[RonHendriks1966]

For future K-5 successor a more advanced flash on the body.

Coult there be a more advanced flash in the body? All brands at the time make the same kind of onboard flash. Coult it be possible to have it stronger, like flashpower 20 (instead of 13 it is now) and make it adjustable in power output in steps (p-TTL, 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64) and give it some kind of swiffle head.

This together with HSS and 1/250th sync would make a great extra that even may cost extra!

[Spare Tire]

Dear Pentax,
Gimme FullFrame.

k thanks bye

[asdf]

DA* (revision 2) line-up with new reliable motors.

[Mike.P®]

DA* (revision 2) line-up with new reliable motors.

DA* 16-50mm
DA* 60-250mm
DA* 55mm
DA* 200mm

No problem with reliability here. Yes I know a lot of people have had problems with the 16-50mm and 50-135mm but its very rare to hear about any of the others being faulty.

[asdf]

DA* 16-50mm
DA* 60-250mm
DA* 55mm
DA* 200mm

No problem with reliability here. Yes I know a lot of people have had problems with the 16-50mm and 50-135mm but its very rare to hear about any of the others being faulty.

Yeah, I own DA* 55 and DA * 300 but not DA* 16-50 and DA* 50-135 for a reason...

[RonHendriks1966]

DA* (revision 2) line-up with new reliable motors.

well couldn't hurt to have SDM-2 motor that is also faster in AF.

[Nasus]

1. Your Astrotracer doesn't need GPS or a compass - all the necessary data could be entered manually. So all we need is some firmware that allows us to enter some terrestial and celestial coordinates ( as simple as setting the correct date + time)
2. Alt/Az mounted telescopes need a fieldderotator for astrophotography. The K-5 features such a derotator. All we need is some firmware...
3. Cameras featuring an IR-cut filter are not suited for nebulae. Place it in a way like Sigma does to simplify removal.
3b) Offer some of these clip-filters like Hutech or Astronomik.
4. Sometimes its a bad idea to substract a single darkframe. Let the photographer decide when it's useful and when it's not - don't force a camera to take darframes although it's couterproductive

[WPRESTO]

I'd be happy with the following:

1) accurate AV metering for all K-mount lenses, not limited to the "A" series. (Althoough having just obtained a K5 body, I'm not sure I'd opt for a "K6" or a "KD-pro" right away)
2) at least one autofocus EDIF lens of 400 or 500mm, preferably a compact unit of f5.6 or 6.3.
3) a premium quality autofocus telextender of 1.5X to 2X that would fit any longer lens (=without the protruding lens elements of the excellent 1.4XL and 2XL Pentax converters). An ED 2X matched to the 200 f2.8 would be perfect; an ED 1.5X matched to the 300 f4.5 would be welcome.
4) Put the cable release plug under a tiny rubber protector identical to the one for the microphone port on a K5.
5) Better still: a metal shutter release button threaded to accept a good, old-fashioned, cheap, reliable, available everywhere in multiple lengths mechanical cable release. I have a container of these from 3" to 30" used back when I had an LX - all now worthless.

Pentax currently has too many lenses overlapping the zone from 50mm to 100mm (50mm f1.4; 50mm f2.8 macro; 70mm; 77mm; 100mm macro; 16-50mm; 17-70mm; 18-55mm; 18-135mm; 50-135mm; 50-200mm; 55-300mm; 60-250mm). How about a 200-450mm f4~5.6 EDIF?

6) AND, for use on any/all digital SLR cameras: a portable, battery operated high-resolution LCD screen, about 5" diagonal, with a standard RCA video input that could be attached via the AV output cord from the camera body to be used in Live View as an alternative to an angle finder for low-level work, especially macro. Ideally the screen would have a combination flash-shoe with tripod thread on a tilting mount so it could be attached to the camera body or atop a separate tiny, snap-out-leg tripod. Even better, equipped with a fold-open hood/magnifier like those on old TLR cameras (screen could be only 3" if equipped with a hood/magnifier). Some 7" portable TV's presently made could be used (some have RCA component, RCA composite, or USB inputs), but these generally have low resolution and are a little too big.

Walter

[kevinschoenmakers]

This has been beaten to death, but pretty please a DA*24mm or something in that neighborhoud. F2ish, sealed, DA*55 size or thereabouts. Hmmmmm.

[Docrwm]

Dear Pentax,

Please educate your online sales people about what you sell. I wrote into PentaxUSA and asked about a -3 diopter viewfinder attachment that you make and they knew nothing of it and couldn't be bothered to look into for me. VERY poor CS IMHO.

[MattBotan]

Dear Pentax,
I would love it if you could make an analogue looking, weather sealed DSLR. It should have a metal body and somewhat resemble the MX or K1000; It should have a shutter-speed dial like old manual cameras but with an added A position, it should have only the most basic functions like WB and saturation and only P,Tv,Av and M modes - you would get P if you had both the lens and the shutter-speed dial set on A, Av with only the shutter on A, Tv whit the lens aperture ring set on A, and M by selecting values on both the aperture ring and the shutter-speed dial. It shouldn't have a popup flash. It should have a classic cable release thread. It should meter well with all lenses (that means including K and M lenses). An the most important spec...it should be FullFrame. Autofocus is not mandatory but not rejected either.
I would also suggest a new, weather sealed, wide-normal prime to go with the camera above. It should be fast, or at least f2. I was thinking of something around 45mm for full-frame or 30mm for crop sensor. It's design should go with the camera above and it must have an aperture ring with A position on it.
Anyway, I sincerely hope that one day you will come up with something that will be pretty close, if not better than what I suggested here.
Thank you.

