Originally posted by Kunzite The same or not, similar methods of differentiation are still available and widely used. Like back then, it's usually not the sensor which makes the difference (unless you change the format... just like back then
).
For example, Nikon's D3200, D5200 and D7100 all have 24MP APS-C sensors; Canon is still using the 18MP sensor on how many cameras? - and the Olympus example above, and so on.
You're overlooking one of Pentax's historic marketing angles since they went all-digital: that for a given camera, they always included more features and a better build than the competition, thus cementing their rep for solid value for enthusiasts. They were able to keep the models apart primarily using sensor specs. If the sensor spec stuff has gone (or at least is going) and all that is left to differentiate between models is features, then Pentax's job becomes much harder. Or, to put it another way, it is harder for their to remain different from their competitors who riff their customers up and down the keyboard using the feature game. But then, we don't know what Pentax want. For all we know, they may want to become more like their competitors.
We may be looking at a bit of an end-game for APS-C, at least until there is a significant leap in sensor performance. For APS-C DSLRs, 24 mp of high-quality, noise-free pixels with an imaging pipeline which can handle the data well without buffer-busting is nearly but not quite here, imho. I imagine it will be here during 2014, though. After that, if you want still more it will be FF.