The Path to Pentax’s Survival Is to Mirror Sega

Ricoh Imaging recently revealed to PetaPixel that it was having a difficult time figuring out how to make the DSLR popular among a wider group of people, admitting that the current fan base of the brand wouldn’t be enough to keep it afloat. I argue the best route forward is to pull a Sega.

While they exist in different industries, the histories of Pentax and Sega are pretty similar. Sega, like Pentax, was once one of the biggest names in its industry, producing both consoles and games (like Pentax makes both cameras and lenses) for decades. However, by the late 1990s, Sega’s console sales were waning. The Sega Dreamcast, its final console, did not meet sales expectations despite cuts to the sale price that eliminated Sega’s ability to make a profit on it.

By the year 2000, Sega’s president and other key executives made the decision to abandon console development and move strictly to develop its gaming software for other, more popular consoles, eventually also leveraging its IP to remain afloat. Sega’s decision to exit consoles wasn’t universally popular within the company, but the choice likely saved the brand from completely collapsing under the financial burden of trying to compete with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

Suddenly, the success of those competitors also became the possible success of Sega.

I see a lot of corollaries between Sega and Pentax. Pentax, which wants to continue to make DSLR cameras, probably shouldn’t. While there are photographers who enjoy a DSLR and like what Pentax has created in the last decade, there are not a lot of photographers who actively seek out a DSLR over other options — especially not now, when mirrorless technology has shown to be vastly superior in basically every way.

I like DSLRs, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to choose them over a mirrorless camera. That philosophy is what Pentax is currently struggling with on a global scale.

Beyond that, DSLRs are by their very nature large and bulky, at least compared to compact mirrorless options. Ricoh Imaging told us that it wants to find a way to make DSLRs more appealing to young people, and the size of the camera is going to be a sticking point for many. While they can be compressed somewhat, there are always going to be larger because they need to leave space for a mirror box and pentaprism — they can only get so compact.

“When considering the Pentax brand, focusing solely on current customers will not sustain the brand. The engineers are researching and making a strong effort to answer what a DSLR system camera should be which will attract the younger generation. That is the discussion we are having internally,” Ricoh President Yasutomo Mori told PetaPixel.

I argue that Pentax should consider doing what Sega did. Just as Sega decided to make software for other consoles, Pentax should develop lenses for other camera mounts and abandon camera manufacturing.

Pentax makes great lenses. If it were to join the L-mount alliance and also design lenses for Sony, photographers would once again find themselves interested in a brand that they probably haven’t touched in decades — if ever. That is exactly Pentax’s stated goal; I just removed the biggest barrier it faced to achieving it: the DSLR.

A great place to start is if Pentax takes its existing optical formulas and adapts them to work on mirrorless cameras. It would require minimal development costs and would provide the immediate ability to sell to a much larger audience than Pentax currently has access to.

Want to appeal to younger photographers? Go to the systems those photographers are using.

It will be a long, hard, and likely impossible road to maintaining the K mount and growing it, especially with all of the factors working against Pentax. Just as it was not a universally popular move inside of Sega to leave console manufacturing, it won’t be universally loved inside of Ricoh Imaging to leave Pentax camera development.

But it’s the smart business decision.

Image credits: Elements of header photo licensed via Depositphotos.