Originally posted by Clavius Why? This is speculation, at best.
That would suck BIG TIME.
Why would mirrorless APSC eat market of DSLR APSC? I would pay DOUBLE to ensure having an OVF. And so would many MANY others.
first - All technology drops in price. ALL technology. right now with no reason to drop the price Canon and Nikon are holding it (and making progressively more profit per unit as time passes). In all the years I spent in electronics retail and since as a purchaser I can't think of a single instance of technology increasing in price. Ignore the D800 announced price as that will drop $300 PDQ to where the market has been. Increased sensor volumes will also drive down pricing
As for MILC eating entry DSLR it's already happening. It would suck I agree you aren't the typical entry shooter though who has never used an OVF or EVF in their lives. they've always shot of an LCD and don't care. the market will continue to grow in MILC at the entry level. For a line up to be truly logical there needs to be a few models at minimum and entry (ie KR )- A mid (what Pentax has been missing since the K200 days) and a higher end (ie K5
If the entry is eroded by MILC from below and the Higher end by FF from above it leave the middle which doesn't even exist at the moment in the lineup
DSLR won't disappear but the writing is on the wall for serious changes in the market. K-01 and Q at least begin to address the Entry (and no matter what some people think I think the K-01 is one of the things that will help save K mount and my lens collection from obsolescence) Certainly next gen KR and K% will be great cameras but the middle is still not there, and nothing is being done to compete where the push from above is coming. If Pentax waits for Nikon and Canon to make the push down before preparing for it they will get slaughtered -and this may well be the year if Canon leaves the 5DII and Nikon leaves the D700 in production and just drop the price. (and i mean leave in production not just sell off existing stocks)
Certainly Canon and Nikon will make this move it's just a matter of time. Getting out there now with a unique offering at a good price beats them to the pucnh and gets the brand established as a competitor. Sony doesn't sell a lot of FF but damn they understand the need for a flagship (they don't sell as many top of the line XBR televisions either but damn that product sells a lot of entry level Sony TV)
Ricoh said in an interview that they felt the DSLR line needed to be 4 models at one point to be truly market competitive. hows this look - K30 (kr) K300 (kr WR) K3 (k5) K1 - or LX1 (FF)