[dadipentak]

" I Kr is approaching the end of the service ordered, the color order . I want to soon! the way , will end on 09 December 2011"

I love haiku!

[Adam]

If you look at B&H's stock: pentax k-r

It seems that now you can only get the K-r with either the 18-55 or both the 18-55 and 55-300, but not the 50-200. At adorama, the black body-only is gone, as are the colored lens kits, but the other kits are still there.

So that whole december 9th date is starting to look realistic as maybe a last shipment date or something like that? I'm not sure what they're thinking discontinuing the K-r before the holiday season...

[Mistral75]

(...)
So that whole december 9th date is starting to look realistic as maybe a last shipment date or something like that? I'm not sure what they're thinking discontinuing the K-r before the holiday season...

No possibility to buy additional 12 Mpixel sensors from Sony?

[piledon]

Wow. Crazy. With nothing to replace it? Not a good approach to business, IMHO.

[eddie1960]

I'd guess the planned replacement announcement is CES at the beginning of January. It's quite possible that due to the Thai flooding of a Sony sensor assembly plant that they cannot get stock of the sensor at the moment and have simply used all they had.
Not necessarily good for those looking to buy right now, but for the retailers and Ricoh it's nice not to have to blow out remaining stocks at a deep discount. Of course that assumes the new model is going to be ready to go by the new year and not just announced. sitttng until march for a new model would not be good if the only thing out there is the K5

[Steinback]

I know that my local dealer was unhappy with the last low end body transition (K-x to K-r). He had picked up a bunch of stock through a Pentax dealer incentive program and then the replacement body was announced before he had a chance to sell them. Letting the K-r sell out over Christmas and then getting a new body next year would probably be better for him.

[calculator01]

I can't be caught using a discontinued camera. Guess I will go buy a K5 now.

[eddie1960]

I can't be caught using a discontinued camera. Guess I will go buy a K5 now.

God Forbid LOL it's like getting caught in last season's fashion

[thecozmiester]

if Pentax makes a DSLR with auto-focus during video i will stick with them forever! other wise ill consider Nikon. i love Pentax and i couldn't imagine leaving this wonderful community but i need better video. they need to put some fancy unnecessary features in there mid level cameras to attract the amature and "i have a fancy camera" photographers.

[sjwaldron]

if Pentax makes a DSLR with auto-focus during video i will stick with them forever! other wise ill consider Nikon. i love Pentax and i couldn't imagine leaving this wonderful community but i need better video. they need to put some fancy unnecessary features in there mid level cameras to attract the amature and "i have a fancy camera" photographers.

A joke maybe?

AF with video recording sure seems like a fancy feature that videographers don't use. If the camera did have AF while recording, would you like the noise that the mic would naturally pick up? Even the DA* 55mm f1.4 with SDM has a high-pitch noise when it does AF, it would probably not be too noticeable in the audio though.

I've been using the K-5 and K-7 video modes a lot. I'd of course like direct shutter speed and ISO control, but overall they are pretty strong at video. Exposure compensation and AE-L make the video mode pretty usable.

[Kunzite]

Yodobashi (Japan) also list several K-r variants as being discontinued.
Well, sooner or later they had to do it, right?

[nightjockey]

Its a shame they are discontinuing the K-r since it is such a highly rated camera by the press and users alike. Having said this the trend in photo and electronics to update everything every few months by having new releases means discontinuing some products is inevitable. I bought a K5 in January and whilst I'm extremely happy with it, recognise that the camera is due for a bit of a face lift.

The question I ask is does it matter if you own a camera that has been discontinued? The answer is no so long as you are not disadvantaged by a withdrawal of compatible lenses, flash etc and the camera still meets your needs. It is foolish (in my opinion) and expensive to constantly upgrade simply for the new camera on the block. Upgrade when your camera fails to do what you want it to do.

Lets hope Pentax bring out a stunning replacement for the K-r that users can aspire to own/upgrade to when the time is right.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

if Pentax makes a DSLR with auto-focus during video i will stick with them forever!

Word to the wise: It's best not to mention a desire for video with continuous AF in any DSLR forum...it brings out the worst in some people. Very similar to the way people used to act all offended at the idea of putting any video features in a DSLR. Afterall, a DSLR is supposed to be a serious photography tool...not a camcorder.

For the record, I would also like to have the option...option...for AF during video recording. I mean, how could somebody be opposed to it, as long as it was an optional feature that can be enabled/disabled?

[Edgar_in_Indy]

A joke maybe?

AF with video recording sure seems like a fancy feature that videographers don't use.

Well, it's possible that there are a few K-r users who don't fancy themselves "videographers", and would just like to be able to take a casual in-focus video clip of their kids when their kids are moving. Kids do tend to do that occasionally.

[RonHendriks1966]

Who knows, maybe there is a replacement next week???