[jeztastic]

I think this is really ugly too - I loved the K-01. It reminds me of those cameras that died and you never see any more - Minolta, Four Thirds cameras. However, this is the kind of ugliness that blokes who buy cameras love. Fits in with the WG-02 look, and if it IS built ruggedly rather than just looking rugged, it will be very popular.

I agree with those who see this as entry level, with a K3 and FF. With this line-up I can see why Ricoh were so confident about competing with Canikon. :-)

Having said that, I really regret buying a K5 when I did... I think this may be a better camera...

[stormcloud]

I think this is really ugly too - I loved the K-01. It reminds me of those cameras that died and you never see any more - Minolta, Four Thirds cameras. However, this is the kind of ugliness that blokes who buy cameras love. Fits in with the WG-02 look, and if it IS built ruggedly rather than just looking rugged, it will be very popular.

I agree with those who see this as entry level, with a K3 and FF. With this line-up I can see why Ricoh were so confident about competing with Canikon. :-)

Having said that, I really regret buying a K5 when I did... I think this may be a better camera...

I wouldn't worry on that score - k5 going to have similar image quality sure - but shoots faster and has better build quality and to top it off it looks much better =)

[zapp]

Let's hope for a more interesting K5 successor. What people call design appears like 15 designers designed small parts of the camera, no harmony, no clear idea, nothing to rave about.
Poor life we live, raving 20some pages about a possibly new camera that basically inherited K5 specs.

[freddykrueger]

I guess nobody has mentioned it yet - have you noticed that there are two connector doors on the right side? So there might be an HDMI connector and external microphone input, maybe even headphone jack underneath? Just speculating...

[parsons]

Wow this thread has grown quickly!

[jeztastic]

I guess nobody has mentioned it yet - have you noticed that there are two connector doors on the right side? So there might be an HDMI connector and external microphone input, maybe even headphone jack underneath? Just speculating...

The K5 already has the HDMI and external mic, so they will be there for sure. Not sure there are two doors there...

[Col]

K-5 was way too priced for me. Now this one is in reach.
Ricoh-Pentax is delivering after K01, this one is really attractive camera and I hope price gets closer to K-r's launch price.
This camera will make K-r retired, and will challenge K-5 strongly. I guess Pentax might have made it limited, feature wise, just to give K-5 an edge.

Is it already available in UK?

Atindra

Err, the K-5 is the cheaper. K-5 with WR 18-55 is £749 but with an £80 cash back to 15th July, any guesses as to the actual UK release date of the K30?

[freddykrueger]

Release date should be 25th June in the UK according to Amazon.

[Alizarine]

Here comes the complaints on the "looks" again. Well, it's all subjective I guess. Some will love it and some will hate it. I used to hate the K-01's design, but it grew on me in time. Now I dig the non-conformist look of it.

And being the entry-level camera from Pentax, if it has an external mic input, well well, that's a very good sign! More high-end features trickling down ...wait.

Would this mean the K-5 replacement is going to be ... more expensive? If it's close to $1600/$1700 at launch then more people will have reason to "just add a few hundred dollars more and get the D800..."

[RobA_Oz]

Would this mean the K-5 replacement is going to be ... more expensive? If it's close to $1600/$1700 at launch then more people will have reason to "just add a few hundred dollars more and get the D800..."

Following that logic, it would make sense for Pentax to release a 35FF camera before the K-5 replacement, and to pitch it around the price of the D800, to avoid cannibalising its own new APS-C product or losing customers to the Nikon. Either way, the K-5 successor will have to be a compelling value proposition.

[felixkh]

The same reason they keep changing the K logo, the same reason they keep changing the aspect ratio of the PENTAX logo... the same reason they produce some 'novel' colour schemes... They just have either a naive, or plain bullish approach to marketing. They need to fix that.

What the rest of the world wants vs what the japanese wants, so the japanese gets the colours and so does the rest of the world

[gazonk]

My daughter's comment on the design: Masculine sports design. Which is just what they want for a WRed camera in this class. I still think they will introduce a camera below this one - and the most logical design for that would be a K-x-like "girly" design.

[Rondec]

Here comes the complaints on the "looks" again. Well, it's all subjective I guess. Some will love it and some will hate it. I used to hate the K-01's design, but it grew on me in time. Now I dig the non-conformist look of it.

And being the entry-level camera from Pentax, if it has an external mic input, well well, that's a very good sign! More high-end features trickling down ...wait.

Would this mean the K-5 replacement is going to be ... more expensive? If it's close to $1600/$1700 at launch then more people will have reason to "just add a few hundred dollars more and get the D800..."

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. Still, it is probably the cheapest camera out there that will offer the features it has, weather sealing, dual control wheels and probably no crippling like Nikon does with their lower end cameras. Oh, and Pentax does over several reasonably priced weather sealed lenses as well.

As to the K5 sequel. Yes, it will be 1500 to 1600 dollars on release. That is what the K5 was on release and the price gradually went down from there to just below a thousand. This has been Pentax's strategy -- price products high initially with plenty of room for discounting later. Same has been true of other products. Unfortunately, people compare products at the end of their cycles (read kx for 450 dollars) with the price of products just being launched.

As to the D800 comparison, the difference will be over a thousand dollars not the "few hundred" that you said. Still, I hope Pentax does release a full frame 2500 to 3000 dollar camera worth of the k mount.

[russell2pi]

"futuristic". I'm not sure that's a niche photo people want filled. ...
Wrapping old technology in a new futuristic skin, when it seems it's the opposite people want.

I see where you're coming from - I, like many, took a long time to get over the fugly factor of darth vader DSRs.

Once you do, the calculus is... It's a K-5 in a plastic body with a few cripples... at the moment for nearly the same price. I suppose it will come down, but so will the K-5 if a successor to that comes out. For me should I miraculously find the cash it's line-ball between this and a K-5 on the info we have at the moment.

[audiobomber]

My daughter's comment on the design: Masculine sports design. Which is just what they want for a WRed camera in this class. I still think they will introduce a camera below this one - and the most logical design for that would be a K-x-like "girly" design.

I agree. The K30 will be the mid-level DSLR, a K-r replacement with truly basic features is coming, and a K-5 replacement later. That fits in with Jonathan Martin's forecast; a full line of four DSLR's to compete with Canon/Nikon.