Pentax K1 Mark III: What Ricoh Should Do Next

Pentax K1 Mark III: What Ricoh Should Do Next

March 2023, Carl Garrard

As I put the finishing touches on my K3 Mark III part IV and V articles, I wanted to take a quick break and discuss what I think should be Ricoh's next move. Slowly over the last eight years or so Ricoh has done a decent job bringing in modern optic full frame lenses for their apex full frame cameras. From ultrawide to macro to super telephoto, they have at least one Pentax branded lens representing each category with their zooms, and they also have a few choice primes being sprinkled in there as well. While modern lens lineup isn't that robust, there are many used options from the full frame film days as well. The point being, Ricoh have enough lenses to support a K1 Mark III as is, and it wouldn't take much for them to kick out a few more choice full frame modern optics either. With that said, I'm not fortune teller but if there was a way to bet in Vegas on what Ricoh are working on currently, I'd throw my money down on a K1 II successor. 

Photographic Central's Future

Photographic Central's Future

March 2023, Carl Garrard

Just shy of nine months ago a career pivot has dominated more of my personal energy and time than I had forecast, thus making for less personal time to complete review projects here on PC than I'd ultimately like. Bread on the table is my number one priority, and something of which I'm sure readers here can relate and understand completely. With that said, I want to mention that I have multiple projects started on older and newer cameras alike and they are all simultaneously in the works. Now I'd love to have nothing but free time to complete all of these projects, especially some that are most near and dear to me, but life doesn't always work out as we plan. Saving any suspense, I have no plans of shutting down my site or to stop writing reviews and articles about camera gear and photography, quite the opposite in fact.

DPReview Shutting Down: Burning A Historic Library

DPReview Shutting Down: Burning A Historic Library

March 2023, Carl Garrard

WTF. That was the first thought I had when I read the headline DPReview was shutting down, as I'm sure many others shared a similar train of thought. I don't know the real reasons for the shut down of the internets largest community of photographic related content and users. Layoffs and cutbacks are not reasons I accept in this case, I repeat, I do not accept this and neither should you. DPReview could easily be sold through crowdfunding, to a highest bidder, the list of alternatives is staggering. And yet, Amazon is just wiping 25 years of information, contribution, wisdom, sharing, you name it... right off the grid. That takes a pretty soulless decision to do something like that, its the equivalent of burning the Vatican or another historic library right to the ground. This news shocked me in a way that hit my core being, and to the point that I couldn't find the words to describe how I was feeling or what I actually wanted to say. Well a good nights sleep is good for the brain and I woke up today pissed. 

Nikon D800 Review: A Legendary Nikon DSLR

Nikon D800 Review: A Legendary Nikon DSLR

March 2023, Carl Garrard

Back in November of 2022, I wrote a small piece about my four favorite Nikon DSLR's. Some of my opinions have changed a bit since then, and some have remained. The reason for these changes is due to spending more quality time with those cameras in that article. I have also added a few more Nikon DSLR's during that time as well. So yeah, I've been busy shooting with a lot with Nikon gear in the last couple of years. And through trial and error I have also continued to fine tune my lens lineup as well. I've ironed out what I want each camera to do for my photography. Much experimentation has resulted in setting up my Nikon's DSLR's with an ideal combination of custom configurations and settings. And during that process something wonderful has happened... an increasing understanding, respect, admiration, and appreciation of the Nikon D800. As it turns out, the D800 happened to be quite a surprise all rounder- something I didn't understand it to be when I first purchased one. NIKON D800 Used Prices