[Zygonyx]

Well the best time to do it is when demand is high if there are sufficient stocks remaining. Typically in CE a lot of items go clearance directly after christmas with new items hitting the shelves by February (January is a very soft month by the time returns come out of sales). I remember January and early February as being very tight times for stock and selection in most categories. Hopefully there are enough Kr's kicking around the supply chain to cover sales potential until the new model launch.
At this point there isn't a lot to be had by rushing a new model to market because it will hit shelves to late to take full advantage and it will lose value in the new year.

I agree finally, and there are quite a lot of "multi-painted" K-r for sale on e-bay !

[Philoslothical]

Yes. Diminishing stock is the general pattern before a new model is announced. Announcing the new model kills sales of existing stock, so it makes sense that they'd want to do it that way, but of course there's a lot of lost potential sales in cutting it too close.

Announcing that the current model is discontinued will kill a lot of sales, too. This is what gets me, if they wanted to sell off existing stock, I'd think it would be easier to just keep quiet until Pentax announced it themselves. This may turn out to be bad form on B&H part to jump the gun on this.

[RonHendriks1966]

Announcing that the current model is discontinued will kill a lot of sales, too. This is what gets me, if they wanted to sell off existing stock, I'd think it would be easier to just keep quiet until Pentax announced it themselves. This may turn out to be bad form on B&H part to jump the gun on this.

Lowering a price is also a good way to get people to buy that camera finally now it is within reach of their budget. Where not all buying camera's at the day they can be put to pre-ordering (I do).

[elho_cid]

Announcing that the current model is discontinued will kill a lot of sales, too.

Remember, there is no official announcment. It is just a rumor.

[Oog]

I'm hoping for some sort of "all in" move by Ricoh. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have something, even half the amount of, what happened in the 1970's with the K-series, and then M-series, cameras and lenses?

From Bojidar Dmitrov's site: Features and Operation of the Original K-Mount

"From the very beginning Pentax demonstrated that they are very serious about the new mount — just in 1975 they released three camera bodies, 27 prime lenses, and four zooms. All of these were members of the K series, and while some were based on M42 equipment, many were totally new. In 1976 the K-series equipment fell out of favor, and only one camera body and four lenses were introduced. The reason for this was the introduction of the smaller and lighter M-series bodies and lenses. In 1977 only two K-series zooms lenses were produced, while the M-series equipment picked up speed — a top-of-the-line body and 17 lenses."

Is Ricoh "serious" about the K-mount? Only time, will tell....

[RBellavance]

This is pure, unadulterated speculation on my part, but maybe the 12MP Sony sensor is now basically impossible to get. AFAIK, the K-r is the only current camera still using it.

[RonHendriks1966]

This is pure, unadulterated speculation on my part, but maybe the 12MP Sony sensor is now basically impossible to get. AFAIK, the K-r is the only current camera still using it.

Could also be the case that all ordered sensor modules are now found their way into that K-r body and thus stopping production is the only way.

[Interlink]

From where i stand it seems quite a lot like they're saving up for something.
The K-5 will probably generate more money with the great price reduction atm, but the K-r... supposedly not.
Concidering both the cameras are headed towards (and past) the end of the life cycle, my best guess is a major ramp up for a productlaunch.
Might be a combination of the K-r and K-5 as the little brother for the long awaited fullframe, but then again, that's just what i'm hoping for.

Been planning to upgrade my K-x for either the K-5 successor, 5D mkIII or D800, but only time will tell which of 'em that'll be the most intresting.

[KungPOW]

I agree that it is strange that Pentax (Ricoh), has discontinued the K-r.

For the past couple of years, Pentax had been overlapping the out-going camera with the new camera, in an effort to make it look like a 4 camera DSLR lineup. It was not until the incoming camera's price dropped, that the old camera was discontinued.

I expect the new overlords are going to run the show a bit differently.

And can we stop making K-Y and K-9 jokes about the name of the new body? it is soooo tired.

[jimr-pdx]

May it have the k-r sensor, WR and a flip screen - that would be the camera for me!
Sony must dump those 12Mpixel sensors to make way for their 24/36/?? megamonsters.
But if it must be 16M, I'll accept that

[RioRico]

And can we stop making K-Y and K-9 jokes about the name of the new body? it is soooo tired.

But still appropriate, along with K-O, K-P, K-101, etc.

[aurele]

Sony must dump those 12Mpixel sensors to make way for their 24/36/?? megamonsters.

usually more pixel mean more noise so, i hope Pentax won't go that way of the Mpx run

[causey]

usually more pixel mean more noise so, i hope Pentax won't go that way of the Mpx run

Everybody will go that route. They'll do it takes to sell more cameras.
But K-5's ISO performance is better than that of K-x. Let's hope the new Pentax cameras will be even better.

[RBellavance]

usually more pixel mean more noise

It does not: http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Publications/DxOMark-Insights/More-pixels-offset-noise!

[Supernaut]

I hope that new high mp sensors will feature some pixel binning function to make reduced size RAW files with options of reduced noise, increased DR etc.