[Fl_Gulfer]

If the K-5 is a K-X WR and a few improvements to the Video Mode I'll take 2.

[Christopher M.W.T]

Whoever said 16mp is on the money. Obviously there is more to the camera though

[civiletti]

The reason I have not bought a K-7 is the sensor. It lags behind the competition in resolution and dynamic range. If the K-7 Super resolution equals similar-priced Nikon and Canon dslrs and its dynamic range equals the K-x, I'll buy it.

[dnaseigel]

If the K-5 is a K-X WR and a few improvements to the Video Mode I'll take 2.

You won't have to spend so much money.

[eurostar]

The reason I have not bought a K-7 is the sensor. It lags behind the competition in resolution and dynamic range. If the K-7 Super resolution equals similar-priced Nikon and Canon dslrs and its dynamic range equals the K-x, I'll buy it.

Similar priced Nikon and Canon have LESS resolution than K-7. Much more pricey Nikon D300S has still less resolution than K-7 (12 mp vs 14,6). Only the Canon 7D has more resolution than the K-7, among the APS-C, and costs more.

[zackspeed]

haha.....ever the same.......lower resolution?
should try the k-7 with high class optics and compare with eos 50,eos 7 and nikond90.
ofcourse not with the pentax jpeg startup pictureprofile.
little tuneup or in raw........no problem for the k-7 to be better than eos 50 sometimes.
my best photofriend is using the eos50,he shoots in raw.
mostl i use tuned jpeg,we have the same resolution.
i have the better colours,he have higher contrasts....and so on and so on......no,the resolution is higher than the most
practicle use is the point.

[philbaum]

FF is not a "pro" tool. "Pro" is a category where very different professions are put, and different professions means different needs. The term "pro" camera is mostly used by amateurs, "pro" simply used a tool that fit their needs. Many people use a car professionnally but would you call a car "pro" ? Cars are with more or less luxury, power, confort, cargo load, reliability, but there is no "pro" category.

The same goes for cameras, most of the professional photographers I met use APSC SLR cameras because your average "pro" photographer doesn't earn that much from this profession. FF cameras are becoming increasingly propular among wedding photographers because of better low light ability and (usually) better AF, but sport photographers in fact are not that all for FF, Canon's high end is still APS-H and those photographers see it as an advantage over FF (better reach)

Other specialities (Architecture, Landscape, Fashion) were considering 35mm film as low end during film days. Now most are using digital (not always FF) SLR because of cost issues and the fact that imagge quality is much higher than during film days. But MF and LF are still considered higher end.

Journalism is in a crisis and most photo-journalists are struggling to make a living of it. You would be surprised to see how many of them are using Canon 7Ds and Nikon D300(s) and older APSC cameras.

Art photography which is the domain I'm most interested in, have not given up on film, only a minority of the artists I have attended exibitions are using digital. Now when you look at what they are using, it ranges from Lomo 35mm film toy camera with outdated film, or hand made pinhole cameras to the largest Large Format camera they could find (I believe the negatives from this artist were A4 sized, anyway the massive print were detail porn)

So at the end of the day, saying "FF is pro", is showing that you don't much about contemporay photographical landscape. In fact, the people who own the most gear are weathly amateur who buy cameras instead of exepensive cars (why not ?) Leica is the paramount of that, many artists are still using their film cameras, but Leica makes a livng from vey wealthy amateurs. And that's not to say anything against Leica, since they are still making some of the very finest glass around.

I agree with ghelary. We have 3 professionals in our 70 member camera club, one is still using a spotmatic (but has a nice contract to decorate a hospital, one is shooting a single Nikon APS camera with a coupla lenses and using them for weddings, senior photos (probably can't afford to upgrade to a D300, much less a FF), the third professional teaches photography and is using an aps camera as well. The only owner of a FF camera in our club is a retired amateur with a Sony A900. There are 5 Pentax dslrs in the club, none of them newer than a K20D. There's only one person in our club thats been talking about upgrading to a FF, and now thats on hold for personal reasons.

I've got nephews and nieces that have lost jobs, others are not buying anything now for fear of more layoffs. so my question is: where is all this money that's going to pay for the new FF cameras that Pentax is going to come out with.

Sure, there will be a Pentax FF eventually, but i don't see any business reason to bring it out this year. Europe's economys as well as the US are mostly on shaky ground the last i read.

I would like to have an upgraded Kx with a QUIET shutter. good AF wouldn't hurt oh yeah, a plugin for a shutter cable. FF is not going to happen this year.

[Braddokovik]

Hey there ppl... My first post!

Been checking out the forum for ages for tips on lenses etc...

A K-7 with an updated version of the KX's sensor and engine as well as a few other tweaks (eg. 1080p movie mode etc) would doubtlessly be a winner... Probably just stating what has been done on previous pages, too lazy to read...

Hows about an affordable WR standard prime to go with it?

