[Tom Lusk]

He's going to sign autographs... Is that a new product?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[janneman]

The latest hints dropped from someone to be in the know and at the lunches (not Benji this time) said we should be expecting the new body in the new year. So the next few days is really not very likely at all.

Any references to announcements within the next few days is probably regarding Sony, not Pentax.

As has been proven correctly, but if the new body will be released next year, it will most likely be announced one of these days. There si a few montsh between announcement and release, probably to wet our appetite.

Based on timeine I do NOT think the soon to be announced camera will be the K10D successor. That one is announced about one year ago and got o the market later. I doubt a new release will be announced within say 16-18 months of the previous model announcement. More likely to be a higher or lower specced body or a new line

[regken]

In all of these threads about what Pentax may or may not bring out there is one topic that is never brought up and that is what Hoya is thinking. I've been involved in a few buyouts so I tried to put myself in the shoes of the Hoya CEO to see what his thinking might be.

“We bought Pentax for the other division and the camera division was just a tag a long. The people in the camera division are the ones that forced us to pay more than we wanted but it is making a profit so we should be able to recapture some of that extra expense. There is no way I'm going to let them spend some of that profit on a risky venture like the 645 so I'll have them cancel that project.

The K100D super and the two new lenses are all but complete so I'll let them bring those to market. As for spending any more money on new items that will not happen. We need that extra profit to offset the higher price we paid. The K10D and K100d are positioned at a good price point so we should be able to ride the present offering for another year. We will just skip a year of new models and if they are still making a profit in October of 2008 they can add a new body and more lenses then. If the market has become so competitive by then that the camera division isn't making a nice profit I spin it off to Samsung or somebody else and recoup some of our purchase price.”

That sure sounds like what I'd do if I were him. I'm glad my K10D and old glass will keep me happy for at least 18 months because that is how long I think it will be before we see anything new.

Regards,

Ken

[Kunzite]

I'm glad you're not him. That would mean killing Imaging Systems and sell it to Samsung for 2 cents

[Chako]

regken is thinking along the same lines as I am. I don't see any new products out for a while.

[vinzer]

I really wouldn't mind the sale to Samsung, as long as the sale also includes transferring Pentax engineers to Samsung (like what Konica-Minolta did for Sony) and the K-mount stays intact. The good thing about this is that Samsung doesn't overprice their products, unlike Sony.

[equinox]

regken is thinking along the same lines as I am. I don't see any new products out for a while.

I do not agree unless your time line is 4 months. The K10D is discounted by a large margin in the USA for the last month???(Someone can correct me)

In Canada there was a huge drop in price AND if you look on EekBay, you will see other Photography shops selling it for $649.99CDN. So this camera in one week went from $999.99 to as low as $649.99.

This was brought to my attention on the Evil forum you guys all know and love....

Just my small input on this entire new camera angle for what it is worth if anything.

[philmorley]

Hi, there was a lot of talk earlier in the year about a model between the k100 and the k10 (ie k50?), then a model above the k10 (k5?) and then a much higher again next year (k1). But with that price drop it doesn't leave much room for a k50ish without ditching the k100 (which has only recently been reborn as super). But to try and be an optimist it does set things up nicely for a k5ish camera to be brought out at say $899-$999 and it could still be announced in a couple of weeks, released early november with enough time for christmas. Of course it could just mean that pentax have too many cameras and want to sell more, or it could mean nothing at all

(and it doesn't mean anything regarding when lenses are going to be released

[mattdm]

I think that if we see a new camera this year, the most likely thing is the step-above-the-K10D. But honestly, I'm not so sure how well that'd do in the market unless it is both super-awesome and super-well-priced. (The K10D is certainly both, and while it's no slouch it's not breaking the top sales lists either.)

The other possibility (and hey, maybe both, if we really do see two totally non-replacement bodies this year as was strongly hinted) seems to me to be a camera aimed *below* the K100D Super -- made to sell at around or even below $300. Not sure how they'd pull this off or if the margins can support it at all in the real world, but if Pentax doesn't do it, Nikon or Canon will sooner or later.

[lol101]

As in every change in a company (and a fusion-acquisition is a pretty drastic change...) the new top management begins by scrutinizing the ongoing projects and decide which lives (the one that are vital and profitable for the company) and the one that die.

I think the "announcement" of two NEW DSLRs in 2007 was a tentative to attract the attention on this activity and show they had great plans and were very dynamic.

Has the new management tagged along with those plans or were they postponed/canceled? I don't know but the time is certainly very short now to be able to take any new DSLR to market for the hollyday season (which was the intent if I remember well).

Either Pentax has an excellent NDA with everyone (absolutely no leak as to new products...) or they don't need to have one (no new products...)

By the way, where are the DA*200 and 300 that were due in september? I would gladly get the 300...

[lol101]

I really wouldn't mind the sale to Samsung, as long as the sale also includes transferring Pentax engineers to Samsung (like what Konica-Minolta did for Sony) and the K-mount stays intact. The good thing about this is that Samsung doesn't overprice their products, unlike Sony.

Transfering Japanese engineers to a Korean society might pose some problems...

I work in the french car industry (yes, yes, the french do have a car industry...) and I can't really imagine German engineers being transfered (as whole units) in case of a french-german buyout... or the other way around...

A bit silly but sadly true....

[stewart_photo]

(snip) I work in the french car industry (yes, yes, the french do have a car industry...) (snip)

And a very fine industry it is. I've owned a Citroën in the past and a Peugeot scooter at the moment, both of which stand out in some regard over most other vehicles I've owned. In the case of Citroën BX-19GT, it was the comfortable ride at high speeds either on the autobahn or on winding backroads. And, of course, the Peugeot Satelis 125 Compressor (turbo) is simply a work of art, as beautiful to look at as it is fun to ride.

stewart

[lol101]

And a very fine industry it is. I've owned a Citroën in the past and a Peugeot scooter at the moment, both of which stand out in some regard over most other vehicles I've owned. In the case of Citroën BX-19GT, it was the comfortable ride at high speeds either on the autobahn or on winding backroads. And, of course, the Peugeot Satelis 125 Compressor (turbo) is simply a work of art, as beautiful to look at as it is fun to ride.

stewart

You just made my day !!

You guessed it! I'm currently working in the R&D motor department at Peugeot-Citroën!

(I could have been working for Renault... !!)

[and]

Speaking of who... has been a while since mr benji posted anything

[thibs]

But he said he is under NDA, didn't he?

So, What is the usual you make poeple sign an NDA? 6 months before release?
I don't think so. something's gonna happen in the short/medium term otherwise I see no purpose for any NDA.