[ElJamoquio]

Pentax AF is 6-8 years behind and flash system 10 years behind its best competitors. They could catch up with these using the same sensor as that available today and it woud still be a remarkable breakthrough.
Waiting for a sensor with 1/2 half stop difference is a bad excuse, if it really is.

They released an upgraded AF camera with the same sensor about 6 months ago.

I still don't think it's competitive... but I'm not sure what you're trying to say, either, with 'waiting... is a bad excuse'.

[jogiba]

Hi, I am new here and I am reading this thread right from the start. I am Sony user and I have found this forum looking for some info on Pentax K5IIs because I am willing to change system after many issues with Sony. I was really excited about K3 rumours and I was hoping for 24Mp sensor, better AF and high ISO (signal to noise ratio).

K5II was my love at first sight - ergonomics just blew me off. Few weeks passed and after couple of visits in my local store to play with Pentax K5II I noticed some drawbacks - poor buttons quality compared to my entry level Sony (especially AF switch and 4 way controller) was not much issue, I'm still bit worried about AF because in local store it's hard to simulate any real action and main reason I would pay that much for K5IIs was to have best in class APSC body. Here is where the trouble starts...

Body, body, body, boring... K5II is really awesome camera, but whole Pentax system lack good entry level primes - to be honest even all those legendary primes are so old (technologically) that it would be really hard for me to invest in those and not in newest Sigma's. Check Sony DT 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8 price and reviews - I bet you would be surprised. Flagship 16-50 SDM is not so good, and my favorite when it comes to focal length 50-135 is not that much better. Resolution is fair but cannot compete even with old Tamron SP 70-200 f/2.8 IF Macro. There is SDM but as we all know - it's not noticeably faster than screw drive (check Nikkor 70-200 VRII how it should be done).

Pentax seems like very unstable company now - - not much is happening in terms of lens, it does not have straight body product lines. No one knows what to expect in future. K-30 is a really good product but K-01 was just one horrible idea imho...

I am still waiting for Photokina 2013 - if they will announce something that pleases me regarding Pentax future I will take a shot with it. If not - Nikon D7100 is the closest choice after K5IIs for me.

Just my opinion.

The next Photokina will take place from September 16 to 21 2014.

[Mistral75]

(...)

I am still waiting for Photokina 2013 - if they will announce something that pleases me regarding Pentax future I will take a shot with it. If not - Nikon D7100 is the closest choice after K5IIs for me.

(...)

Don't wait: Photokina takes place every second year and the next one is in 2014.

[Kunzite]

Pentax will launch new cameras this year, regardless.

[Cannikin]

Who said Pentax postponed anything? The rumours of an announcement in April/May were about an entry-level camera.

Might want to take a look at the very first post of this thread, the one that shows the magazine prediction of a K-3(s) in April...

Anyway, at least two separate sources I have seen mentioned that relatively recently (March) there were some major meetings at PRIC at which it was decided to push back the release of the flagship camera. They indicated that entry level and mid-level cameras would be released soon instead.

[Uluru]

Might want to take a look at the very first post of this thread, the one that shows the magazine prediction of a K-3(s) in April...

Anyway, at least two separate sources I have seen mentioned that relatively recently (March) there were some major meetings at PRIC at which it was decided to push back the release of the flagship camera. They indicated that entry level and mid-level cameras would be released soon instead.

So we have bugs inside the PRIC meeting rooms?
To deliver such a precise information in the midst of a total communication breakdown from Pentax Ricoh's side, is nothing short of science fiction.
Too many "last minute decisions and mysterious change of mind by Ricoh" more simply indicate crazy mind projections by cognitively dissonant fans coupled with the PRIC own incompetence to deliver a marketing communication and actually make a product. In a more real world, it could mean Pentax and Ricoh marriage didn't go as well as the kids from their previous marriages had hoped.
Let's see who is going to first leave the house and who's gonna buy some jewelry and flowers in an act of apology...

[jatrax]

Too many "last minute decisions and mysterious change of mind by Ricoh" more simply indicate crazy mind projections by cognitively dissonant fans coupled with the PRIC own incompetence to deliver a marketing communication and actually make a product. In a more real world, it could mean Pentax and Ricoh marriage didn't go as well as the kids from their previous marriages had hoped.

It could also mean Pentax is precisely on their schedule to release a new camera and lenses in first quarter of 2014 as they have planned all along. And that all of the rumors and whispers and endless debate are nothing more than rumors, whispers and endless debate with no foundation in reality.

I can image executives at Pentax or Ricoh reading forum rumors and scratching their heads wondering how all of this can be made up out of thin air.

