[ogl]

We will see K-2...I think...

[mecrox]

Let me just add that I’m exhausted. I don’t care any more.

Someone credible please explain to me why Ricoh have announced two premium lenses and have roadmapped a third and openly said KP and K-3ll would run parallel for some time if they’re running off the Brand. OTOH I don’t really understand the benefit of Imaging to Ricoh Parentco for Y20B.

I don't think anyone can. Roadmaps and the occasional rumour suggest "business as usual" will continue. Recent sales and financial figures suggest "business as usual" can't continue. I guess 2018 may indicate Ricoh's solution to this conundrum. For sure, none of us knows. But if you add up the number of hopeful bids on this forum - new things for 2018 on APS-C, FF, MF, GR, lenses, et al - it would be enough to faze Canon let alone Ricoh.

[Madaboutpix]

All speculation at this point, but I'd be surprised, and actually irritated, if there wasn't a K-3 II successor announced some time this year. Announcing the DA★11-18 wouldn't make a ton of sense without one. The KP is sure a capable camera, but it cannot divert from the fact that a true current APS-C flagship DSLR is missing.

Pentax's APS-C ecosystem is well established, and Ricoh would be ill-advised to neglect it, IMO. It's their bread-and-butter Pentax, and where a large part of their user base is.

[Kunzite]

I should be happy with this statement and thank you for some positive news.
However, it is not about abandoning or not abandoning, it is about releasing or not releasing.
They may not have abandoned APS-C high end, but they are not releasing a (five year old) K3 successor either at CP+ and pribably not Photokina either judging by the complete absence of news/snippets of info/rumors or whatever on a possible APS-C high end body.
So what does not abandoning then practically mean? The DA*11-18mm?

Sigh... what's the point in repeating the same, when CP+ is less than a month away? This is perhaps the worst possible time for speculating on lack of information.

"Complete absence of news/snippets of info/rumors or whatever" is a de facto standard until about a week before release. Most rumors are made up anyway, and genuine leaks often ignored.
And as I keep saying, the DA* 11-18mm is not a good match for the KP - but for an APS-C flagship.

[Cerebum]

Ooh, got a bit heated there! This whole thread is speculation, we are merely voicing what we would like to be the truth. The K5ii and K3 overlapped but it doesn’t really make financial sense having two cameras fighting over the same slot. It would be interesting to see how many units they shifted. Possibly they feel the KP and K3ii fill a similar niche in which case there may not be a replacement. Personally (from what I have read and seen) it is nice to have a top quality APSC in the range. I have never seen a bad review of the K3ii but I have seen one or two of the KP so I understand the reaction. I suppose the question is just how well is Pentax doing and can it sustain a “range”? Fuji consolidated their camera range, maybe this is the first part of Pentax doing the same. One thing that won’t change, I still really want a K3ii.

[victormeldrew]

One crucial fact that none of us know, is how full the logistic pipeline is. Manufacturing may have ceased, but equally there might be a year's worth of stock in warehouses and on store shelves that will fill the gap until a new body is available, assuming there will be one at some point.

[ffking]

One crucial fact that none of us know, is how full the logistic pipeline is. Manufacturing may have ceased, but equally there might be a year's worth of stock in warehouses and on store shelves that will fill the gap until a new body is available, assuming there will be one at some point.

that's true, but moving it into the 'discontinued' folder rather than just bumbling through your remaining stock (presumably knowingly) sends a signal at the very least.

[Fogel70]

One crucial fact that none of us know, is how full the logistic pipeline is. Manufacturing may have ceased, but equally there might be a year's worth of stock in warehouses and on store shelves that will fill the gap until a new body is available, assuming there will be one at some point.

Where I live K3II has not been available for orders the last 6 months.
Even Ricoh themselves removed K3II from online store.

I was lucky to get one of the last K3II in Sweden when i found a demo camera available for sale a couple of month ago.

[northcoastgreg]

In my humble opinion PENTAX (RICOH), due financial results, wants to do an ALL IN: at the CP+ I think that we will see a new FF, a new APS-C and a new MF. Obviously at various stages of development, perhaps only the APS-C ready to sale.

Who want to bet with me on this?

Pentax doesn't likely have the capacity to come out with new FF, MF and APS-C this year. If the rumors about a new FF this year are true, then it's unlikely we'll see an APS-C flagship this year.

One of the consequences of Pentax developing an FF system is that it's made them very ambitious in terms of some of their projects. In particular, these three f1.4 star primes they're working on has really slowed things down and made it seem like they're not doing anything at all. But I'm not sure it's fully appreciated what Pentax is attempting to do with those lenses. When those DFA* primes finally come out, Pentax will have three primes that will likely be better than anything Nikon or Canon has in similar focal lengths. But it is clearly taxing Pentax's capabilities and resources to make three lenses featuring such lofty and ambitious goals while also filling up the DFA lineup with any measure of alacrity.

