[*isteve]

I personally think that Pentax will adopt the FF format.

Ben

And MF? I doubt they will do both and I doubt they will do FF before 2010 at the earliest unless Samsung are gung ho and willing to cover the development costs.

And Samsung better have a REALLY cheap sensor because if it retails for $3000 or more I cant see many buyers. I expect will wait and see what happens to Sony.

Then again I could be wrong.

[proudtoshootpentax]

And MF? I doubt they will do both and I doubt they will do FF before 2010 at the earliest unless Samsung are gung ho and willing to cover the development costs.

And Samsung better have a REALLY cheap sensor because if it retails for $3000 or more I cant see many buyers. I expect will wait and see what happens to Sony.

Then again I could be wrong.

I'd agree with every bit of that statement. 2010 seems optimistic. I guess I should say that if sensor cost comes down substantially (which it is likely to) that in the not so near future, and only if it still shows advantages, it might be the trend everyone drifts towards. I don't think it's because that is the end-all format. I just think public demand could push it if sensors ever come down in cost so low that it makes little difference in the price of the camera. By the same token, if Pentax holds out long enough to build up a big APS system, they might stick to it. I think it would be great if they did.

[proudtoshootpentax]

I think it would be great if they stuck with APS that is.

[*isteve]

Ricardo, a 50mm F1.2 lens when focused to 10m distance will have a DOF from 8.75 to 11.67
Do you call this thin paper? I wonder the size of your pocket agenda

fyi - Depth of Field Calculator - Mark Roberts Photography

And if you put a F1.2 75mm lens on a FF camera you would still only get a DOF from 9.41 to 10.7. Not really that much better (1.3 m rather than 1.9m)

[*isteve]

I think it would be great if they stuck with APS that is.

I think it would be neat to offer that alternative, but I expect they will be following Samsungs agenda for world domination. There is a risk that "if Sony have one we must have one" bravado may take over in the boardroom in a testosterone fueled bout of one-upmanship in which case I only hope Samsung will cover the costs of making a loss leader.

Hoya wont want to know, so I expect at that point they will ask Samsung to make a bid for Pentax.

[Tom M]

If sensors were spherical perhaps....

Reminds me of a particular Agfa medium format camera. They used a curved film plane and backing plate to exactly match that of the lens image. Doing so gives excellent edge to edge sharpness. Though, they could do it as it was a fixed lens design.

[Tbear]

I think it would be neat to offer that alternative, but I expect they will be following Samsungs agenda for world domination. There is a risk that "if Sony have one we must have one" bravado may take over in the boardroom in a testosterone fueled bout of one-upmanship in which case I only hope Samsung will cover the costs of making a loss leader.

Hoya wont want to know, so I expect at that point they will ask Samsung to make a bid for Pentax.

I like to think of the situation as Pentax taking a ride on Samsung's train to glory. Nikon, Canon, and Sony take notice: there's a new kid on the block!

[KungPOW]

Ok I'm going to jump into the fray of speculation and conjecture.

After gazing into my crystal ball...I see...

"Pentax anounces D300 killer at Photokina 2008"

A K2D perhaps? Keeps the numbering in line with the K200D, K20D.

The K20D was a big step forward with regard to the sensor. But not much changed with the body or the shutter, autofocus systems. Really the the K20D was made through the efforts of Samsung. Pentax contributed with the K10D body.

I cannot imagine that Pentax has not been hard at work on a new camera body.

In my crystal ball I see:

Alloy body (magnesium? sp?)
5+ fps
improved metering (crazy new 100 zone colour matrix reads your mind kind of thing?)
Higher flash/shutter sync (250+)
Shutter speed tops out at 1/8000
Improved viewfinder (100% coverage, and really bright)
Weather sealed still, but now global warming proof!
A whack of "pro" features that I will want, but I never use.
It uses the same sensor as the K20D.

I doubt if this camera will be full frame. Although, I expect eventually all camera manufactures will offer a FF body. I'm no sales and marketing guru, but the larger glass elements needed for full frame could be good for Hoya. No?

Eric

Ok I'm going to jump into the fray of speculation and conjecture.

After gazing into my crystal ball...I see...
..........
" Really the the K20D was made through the efforts of Samsung. Pentax contributed with the K10D body.
.......
In my crystal ball I see:
...
Alloy body (magnesium? sp?)
5+ fps
improved metering (crazy new 100 zone colour matrix reads your mind kind of thing?)
Higher flash/shutter sync (250+)
Shutter speed tops out at 1/8000
Improved viewfinder (100% coverage, and really bright)
Weather sealed still, but now global warming proof!
A whack of "pro" features that I will want, but I never use.
It uses the same sensor as the K20D.
.......
I doubt if this camera will be full frame.

Eric

When you mention the same sensor as in the K20D then no FF for sure.
Although my Ball is not crystal as yours but rather basaltic I can't see through it, but setting it aside I see something I would like to be like your crystal ball visions.
Rui

[*isteve]

Ok I'm going to jump into the fray of speculation and conjecture.

After gazing into my crystal ball...I see...

"Pentax anounces D300 killer at Photokina 2008"

A K2D perhaps? Keeps the numbering in line with the K200D, K20D.

The K20D was a big step forward with regard to the sensor. But not much changed with the body or the shutter, autofocus systems. Really the the K20D was made through the efforts of Samsung. Pentax contributed with the K10D body.

I cannot imagine that Pentax has not been hard at work on a new camera body.