[Cannikin]

So we have bugs inside the PRIC meeting rooms?
To deliver such a precise information in the midst of a total communication breakdown from Pentax Ricoh's side, is nothing short of science fiction.
Too many "last minute decisions and mysterious change of mind by Ricoh" more simply indicate crazy mind projections by cognitively dissonant fans coupled with the PRIC own incompetence to deliver a marketing communication and actually make a product. In a more real world, it could mean Pentax and Ricoh marriage didn't go as well as the kids from their previous marriages had hoped.
Let's see who is going to first leave the house and who's gonna buy some jewelry and flowers in an act of apology...

Um, overreaction much? Don't see what prompted such a rant, nor where you got such great "psychological insight" into the minds of PRIC and its fans.

I should make a few points about this information:

- This information was given by both sources back in March. This was not a hindsight excuse to explain the lack of a DSLR in April.

- This is hardly "precise information." The sources only indicated a delay, and they (as well as ogl in this thread) speculated (not confirmed) that September would be the most likely time frame.

- Learning of the delay of a major flagship product is far from "Mission Impossible" material. Anyone involved in PRIC manufacturing or distribution, stuff that has to be arranged well before announcement, would be told that a product they are supposed to be manufacturing/distributing is not going to be released as previously scheduled.

Maybe it is you who is reading too much "science fiction" as you put it?

[NickLarsson]

According to the NASA, a triple planetary conjunction of Venus, Mercury and Jupiter will occur between the 22nd and the 28th of May.
So I think the odds are fairly high that a Pentax announcement will happen during this period

[jcdoss]

Which planet will it occur on, Nick?

[Uluru]

It's Japanese magazine's forecast
Nippon Camera, monthly

So go back to the original post with picture: the Nippon Camera magazine was wrong; Ricoh GR came out in April, not in September.
Are we any smarter prophets after this false info?

[Kunzite]

It could also mean Pentax is precisely on their schedule to release a new camera and lenses in first quarter of 2014 as they have planned all along.

And nothing until then? Doubtful

[ogl]

Rather strange and unusual situation....I had info that some new products could be till June, 2013. Not later. And something new will be on autumn.

..............................................................
K-30 is announced on May 21, 2012
K-01 is announced on February 2, 2012
K-5 is announced on September 20, 2010 (with minor upgrade with K-5II - September, 10, 2012)

The last GXR lensor is announced on February 2, 2012

No any new mirrorless products for 15 months. No new high-end APS-C DSLR camera for 32 months.
K-30 want to be replaced. It's time.

But only suspicious silence....No any rumors and news. Is patient alive or close to death?

PR managers of Pentax Russia are discharged

[Rondec]

Hi, I am new here and I am reading this thread right from the start. I am Sony user and I have found this forum looking for some info on Pentax K5IIs because I am willing to change system after many issues with Sony. I was really excited about K3 rumours and I was hoping for 24Mp sensor, better AF and high ISO (signal to noise ratio).

K5II was my love at first sight - ergonomics just blew me off. Few weeks passed and after couple of visits in my local store to play with Pentax K5II I noticed some drawbacks - poor buttons quality compared to my entry level Sony (especially AF switch and 4 way controller) was not much issue, I'm still bit worried about AF because in local store it's hard to simulate any real action and main reason I would pay that much for K5IIs was to have best in class APSC body. Here is where the trouble starts...

Body, body, body, boring... K5II is really awesome camera, but whole Pentax system lack good entry level primes - to be honest even all those legendary primes are so old (technologically) that it would be really hard for me to invest in those and not in newest Sigma's. Check Sony DT 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8 price and reviews - I bet you would be surprised. Flagship 16-50 SDM is not so good, and my favorite when it comes to focal length 50-135 is not that much better. Resolution is fair but cannot compete even with old Tamron SP 70-200 f/2.8 IF Macro. There is SDM but as we all know - it's not noticeably faster than screw drive (check Nikkor 70-200 VRII how it should be done).

Pentax seems like very unstable company now - - not much is happening in terms of lens, it does not have straight body product lines. No one knows what to expect in future. K-30 is a really good product but K-01 was just one horrible idea imho...

I am still waiting for Photokina 2013 - if they will announce something that pleases me regarding Pentax future I will take a shot with it. If not - Nikon D7100 is the closest choice after K5IIs for me.

Just my opinion.

Go ahead and get a D7100. It doesn't sound like the things Pentax is good at work for you.

[Clavius]

But only suspicious silence....No any rumors and news. Is patient alive or close to death?

When a patient has been in a coma for a long period, how much chance is there that he/she will suddenly jump up and dance the hoky poky? Even the rumors have died now.