[janneman]

Hmm, I think you're being too pessimistic here. The K-r has a higher intro msrp in the US, but as far as I can tell from dpreviews articles on both cameras, the msrp for the K-r in the UK is exactly the same as for the K-x a year ago.

Here in Norway, I see that online (and brick&mortar) retailer japanphoto.no already has the K-r in its internet shop for NOK 5990 with the 18-55. That's a bit more expensive than the K-x a year ago (5299 then), but seems perfectly reasonable given that they still offer both the K-x (now 4499) and the K-m (now 2999).

And please , there is such a thing as inflation, things do get more expensive////

[Ash]

And please , there is such a thing as inflation, things do get more expensive////

One can only hope that income increases at least at the same rate as inflation to be able to keep up with LBA and BBA!

[LFLee]

LOL... those who say AF is not important... because you do mostly MF....

I remember I told myself that I will never buy a car with auto-transmission as manual-transmission give me much more control ... 10 yrs ago. Now... I drive auto and laugh at myself. Now, if your car auto-transmission have problem or slow, people just complains (why not?).

technologies improves and yes, if Pentax sell camera at a price they used to be, I won't complain much about AF speed. If they start selling camera and lenses at price comparable to Canon and Nikon, why can't we demand the same AF speed from Pentax?

[NightPorter]

It's sound your comment is very reasonable.
Yes, Pentax needs to do much more works in their DSLR performance(AF system, ISO......etc) for such a high price

[Ash]

LOL... those who say AF is not important... because you do mostly MF....

I remember I told myself that I will never buy a car with auto-transmission as manual-transmission give me much more control ... 10 yrs ago. Now... I drive auto and laugh at myself. Now, if your car auto-transmission have problem or slow, people just complains (why not?).

technologies improves and yes, if Pentax sell camera at a price they used to be, I won't complain much about AF speed. If they start selling camera and lenses at price comparable to Canon and Nikon, why can't we demand the same AF speed from Pentax?

I'm not so sure this is a sound argument IMO (sorry).
Yes technology improves, but Pentax addresses a niche market that combines technology with practicality and legacy. The screwdriven lenses are driven by a basic technology with small mechanics (difficult to improve) that is limited by AF algorithms (can be improved somewhat). I'm sure if we got into the details of screwdrive AF technology we will see what our limitations are in terms of speed and accuracy.

This is not to excuse Pentax's lagging AF performance - simply to put it in perspective. Now SDM technology - that's a different ball game. Here is where A LOT of improvement should occur and ought to occur for more customer confidence.

So it's much more beyond the MF/AF issue, and more to do with marrying legacy with technology, which in some cases are extremely difficult (damn crippled KAF2 mount). We can demand better performance, and this is good for competition and corporate success, but either appreciate the available technology of the brand or move onto a different brand, where technology is clearly more advanced (and you obviously have to pay for it!)

[Eruditass]

LOL... those who say AF is not important... because you do mostly MF....

I remember I told myself that I will never buy a car with auto-transmission as manual-transmission give me much more control ... 10 yrs ago. Now... I drive auto and laugh at myself. Now, if your car auto-transmission have problem or slow, people just complains (why not?).

technologies improves and yes, if Pentax sell camera at a price they used to be, I won't complain much about AF speed. If they start selling camera and lenses at price comparable to Canon and Nikon, why can't we demand the same AF speed from Pentax?

I still drive manual-transmission because it does give much more control. Particularly over gas mileage. This includes auto-transmissions with true manual override. I can get nearly 25% more gas mileage by near-full throttle short shifting.

Maybe this reflects what I do nowadays. I've been egging Pentax on to get improved AF, particularly predictive AF. I also would not mind more (but more importantly smaller) focus points that are accurate to smaller depths of field.

With this, I have a dual-split-image focus screen with a magnifier because I have tons of manual lenses. If they drop compatibility with manual lenses, I'd be highly upset.