[_quicksilver_]

Dear Pentax,

Please make a FF camera with small sized, weather sealed body in uncrippled KAF mount.

I know you can do it.

Call it digital LX, MX, K1 or whatever.

[maxfield_photo]

With the release of the Q and the leaked photos of the NC-1 it seems that the company is moving away (at least in the short term) from SLR cameras. So I have a "Dear Pentax":

Dear Pentax,

In the scramble to create a cute gadget camera that will appeal to the photographic newcomer, please don't forget about the serious photographers who would love to see a professional SLR somewhere between the K5 and the 645D in terms of price and features. Let's have:
Full Frame
More autofocus points in a wider array
Better continuous autofocus
A 100% optical viewfinder
Tethering
You may also want to consider a more robust strobe as a companion to the camera. I don't care as I shoot with monolights and a metz potato masher when I need portability, but there are a lot of strobists out there who wouldn't even consider Pentax solely based of the lack of features of the current AF540. I would look at radio TTL, higher sync speeds, and even pocket wizard compatibility.

Don't let this "Dear Pentax" turn into a "Dear John".

[valarie]

Because buying used that means taking your chances on a DSLR sans any warranty at all that may or may not work as well as it could. Cameras with computer chips tend to wear out a lot easier than those without. You may buy a 4 year old camera, sans any real warranty of course, get a month's use out of it and one day that's it. The computer chip gives out and you basically have a pretty doorstop on your hands and you're out $300-500 and stuck because it would cost a small fortune to get it fixed.

Not everyone needs a camera that does video and high iso. Some people just want full manual mode, the ability to change out lenses, and a camera that takes excellent pictures. For some of us, students in particular, all those bells and whistles can actually be pretty distracting. Yet, we still need our camera to be a DSLR because many schools out there have gone fully digital and because using film to learn with is getting a lot harder and a lot more expensive depending upon where you live.

I'd personally kill for a $300, no video, no high iso, fully manual DSLR that's new, has a warranty and a decent sensor that has about 10-12 MP. Buying used that doesn't actually save you all that much money unless you're willing to settle for a camera that's half a dozen years old and that's got at most 6MP, a camera that could last you two years, or maybe two seconds....

I've actually looked and almost every camera in the 10-12MP range with a basic lens that's not at least 4 years old would still cost me nearly as much as a K-x, sometimes even more. On top of that you get a 60-90 day warranty MAYBE, so why should I go that route? Seems risky to me.

Still, I can't really afford the K-x I'd like to get either because $500 plus is a real reach for me. So here I am still using an older film SLR, and paying out the nose for film, lab costs etc. I'm not saying that's bad. I'm learning a lot and at least I can change out lenses and such, but it is more expensive and not nearly as convenient in the long run than using a DSLR as my main camera.

If Pentax actually had a no frills $300-350 DSLR I'd be on it like a hungry tick on a wet dog. But by "no frills" I don't mean a camera that's got less in terms of picture taking quality. I don't want the "worst" camera on the market. I just want a camera that has a few less "extras" but that can still shoot great pics. I still want Pentax quality at a slightly lower price tag, that's all.

To me that's what auto mode, video and extremely high iso are really, nice "extras." Sure, I'd like them but I can live without them and if it would save me a few bucks in terms of a truly entry level DSLR, I'd gladly forgo them so long as I can still buy new and get that warranty. They could make a quality $300-350 DSLR sans video and high iso that students the like would salivate over and not sacrifice a bit of the quality they're known for.

IMHO, it's about time they did. All those classrooms out there are going digital and all those ubiquitous K1000's are going to need replacing with something. Why not a brand new $300-350 Pentax? It's a far better choice than a $350-400 used Canon Rebel if you ask me...

FYI, I've actually been looking very seriously at a number of older Pentax DSLR cameras including the K10/20, K100/200. Go look at the prices here in the market and on sites like KEH for those used and tell me that just getting a K-x eventually isn't the more practical choice really.

I really wish I could just plunk down $450-600 for a new DSLR, but well under $300 is actually about my limit right now and I can't actually hardly find a decent used camera that's not from before 2005 that costs that or less. That's actually lot of money for me right now. I'm actually not too comfortable about spending hundreds of dollars for a used camera that likely might quit on me and that I won't have a warranty for. That DSLR, I'm saving like a miser to eventually be able to grab one as it is. Last thing I want to do is go used, and have it die before I even get half a chance to use it. I figure waiting till I can afford $500 is what I have to do, but it would surely be easier to get that DSLR if they made a new one that better fit the budget.

Film schools still demand you buy a K1000, or the plastic all manual SLR. What teachers need is a DSLR to replace them.

[Real Engineer]

Hey, they listened to me...except for the K7 part...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/15728-dear-pentax-26.html#post761695