October Leica announced the M EV1; basically, an M11 with the Q3’s electronic view finder. Should Ricoh follow suite, replacing the K-1’s – or the K-3’s – optical viewfinder with an electronic one?
Announcing “Lights” - Our December 2025 Photo Contest
Win prizes in our official monthly photo contests
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Dec 1, 2025
We’re herewith announcing our monthly photo contest for December. The theme for this month is Light: Capturing the Beauty of Illumination.
This month’s topic “Light: Capturing the Beauty of Illumination” invites you to explore the magic of illumination in its many forms. From the warm glow of seasonal decorations to the brilliance of artificial light sources, to the effect on its surroundings.
First prize is a $50 gift card to B&H Photo, second prize is a one year forum account upgrade, and third prize is a box of photo paper form Red River.
The official contest rules are found here. Click here to submit a photo for the contest.