[BigMackCam]

But from the interview as a whole, it does appear that the new K3 style flagship will be one of their next important projects, so sept.-oct. 2019 is possible, although that is still some time away.

Just to be clear, though, he didn't even hint at a date - those dates are yours, so any hopes and expectations are on us, not Ricoh. The new camera may arrive on or before your dates, or considerably later

If I were looking to replace or upgrade my APS-C body, depending on the reasons for doing so and the features I needed, I would either grab a K-3II at a sensible price while it's still available, or pick up a KP (as you did) - either of which can be sold and some of the money recouped when the new model is eventually released

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 03-06-2018 at 04:13 PM.

[Chris Mak]

Just to be clear, though, he didn't even hint at a date - those dates are yours, so any hopes and expectations are on us, not Ricoh. The new camera may arrive on or before your dates, or considerably later

If I were looking to replace or upgrade my APS-C body, depending on the reasons for doing so and the features I needed, I would either grab a K-3II at a sensible price while it's still available, or pick up a KP - either of which can be sold and some of the money recouped when the new model is eventually released

I did just that Mike: pick up a KP. I also considered a K3II, still available in my camera store, but I had some issues with the stability and reliability of my original K3, so decided to go for the newer KP.
Glad I did, it's appearing nicely stable and reliabe, and has responsive and positive AF. Maybe the K3II also had these qualities, but now I get better high iso also. I don't even notice much difference between iso 100, 200, 400 anymore. On the K3, iso 400 was starting to look positively grainy.
What's in my future? I don't know yet. The Nikon D500 and the Sigma 500/4 S are a possible switch if I count two years. Or if the K# flagship is irresistable, and I still won't be able to sell my DA560, I may go for that after all. Until then the KP will do nicely, much better on the DA560 with batterygrip and second battery than I could have hoped.

[monochrome]

Isn't that a problem on many of the threads on the forum? The continual demands for improved this and that seem to ignore this fact in some sort of belief that Pentax can compete with 'the big boys'

That’s my belief (and frustration) but it isn’t apparently a very popular statement.

[BigMackCam]

On the K3, iso 400 was starting to look positively grainy.

Out of interest, Chris, what physical size are you reproducing your photos at, and for what viewing distances? I process my photos in Lightroom 6 and Darktable, and using careful (but easily repeatable) noise reduction I easily achieve very low noise photos from my K-3 and K-3II at ISO 1600, with almost imperceptible loss of detail. Many of my shots are at much higher ISO settings, and I choose to leave a certain amount of noise in most of those to retain maximum detail. At the reproduction sizes I'm interested in, that noise is barely visible.

Anyone unhappy with K-3 or K-3II RAW output up to ISO 1600 needs to look at their post-processing. The KP should be a stop or two better...

[Chris Mak]

Out of interest, Chris, what physical size are you reproducing your photos at, and for what viewing distances? I process my photos in Lightroom 6 and Darktable, and using careful (but easily repeatable) noise reduction I easily achieve very low noise photos from my K-3 and K-3II at ISO 1600, with almost imperceptible loss of detail. Many of my shots are at much higher ISO settings, and I choose to leave a certain amount of noise in most of those to retain maximum detail. At the reproduction sizes I'm interested in, that noise is barely visible.

Anyone unhappy with K-3 or K-3II RAW output up to ISO 1600 needs to look at their post-processing. The KP should be a stop or two better...

Yes, up to iso 1600 the K3 was useable. Iso 3200 was over the limits for my use, noise but also loss of color depth.
Iso 400 on the K3 was fine, especially resized or printed. What I meant, was that I could see the grain starting to appear in iso 400 shots from the K3 when cropping or zooming in. So I could always tell the difference between iso 100 and iso 400. With the KP, this is simply much less obvious. Also, color seems to keep its vividness better when the iso goes up. So look out for that accelerator chipped K1mkII!

