[zackspeed]

Hope it will be FF. If it won't, I would sell everything: I want 31Ltd being 31mm lens. DA Ltds and * primes are shitty lenses I don't interested in.

Hmm...you did not read my post.....NO 35mm Camera...........
i say glood bye

[gazonk]

No,not a direct replacement.
More a push up maybe

As in push-up bra ? It may indeed need more feminine attributes : I don't know how well the K-r is selling, but after holding one the other day I'm wondering if they made a mistake replacing the well-received "feminine" design of the K-x with some of the "masculine" design elements of the K-5.

Judging by some of the luke-warm reviews, I guess they also need to increase mp count and video capability. I'm wondering if it would hit K-5 sales if they used the same sensor?

[Supernaut]

Hmm...you did not read my post.....NO 35mm Camera...........
i say glood bye

Not meaning to disrespect your inside information, but do you really thing that your Pentax rep. know if there is a 35mm around the corner and if they knew is free to talk to you about it?
Unless you have some real insight in what is coming and if you knew, you would not be allowed to talk.

[ogl]

I'm interested in new lenses...Pentax made only 1 lens for the last years which I like.
DA*55/1.4.
Not bad DA*200 and DA*300 - but it's not my range.
I'd like to see new DA* lenses and fast limiteds.

[Kunzite]

Pentax made only 1 lens for the last years which I like.
DA*55/1.4.

Do you have it?

[the swede]

Do you have it?

He has a FA 77 though

[glanglois]

small funny thing - P&S with interchangeable lenses
new and bigger - EVIL APS-C
new one for the actually line - K-r replacement

Matches my inside info (created inside my head).

While not a loser, the K-r has been damned by faint praise and user complaints, at least on this forum. The K-X set high expectations.

I think it's time for the K-r/X class to get another jump ahead or morph into a "new" line that occupies roughly the same price point.

The earthquake/tsunami may have slowed the industry in general but I've not seen anything significant about Pentax specifically. Perhaps it's an (unwanted) opportunity to make a move on Nikon, at least in terms of timing.

As always, we'll wait for six months and post about your predictions, Ogl. It's always a good time on a glum day.

[rparmar]

I think it's time for the K-r/X class to get another jump ahead or morph into a "new" line that occupies roughly the same price point.

As always we'll see incremental improvements but the cameras will lack the main features that make the top line so appealing: weather-sealing, focus adjust, two wheels, quiet shutter and so on. To do anything different would eat sales of the better models and Pentax will not do that.

[glanglois]

As always we'll see incremental improvements but the cameras will lack the main features that make the top line so appealing: weather-sealing, focus adjust, two wheels, quiet shutter and so on. To do anything different would eat sales of the better models and Pentax will not do that.

Right, Robin. If the top of the line doesn't keep moving up, the second tier has no place to go.

The other factor is "good enough". At some point a system, whatever it is, has enough function that consumers turn in another direction entirely for improvement.

[lesmore49]

I already have a 12-24mm and use it for architecture stuff. Had to buy a Tamron 10-24mm because I wanted a wide with little distortion (very good lens, BTW)

Wish Pentax would come out with a 8mm or 10mm to 18mm to 24ish f4, that would be awesome !!!!



wll

I have the 12-24 and almost bought a Sigma 10-24 but didn't. I do like the little bit of distortion....which I can get with careful use of my 10-17 Fisheye.

Thought of the new Sigma 8 to something.

[zackspeed]

Not meaning to disrespect your inside information, but do you really thing that your Pentax rep. know if there is a 35mm around the corner and if they knew is free to talk to you about it?
Unless you have some real insight in what is coming and if you knew, you would not be allowed to talk.

....

[Emacs]

Hmm...you did not read my post.....NO 35mm Camera...........
i say glood bye

I guess it wouldn't be good for Hoya: I still need some zooms, some long tele and macro. I would buy them this summer but I'm waiting for their new stuff and won't buy anything in case it still will be crappy camera. Moreover, I wanted to buy 645D (with kit lens) + D FA 25 in the end of the year. But no FF ⇒ no 645: buying 645 would mean I'm satisfied with Hoya decisions.
Yes, I'm not going to switch to anything: I'm not satisfied with Canon and Nikon primes, pentax ones IMO are way better, and I'm mostly prime shooter. And I like using AF, so mount Ltds to canon or leica is not an option.

