[reh321]

+1

Furthermore:

Add all improvements of the KP without the drawbacks.


Keep the already great K-3(II) body & battery.


Keep the 24MP resolution, but with newest sensor technology (hopefully at least a little improvement in DR/High-ISO). BUT: Make the AU optional for purists.


Add an LCD grid overlay to the view finder.

I'd also like to see some kind of face-recognition/eye-af (supported by the RGB-metering-sensor) like in the D500, so that the AF-points follow faces automatically.

Add some software optimizations, like the ability to calibrate the digital level if it's misaligned.

Add the option to keep the mirror up or use the electronic shutter while doing automatic exposure bracketing to get rid of delays and vibrations > good for HDR/Panorama-photographers.

From an operational pov, a K-3 camera

(1) is APC making good use of DA lenses

(2) is 24 mp

(3) has a certain body

(4) has 'fast' fps and 'large' buffer

I'm not sure how much each of these qualities matters to each person

* most of the complaints I've heard about the KP are that it misses (3) and (4)

* the K-1 misses (4), which is why Kenspo headed for the exit {one could say it meets (1) in crop mode}

As I was driving today, I remembered that some Nikon fans treasure the D750 because it is their "noise monster" - because it has a 24mp FF sensor, it does better than most other Nikon cameras in situations where higher ISO values are called for. Pentax could replace the K-7/5/3 series with a 24mp FF camera; add the 'accelerator' to it, and one would have a camera which would do much better at higher ISO values than what it replaces and still hit points (2) - (4) ..... but that would leave (1) as a "problem".

Honestly, I don't expect them to do that, because if they were working on that, they would have used it to keep Kenspo - but I thought it would be worth mentioning.

[troika]

From an operational pov, a K-3 camera

...

(3) has a certain body

...

I like the KP body. I don't like it enough to own one, but if I were a K1 guy, maybe I would like it enough to own it as my travel backup.

I think having it and the K3xxx in the market together is a good thing. The problem is the K3xxx is behind the KP in image quality and they need to at least catch it up. Pentax said right after releasing the KP that it wasn't meant to be the ASP-C flagship. But, they haven't kept their flagship current.

I don't usually participate in these discussions and it's been interesting, though I suspect that I will not do it again next time. This one just caught me at a time when I'm thinking about a new body. But, 50 pages or so ago I made this point, I'll make it one more time and then stop adding to this until Pentax actually tells us something.

There is no reason (except one) for them not to have brought forward the gains that they made with the KP into the K3 line. They should have taken the sensor and the processor and updated the K3 with it as a K3iii.

EXCEPT, if they are ready to release a replacement for that camera, which they actually said they were going to do this year. So, I believe that announcement is coming. I don't know, I could be wrong, but that's what I believe. If they weren't close to that release, they would have updated their flagship ASP-C offering with gains they have already made on that format to keep it current in the market while they labored away on the next big thing.


I'm anxious to see the new camera, what it includes and how it's priced. Then I'll have all of the information that I need to decide when and to what to replace my K5 with.

[reh321]

There is no reason (except one) for them not to have brought forward the gains that they made with the KP into the K3 line. They should have taken the sensor and the processor and updated the K3 with it as a K3iii.

If they had released a K-3iii as you describe, the word "face-lift" would have been heavily used here. and people would still be demanding a 'real' K-3 replacement.

[MikeyBugs95]

If they had released a K-3iii as you describe, the word "face-lift" would have been heavily used here. and people would still be demanding a 'real' K-3 replacement.

They could have called it a "K-3IIs" and release that while working on a true successor. Then again, this would dig in to the potential profits of the new camera and would probably be a bad business call.

[Mark Ransom]

They could have called it a "K-3IIs" and release that while working on a true successor. Then again, this would dig in to the potential profits of the new camera and would probably be a bad business call.

Better to lose a few potential upgraders than to have customers get tired of waiting and migrate to a different system.

[reh321]

Better to lose a few potential upgraders than to have customers get tired of waiting and migrate to a different system.

I am retired now, but in my years as a Software Engineer I worked in various environments on various projects, from inventory control to Air Traffic Control to digital radio to assembly line design. The one constant was management wanting to know "in your best professional opinion, how long will this take?" with the response from various types of engineer "dunno". We could make guesses, but they were just that - guesses. So, even if Pentax went out there with the intention of having a replacement for the K-3 done at a particular time, getting it done is easier said than done. I would rather have them be late than to have them release something that's 'not ready for prime time'.

[mee]

I am retired now, but in my years as a Software Engineer I worked in various environments on various projects, from inventory control to Air Traffic Control to digital radio to assembly line design. The one constant was management wanting to know "in your best professional opinion, how long will this take?" with the response from various types of engineer "dunno". We could make guesses, but they were just that - guesses. So, even if Pentax went out there with the intention of having a replacement for the K-3 done at a particular time, getting it done is easier said than done.I would rather have them be late than to have them release something that's 'not ready for prime time'.

This is one of the more ...interesting.. aspects to being a programmer (that and unhygienic geeky folk). I can never figure out how long something is going to take to code until after I've performed the work. There is no shop guide as in repairing cars... guide says this is an hour job, so I'm charging for an hour of labor. haha None of that because the solution hasn't been invented until I get busy.

