[biz-engineer]

In April of 2018, they are only now beginning development of the next APS-C flagship? I sincerely hope he misspoke.

This is exactly what I thought.

How often should a company make new camera models? One new model every 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 4 years? more?

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Last edited by biz-engineer; 04-08-2018 at 12:54 AM.

[ogl]

How often should a company make new camera models? One new model every 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 4 years? more?

2-2.5 years for mid-range cameras

[RonHendriks1966]

How often should a company make new camera models? One new model every 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 4 years? more?

This is changing over time. The new model every year is getting old news. There simply isn't enough development to make a new model stand out in such quick steps.

MF - 645Z, maybe every 5 years is enough since there is no new sensor
FF - K-1 (ii), they can go along 4 years or so, the ii-upgrade is small (when you look at having the same sensor)
HIGH RANGE APS - K-3ii, not in the market, but K-3 is from 2013 and this is over time.
MID RANGE APS - KP, even 2 years would be fast
LOW MID RANGE - K-70, every other year is fast enough
LOW RANGE - K-, not in the market and probably never coming

Overal sold units dslr are much lower for all brands then years ago, so having them longer in shops is a way to keep costs lower.

[Rondec]

How often should a company make new camera models? One new model every 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 4 years? more?

To me, there should not be a set time. Cameras should remain on the market until they are superseded by better ones -- particularly when it comes to image quality. Most of this comes down to sensors though. I haven't a clue about what sensors are available right now. I suppose the current K3 II sensor is pretty old, but how much better are the newer ones?

I do think that enough time has passed since the K3 II's release that Pentax could pretty easily put out a camera with better specs than it. I'm supposing accelerator chip, faster frame rate, bigger buffer, maybe add 4K video, new super-resolution mode, improved AF, and enable electronic shutter with normal shooting. I'm sure there are other things they could do, but that would be a start.

The problem if you just release a new camera every two years then you can end up releasing cameras with minimal changes from previous generation (see Nikon's D3xxx and D5xxx series cameras) and they all just sit around on store shelves (not that Pentax cameras are actually in stores).

[angerdan]

HIGH RANGE APS - K-3ii, not in the market, but K-3 is from 2013 and this is over time.
MID RANGE APS - KP, even 2 years would be fast
LOW MID RANGE - K-70, every other year is fast enough
LOW RANGE - K-, not in the market and probably never coming

• K-3 is high-end
• KP is advanced
• K-70 is midrange
• K-S2 was entry-level

Entry level has been available for 13 years now, so "not on the market and probably never coming" seems to be wrong.
Template:Pentax digital interchangeable lens cameras - Wikipedia

[Mistral75]

I don't consider the K-S2 as an entry-level camera. The last entry-level Pentax DSLR was the K500.

There are other oddities in the Wikipedia template: the K10D / K20D / K-7 / K-5 / K-5 II(s) would be advanced cameras and the K-3 / K-3 II high-end cameras?

[Rondec]

Wasn't the KS-1 considered entry level? I purchased one for 350 dollars. It certainly didn't seem like price-wise it was a mid level camera.

[angerdan]

There are other oddities in the Wikipedia template: the K10D / K20D / K-7 / K-5 / K-5 II(s) would be advanced cameras and the K-3 / K-3 II high-end cameras?

What's odd about the classification in your opinion? The small difference in functionality between K-5 II and K-3?

[RonHendriks1966]

Wasn't the KS-1 considered entry level? I purchased one for 350 dollars. It certainly didn't seem like price-wise it was a mid level camera.

The K-S1 started overhere at 649 euro and got no sales. It was way overpriced for what it was.

[photoptimist]

As others have noted, a set schedule doesn't make sense if there's no compelling new component technologies such as a better sensor.

And rather than set a launch cycle in each category, I'd think that Ricoh probably thinks in terms of the total engineering and factory capacity to handle new product launches. Those capacity issues set a minimum spacing between product launches that seems to run 6 to 12 months if history is any guide. They just launched the K1ii which means the factory is probably pretty busy and the engineers have just now been able to turn their attention from the K1ii to other bodies. They'll probably wait 6 to 12 months before launching another body (such as the GR in September) and then another 6 to 12 months to launch another body (maybe a 645 or K-3 replacement depending on which platform has a new sensor that creates the most meaningful upgrade).

[RonHendriks1966]

What's odd about the classification in your opinion? The small difference in functionality between K-5 II and K-3?

And then there was the odd pricing where KP was 50 % more expensive then K-3ii at a time.

[Vantage-Point]

Pentax needs to shop around to get the best price versus tech power for CMOS chips. Recently, Samsung said they want to be a big player in the CMOS chip market. They also have the ability to make every thing from cell phone chips to medium format CMOS chips. Pentax should see who could give them the best technology at a price that they can afford. Samung wants to make a name for themselves as a supplier of chips to other companies. They might get a better deal from Samsung since they are not making their own DSLR / Mirrorless cameras right now so they will not be keeping the best tech for themselves unlike Sony.

[normhead]

What's odd about the classification in your opinion? The small difference in functionality between K-5 II and K-3?

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/363560-dpreviews-i...#ixzz5C5c6nCwz

3 extra frames er second almost doubling the FPS rate, and a 23 shot buffer, along with AF improvements, were huge for us birders. I was keeping my K-5 as a back up, and went to use it one day, just for fun, and found it to be pretty much unusable. One person's small difference in functionality is someone else's huge leap forward. The K-3 took my wildlife to a whole new level.

My shooting buddies noticed it as well. The first time the K-3 shutter went off in burst mode, heads turned. It was like I'd finally joined the club of "real camera" owners.

YMMV

[ogl]

[LIST][*] K-3 is high-end[*]KP is advanced[*]K-70 is midrange[*]K-S2 was entry-level

Wrong way...
No. K-3 is mid-range. Is K-3 higher than D7500 or D500?

Ricoh has no high-end and andvanced APS-C cameras

For Nikon

Professional D5
High-end D850 D750
Advanced D500, D610

Mid-range D7500
Upper-entry D5600
Entry-level D3400

[normhead]

It's fixed.