[Matthew Saville]

After all the excitement of the "leak", I must say at this point the most exciting thing is the price. $1099? That makes a Nikon D400 just laughably implausible compared to the Nikon D7200, and the Canon 7D mk2 is what, $1700? Good job, Pentax, you have a winner on your hands. Provided there are no bugs in the functionality or the IQ... :-)

Regarding the sensor; I think it is safe to assume a similar trend compared to all the other DX 24 MP sensors we've been seeing elsewhere. The K-3 sensor was superior to the Sony A6000, and on on par with or better than the various Nikon 24 MP DX bodies. I'd expect this sensor to be a natural progression. I wouldn't be surprised if it matched or beat the high ISO IQ of the oldest 24 MP sensor, the Nikon D3X, actually, and BEAT the significantly less impressive followers, the Sony A900 and A850.

=Matt=

[ChristianRock]

My impression so far is that, aside from the removal of the flash and the addition of the GPS chip, most of the changes are software based, not hardware (the pixel shifting, the re-tuned SR, the re-tuned AF-C etc). The sensor seems the same, the AF hardware seems identical too.

asahi-man had suggested some sensor and AF hardware upgrades would be there in the v II, so I am somewhat disappointed not to see any mention of either.

The improved SR is hardware, and I am pretty sure the sensor is new (to Pentax - it's likely the one in the D7200).

[Dlanor Sekao]

Mines Ordered !

[ChristianRock]

Mines Ordered !

Well that didn't take too long!

[bwDraco]

For me, the AF performance is what matters, above all else. I really hope Ricoh got the AF algorithms right this time around...

—DragonLord

[asahi man]

Good morning from the other side of the Moon
The Sensor is made in the same production run,the Antishake Unit is new and improved!
The AF module is the same,but behind the module is something different,also it looks like little improvedhardware behind the AF module.
In the next days,this week,i will have my standard phone calls and small meetings with pentax stuff and will know more for 100%,than we read us again.
Also a new FW update is around the corner,but it looks like that we can not get the same AF power in the K-3old,soit looks realylike a little Hardware change.
We will see.


---------- Post added 23-04-15 at 01:41 ----------

The improved SR is hardware, and I am pretty sure the sensor is new (to Pentax - it's likely the one in the D7200).

The joke is,the K-3 old was the first camera with this Sensor,the D7200 should have the same,the 7100 is using a Toshiba,wish is to 90% structurally identical,but not the same.
But,for 100% we will never know about the specials and differents in this Sensorline.
Best regards

[Kiwipixter]

The price is only the icing on the cake. US$1099 is very aggressive, even lower than what the original K-3 launched at ($1299).

—DragonLord

Its also a move to leave more room for a competitively priced FF.

[Dlanor Sekao]

Well that didn't take too long!

Nope.... I went from...... Meh....ummm....ughhhh...ehhh.......to... "YES" Real quick....lol
I think its a real smart decision for my landscape addiction. Think its gonna be a winner plus a $200 gift certificate was burning a hole in my pocket anyway and sort of sealed the deal
$1099 release was about $200 less than I thought it would be so I just couldn't fight that at all.
I hated the Pop-Up flash on any camera especially my K3, wanted the Astro built in , and was interested in the Pixel Shift.
That alone did it and made up my mind. The AF improvement and GPS were just icing on the cake.
On the down side I quickly sold my Mint SMC-A 50mm 1.2 to make it happen. It was the least favorite of lenses , but completed my collection.
I feel so bad about that......NOT !.......... I WILL NEVER MISS IT !
Didn't really have the Money to make this happen and will be back on rice and beans for quite a while to pay back a small loan from my very special lady friend.....she treats me so good and wanted me to get it. The drool on my chin and sparkle in my eyes gave me away looking at the forum this morning about 900 times....lol

[kooks]

To me it looks good.. nice features, GREAT PRICE.. The only thing that i thought that it was going to be included was build in WiFi and the NFC ( especially because KS2 have it ), but besides that this camera is really nice. Sensor Shift technology is perfect and and GPS astrotracer are really good features to do some great marketing.

My guess is that FF will have sensor shift + gps Astrotracer included too.. .. and... more!

[jimr-pdx]

Hooray, more used O-GPS1 modules will hit the market soon!
I'm looking forward to seeing full-color Fauxveon results, but for now my wallet is thin - including credit cards

edit: I also confess that I'd enjoy seeing fluttering leaves taken in that mode - a new art form is born!

[rawr]

In the next days,this week,i will have my standard phone calls and small meetings with pentax stuff and will know more for 100%,than we read us again.

Thank you for following those details up, asahi man.

[mee]

Its also a move to leave more room for a competitively priced FF.

Thinking so too.. looking forward to the official pricing of that.. I'm guessing around 2100-2200 USD. Which, after a year, will be around 1500-1600 used or 2100 new with a ton of accessories.

[farhagh]

So, Pentax designers think the GPS is more useful than a built-in flash? To me it's stupirange!

[jaad75]

The K-3 sensor was superior to the Sony A6000, and on on par with or better than the various Nikon 24 MP DX bodies.

It was better then the A6000, but not because of the better sensor, but because the A6000 is mirrorless and its sensor has to work longer before exposure and because Sony's crappy 12-bit compressed RAW. Then it was slightly worse than Nikons with Toshibas and Sonys.

I wouldn't be surprised if it matched or beat the high ISO IQ of the oldest 24 MP sensor, the Nikon D3X, actually, and BEAT the significantly less impressive followers, the Sony A900 and A850.

It was done a couple of years ago:
Studio shot comparison: Digital Photography Review
BTW, the A900 was the first one using this sensor (IMX028) and the D3X was "a follower".

The joke is,the K-3 old was the first camera with this Sensor,the D7200 should have the same

So it's the "tweaked" IMX193? That's what I thought, actually... Is this a confirmed information?

the 7100 is using a Toshiba,wish is to 90% structurally identical,but not the same.

AFAIK it's quite different (Cu vs. Al) and it even looks different from what I saw.

[kamayok3]

Where is the upgrade firmware for K-3????? I don't need a new body.