So then management asks.... "So give me a percentage of completion" which is equally as difficult to ascertain.


What ends up happening is we high ball the guesstimate we pluck out of thin air to allow for as many of the gotchas as we can reasonably fathom. But even then that doesn't always cover them...


Yet the reasons why we don't have a K-3 II successor is a parlor guessing game... maybe muckmen from the Nebular IV quadrant ate the blueprints of the camera. It is as good as any other guess.


The bottom line is there is no K-3 II successor out today, nor one promised, or one formally announced yet. We can hope one is announced at Photokina and if it doesn't come hope one is announced at CP+ and if one is not announced hope it is announced on it's own in the Q2 or Q3... wash, rinse, repeat like the past couple of years.


I would like to see them do more on-sensor AF stuff and throw in a hybrid viewfinder though... eventually. Having more focusing aids in the viewfinder would be excellent for the old A and M primes.

[Larrymc]

They could have called it a "K-3IIs" and release that while working on a true successor. Then again, this would dig in to the potential profits of the new camera and would probably be a bad business call.

Sounds like a clear cut case of Damned if you do Damned if you don't!

[reh321]

This is one of the more ...interesting.. aspects to being a programmer (that and unhygienic geeky folk). I can never figure out how long something is going to take to code until after I've performed the work. There is no shop guide as in repairing cars... guide says this is an hour job, so I'm charging for an hour of labor. haha None of that because the solution hasn't been invented until I get busy.

So then management asks.... "So give me a percentage of completion" which is equally as difficult to ascertain.

In fact, it is the same question, which some don't understand

(time so far) / (% completed) ==> total time


I did have one project which we finished a few days ahead of schedule. It turned out that our software leader had multiplied all our estimates by two before he gave them to the project manager, and the project manager had multiplied the software leader's estimate by two to get the estimate he actually used.

[mee]

In fact, it is the same question, which some don't understand

(time so far) / (% completed) ==> total time


I did have one project which we finished a few days ahead of schedule. It turned out that our software leader had multiplied all our estimates by two before he gave them to the project manager, and the project manager had multiplied the software leader's estimate by two to get the estimate he actually used.

I think they do understand.. they're just trying to be slick by reasking the question in a different manner.


But yes that is the nice part of padding time estimates... if you do come under you look like a champ. But don't do that too often otherwise they might catch on and start expecting a little early... I find corporateyness is both a help and a hindrance to the corporation sadly. Too many paradigms and swimlanes, pivot tables, and quad charts... when a team could probably get the job done a lot quicker without the stress of management bugging them incessantly about 'are we there yet?!' like some kids in the backseat of the family truckster on the way to walley world.

[reh321]

Yet the reasons why we don't have a K-3 II successor is a parlor guessing game... maybe muckmen from the Nebular IV quadrant ate the blueprints of the camera. It is as good as any other guess.

The bottom line is there is no K-3 II successor out today, nor one promised, or one formally announced yet. We can hope one is announced at Photokina and if it doesn't come hope one is announced at CP+ and if one is not announced hope it is announced on it's own in the Q2 or Q3... wash, rinse, repeat like the past couple of years.

I have tried to provide reasoned guesses to explain why we see low inventories of K-3ii with no K-3 replacement announced - and they have been rejected. OK .... I give up. Your story is as good as anything, so I'm going with it in the future! The important thing is that we will see a K-3 replacement when Pentax is ready to reveal it - not a second sooner ..... and most likely they will never tell us what caused the timing we experience {they wouldn't want to muckmen to come back and attack them again}

[Mark Ransom]

I think they do understand.. they're just trying to be slick by reasking the question in a different manner.


But yes that is the nice part of padding time estimates... if you do come under you look like a champ. But don't do that too often otherwise they might catch on and start expecting a little early... I find corporateyness is both a help and a hindrance to the corporation sadly. Too many paradigms and swimlanes, pivot tables, and quad charts... when a team could probably get the job done a lot quicker without the stress of management bugging them incessantly about 'are we there yet?!' like some kids in the backseat of the family truckster on the way to walley world.

That reminds me of one of my favorite Dilbert cartoons.

Dilbert Comic Strip on 1996-04-15 | Dilbert by Scott Adams

[reh321]

That reminds me of one of my favorite Dilbert cartoons.

Dilbert Comic Strip on 1996-04-15 | Dilbert by Scott Adams

My parents used to complain they didn't understand Dilbert - my response was that my Dad retired too soon. I wonder how long it will be until my daughters tell work stories that I don't understand.

[troenaas]

I did have one project which we finished a few days ahead of schedule. It turned out that our software leader had multiplied all our estimates by two before he gave them to the project manager, and the project manager had multiplied the software leader's estimate by two to get the estimate he actually used.

I've had the privilege on numerous occations to submit custom software development bids. I always took the estimate I got from the software development team and multiplied by Pi (3,14). That worked out pretty good every single time.

[xmeda]

Didn't Pentax also show a prototype of a lens for the K-01 that was never produced? So it can happen.

Do you remember DA*10-20/4 lens prototype?


Anyway there are no signs of any new product this year...