[photobobhunt]

I have been a Pentax user since the Honeywell H1A and a variety of DSLR's.
last year I decided to upgrade my entire lens line by purchasing DA* lenses and found focus motor issues a bummer.
So I made the decision to dump it all ( with the exception of my IR converted K-01) and I went mirrorless. Fujifilm XT-2 which was far superior to my K-3 and had good glass.
The most important consideration was weight. At this time in life I can no longer carry the heavier gear. The second thing was the lack of a true K-3 upgrade.
Mirrorless has solved most of the original issues with the exception of battery life. My first mirrorless was a Samsung NX 10 ,a nightmare. But now I think the DSLR will eventually be replaced by mirrorless technology.
If Pentax goes mirrorless they should consider keeping the K mount as they did with the K-01 otherwise the purchasers will need to probably wait forever for a good arsenal of lenses.
My two cents.......Bob

[credos4u]

The K-P and K-1 tried to emulate the popularity of the Fuji system with dials for everything, so perhaps Pentax was trying follow that trend in the market.

and looking at those fujiesque attempts and comparing them to a PENTAX K-5.
... I would say, that wasnt their best idea.... i would rather prefer the clean&tidy design of the K-5...
throw away that darn additional wheel on top, add a joystick(for changing af-point) and 2 special buttons (to access all functions quickly in combination with front and rear-e-dial) to a K-5II body
and i would call that a professional body.

[Zygonyx]

Fujifilm XT-2 which was far superior to my K-3 and had good glass.

Far superior in which domain ?
Appart size and JPEG output quality, i don't quite see myself.

[photobobhunt]

I had decided to get lighter after a trip to India when the gear was just to much too lug..... I'm over 70.
I was open to waiting for the next K3 upgrade but it may never come, maybe not in my lifetime. T he KX looks too much like the KS2 in my closet with a defective auto aperture system, a problem that migrated through a few models.

I had a K5 before the K3 and loved it, and the k3 image quality was very good. Even with the lower priced glass and it really shined with the DA* glass.
I admit I did like the retro dials and the full metal construction of the Fujifilm. I was choosing between the Sony a6500 and XT-2 what sold me was the build quality and the lens quality of their less expensive zooms. It's likely to be the last camera I buy, Ill probably end up using my phone
I don't use primes except for my fisheye and macro (100mm Pentax Takumar manual focus f4 which I love).

Pentax never focused fast, I had a Canon SL1b(entry level) that focused faster and more accurate than my K3. And the CAF of the K-3, was hit & miss, mostly miss. As I associated with many Nikon & Canon shooters I found them more accurate and faster ,even in the entry level models.
Low light noise is about the same at 12,800 with the Fuji, as I got at 3200 with the Pentax K3
Easier , joy stick , focus point selection.
Wider native dynamic range.
Newer cameras have newer sensors & processors

I stayed with Pentax because the flagship APS-C always had features would that lead the industry, dual card slots, Internal stabilization, DNG raw files and the ability to use any K mount lens.......I don't need to elaborate . You are all Pentax enthusiast.
Selling all the Pentax gear allowed me to purchase my full complement of Fujifilm stuff with money to spare. ( for batteries) There are a lot of adjustments to my shooting style and I am still learning . There will be things I will miss such as buttons not sized well for rear button focus. But not chimping is just re-learning older techniques. Every system has advantages and disadvantages the results are what is important.

[credos4u]

Far superior in which domain ?
Appart size and JPEG output quality, i don't quite see myself.

yep agreed. I also dont see that.
...and I also dont have the feeling, fuji could be superior to any brand when it comes to IQ.

maybe its just not my taste or all this fuji craze lives just from some kind of hype, because the cameras have a very analog design and so attract wannabe pros.

I sometimes feel skin on fuji comes a bit waxy if you know what i mean.
and i also heard that X-Trans sensors also show some kind of worm-effect. Though I never had a shot with a rented fuji that showed it.