[WMBP]

Hey there ppl... My first post!

Welcome!

Hows about an affordable WR standard prime to go with it?

A fast (at least f/2.8) weather-sealed prime in the 24-30mm range would jump to the top of my must-have list.

Will

[arpaagent]

I bought K-7 at launch (US$1300 ouch!), and it has been fulfilling most of my photographic needs alongside my trusty K200D (which still pumps out awesome images). There is pretty much no hope for me buying another APS-C camera at full launch price unless there is something unexpectedly spectacular about it.

I would buy into either a Pentax FF system or a nice compact APS-C rangefinder style camera.

- Either would need to be WR so it is suitable for use in many outdoor environments and treks.
- FF of course would need to maintain K-mount compatibility.
- The compact could adopt a new mount for compactness, but will certainly need a K-mount adapater for when portability isn't an issue.
- I don't care about video. If it is there, great, but hopefully it won't ruin good sensor output because of extra circuitry on the sensor or whatever.

I know nothing about rumors of the pentax models but just piping in about how pentax could get my $$$.

[Nimrad]

I'm already investing in full frame lenses, but FF with higher res is not enough for me to purchase a new camera at this time. I will need considerably better low-light performance and I'm actually happy with 16MP FF. And please, pentax, include a GPS that auto-tags! Many pentaxians are travellers(light-weight, compact and robust system) and we ache for geotagging our photos in an easy way. There are no problems with battery life on current dSLRs anyway!

[philippe]

I agree with ghelary. We have 3 professionals in our 70 member camera club, one is still using a spotmatic (but has a nice contract to decorate a hospital, one is shooting a single Nikon APS camera with a coupla lenses and using them for weddings, senior photos (probably can't afford to upgrade to a D300, much less a FF), the third professional teaches photography and is using an aps camera as well. The only owner of a FF camera in our club is a retired amateur with a Sony A900. There are 5 Pentax dslrs in the club, none of them newer than a K20D. There's only one person in our club thats been talking about upgrading to a FF, and now thats on hold for personal reasons.

I've got nephews and nieces that have lost jobs, others are not buying anything now for fear of more layoffs. so my question is: where is all this money that's going to pay for the new FF cameras that Pentax is going to come out with.

Sure, there will be a Pentax FF eventually, but i don't see any business reason to bring it out this year. Europe's economys as well as the US are mostly on shaky ground the last i read.

I would like to have an upgraded Kx with a QUIET shutter. good AF wouldn't hurt oh yeah, a plugin for a shutter cable. FF is not going to happen this year.

I am a professional for 30 years now and shooting, besides a whole lot of marvelous but aged analogue gear, a K20 and a bunch of DA limited lenses.
I am currently working on three books for two publishers (book number 41 it due for September) certenley not the best payed jobs, oh no, but I do like it.
The things I can do with this 'simple' equipment does not have to under do compared to what the so called super Canikons can do.
The way the pictures are shot are the first 25 % of the job, the sensor is an other 25 %, the lenses are 25% too and the resting 25% is what you are able to do in Post Processing. No, not the 'tricking' in PhotoShop, just the plain and essential work that can be done intuitively in Light Room (or Aperture). And, of corse, a lot of experience I had the chance to acquire in the analogue times plus the even so essential 'Fingerspitzen-gefuhl'.
I am happy that the (arriviste-) amateur is buying all that over priced top of the notch gear, this is giving a chance to the manufacturers to pay for the R&D, controlling production costs and to survive the long lasting economical crisis.
The Pentax stuff pleases me, not only due to their qualities, but also because of their low-profile imago, keep it simple…

[frank]

Pentax will announce:

K-5: a K-7 replacement w/ improved CMOS sensor, video capability, and more
K-y: a K-x replacement w/ some features only seen on K-7, and more
M4/3: Pentax' own mirrorless camera
And a bunch of P&S DCs w/ even fancier lookings than I-10 and H10

Pentax will announce:

K-5: a K-7 replacement w/ improved CMOS sensor, video capability, and more
K-y: a K-x replacement w/ some features only seen on K-7, and more
M4/3: Pentax' own mirrorless camera
And a bunch of P&S DCs w/ even fancier lookings than I-10 and H10

Frank, is this wishes, guesses or inside information? If it is true, it's not excatly what I was expecting. I thought that one DSLR was supposed to come between K-x and K-7 and not replace K-x. Also, I'd hoped that the EVIL Pentax would be APS-C and not µ4/3. Or is that an EVIL-like general name for a mirrorless construction?

[Christopher M.W.T]

Pentax will announce:

K-5: a K-7 replacement w/ improved CMOS sensor, video capability, and more
K-y: a K-x replacement w/ some features only seen on K-7, and more
M4/3: Pentax' own mirrorless camera
And a bunch of P&S DCs w/ even fancier lookings than I-10 and H10

k-y