Originally posted by nosnoop It has been speculated widely that Pentax Press conference has been scheduled on Jan 24 for their big pre-PMA DSLR announcement (and also the embargo date for NDA).
In previous years, manufacturers would try to schedule big announcement on different days to maximize media coverage. E.g. 40D and D3/D300 announcement was separated by 3 days. Now, it looks like Canon decided otherwise and would do the same on the SAME day as Pentax:
Rumor: Canon Announcing Digital Rebel XTi or EOS 5D Successor Jan. 24
What do you think? Is Canon sensing the potential impact of Pentax break through cameras (as hyped) and now trying to lessen the impact? Or was Pentax not even in their consideration when these things were planned (Pentax? What Pentax?)
Do you think Pentax should reschedule the press conference or make a surprise early announcement before Jan 24? Or go head to head with Canon with their presumed 5D replacement or possibly XTi replacement announcement?
Sony is expected to announce some new camera models as well (A500?). So it's going to be a very interesting Jan & PMA 2008 indeed.
I don't think Pentax will have any breakthrough cameras. The cameras will most likely be me-too. It will be the K200D, which is a me-too camera that sort of matches the Nikon D80 in spec, surpassing it in some way (e.g. in body shake reduction) but falling short in others (e.g. pentamirror). The K20D will almost certainly have a 12mp Sony sensor seen in the Nikon D300 and Sony Alpha 700.
So, whenever Pentax chooses to announce its cameras, it will most likely be overshadowed by whatever announcements Canon may have. It would be good for Pentax to announce its me-too cameras before Canon, so it will enjoy a few days of free publicity.
Even if Pentax were to announce a full frame, it would still be overshadowed by the likely announcement of the Canon 5D full frame replacement. A full frame would be a breakthrough for Pentax but no big deal for Canon.