But if you google a bit, you find many issues that plague fuji owners ...
here, first hit on google:
X-Trans' Waxy, Watercolor, Worms: Is it Serious or Over-Blown? : photography

BTW: JPG Engine on PENTAX cameras is also excellent.
You maybe just have to fine tune it a bit according to what you like.

[totsmuyco]

Maybe fuji has the best jpeg. Maybe Nikon has the best AF. Maybe Canon has the best video. Probably these are all true. I'm not going to counter any of those statements being made here.

Well maybe in the next five years Pentax AF will not be as good as Nikon but it will catch up. Maybe Pentax video will not be as good as Canon but I'm sure it will improve. As for JPEGs, it ain't that bad. I shoot raw + JPEG as JPEGs are best obtained from raw. At least that's my experience. As for jumping ship for these reasons, I don't think I will.

I bought into Pentax because of its strengths and one of them is good image quality. What I wish for is, Pentax will continue the K-mount. If they do, this will be the last system I'll buy and I'll grow in to it.

[Kenn100D]

My Main camera now is K20D. Sold the K-50 and saving money to get a k-5IIs. If Pentax will make a K-3rd. hopefully it fulfill the same liking of the k-5

[reh321]

My Main camera now is K20D. Sold the K-50 and saving money to get a k-5IIs. If Pentax will make a K-3rd. hopefully it fulfill the same liking of the k-5

I'm saving money to replace my K-30 with a KP.

[photobobhunt]

For Ken100D & totsmuyco,
Pentax made its bones by concentrating on APS-C then joined very late to the full frame game with the outstanding K-1.
Prior to a lifestyle change, my main pleasure was printing and I have award winning prints taken with the ist* 6 meg, and I did my best work with the K-10, when my knees were in much better shape. I know that if the K3 replacement was in the pipeline changing platforms would have been a more difficult decision.
Many of my more well healed friends don't take as many photos as they did previously because they migrated to the full frame "Pro" cameras and lug 40 + pounds of gear on every shoot. No big deal in your 30 's and 40's , no fun in your 60's and 70's.
My point is , the equipment is not that important. A good friend of mine is still doing award winning work with his Nikon D300.
Every new camera will generally be better as the technology improves, but to what end.
What I notice is photo hobbyist have a need to defend their equipment by pointing out deficiencies in others. All cameras have deficiencies, so we make our choices based on what works best for us at the time. We usually stick with a brand because we have invested in it.
Put you energy into taking better photographs. The equipment you use is much less important than your approach to taking the photograph. Good luck ....... Bob

[biz-engineer]

My point is , the equipment is not that important. A good friend of mine is still doing award winning work with his Nikon D300. Every new camera will generally be better as the technology improves, but to what end. What I notice is photo hobbyist have a need to defend their equipment by pointing out deficiencies in others. All cameras have deficiencies, so we make our choices based on what works best for us at the time. We usually stick with a brand because we have invested in it. Put you energy into taking better photographs. The equipment you use is much less important than your approach to taking the photograph.

From wearing the hat of a photographer standpoint, a lot of us would agree. From the perspective of being a consumer, it's not about the capability to take award winning photographs, it's about purchasing, you would do that for anything, from selecting a box of oat meal for breakfast to buying a house. And nowadays, people also apply the buyer selection process to selecting a girlfriend or boyfriend based on specifications and often looking for a upgrade (that's why there are so many in the second hand market). Consumer behavior has reached our lives deeper than ever before. Pentax forum is more about gear that anything else. A number of other sites are focused on art and photography technique rather than gear. The trouble with focusing on gear is that we improve our results very little if we improve at all.

[MetteHHH]

I KNOW that my K3 is an excellent camera. I have two of them, actually, to avoid changing optics in the field and they are the best cameras I have owned.

I skipped the K3II upgrade, because I was happy with what I had, and because since K10d, I think the pattern in upgrades has been minor-major-minor-major, and I expected a bigger difference betweeen K3II and the K3II-successor than between K3 and K3II.

