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Is Ricoh finally giving up on Pentax DSLRs and leaving the camera business?

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In a recent article on Japanese outlet Newswitch, Ricoh CFO Shun Kawaguchi says that the company is looking to essentially dump some of its business in order to be able to focus its time and money on more lucrative areas of the company. There was no explicit mention of Pentax, Ricoh’s own branded cameras or the Theta series of 360° cameras, although logically, they might be some of the first up for the chopping block – and probably in that order.

Pentax’s defiance of market trends and its steadfast refusal to enter the mirrorless market could be its downfall. Who could’ve seen that one coming, huh? Pentax proclaimed in 2019 that users would start switching from mirrorless back to DSLRs within 1-2 years. Well, it’s 2022, and that hasn’t happened. In 2020, they reaffirmed their commitment to DSLRs. And just last month, they released the entirely underwhelming Pentax KF – which is basically just a K-70 with a flippy-out LCD.

Ricoh has announced the new Theta SC2 entry-level enthusiast 4K 360° camera

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Well, the specs appear to be as disappointing as the leak suggested but the Ricoh Theta SC2 has now been officially announced. It’s a 4K entry-level 360° camera with 14GB of internal memory and no microSD card slot. But, the price actually seems to reflect the specs, coming in at only $299. The shipping date is a little sooner than previously rumoured, with units expected to go out on December 2nd instead of Friday the 13th.

Leaked photos and specs of the Ricoh Theta SC2 – Official announcement imminent

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I guess the Japanese don’t see 13 as an unlucky number, seeing how the latest rumour on the Ricoh Theta SC2 is that that Friday, 13th December is when it will begin to ship. An official announcement is expected tomorrow, the 19th, with pre-orders opening up at that time. What we do have though, are leaked photos and some specs for Ricoh’s upcoming new 360° camera. Overall, though, it leaves me feeling a little bit underwhelmed.

Millions of private photographs leaked in Ricoh Theta360 data breach

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vpnMentor reports that its research team discovered that Theta360’s photo-sharing platform has suffered something of a pretty major data breach. The leak, they say, has exposed at least 11 million public and private photographs on the system.

They say that while most personal information was not released, usernames, first and last names along with the captions were exposed in the database alongside the images. Images that many users had chosen to keep private.

Ricoh’s new Theta Z1 360° camera shoots 23MP DNG raw and can automatically erase you from the shot

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Coming out of CP+ 2019, Ricoh has today announced their latest 360° camera, the Ricoh THETA Z1. The new model expands on the previous Theta V with a number of new features, the most noticeable of which is the somewhat giant leap from 12 to 23-megapixel still images – which can now be shot in Adobe DNG raw format as well as jpg. It also features a new processing algorithm offering HDR, interval composite shooting for things like star trails, as well as bracketing for up to 19 shots.

Ricoh finally release 4K 360° camera with the new Theta V

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It’s been a long time coming, and one of the things that’s put many off buying into Ricoh for their 360° needs. The Theta S was, undoubtedly, a fantastic little 360° camera. But the lowly 1080p resolution was a big deal breaker for many. With other manufacturers coming out with their own 4K 360° cameras, Ricoh needed to catch up quick. And it looks like they finally have.

The Theta V shoots both 4K UHD 360° video as well as 12MP still photographs. As well as pre-recorded video, it also supports 4K streaming. It doesn’t state to which platforms it can live stream, but presumably at least the standard Facebook and YouTube. It also contains a built in 4 channel microphone, to provide “surround sound”.

How to make a tiny planet video with a single camera

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Over the years we shared quite a few little planet videos. Most involved building an elaborate gopro rig which can hold six cameras. Kinda like this one.

But, camera makers realized the potential in photographing at 360 degrees, they’ve started making dedicated 360 cameras. This means that instead of 3D printing (or worse, buying) a 360 rig, you can buy a small camera like the Theta S and only use one camera.

Ricoh’s new 4K Theta 360° VR camera announcement expected soon

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With the Ricoh Theta m15 showing as discontinued for a couple of colours on B&H, and the demands of VR and 360° camera users already increasing far beyond the 1080p limits of the Theta S, now would be a great time for Ricoh to announce a new 4K VR camera,

According to Pentax Rumours, that’s exactly Ricoh are preparing to do, and are expecting an official announcement could be made during Photokina in September.

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