[beachgardener]

Pentax stands for small cameras with great/unique features

Pentax is not there yet.

---------- Post added 06-02-15 at 07:52 AM ----------



K3 is still a nice camera

Going by the images i have seen in comparison with the K-3 (it is somewhere in these threads) the new FF is only a smidgen bigger than the K-3. I think they will refresh a line of small primes for FF, how ever to keep everyone happy, cover all bases, they need the big 2.8 zooms and the like.

[robjmitchell]

We still have only a mockup camera and two lenses that are not availbale yet. The specs of the 70-200 are not impressive, quite heavy, maybe a little less than the Canon/Nikon, but what makes Pentax FF special compared to others these days? Pentax stands for small cameras with great/unique features and a bunch of small fixed focal length lenses. In camera SR and weather sealing are important as well.

There is only a single D-FA lens availbale right now, two more to come. The FA line is suffering from early 90's design... Pentax is not there yet.

---------- Post added 06-02-15 at 07:52 AM ----------



FF was obvious to come and is not here yet. The real camera will show up early 2016 and requires many more lenses to actully make people happy.
Would you rather wait for another year to pay double for a camera with less lenses available? K3 is still a nice camera if you want full frame right now, buy somewhere else.

Lol, while pentax obviously has a few holes to fill, especially at the wide end, to dismiss the FA ltd as having little appeal on FF is absurd! People willingly cut holes in $5K cameras to be able to use these on FF digital. Their only competitor is Zeiss, which lack AF, Cost three times as much, and are not presently being produced in the DSLR mount with IBIS.

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

The real camera will show up early 2016 and requires many more lenses to actully make people happy.

I have enough FF capable lenses to make me happy right now. You are entitled to your gloomy opinions, of course, but I think we now have reasons to be optimistic.

[kenspo]

Going by the images i have seen in comparison with the K-3 (it is somewhere in these threads) the new FF is only a smidgen bigger than the K-3. I think they will refresh a line of small primes for FF, how ever to keep everyone happy, cover all bases, they need the big 2.8 zooms and the like.

Exactly. Pentax is targeting the promarked now, and then they need the zooms the pro's wants. Pentax has no change without competing with Nikon and Canon's holy trinity. People are allready complaining that the prizes will be to high for "the man in the street", but shall Pentax contue to grow, they need to target the pro's. With the new FF and some killer 2.8 zooms, Pentax will have a piece of every level in photography.

[beachgardener]

Exactly. Pentax is targeting the promarked now, and then they need the zooms the pro's wants. Pentax has no change without competing with Nikon and Canon's holy trinity. People are allready complaining that the prizes will be to high for "the man in the street", but shall Pentax contue to grow, they need to target the pro's. With the new FF and some killer 2.8 zooms, Pentax will have a piece of every level in photography.

Lovely, and that is how i see it too, i know you see it way better than i do. What i would like to see in the long run is a pro FF dslr and maybe later one at a slightly lower level, along with the K-3 replacement (i do hope they continue with the excellent K-3), the K-S2, the K-S1, and i think with careful thinking they could place these at different price levels thus giving everyone a choice.

[kenspo]

Lovely, and that is how i see it too, i know you see it way better than i do. What i would like to see in the long run is a pro FF dslr and maybe later one at a slightly lower level, along with the K-3 replacement (i do hope they continue with the excellent K-3), the K-S2, the K-S1, and i think with careful thinking they could place these at different price levels thus giving everyone a choice.

People dont have to worry. Even with a new FF pro-level camera, Pentax will continue to develop and grow every departement. Pentax will take chunks of the promarked, simultaneously as they continue to make classleading cameras at every aps-c level. And of course the MF too

[beachgardener]

That is good news, thank you.

[kadajawi]

Going by the images i have seen in comparison with the K-3 (it is somewhere in these threads) the new FF is only a smidgen bigger than the K-3. I think they will refresh a line of small primes for FF, how ever to keep everyone happy, cover all bases, they need the big 2.8 zooms and the like.

Those comparisons are at the very best educated guesses. What is your reference point? What on the photo has a size of a part we know the size of? The lens... We don't know what lens is mounted, and it depends on the focal length. Maybe the dials can tell us something, maybe they are of a different size.

Samsung and Sony can withhold parts from Pentax in order to be ahead of their competitor. Now I know in the phone world Samsung didn't do that to Apple, but who knows. Sony said they'll do it.

