[Winder]

The problem with this is that Ricoh needs a sensor. Amazon is showing the Sony A7II to be 1-2 months from shipping. This is a 2 year old body. Sony is short on sensors right now. Where is Ricoh getting a FF sensor with PDAF right now? The 36MP doesn't have PDAF on sensor. Maybe they announce at Photokina, but I don't see anything shipping until Sony has caught back up and that will be next Spring.

Is Samsung going to make a FF BSI sensor for Ricoh?

[monochrome]

There is no need to screw up mirrorless body with crappy vintage ergonomics. Just take K-1 features and produce flat body with ergonomic handle.

Flat MILC bodies look pretty, but with fast lenses they have crappy ergonomics. K-1 is optimized for an optical viewfinder. IMO a potential Pentax (or Ricoh-branded) MILC should have an EVF, thus can/should be a clean slate. Too much OV ILC technology transfer might actually be a hindrance.

[ogl]

A lot of doubts..

[thibs]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Ricoh breaks the universal backward-compatibility 'contract'. Not suggesting it is actually going to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Re-issuing DA Limiteds with KAF4 (available on K-3II and forward dSLR bodies) and using KAF4 exclusively on any coming MILC is a sensible business decision.

Pentax's take on MILC 'smallness' is a standard-sized body and tiny, slower lenses. Others trick consumers by making a thin body and standard-sized lenses. Their package is actually less ergonomic than a K-01 with DA Limiteds.

My suggestion is consistent with much of the Pentax ethos.

This is valid only if keeping K-mount which sounds unlikely to me.
If going to another mount, probably shorter flange, there's no point in KAF4-only lenses for a mirrorless not even using the mount.

[thibs]

A lot of doubts..

Yeah, that's a good summary

[MJKoski]

K-1 features, flat body, metabones + canon ts-e. Me wants.

With features I mean the tilt screen, PS and astro-tracker. Handle can be reissued pentax 67 wooden grip.

[stevebrot]

A lot of doubts..

Yes, very sketchy rumor...


Steve

[Zygonyx]

Well, basically, Pentax could launch some new vintage Q or K-0x bodies... with K-70 sensor for APS-C version, and not any R&D penny...
And now, they could interestingly modernise their Q/K adapter including K-AF4 feature...

[Na Horuk]

I think this rumour is pretty far from reality, as well.
I would prefer to see Pentax continue the Q line, focusing on making it fast and have some good IQ, even if relatively low MP. There is MILC potential there, video mode could also be improved heavily instead of making another mount.
I love the K-01, and Pentax could revisit it and improve upon it, but I doubt Pentax is in a state to compete against the established mirrorless systems. Making an "okay" APSC MILC is not good enough. If they want to make one, it has to compete against the top APSC MILC out there, be it Olympus, Fuji, Sony..
FF is a good choice for Pentax to continue, but they have to give the K-1 some more time to sell. Its a top camera, in many ways competing and even beating the competition flagship. No need to undermine it with making a second, cheaper model. Especially since price is something where the K-1 is already fairly good (compared to what competition offers for same price)

Edit: And I personally I would love an affordable K-01 with FF sensor! Really would! I am just not holding my breath waiting for that lol, It might appear some day, but many other things are more likely to appear first.

[reh321]

It would also need a motor to function for af in screw-drive lenses. That motor won't be inside the mirrorless body. So you would have to make a little monster adapter that is way to expensive.

If Pentax made such a camera, providing support for screw-drive would make zero sense. It would support "modern" systems only.

[monochrome]

This is valid only if keeping K-mount which sounds unlikely to me.
If going to another mount, probably shorter flange, there's no point in KAF4-only lenses for a mirrorless not even using the mount.

What is the point of a shorter flange? A thinner body?

[reh321]

As I understood it in 2013, both FF and MILC were considered 'real' but not 'soon'. Ricoh at the time thought EVF technology had not yet matured - they thought perhaps OLED technology would be a potential solution. Until then Q was their 'learning platform' and a product idea they thought had legs. K-01 was actually a good idea with some ground-breaking IBIS and assembly process tech, and a horrible marketing decision imposed on the engineers by Hoya management.

Two years ago, late 2014 to be precise, before I bought my Q-7 I took a serious look at the Sony A6000. At that point, EVF technology was already sufficiently mature. If Pentax wasn't ready then to go to EVF, I'm guessing they wouldn't do it at all unless "forced" by industry trends {the Canon EOS-M5 dominating the industry, for example}. Something they started a year or two ago would be coming to fruition by now, so if we don't see something in the next twenty-four hours, my guess is that we won't ever, unless they are "forced" to options other than their namesake Penta-Prism.

[Zygonyx]

I'd suscribe to that, if Ricoh wasn't Ricoh, with their unique and unforeseable timeframe.

[MJSfoto1956]

I know it is a longshot, but the fastest way to market would be to introduce a "mirrorless" crop-sensor body with a built-in tilt/shift mechanism with KAF4 electrical contacts. Obviously given the tilt/shift, there would be no motor drive for AF. This would allow them to keep the K-mount pretty much "as is" and with the right lens gives you tilt/shift for free. This would be a great addition to their current system, providing a unique value proposition without having to re-engineer the whole shooting works. If the ergonomics for said tilt/shift mechanism were superb (perhaps even servo driven?), you might even get some of the LensBaby crowd to move over.

M

[Kunzite]

Sounds fake; someone making up a "rumor" based solely on wishful thinking. And starting not with one, but two MILCs, APS-C and FF? To my knowledge, nobody did that - including companies with much more money to waste.
If we want to know what they're up to, we should look at the new D FA lenses: as modern as they get, and we're expecting more on the same line. Can they also make "vintage" APS-C, and a "vintage" FF lenses? But those making up "rumors" never stop to think.

The old rumor (or "rumor"?) about 2018 at the earliest was more realistic. First fix the D FA line, then add a large sensor mirrorless - one APS-C model, Canon style. Start building an user base on that. Adjust DSLR:MILC efforts according to market conditions.

Zygonyx, "not any R&D penny" - glad you're not a Ricoh Imaging manager; you'd fire all the R&D as an useless expense, and still expect new cameras to be somehow made

---------- Post added 18-09-16 at 11:47 PM ----------

What is the point of a shorter flange? A thinner body?

The point of a shorter flange is to avoid having a large wasted space inside your camera - which only serves to require your wide angle lenses to have a retrofocus design.