[Uluru]

I'm sure that would make everyone happy - but you do understand that is precisely the old Pentax, Right?

Get nothing right for years - nothing! - than toss up a glorious Hail Mary Pass product that will SAVE THE COMPANY, that really is sublime, something sweet and new, something for all the reviewers to write about. PENTAX IS BACK!! Then fail to execute. A living corporate example of Fear of Success.

Pentax history goes in cycles, but one cycle coincides with the late 2013/early 2014 announcements, the coming of a new image processor, etc. It just happened to be like that.
So if a product or two are revealed, I suspect they'll be nothing but well polished up — if Ricoh really took care.
I don't think it will be Hail Mary pass, because not a single shot can save any company — only a single minded long term goal.

[Kunzite]

Actually, I'd say a product like that would be an extreme 7D (Minolta's). Give your all making it, hope to sell a million of them, reality kicks in, dream crushed, company in big trouble.
Making a "killer product" is not an option, it won't bring as many sales as to compensate for the effort (a large part of which being catching up with the competitor's higher end technologies), and would be followed by disappointment if they can't follow up. A constant stream of competent products, though much less spectacular, can IMO bring them to the desired #3 position.
And a first step is to build the machinery required to make it work (K-500&K-50, anyone?). There are 2 problems to solve: volume, and having a product "ecosystem" - with technology "migrating" from high-end to low-end models.

[wigelII]

K-5 is good at high iso but it is not a full frame. Want to shoot at iso 6400 in theaters? Get a D4

OK. You pay.

[wigelII]

Printing ISO 6400 images, shot in a dark theatre, at A2 format .... hmmm. You standards are very high. Perhaps unreasonably so for almost any modern digital camera. A2 is huge.

I know. I expect too much.
But I mostly make prints of A3+ or A2 format and I am always surprised about the quality I can get from a APS-C format sensor. As long as you don't see it side to side with a print of a bigger sensor camera it's OK.

(and you should see people's reaction when they see a nicely printed A2 Fine Art Print. They can't believe what they see).

[Uluru]

I know. I expect too much.
But I mostly make prints of A3+ or A2 format and I am always surprised about the quality I can get from a APS-C format sensor. As long as you don't see it side to side with a print of a bigger sensor camera it's OK.

(and you should see people's reaction when they see a nicely printed A2 Fine Art Print. They can't believe what they see).

One of key points Olympus wanted to show in the show in Melbourne, was how well the E-M1 goes against the FF camera. Photographers were invited to test both cameras on the spot, using professional studio lighting and professional models, and print results on an A2 and even larger. There was no way to judge which one was which.
I'll say again, it was pity that people representing Ricoh didn't do the same to demonstrate K5II and DA HD Ltds.

[philbaum]

I partially agree. It depends on your output

I often use my K5 in theaters and at 6400 ISO.
I do noise reduction with Lightroom / Nik and I also tried Capture One.
The result is OK, but when I print them at A2 format and I compare them to the result of some other camera's (of some colleagues, same conditions, same development) the K5 isn't good enough.
I am also waiting (too long) for a new Pentax camera, and now the new theater season is starting again, I'll have to decide and go for a new Pentax??? or 6D or D600.
I still hope Pentax soon comes with a new camera (it's OK if it's APS-C) with higher resolution, better high ISO performance, wi-fi and ...................tethering (please, please).

If you can, i'd wait till Sony reveals their new Nex FF in a coupla weeks. Not sure when we'll see Pentax announcements, but the Sony announcements are being repeated in enough different places - that it looks certain.

[bigrex]

Poetry??

Pseudo-scripture I would say, and to it I also add an Amen.

[derekkite]

One of key points Olympus wanted to show in the show in Melbourne, was how well the E-M1 goes against the FF camera. Photographers were invited to test both cameras on the spot, using professional studio lighting and professional models, and print results on an A2 and even larger. There was no way to judge which one was which.
I'll say again, it was pity that people representing Ricoh didn't do the same to demonstrate K5II and DA HD Ltds.

Not surprising. Probably almost any higher end body would do fine in those conditions, or the differences would be minor. I'd try for something a bit different. Long lens, low light where you crop at least half. Then compare. Any advances made since maybe 5 years in digital cameras have been nibbling away at the edges, making it possible to get good shots where previous versions just couldn't. How about shutting the lights off in that studio then doing the shoot?

[alwaysmichellerene]

Well, I'll wait until end of the year and see if something comes up because I need the high ISO performance for astrophotography and aurora early next year...Otherwise I'll get a 6D and K-5 as my second camera. For normal shooting and especially hiking, I prefer the K-5 due to the size and weight, and most importantly, the dynamic range

I'm kind of considering the same route... keeping my k-30 and a few lenses for a back up and buying Nikon ff. But, but, but I LOVE my 77mm for portraits. This is hard...

[Nikonshooter]

I hope something gets announced soon. I really want a k5iis or this "full frame" that's supposed to come out.

[Uluru]

Ed Thomas has posted another good video, that somehow summarises last few years of expectations (especially current moments):

You Tube

You Tube

[bossa]

Would have been great to meet you and bossa yesterday as we all seem to have been there. What a pity we didn't think to arrange something

I had the impression - mostly from your moniker - that you were from the outback.

We really should do something about getting a Melbourne Pentax group going.

Cheers mate.. I live in Adelaide but was born in Melbourne... I was thinking of visiting my Dad and trying to catch the show but I'm also a carer for my 83yo mum so it's hard fro me to get around for more than a few hours at a time.

[Uluru]

... How about shutting the lights off in that studio then doing the shoot?

Well, what if our houses are not made to endure a direct impact of the tsunami wave, or an earthquake of the magnitude 10 on a Richter's scale, or a direct impact of the 15 gigatons nuclear bomb explosion?

All products are designed to work well within certain reasonable specs, and within certain tolerances that make common sense. Understanding of them, understanding of the nature of our work and aligning them together, makes one a professional minded photographer — as opposed to a wild-guessing amateur.

In the case of Olympus, what was pointed out is the education of studio photographers and showing them new options. In a studio, a photographer wastes very little energy, keeps all under control, everything is monitored, nothing unpredictable, etc. so for that kind of environment, even a modern m4/3 camera will do the work well and one needs no more than that.

But the problem arises is when newbies to photography start taking extreme scenarios into account, and based on it compile a list for their "required gear"; then most of the time, a rugged FF is the "only way" for them. Then even HD DA Limiteds aren't enough, but must be weather sealed. Kit lenses must be bomb-proof. Camera must be nuclear-fuel powered and one charge enough for 50 years of use. Etc.

All of a sudden, nothing is good enough anymore. It is same as when some paranoid home construction company decides to make all their houses absolutely earthquake-proof, fire-proof, water-proof, etc. Which is ridiculous, of course, because each house would be a bomb shelter house.

Newbies have such an attitude because they have no established line of work, no accumulated experience, and don't know how to control the risk and live with it.

[pento57mm]

Well. If one had dinner with the Pentax Rep tonight and looked at the new toys this coming holiday season. One would be be "full" of quick expectations if you are a Pentax DSLR user. One would not let go of K ff lenses very quickly. Read between the lines. Of course One may have been "spot on" with the timeline of the 645D , but what was is is ?

[alwaysmichellerene]

Well, I do hope those invisible bits you're asking us to read turn out to be TRUTH!