[Belnan]

I have said in the past that Pentax needs a camera to match the aesthetics of the limited lenses, looks like they listened, cant wait to see more pics of the camera with limiteds. Pentax will soon/possibly have 4 dslrs in its K-mount line up which pretty awsome.

K-70 Entry Level
K-P Mid-level enthusiast
K-??? High end enthusiast
K-1 Premium full frame

I wonder when we will see the K-???? Hopefully not to long but I feel like it could be a while.

[Mistral75]

saw a 1000$+ figure on the page. Is that a rough estimation?

with no bump in AF points, no top LCD, I'm expecting it to be <1000$ body only without the grip.

It's from Nokishita Camera:

イギリスでの販売価格は1099英ポンドだと聞いているので、国内でもK-3IIよりは高くなるかもしれませんね。

the (rough) translation of which is "I was told that the RSP in the UK is £1,099, so it might be more expensive than K-3 II in Japan."

£1,099 (20% VAT included) is approximately equivalent to (US) $1,145 + sales tax.

[ogl]

I'm always honest. How about you?

No, I don't like all Pentax cameras. The KP looks nice, though.

I will not judge the camera's interface based on mere pictures. I have my doubts, but I must hold the camera with my own hands to see how it really works.

Why? Rather strange controls, weak battery...To control is really questionable thing.

[timautin]

I am afraid this will be the K3 II successor

Simply because:

1) Looking back at the K5/K5 II/K3/K3 II release cycle, it's time.

2) The rumoured price of £1099 is exactly the price the K3 was released at.

3) I doubt Pentax will release three new APS-C cameras this year (K3 II successor, plus this KP, plus the rumoured ME mirrorless). They are too small a company to support that many different camera lines, with the K70, K-S2, K-1, 645Z ...

I sincerely hope there is a more conservative K3 II successor in the pipelines, but I doubt it.

You forgot the fact that the K3-II is discontinued. CP+ is in one month, we'll be fixed soon, I guess.
And if the KP is the new K3-II, seeing the mitigate comments here, I guess that they'll be back on a more conservative body for the next iteration. We waited 15 years for a FF, let's start the wait for an high end APS-C

[ogl]

I am afraid this will be the K3 II successor

3) I doubt Pentax will release three new APS-C cameras this year (K3 II successor, plus this KP, plus the rumoured ME mirrorless). They are too small a company to support that many different camera lines, with the K70, K-S2, K-1, 645Z ...

It's bad news. If it's so, it means that Ricoh changes the strategy and no K-3II's replacement anymore.

Only cheaper version of K-1 could be good move in that case.

[bxf]

During the late 1980s, Camera manufacturers started increasing the size of their film bodies.

Could this have something to do with the increasing presence of electronics at the time?

Therefore, on the other hand, Older users are used to much older bodies having the ergonomics of a 1x4 piece of lumber, before ergonomic design became a more serious aspect to camera design as a whole.

You control the aperture on the lens, with the hand supporting the camera, and the only other control you have is shutter speed (film speed is set only once). Thus, ergonomics would not have been a big issue, with the exception of the grip, the addition of which would not have made it necessary to increase the depth of the entire body to current levels.

Notwithstanding the above, I can understand that some may find it easier to hold/use a larger body.

Anyway, apologies for this OT post.

[mee]

This is one of the issues with pre-release 'leaks' -- they show up part of the story, but not the whole. Which leaves us to fill in the blanks...

[mecrox]

I am afraid this will be the K3 II successor

Simply because:

1) Looking back at the K5/K5 II/K3/K3 II release cycle, it's time.

2) The rumoured price of £1099 is exactly the price the K3 was released at.

3) I doubt Pentax will release three new APS-C cameras this year (K3 II successor, plus this KP, plus the rumoured ME mirrorless). They are too small a company to support that many different camera lines, with the K70, K-S2, K-1, 645Z ...

I sincerely hope there is a more conservative K3 II successor in the pipelines, but I doubt it.

