Originally posted by Marcus Why entry level? A K200D... Lite? How much more simplified could it get? I can't imagine how much more entry level you can get than K200D. If you cut back on features, then it's just the K100D Super or K100D. At a user skill level that's even below the K200D, I can't see why anyone would buy interchangable lenses for the said camera. :ugh::ugh::ugh:
If they're not buying a K200D, then they don't want interchangable lenses. I can't see why someone wouldn't want to buy the K200D if they wanted to expand their photography with Pentax. There shouldn't be anything below amateur. I don't think there's anyone down there who doesn't want a point & shoot.
The problem with keeping the K100D in production may be that Sony might have made the last of those 6MP sensors, or cut back on production enough that only the allocation for Nikon's D40 are those that are being made.
I reckon there's still a market for a price point lower than the K200D. I'm thinking more of photography students et al, the same demographic that bought the K1000 years ago. I'm not sure about other countries, but from where I live, $800 is still serious money, even for those with regular jobs (minimum wage is pretty low here).
As well, it would be good to have a lower-priced entry-level camera for the burgeoning Chinese market. Getting a foothold in China would be big in the long run.
Originally posted by CSpronken To me this sounds like a very good strategy, however I do think they somewhat underestimated the competition in the Kxxx level, with no life view, such a tiny buffer and less than optimal sensor.
As far as I know, Pentax has only so much resources at their disposal, and they tried to re-use as much of the old bodies as they can for the lower-end model, and concentrated most resources for the K20D.
Live view just isn't doable on the 10MP CCD, so that feature couldn't really be included. I'll reserve judgment on the IQ itself, as Pentax might have found some ways to improve on performance, much like Sony did with the A200.
The buffer, though, is a really sore point, and something they should have addressed by this time already. It's not as if they didn't know how to implement continuous JPEG shooting until the card is full. They do.