[twitch]

Thanks, I'm 100% convinced it will happen this way. Because where did all the R&D go? They have been working on the K-5's successor since 2010 (!) so there's no reason to only announce a very modest upgrade over the old K-5. I see the K-5 II's as a way for Pentax to have more choice for the consumer with regards to APS-C DSLR's.

Unless Hoya gutted the R&D group prior to sale. I hope I'm wrong.

[Alizarine]

Or maybe the K-5II & (s) won't be the flagship Pentax products at Photokina. Maybe there will be something else as well?????

To all whiners: historically Pentax spreads the news when Photokina approaches. What happened in 2010: - Sept. 9, 2010: Pentax K-r and DA35/2.4 presented - Sept 20, 2010 (one day before opening of PK): Pentax K-5 and DA18-135 presented So my guess is that Pentax will announce the following one day before Photokina: - 645D II - K-3 - K-3s - DA* 16-70

As much as I want to be a positive thinker, can Ricoh really do that...? I mean, if that were the case, they'll have how many cameras this 2012...?

Q10, K-01, K-30, K-5 II, K-5 IIs, K-3, K-3s, 645D II? and that's not counting the possibility also of a K-300... that would be 8 cameras in total, even though the last 4 are just in variations. I wish Ricoh were that rich... and if the K-3 is to be the Pentax flagship, then why did they proclaim the K-5 II and IIs as their flagships, in their official websites?

[Asahiflex]

I know, but do we really believe that Pentax only had time and money to do a modest revamp of the K-5, with worse video specs than the K-30? Sure, it's still a photographic tool, but still... And what about focus peaking?

My gut feeling says that everything will turn out well

[Kunzite]

They don't have to finish&release everything now... and they won't.

[Caat]

Thanks, I'm 100% convinced it will happen this way. Because where did all the R&D go? They have been working on the K-5's successor since 2010 (!) so there's no reason to only announce a very modest upgrade over the old K-5. I see the K-5 II's as a way for Pentax to have more choice for the consumer with regards to APS-C DSLR's.

I suppose that's true. I guess if I were feeling positive I would say that given how old the 24mp sensor is Pentax might have had engineering access to it for some time even if they were not allowed to actually buy it and produce a camera with it until now. So they might have been able to do optimisations to the image pipeline and subsidiary electronics ahead of time.

Assuming the Prime M processor is powerful enough to work with the 24mp without modification Pentax might be able to marry to two together fairly easily. I would imagine that developing SAFOX X would have been more time and R&D consuming and because of the K-5 II this is now done (whether they can add more points for the K-3 I don't know). Pentax could also work on other parts of the camera such as the viewfinder and a new body - if they decided to go down that route - without commercial access to the sensor.

And given how minimal an update the K5-II is I guess it's possible we could see a K-3 with the 24mp sensor before the end of the year (certainly if it were just announced).

[StepOne]

Well there's nothing really spectacular so far...and still have no desire to upgrade my k-x with another Pentax. The new 560mm lens does not even count for the majority, i guess they will sell only a few of those. The 18-270 announced price is bigger that Tamron's VC price for Canikon. And it has the ultra-reliable SDM.

Maybe the new K-5 would have been interesting if in the press release was "newly designed lens release button". I'm curious how much the street price will be, but i don't see much of a profit for Ricoh, other than k-30.

[GordonZA]

Pentax states that the new K5II/s are the flagship products of their K range... That could mean there will still be some more announcements but that a possible FF will be called KF? To differentiate it from the APSC range...

Would make more sense to me to use a different code on such a body for easy differentiation....

In this way Pentax could then have had a complete new system including lens development roadmap under wraps all along... When they are ready, just add the fourth camera line....

There is always hope!! )

[LamyTax]

Unless Hoya gutted the R&D group prior to sale. I hope I'm wrong.

You're closer to reality than you wish for.

[Alizarine]

DPR mentioned about -2EV being equivalent to moonlight. How dark exactly is -3EV?

[Asahiflex]

DPR mentioned about -2EV being equivalent to moonlight. How dark exactly is -3EV?

-3EV equates to a shutter speed of 15 seconds at f/1.4. So it's THAT dark.

[GordonZA]

Maybe -2EV is full moon and -3EV is crescent moon? Ha ha ha

[bossa]

Hmm.. I'll hold off selling until the end of PK. But can we please stop with the predictions? I have a headache that took 6 months to get here and I'd like it gone ASAP. ;-0

[gazonk]

....now that 18 MP sensor has phase detect focusing on it - so phase detect works in live view. I've read they also reduced noise levels at higher ISO settings. In the MP war it seems Nikon has gone big and Canon has gone better - flipped from what it's been for the past few years.

Meh. According to DxO, even the 5d Mk III has lower DR @ ISO 100 than the K5 has @ ISO 400.

[gazonk]

-3EV equates to a shutter speed of 15 seconds at f/1.4. So it's THAT dark.

@ISO 100? So that wouldn't even be hand-holdable @ISO 6400

It's fascinating that cameras are starting to see better in the dark than we do. I tried to shoot handheld at ISO 12800 with my K-5 on a dark night this summer, and while the results were terribly noisy, I was stilled impressed that the camera saw colors when my eyes had switched to B/W mode

[Alizarine]

-3EV equates to a shutter speed of 15 seconds at f/1.4. So it's THAT dark.

Seriously? 15 seconds at f1.4... would that be like 8 seconds at f0.95? Thanks for the info! Didn't know the 1EV difference is that big..

Maybe -2EV is full moon and -3EV is crescent moon? Ha ha ha

if Asahiflex's calculations are correct, perhaps -3 somewhere closer to a new moon!