As for pro's... IMHO pro's are maybe a bit more pragmatic. The camera has to fulfill their needs. If they expect that clients want them to do video, good video is necessary (eventually that will mean 4K, and stabilized video will help). Good tethering. Good WiFi (speed is important... The client may want at least preliminary photos ASAP). And of course the lenses.

I hope that this body is THAT good, but we will have to wait. Hopefully the next mid level APS-C camera will show what's to come.

[beachgardener]

yes it is all a bit of a guess at this stage, and it has been hinted at as well, we will see later on.

[raileconomics]

When I read this news yesterday I was overjoyed. I was even more overjoyed when my wife told me that the tax man had sent me a cheque yesterday as I overpaid on my tax last year. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the specification.

[rawr]

IMHO pro's are maybe a bit more pragmatic.

Too often people speak of 'pros' as a homogenous group. But they aren't. 'Pro' real estate photographers have different needs to 'pro' wedding photographers, who also have different needs to 'pro' studio fashion photogs, or 'pro' landscape photogs who go down to Antarctica for a month to do their shooting, or 'pro' band photogs, or the 'pro' architecture photogs who use tilt-shift a lot. Decent video may be irrelevant to half of these categories of 'pro', maybe WiFi too.

It's certainly nice if camera makers can build a kitchen sink of features into their cameras so that they are available to all users, but it's a mistake to label one or two specific features as generic 'pro' essentials, since not all 'pros' are the same.

[clackers]

Those comparisons are at the very best educated guesses. What is your reference point? What on the photo has a size of a part we know the size of?

FWIW, it's the FA31 on that mockup graphic.

It would be smaller than the D810 if accurate.

[goubejp]

Exactly. Pentax is targeting the promarked now, and then they need the zooms the pro's wants. Pentax has no change without competing with Nikon and Canon's holy trinity. People are allready complaining that the prizes will be to high for "the man in the street", but shall Pentax contue to grow, they need to target the pro's. With the new FF and some killer 2.8 zooms, Pentax will have a piece of every level in photography.

Can I have reasonable hopes for a rewamped 600 f4 ? I'm in the process to switch brand cause of the miss of long, pro grade lenses

[Rondec]

There will always be some angst around the release of a new camera it isn't mirrorless, it is too expensive, the lenses are too heavy... The thing is that SLR design and k mount lens design is what Pentax is best at and it is good if they play to their strengths. I am sure there will be some D-FA primes forth coming that will be slower/smaller than Canon/Nikon lenses with similar focal lengths and hopefully the whole package will attract some folks to look seriously at it.

If you are really invested in APS-C lenses and are happy with them and with the bodies you own, you would be foolish to jump up to full frame. While you would get a K5 equivalent crop out of a 36 megapixel sensor, it just seems foolish to shoot such a camera in crop mode most of the time. And full frame lenses (quality ones) are going to tend to be heavier. A 50-135 f2.8 look feather weight beside the 70-200 released here.

In the end, a full frame release is good for Pentaxians because it provides options. It will be up to each photographer though to decide what gear he/she needs to get the images the envision.

[FantasticMrFox]

Too often people speak of 'pros' as a homogenous group. But they aren't. 'Pro' real estate photographers have different needs to 'pro' wedding photographers, who also have different needs to 'pro' studio fashion photogs, or 'pro' landscape photogs who go down to Antarctica for a month to do their shooting, or 'pro' band photogs, or the 'pro' architecture photogs who use tilt-shift a lot. Decent video may be irrelevant to half of these categories of 'pro', maybe WiFi too.

Exactly. People also tend to ignore that most pros already have Canon or Nikon gear worth thousands to tens of thousands of US$. For Ricoh to sway a lot of them in a short time they would need to do something absolutely extraordinary. Plus they need an efficient professional support system, which Ricoh hasn't.

Chances are this new FF, while perfectly capable to satisfy pro needs (except in the sports and action department, maybe) is aimed more at serious hobbyists, the kind of people who don't make money with their photography but still buy 5D Mark IIIs or D750s.

Maybe it will sway some pros over time, like wedding photographers who might enjoy the Limiteds' fairy dust or landscape photographers who already work with the 645Z and want something smaller to go with it, but the chances of an instant pro mass migration are pretty slim.