[MarkJerling]

I find it interesting that they would discontinue the K-3ii, considering the interview seems to say that the replacement is some time off.

[Kunzite]

However, it seems that the K-3 successor won't be able to come out as early as they had wanted.

Adam, could you elaborate on this part? Did they say anything about when they wanted to have it ready?

[BigMackCam]

I find it interesting that they would discontinue the K-3ii, considering the interview seems to say that the replacement is some time off.

I commented on this earlier in the thread, Mark...

By discontinuing the K-3II, Ricoh directs those who need a premium Pentax DSLR towards the KP for now, maximising sales of that model. Demand for the K-3II must have dwindled considerably in expectation of a new model at some point, and it's getting quite long in the tooth by today's standards. You have to wonder how many potential sales were left in it (and at what price?) and whether they'd be sufficient to justify another production run.

It may also be down to component availability. Perhaps one or more components in the K-3II is no longer available in sufficient quantity to allow a decent production run and support servicing and repair activities...

I have no basis for the above... they're just my thoughts on possible reasons

[caliscouser]

I wonder if the thinking was that K-3ii sales were slow and a new camera (the KP) could bridge the production gap until another K-3 successor or APS-C camera was developed.
It seems like the KP was an opportunistic camera, something they had wanted to do for a while and this was the opportunity to do it (between flagship models)


edit: well pretty much what Bigmackcam said above

[robjmitchell]

Well production will be making K1ii at the moment followed by gr3 due September. So end if the year would be the next production slot I'm guessing. Hopefully the expected sony sensor has turned up and release will be 1st half 2019.

[dstar]

Adam, could you elaborate on this part? Did they say anything about when they wanted to have it ready?

Sorry This Japanese style business .They not leak new as WH everyday

[Mark Ransom]

Just FYI.

This is a press release of KP from RICOH Imaging Japan on Jan/26/2017.
??APS-C???????????????????????????????PENTAX KP??????RICOH IMAGING

The title of the very thing is (emphasis mine)

新型APS-Cサイズセンサーを搭載したミドルクラスのデジタル一眼レフカメラ
「PENTAX KP」を新発売
～夜景をスナップできるISO819200の超高感度撮影を新設計の小型ボディで実現～

or

New release of middle class digital SLR camera with new APS-C sensor

PENTAX KP.

Super high sensitivity ISO 819200 lets you shoot night scape with newly designed small body.

You're welcome.

Of course it was middle class. The K-1 was the high class.

I see no evidence that Pentax considered the APS-C and FF cameras to be two different lines. In fact I keep seeing the opposite.

[MarkJerling]

I commented on this earlier in the thread, Mark...

By discontinuing the K-3II, Ricoh directs those who need a premium Pentax DSLR towards the KP for now, maximising sales of that model. Demand for the K-3II must have dwindled considerably in expectation of a new model at some point, and it's getting quite long in the tooth by today's standards. You have to wonder how many potential sales were left in it (and at what price?) and whether they'd be sufficient to justify another production run.

It may also be down to component availability. Perhaps one or more components in the K-3II is no longer available in sufficient quantity to allow a decent production run and support servicing and repair activities...

I have no basis for the above... they're just my thoughts on possible reasons

I understand what you're saying Mike, but I would have thought it would make sense to only announce it's demise close to an actual replacement. I can't imagine that they have run out of all stock. Of course, no idea how large a production run is. They may have done the maths and found that they can't justify another production run, as you rightly point out.

[Larrymc]

From the interview: "we put our resources mainly to the development of full frame lenses".
So the K1, and of course the "alternative high end APS-C camera" KP are the direct causes for the postponement of a next generation flagship K... series.
But from the interview as a whole, it does appear that the new K3 style flagship will be one of their next important projects, so sept.-oct. 2019 is possible, although that is still some time away.

I certainly hope your guess is right!

Larry

[Racer X 69]

The K-1 is down to $1696.95.

Probably time to pull the trigger.