Originally posted by Clinton But they do have so much invested in lenses. They have already done the R&D on the FA* and FA Limited lenses, lenses which are so good that the glass is still out-resolving our current sensors. Just because they aren't producing them doesn't mean much. AFAIK, they could start producing them again at any time, to pair up with their FF camera.
I bet you that next DSLR will be APS-C(lol), exactly because they have so much vested in their DA lenses. By keeping APS-C, Pentax may think that they can stretch the milking of DA and DA* line up. They might as well do that. I also think that they will throw a bone or two by adding another interesting focal length primes when nobody is expecting. They will prop up without rumors.
For FF mirrorless, the body will be relatively cheap in comparison to DSLR counterpart for obvious reasons. But if Pentax believes that the future of the market direction is mirrorless, then it would make sense to spend substantial R&D (they don't have to sweat it any more) in entirely new FF lens line up. I see reasonably priced "kit" FF primes and zooms that go with the body, along with the expansion of D FA lenses. There will be D FA*'s, I am sure. I think they got what they could out of FA* and FA limiteds, and they have exceeded their wildest expectations. While resolution may not be as much an issue, there maybe other issues that can warrant a design update or two to make improvements (again not in resolution). Also, having attached my FA limiteds to my M8, I can tell you that Pentax will probably like to make their lenses smaller. That aspect alone is probably a reason enough to come up with a newly designed line up.