[monochrome]

It is a hard call if you want/need new items... but I'm not sure it warrants the gloom and doom.

If my K10D is an indication my K-1 and KP should last at least a decade. My new lenses should last just as long. My 60’s and 70’s manual lenses will mount to a good FF MILC and produce fine image files.

The only real reason to worry about Pentax ceasing is if you plan to or need to sell your gear.

[Larrymc]

How many years and years did Nikon shooters wait for the D500 to replace the D300s ? When Nikon gave them the D7000, the users squawked even more than some here when Ricoh/Pentax gave us the KP... and R/P don't have Nikons r&d budget or production faciities.

All things considered, with the availability of what we can buy on the street at the moment, and roadmap, the advanced amateur / hobbiest or landscape photog should be able to do just fine. If you are a pro sports pro sports photog, you have prolly moved on a long time ago and not part of the current user base. I don't see an issue here.

Vote with your dollars and your feet, but all this hand wringing about copying what other companies do as a must-have to survive just seems foolhardy. If R/P is happy with current profits and sales pace, and they will keep the camera division alive, I'll be happy enough. Meanwhile we may be watching all the lemmings go over a financial cliff while they fight among each other for early adopter dollars of people who have to be constantly on the buying cycle.

It is a hard call if you want/need new items... but I'm not sure it warrants the gloom and doom.

Well said!

[normhead]

It is a hard call if you want/need new items... but I'm not sure it warrants the gloom and doom.

Ya, that's pretty typical, if you're feeling the need for something new, take out a lens you haven't used for a while, you'll feel better. I put together a one bag kit yesterday. K-1, DA* 200 and 1.7 AF adapter, 28-105, Rokinon 14 2.8, 100 macro and 55 1.4. Do I really need anything but those lenses? What's not covered? I could happily survive with that set. And while a bit heavy, it's quite manageable. I'm not sure what Pentax could release that would make me desire something else.

The doom and gloom is hard to understand with level or coverage.

[biz-engineer]

Do I really need anything but those lenses? What's not covered?

You are uncovered from 14mm to 28mm! You need the DFA15-30, yet, you'll still have a 1mm hole between 14mm and 15mm .

[reh321]

I'm not sure what Pentax could release that would make me desire something else.

In May 2015 my Canon Rebel died; our budget was stressed at the time, so month later I purchased a used-like-new {shutter-count=3} K-30 for roughly $250. Eighteen months later, Pentax released the KP .... our budget was in much better shape, but I couldn't justify "retiring" a perfectly good camera with so little use on it, even for such an obviously superior camera, so I wasn't bothered by the decision "of necessity" I had made the previous year, because I knew I could purchase a KP anytime that became important to me.

Now, at age 70, I am thinking in terms of "one last camera" - when I purchase a camera, I will assume that nothing will follow it. I could purchase a KP right now, but I would second-guess myself if Pentax announced a 'superior' camera {within my budget} six months later - so I will "sit on my wallet" for awhile until their directions become clearer. I will continue to get the fine service from the K-30 that I have been getting, but Pentax won't get my money quite as soon.

[Mountain Vision]

How many years and years did Nikon shooters wait for the D500 to replace the D300s ? When Nikon gave them the D7000, the users squawked even more than some here when Ricoh/Pentax gave us the KP... and R/P don't have Nikons r&d budget or production faciities.

All things considered, with the availability of what we can buy on the street at the moment, and roadmap, the advanced amateur / hobbiest or landscape photog should be able to do just fine. If you are a pro sports pro sports photog, you have prolly moved on a long time ago and not part of the current user base. I don't see an issue here.

Vote with your dollars and your feet, but all this hand wringing about copying what other companies do as a must-have to survive just seems foolhardy. If R/P is happy with current profits and sales pace, and they will keep the camera division alive, I'll be happy enough. Meanwhile we may be watching all the lemmings go over a financial cliff while they fight among each other for early adopter dollars of people who have to be constantly on the buying cycle.

It is a hard call if you want/need new items... but I'm not sure it warrants the gloom and doom.

I have to say this is one of the more logical responses I've seen. I think the reason some of us expect a K-3II refresh is Pentax was first and foremost a APS-C (and medium format) company until the K-1. The K-1 was/is a great camera but it isn't a K-3II update and neither is the KP. Nikon on the other hand always (or at least for significantly longer) offered a full frame lineup.

The K-3II is a good camera but in terms of IQ it fell short of expectations compared to the overachieving K-5IIs. A lot of people with K-5II chose to skip the K-3 upgrade path and will happily upgrade when pentax releases the next generation APS-C flagship. Unfortunately the KP is not quite that camera.

[D1N0]

Ya, we, really want to know what you don't see. Thanks for sharing. I don't see any sun today. I wonder if that means it's gone forever.
If everyone starts listing things they don't see, hey how about oxygen... there's my contribution...

You find it perfectly normal for a camera maker not to talk about new camera's. I don't. We are different people.

[MarkJerling]

You find it perfectly normal for a camera maker not to talk about new camera's. I don't. We are different people.

Camera makers don't talk about their next model much, for fear they won't be able to sell their current model. I don't think that's a uniquely Pentax/Ricoh issue.

[D1N0]

Camera makers don't talk about their next model much

most of them have a new model to talk about though

[reh321]

Camera makers don't talk about their next model much, for fear they won't be able to sell their current model. I don't think that's a uniquely Pentax/Ricoh issue.

In the past, Pentax has been willing to give hints of the sort "We have started working on a K-3 replacement" and "We are focusing on K-mount" {when asked about MILC } - both from the CP+ interview earlier this year. Even Adam indicated he felt they were usually taciturn this time ..... they weren't even willing to repeat the previous hints.

[6BQ5]

In May 2015 my Canon Rebel died; our budget was stressed at the time, so month later I purchased a used-like-new {shutter-count=3} K-30 for roughly $250. Eighteen months later, Pentax released the KP .... our budget was in much better shape, but I couldn't justify "retiring" a perfectly good camera with so little use on it, even for such an obviously superior camera, so I wasn't bothered by the decision "of necessity" I had made the previous year, because I knew I could purchase a KP anytime that became important to me.

Now, at age 70, I am thinking in terms of "one last camera" - when I purchase a camera, I will assume that nothing will follow it. I could purchase a KP right now, but I would second-guess myself if Pentax announced a 'superior' camera {within my budget} six months later - so I will "sit on my wallet" for awhile until their directions become clearer. I will continue to get the fine service from the K-30 that I have been getting, but Pentax won't get my money quite as soon.

My friend, at age 70 should be thinking how many more wonderful cameras you will own between now and age 95!

[reh321]

My friend, at age 70 should be thinking how many more wonderful cameras you will own between now and age 95!

That's basically what my wife says ..... but even she has to admit that the end of our hikes through woods is closer than the beginning {we've been married 39 years; our first walk was roughly 41 years ago}.

[MarkJerling]

most of them have a new model to talk about though

Example?

[MarkJerling]

...they were usually taciturn this time...

Business as usual then.

[D1N0]

Example?

o please