OM System PEN Update: Ordered!

OM System PEN Update: Ordered!

October 2026, Carl Garrard

On the last article I did on the blog about the new Pen, I hinted at the fact that I would likely buy one myself, and I have. As I stated in that article too, I haven't been impressed with camera makers rollout items of late. Most mirrorless cameras are way too expensive, and have boring boxy designs that lack finesse and subtleties that are designed around the human hand. The new Pen looks like a well designed camera to me. It's not only the culmination of a wishlist that many photographers have wanted for the Pen series for years, it seems to be very carefully designed  for the human hand as well. It's the first camera announcement I've seen in years that has inspired me to buy it as soon as it was available for the market, and that is really saying something. 

The Digital Pentax I Wish Ricoh Would Build: My Concept

The Digital Pentax I Wish Ricoh Would Build: My Concept

October 2026, Carl Garrard

Ricoh recently announced that they are discontinuing all current K mount DSLRs and heading into a new direction with design. We'll see if they come through on that promise. Meanwhile, I have had a concept of what Ricoh should build in my head for at least couple of years now. A fully manual focus, digital SLR concept camera that would be a sort of Leica M equivalent with an SLR design instead. I have been asking/proposing/noting this on my blog for quite some time now, on Pentaxforums.com, DPReview.com, and other places in the forums hoping for that needle in a haystack chance that Ricoh would listen to my design concept. When they later announced they are discontinuing production on all K mount DSLR's, and going to do a completely new concept, my ears perked up. Recently I decided to get on my chatgpt account and make a visual concept of what I have in my head.