[luftfluss]

First time hearing about the 100% VF, i wonder why they would put one in a budget model, a 98% is just so much cheaper to make.

Not much cheaper relative to the price of the camera. I think PRIC is working on making their products different, and "100%" is a wonderfully marketable number.

[eddie1960]

Didn't seem to be much of an issue with all the previous WR bodies.

the 18-55WR has been the bundle since the K7

at K10 release there weren't many wr lenses (and none suitable as a kit lens)

[lammie200]

Why do people continue to call this an "entry level" camera? This is definitely a mid-level camera. Price isn't 1000 dollars either, but 750 from what I can tell.

Compare the price of this camera to the K-01 and Q. That is the price of entry. However, like you went on to say, the price will drop, so, eventually the price of entry will be even lower.

Margins for a lower priced camera will be very small. R/P would have to sell many boatloads to make it worth the investment. I think that R/P is smart enough to know that that would never happen. This is especially evident when you look a R/P's marketing / promotional compaign. There isn't one. How are they going to sell mega boatloads of cheap dSLR's without one? I could be wrong though.

[lammie200]

I might have to either upgrade my K-x or find some way to buy this as a second camera. . .does anyone know if it will have TAv?

I would bet my house that it would.

[illdefined]

So, after a few weeks when the new user becomes "initiated", he/she is supposed to... what? Sell the DSLR and "upgrade"? Pure foolishness.

huh? no, after the new user gets "initiated" he/she will fully appreciate the 2nd dial and likely never go back to a single dial camera. my point was that newcomers won't buy it just for the 2nd dial. They don't know what they're missing etc.

[eddie1960]

Compare the price of this camera to the K-01 and Q. That is the price of entry. However, like you went on to say, the price will drop, so, eventually the price of entry will be even lower.

Margins for a lower priced camera will be very small. R/P would have to sell many boatloads to make it worth the investment. I think that R/P is smart enough to know that that would never happen. This is especially evident when you look a R/P's marketing / promotional compaign. There isn't one. How are they going to sell mega boatloads of cheap dSLR's without one? I could be wrong though.

how can you market for boatloads of entry level when you don't have one (KR was never a true entry level it was always a step up with the entry missing - a huge marketing error IMO because it contributed to the big share loss and the loss of retail representation ( along with other policies of course)

[illdefined]

Didn't seem to be much of an issue with all the previous WR bodies.

Are you kidding? It was the only fly in the ointment for the K200D. An affordable WR camera that required expensive pro DA* lenses (at the time) to stay WR.

Only with the intro of affordable WR lenses does an affordable WR camera make sense. The K200 concept was too ahead of its time.

[illdefined]

here is a picture with the WR lense

Yes that looks to be the french bundle, but the Amazon UK bundles were clearly listed and (professionally) shot with DA L lenses. I really hope that was a mistake.

[Warpig]

Did anyone else notice that the pictures of the cameras aren't the same? look for the K30 logo, the one in the catalogue has the "K" hollowed, and the one in amazon is full. Also the "30" font isn't the same. What could that mean?

[french_mike]

true, .. strange

[Edgar_in_Indy]

font isn't the same. What could that mean?

Perhaps one was pre-production, and the other was the final version.

[lammie200]

...KR was never a true entry level...

The price of entry into Pentax dSLR's is different than the price of entry for others like Canon, Nikon and Sony. Pentax concentrates on providing special features and (at least initially) charging a slight premium for them. For example, the K-r had better DR and a higher (quality) iso range than the competition at the time of its introduction. And it came in colors. There are too few special features that can be exploited in a lower priced dSLR. Also, R/P might not have the production capacity to make a cheap dSLR, and their long term strategy is probably to float above the mainstream and maintain steady growth. I think that R/P has no interest in a model that does not differentiate itself substantially from the competition.

[D0n]

Did anyone else notice that the pictures of the cameras aren't the same? look for the K30 logo, the one in the catalogue has the "K" hollowed, and the one in amazon is full. Also the "30" font isn't the same. What could that mean?

prototype vs early production run? perhaps the company varied the type on early demo models to help them track down NDA breakers that leak photos?

[eddie1960]

The price of entry into Pentax dSLR's is different than the price of entry for others like Canon, Nikon and Sony. Pentax concentrates on providing special features and (at least initially) charging a slight premium for them. For example, the K-r had better DR and a higher (quality) iso range than the competition at the time of its introduction. And it came in colors. There are too few special features that can be exploited in a lower priced dSLR. Also, R/P might not have the production capacity to make a cheap dSLR, and their long term strategy is probably to float above the mainstream and maintain steady growth. I think that R/P has no interest in a model that does not differentiate itself substantially from the competition.

yes that has been true in the past. and that has done wonders for market share Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity is it not?
The real issue is we have not seen the impact of Ricoh on the brand yet. Photokina will be the biggest indicator of what there vision will be, though i would say the resurrected lens roadmap was an indicator they plan to get more aggressive. it's a big move going from the severely constrained Hoya era brand to a viable competitive brand able to grow and compete on all fronts not just a small segment. Production capacity can be addressed adn there is no reason they can't make an entry that is sufficiently differentiated from the competition. certainly this model looks to be different from the T3 D5100 competition

[Anvh]

Not much cheaper relative to the price of the camera. I think PRIC is working on making their products different, and "100%" is a wonderfully marketable number.

We arent talking about hunderds of $ but $20 for the fabrication can mean $60 cheaper camera for consumers if not more.
those little bits add up if you also remove the WR and such