In my crystal ball I see:

Alloy body (magnesium? sp?)
5+ fps
improved metering (crazy new 100 zone colour matrix reads your mind kind of thing?)
Higher flash/shutter sync (250+)
Shutter speed tops out at 1/8000
Improved viewfinder (100% coverage, and really bright)
Weather sealed still, but now global warming proof!
A whack of "pro" features that I will want, but I never use.
It uses the same sensor as the K20D.

I doubt if this camera will be full frame. Although, I expect eventually all camera manufactures will offer a FF body. I'm no sales and marketing guru, but the larger glass elements needed for full frame could be good for Hoya. No?

Eric

It will not be full frame.

Now that Nikon have replaced the D2X with the D3 (at $1500 more) then there is a nice hole in the market for a top-flight APS camera. Canon and Nikon have left this market open, yet there are some PJs who benefit from the cropped frame who would love a proper pro body at around D300 price.

I would probably buy one myself.

[anomaly]

It will not be full frame.

Now that Nikon have replaced the D2X with the D3 (at $1500 more) then there is a nice hole in the market for a top-flight APS camera. Canon and Nikon have left this market open, yet there are some PJs who benefit from the cropped frame who would love a proper pro body at around D300 price.

I would probably buy one myself.

I definately think that they shouldn't up the mega pixels any further for that camera.

It would be sweeter with less noise, faster and adjustable fps and better dynamic range.

The video idea from the rumours before would work great here if it is 1080p.

This, to me, should be the must have camera for photojournalists. Get professionals out there with Pentax gear. You don't have to do like Canon and Nikon and buy them, you just have to make the camera that they want so that they will buy it.
From there they can reclaim the studio, where their medium format film cameras were very popular with a medium format digital.

[*isteve]

I definately think that they shouldn't up the mega pixels any further for that camera.

It would be sweeter with less noise, faster and adjustable fps and better dynamic range.

The video idea from the rumours before would work great here if it is 1080p.

This, to me, should be the must have camera for photojournalists. Get professionals out there with Pentax gear. You don't have to do like Canon and Nikon and buy them, you just have to make the camera that they want so that they will buy it.
From there they can reclaim the studio, where their medium format film cameras were very popular with a medium format digital.

It will take MANY years for Pentax to build up the reputation, lenses, accessories and support backup needed to launch a pro-SLR system on a 35mm format, whether APS or not. They will need to build the company up somewhat to achieve that. Thats for later...

However they could very easily attract real working high-profile professional photographers with a 645D system. A single camera and a handful of primes and one or two zooms would be easy to support in the field, plus your competition would only be Hasselblad and Mamiya.

Given that many of these guys used to shoot Pentax 67 and 645, they would love one, and at 1DS prices they would bite your hand off. This would be serious kudos and would say Pentax is back and Pentax is serious! Better still, they already built it!

No - if you want pro endorsement, dont go head to head with N&C just yet, go around them and make the 645 a reality!!!

[SCGushue]

Really the the K20D was made through the efforts of Samsung. Pentax contributed with the K10D body.


Eric

Wrong.

The sensor is a Pentax original design. Samsung manufactured Pentax's design not their own. Pentax has brought a lot to the table. When you see the output Pentax designed into this sensor you will be quite pleased.

Just for clarification

Stephen

[philmorley]

It will not be full frame.

Now that Nikon have replaced the D2X with the D3 (at $1500 more) then there is a nice hole in the market for a top-flight APS camera. Canon and Nikon have left this market open, yet there are some PJs who benefit from the cropped frame who would love a proper pro body at around D300 price.

I would probably buy one myself.

I think this is part of the problem with the k20d and why it was criticized so much (although I'm keen to get one). A number of people were looking for this rather than a replacement for k10d. Not that I know a lot, but I think you are dead right with the above and I think the sooner Pentax hits a 3 tier approach the better.

[philmorley]

It will take MANY years for Pentax to build up the reputation, lenses, accessories and support backup needed to launch a pro-SLR system on a 35mm format, whether APS or not. They will need to build the company up somewhat to achieve that. Thats for later...

However they could very easily attract real working high-profile professional photographers with a 645D system. A single camera and a handful of primes and one or two zooms would be easy to support in the field, plus your competition would only be Hasselblad and Mamiya.

Given that many of these guys used to shoot Pentax 67 and 645, they would love one, and at 1DS prices they would bite your hand off. This would be serious kudos and would say Pentax is back and Pentax is serious! Better still, they already built it!

No - if you want pro endorsement, dont go head to head with N&C just yet, go around them and make the 645 a reality!!!

Pentax are struggling to fill holes in the DA line of lenses. I think to expect them to release a full line up of fa lenses is unrealistic (2nd hand lenses dont make them any money).

I wonder about the 645, really how many people could you convince to buy say a $10000 camera (that would be roughly about 1/2 the cost of the mamiya and about 1/3 of the hassy). 31mp was last report but the way dslrs are going, we'll see that level of megapixel in a dslr in 2 or so years. I dont see it as a long term investment, to spend that money you have to have a definite professional need right now. Without half a dozen new lenses available it would be a hard sell (I couldn't see convincing someone to spend that money and then say buy 2nd hand lenses off ebay). Really the number of people who could justify the cost and that haven't already bought hassy / mamiya / phase1 or changed to canon dslr would be quite low??? I can see it being very very nice but I cant see it being profitable.