[Richard Day]

I haven't voted because the first option is contradictory (typical RH). The D60 is not a modern body as it doesn't have Live View, it's a minor upgrade on the D40x, whereas the Canon 450D, 1000D, Sony A300, A350 and Oly 420 and 520 all offer it.

If Pentax introduce a low level entry point body (which I'm convinced they will), it will have to be a modern entry point body with Live View (whatever we may think about it) to bring P&S users into the fold. Pentax cannot afford not to do this.

Unless Pentax utilise a similar approach as the fubar version of LV that Sony has used on their A300/350, this will probably mean a CMOS sensor will have to be employed, where it comes from is anyones guess and will mean that the K200D will have to be updated too (as covered in my last two paragraphs).

New users are the life blood for future sales and it must appeal to them, time has moved on and they want LV, a basic retro model could be a luxury Pentax can do when they have that entry point covered, as indeed they did with the MZ-M back in the film days.

I spent some time in a major main line photo store yesterday that was promoting DSLR's, and buyers were going for Canon, Oly and Sony models rather than the Nikon D60 mainly because of no LV and of course the cost. The K200D, or even the K20D, were never asked for, or even demonstrated, though both were on the shelves, albeit very well hidden among several lenses (no Pentax glass) whereas the other makes had their own showcases with lenses.

It may well be that Pentax don't wan't to be in the mix with the other brands in the high street, but if not, I feel they will struggle to hold on to the small market share they have at the moment unless they do something innovative with their marketing. Unfortunately it is very expensive to re-educate the public into a different way of thinking. Tough choices.

Sadly however, I suspect they will attempt to follow the market in the main with a entry point model but (maybe initially) without LV, just to give them the breathing space to fit a CMOS sensor into the replacements. It will probably have to be the 14.6MP K20D sensor as well, in order to have something better than Sony or Canon as both are still pushing the MP race, even 10MP these days is seen as last years specification.

Using this sensor across the board may not be such a stupid thing to do provided the bodies have enough differentiation with regard to controls, fps and buffer size and speed. It would help to make manufacturing costs lower due to increased production runs. It would also remove the challenge of sensor supply from Sony.