[rparmar]

Right, Robin. If the top of the line doesn't keep moving up, the second tier has no place to go.

For the points I mentioned there is no realistic room for improvement. The top-of-the-line model will not add a third control wheel so the lower models will never graduate to two. The top-of-the-line cannot be even more weather-sealed or have an even quieter shutter (doubtful) etc. So in all of these regards the second-tier bodies will stay exactly as they are now.

The other factor is "good enough". At some point a system, whatever it is, has enough function that consumers turn in another direction entirely for improvement.

Indeed. And in most ways the cameras are already there. Which is why the race for ever-escalating high ISO values is on. It has very little to do with improving photography but is easy to measure. Rather reminds me over the megapixel wars of yesteryear -- glad those are over. Ditto with increased video features... as though an SLR will ever be as useful as a dedicated video camera.

Somehow in all of this fuss the need for ergonomic, usability and IQ improvements are forgotten. You never get people in these threads asking for any of a great number of useful (though not flashy) features that would make the cameras better tools for photographers. Some of these are deficiencies that have been there for many generations.

[NaClH2O]

snip

Indeed. And in most ways the cameras are already there. Which is why the race for ever-escalating high ISO values is on. It has very little to do with improving photography but is easy to measure. Rather reminds me over the megapixel wars of yesteryear -- glad those are over. Ditto with increased video features... as though an SLR will ever be as useful as a dedicated video camera.

Somehow in all of this fuss the need for ergonomic, usability and IQ improvements are forgotten. You never get people in these threads asking for any of a great number of useful (though not flashy) features that would make the cameras better tools for photographers. Some of these are deficiencies that have been there for many generations.

I think the next big push will be for higher DR, we've already seen the start of that with the K-5, but I think the competition will get fiercer.
The trouble with ergonomics is that they are too nebulous. For one thing, something that one person likes, another won't; and in addition there is no way to measure ergonomics. Additional features have the same problem. Obviously you don't care a lot about video functionality but there are many that do. And I'm sure that there are features you want that others could care less about.
Eventually digital sensors will equal film in DR. Once that happens most movies will become entirely digital.

NaCl(but I can say that I wish that pentax would upgrade it's flashes)H2O

[rparmar]

The trouble with ergonomics is that they are too nebulous. For one thing, something that one person likes, another won't; and in addition there is no way to measure ergonomics.

That's not true; HCI, ergonomics and industrial design are well-studied disciplines. Putting two buttons too close to each other is bad design because one might be accidentally pressed when aiming for the other. Not having positive feedback is bad design since it reduces affordance. Changing control placement on different models is bad because it forces the user to re-learn. And so on.

I have summarised Ten Interface Design Principles on my blog (and a reader added an eleventh I thoughtlessly omitted).

Obviously you don't care a lot about video functionality but there are many that do.

Actually I am happy to have high-quality video on my SLR since this means I don't need to buy another device. Plus I can leverage my lens investment. But the truth remains that the use and desired features of a video camera are simply not the same as that of a still camera. In the former you need pull focus in the latter not. In the former you need a large monitor, in the latter not. The former needs to print a high bit-rate stream of relatively low res images while the latter needs to print at a lower rate higher res images -- which is why DSLR sensors overheat... they are being shoe-horned into being used for the wrong purpose. And so on.

In short, a DSLR can make a reasonable video camera, which in fact they already do. But to make further improvements means turning them into a different device... a video camera. And apparently we already have those. In fact Panasonic and Sony have their micro four-thirds cameras to market, blowing away what was previously possible and allowing any lens from any manufacturer to be freely used.

Pentax cannot compete with anything like that. So instead they'll just keep adding glossy features for bean counters and magazine reviewers. I totally understand this but am not impressed by it.

NaCl(but I can say that I wish that pentax would upgrade it's flashes)H2O

Or better yet, Metz. Weather-sealing, rubber guards and two soft buttons would improve the 58 AF-2 nicely.