I don't think it is helpful to look on things in terms of successors and flagships. In the case of the K3 series, that was 3-4 years ago. This is now, a very different world. Pentax were always going to be faced with the problem that if they made their top new APS-C camera too good then they would be taking sales right off the K1 since the K1 would contain older technology, by definition. I suspect the K1 is now the company flagship and all else is positioned on a ramp leading up to it, including this new camera. It's too early to know what the KP's specs are, of course, but there is no reason to think that on its own terms it may not be a perfectly decent camera - albeit that if you want the full monty of everything, you need the K1.

[zmohie]

You forgot the fact that the K3-II is discontinued. CP+ is in one month, we'll be fixed soon, I guess.
And if the KP is the new K3-II, seeing the mitigate comments here, I guess that they'll be back on a more conservative body for the next iteration. We waited 15 years for a FF, let's start the wait for an high end APS-C

I think pentax is thinking deeply now how they will face fuji MF. It's a big issue than the releasing of k3ii successor

[CarlJF]

Is it just me that find that the apparent hex screw on the grip looks really bad and unfinished ? Kind of a wart on the nose, difficult not to notice it...

Otherwise, I don't have a crush for it. I'll wait for the specs and see if there's anything there. But right now, it looks like a K-3 in a different disguise.

[afan137]

It's bad news. If it's so, it means that Ricoh changes the strategy and no K-3II's replacement anymore.

I don't think it is replacement for K-3II. I rather agree with previous comment that said Pentax KP is the project that obtain green light from the executive. It has nothing significantly new, only the DSLR with new idea (as asahiman said). So it is the stop gap, before the K-3II replacement really coming. Perhaps new tech is not ready, and their focus right now is on the lenses, but has to show new product for CP+. So this is it.

In any case, the design is nice. It is the vibe for retro-look. Nikon has done it, Fuji has been doing it. And now Pentax. But, the most important thing is still its capabilities.

[mee]

I don't think it is helpful to look on things in terms of successors and flagships. In the case of the K3 series, that was 3-4 years ago. This is now, a very different world. Pentax were always going to be faced with the problem that if they made their top new APS-C camera too good then they would be taking sales right off the K1 since the K1 would contain older technology, by definition. I suspect the K1 is now the company flagship and all else is positioned on a ramp leading up to it, including this new camera. It's too early to know what the KP's specs are, of course, but there is no reason to think that on its own terms it may not be a perfectly decent camera - albeit that if you want the full monty of everything, you need the K1.

We shouldn't follow people just because they are the loudest ones in the room. And that is what this shrinking camera body trend is..

If this is the K-3 II successor, then just by looking at the comments here, they've upset a number of people with the new design.

But, I still don't think it is the K-3 II replacement. Especially if the 'leaked' specs are true then it is more of a K-3 II in a new shell and geared more towards retro crowd.

[Kunzite]

Why? Rather strange controls, weak battery...To control is really questionable thing.

Why I'm not bashing the camera's interface before even seeing how it works? Because I'm fair and honest. Do you find those concepts questionable, too?

[Kempy]

Pentax KP DSLR Images Leaked!!!

[Doundounba]

£1,099 according to Nokishita Camera, which is €1,279 and US$1,145.

(remember, EU prices include ca. 20% VAT)

How solid is this? If true, I think Ricoh needs to be careful not to price themselves out of the market. This is well above the XT-20 ($900), above the D7200 ($1000), and about equal with the (IMHO overpriced) 80d ($1100). It's a (rumored) launch price though, so street might differ I guess.

I am afraid this will be the K3 II successor

Well, what I'm saying is I think it's the new top-end APS-C body, but it's possibly not the next-generation top-end APS-C body. To be confirmed, but if it's still based on the K-3 AF and metering modules for example, you could argue this is a redesign of the K-3 innards with a smaller battery and some control tweaks. In an R&D sense, this would not be a huge effort to produce. If that's true, I think near the end of 2017, we could still see a next-gen top-end APS-C camera with the K-1's AF module ported down, and LI90 and...