Originally posted by mee From the looks of it, your 'source' was rather correct.
This doesn't appear to be a K-3 II successor though. I must say, while I appreciate the effort on design, I'm not pleased. The ergonomics look horrible. Look where the shutter release button is at and the large grip looks too angular.
But, worst of all, is they removed the top LCD panel!!?? WHAT were you thinking, Ricoh????
I probably would have overlooked the awful ergo just to get that rear tilt screen, had KP retained the top LCD panel. But they removed the one panel that I use every single time I turn on my K-5 II. I turn off the big screen on the back and just use that.
But with this KP body, that is impossible to do.
So now I have a dilemma, to get a K-3 II while I can find one, or wait longer to see when/if Ricoh offer a true K-3 II replacement (and hope they retain a similar K-3 II form).
I think Pentax is sandwiching a separate camera line with the KP.
What they might be doing in take some low end features from the K-70 (battery, less buttons, no LCD, plastic body etc) but have some high end features like extra dial, 27 AF points etc.
This might well be the competition for 70-80D or D7200. While the K-3 II's true successor will be (hopefully
) competing with likes of 7D and D500 with higher burst, buffer & better AF. Maybe this is why the KP isnt getting an update in AF system, whih Pentax could be reserving for the K-3 III.
If all this is true, then it means the KP will be priced between the K-70 & K-3 II. It also could mean then the K-3 III will be made more like the 7D MK III and the D5000 rather than like D7200 or 80D.
So maybe the K-3 line is splitting, just like the 60D,70D,80D is kept separate from the 7D series.
Things will be more clear once we learn the full KP specs and price.