But I am definitely impatient now. I tell myself not to: I tell myself there is plenty of space for improvement in my current gear. However, one of my bodies has passed 100.000 actuations and the other one is getting there. They are beginning to show signs of wear.

And I dream of an AF-upgrade. Just this morning I sold a series with a white-tailed eagle hunting ducks: I ended up selling them to the website end of the magazine because this was what I judged the quality fit for: The captures with my DA* 300mm could be cropped to show the hunting scenes reasonably well, but with my Sigma 500mm the focus plane was too narrow, I kept losing focus, and even when AF-C stayed on the target, it couldn't quite keep up, and the front of the eagle got out of focus. I would REALLY like more of my BIFs to be print-worthy. I know what kind of worksman blames his tools, but I really think the AF overhaul will make a big difference to me.

When it gets here. I hope soon.

[x4rd]

But I am definitely impatient now. I tell myself not to: I tell myself there is plenty of space for improvement in my current gear.

Improve Your workflow, control of the light and at the end - improve Your gear. Skills first

[MetteHHH]

Improve Your workflow, control of the light and at the end - improve Your gear. Skills first

...pretty sure that is what I said myself in the quote you were quoting.

Also, it's what I have settled for doing during the last three years now. Like I wrote, my bodies are ageing, and my skill-honing is missing a little update boost on AF performance.
But I am optimistic. CP+ maybe.

[Kenn100D]

For Ken100D & totsmuyco,
Pentax made its bones by concentrating on APS-C then joined very late to the full frame game with the outstanding K-1.
Prior to a lifestyle change, my main pleasure was printing and I have award winning prints taken with the ist* 6 meg, and I did my best work with the K-10, when my knees were in much better shape. I know that if the K3 replacement was in the pipeline changing platforms would have been a more difficult decision.
Many of my more well healed friends don't take as many photos as they did previously because they migrated to the full frame "Pro" cameras and lug 40 + pounds of gear on every shoot. No big deal in your 30 's and 40's , no fun in your 60's and 70's.
My point is , the equipment is not that important. A good friend of mine is still doing award winning work with his Nikon D300.
Every new camera will generally be better as the technology improves, but to what end.
What I notice is photo hobbyist have a need to defend their equipment by pointing out deficiencies in others. All cameras have deficiencies, so we make our choices based on what works best for us at the time. We usually stick with a brand because we have invested in it.
Put you energy into taking better photographs. The equipment you use is much less important than your approach to taking the photograph. Good luck ....... Bob

Hi Bob,

Thank you for words of wisdom. I will use my K20D until it will break. Reason for dreaming K5IIs is it is still the better camera for me at least. Nevertheless, Whatever camera you have is still the best camera you own. Going Pro for me is when Photography is your Job. Me it's a Hobby and Stress reliever..=)

[monochrome]

I agree completely.

That's why I think it would be stupid for Pentax to invest a boat-load of money to create me-too mirrorless plus all the lenses needed to make a credible entry. Why dilute it's R&D on yet another line of bodies and lenses?


P.S. Given that mirrorless predates SLR in both film and digital, I'd say it's traditional mirrorless vs. newer DSLRs.

The real force driving mirrorless is the MUCH more automated, robotized (fewer humans) assembly process versus dSLR’s. However, initially designing the manufacturing process (clearly a Sony skill advantage) and then setting up the assembly machinery requires more capital and cash flow (both Sony and Fuji advantages) than Ricoh appears willing to commit.

Far better for Ricoh to continue extending and leveraging its advantage in tweaking image sensors, designing small, ergonomically elegant traditional bodies and being different. I’m not so sure Ricoh Imaging actually could maintain its current ROIC if they properly marketed and increased sales volume - they would need to invest in both marketing and P&E, and it isn’t clear to me we would pay the higher price for their products.

People complain about the $1,099 launch price for the KP, which is a very nice camera. What would the response be to $1,299 with longer warranty, proper dealer financial support, B&M Reps and placement allowances. advertising and higher volume?