All the discontinuation of the K-3ii means is that Pentax won't manufacture any more units of the camera. They'll continue to sell, perhaps through the rest of the year, the remaining stock. Then for a brief time the KP (a much misunderstood camera) will be a placeholder APS-C flagship. Incidentally, this notion that the KP was designed primarily (or even solely) for use with the DA limiteds is just not true. I realize that Pentax's pathetic marketing attempts have left that impression; but if KP was designed primarily for use with the limiteds, why did Pentax produce a BG to go with it? The KP is the first non-flagship Pentax DSLR to include an optional BG since the K200D. With the BG the KP works great with large lenses --- better, in any case, then the K-70 ever will.

[Chris Mak]

Sigh... what's the point in repeating the same, when CP+ is less than a month away? This is perhaps the worst possible time for speculating on lack of information.

"Complete absence of news/snippets of info/rumors or whatever" is a de facto standard until about a week before release. Most rumors are made up anyway, and genuine leaks often ignored.
And as I keep saying, the DA* 11-18mm is not a good match for the KP - but for an APS-C flagship.

There is no point, I know. I am unfortunately hit by the backlash of the FF launch from a small player like Pentax. Unless keeping your head in the clouds as APS-C user, all common sense dictates to search elsewhere. I already know that there is not really any other option.

The K1 was heavily rumored, even the K1mkII is already rumored. That says enough I think. And b.t.w.: why would the DA*11-18f2.8 not suit the KP? It does not need a large buffer as wide angle lens, nor is AF of much concern. Even ergonomically I see no objection to the combo, after all the KP features the three grips.

Chris

[ffking]

Incidentally, this notion that the KP was designed primarily (or even solely) for use with the DA limiteds is just not true. I realize that Pentax's pathetic marketing attempts have left that impression; but if KP was designed primarily for use with the limiteds, why did Pentax produce a BG to go with it?

Well, not according the th PF CP+ 2017 interview, but I assume you know better.

[clickclick]

@Adam - how you coming on that mass Prozac purchase for all the sad sacks out there?

Never seen such eagerness to interpret the worst case scenario.

Is it the cold getting to everyone? Cooped up inside with "nothing" to do?

Again, since basically anyone posting anything here knows nothing, I'll take the positive twist instead of the negative twist. We know there's a new DA* 11-18. We know that the IQ of the KP is great. We know that there is a demand for a new APS-C flagship. We know that prices on existing cameras have been moving down, which in turn leaves a spot for a new top of the line entry, and we know that we're only a month out from a show that historically has brought good news, and finally, how many of us had a clue about the KP prior to the announcement it existed?

Time to go take some pictures while chilling out and wait and see what happens in a month. Then respective parties can either jump for joy or jump off the cliff, but until then, we just don't know what the future holds.

[Kunzite]

There is no point, I know. I am unfortunately hit by the backlash of the FF launch from a small player like Pentax. Unless keeping your head in the clouds as APS-C user, all common sense dictates to search elsewhere. I already know that there is not really any other option.

The K1 was heavily rumored, even the K1mkII is already rumored. That says enough I think. And b.t.w.: why would the DA*11-18f2.8 not suit the KP? It does not need a large buffer as wide angle lens, nor is AF of much concern. Even ergonomically I see no objection to the combo, after all the KP features the three grips.

Chris

I understand your position; but how is this any helpful? If you can, be patient just a little bit; CP+ and the beginning of the new fiscal year, when information will start to appear.
But right now, we know next to nothing about their FY2019 plans.

The K-1 was pre-announced at CP+ 2015 - because that was the only reasonable option, and before that Pentax Ricoh mentioned they want to make a FF DSLR as early as October 2012 (but how many believed that?). This, however, is an exception. Even its specs were AFAIR not known until right before the announcement.
We'll see what's the deal with this K-1 Mk II.

Just because you can use it, doesn't mean the DA* 11-18mm and the KP suits one another. The KP is designed specifically as a more compact midrange option, and it begs using more compact lenses. It's also not a flagship - while a DA* is, by definition, a flagship lens (likely more than any DA* before it).

[mtgmansf]

My humble opinion - if Ricoh/Pentax had one ounce of marketing savvy, they would have put any future replacement for the K3II on a new road map, along with the announcement of a new 50mm (highly boring) and astro-photographer special, super APS-c lens, the 11-18mm (very exciting!). Personally, I might have sprung for a KP this holiday, if they would have thrown in the grip for us large handed photographers, instead of or on top of the small rebate. One big issue and maybe the elephant in the room, I see with the whole APS-c format, there has been little to zero innovation by Sony on sensors for this format. Hats off to Ricoh for getting the very most and best performance out of any APS-c sensor with the KP, but surely they should have gone upscale with a K3II replacement at the same time...

[monochrome]

IIRC no one anticipated K-01. Pentax epitomizes inscrutable.