[Mtathos]

Much prefer the Kp screen versus the k-70 screen. An increase in responsiveness in live view would be much appreciated!

[que es tu]

Is there a Monty Python joke in here

Icky icky icky kowziklang zoomboing!!

[Rondec]

so they said though. We will see.


Another interesting thing to note in my opinion is the comparison of prices in yen. The k70 is sold in the Japanese ricoh store for 73,500 yen. This will sell for around 120,000. A third more. Both body only.

however, it is quite similar to what was expected for a k70 dedicated to the astro ..

73,500 yen is just over 500 USD. There is no way that a new camera with associated costs will be at that level. The K-70 launched at 650 USD and with inflation, a new version at 800 seems reasonable.

It is always a mistake to compare recently launched product's pricing to pricing of products at their end of life.

[bladerunner6]

73,500 yen is just over 500 USD. There is no way that a new camera with associated costs will be at that level. The K-70 launched at 650 USD and with inflation, a new version at 800 seems reasonable.

It is always a mistake to compare recently launched product's pricing to pricing of products at their end of life.

Rondel, the math is right on the money. I looked at the launch price at the DPR review of the camera and it was $650. I put that into the inflation calculator and I got $804!

So a $800 launch price is pretty darn reasonable.

[nonpigliounoshoot]

73,500 yen is just over 500 USD. There is no way that a new camera with associated costs will be at that level. The K-70 launched at 650 USD and with inflation, a new version at 800 seems reasonable.

It is always a mistake to compare recently launched product's pricing to pricing of products at their end of life.

I bought it 4 years ago from an official importer for 500 euro. Today in Italy there is no new sale for less than 700 euro.

https://www.trovaprezzi.it/Fprezzo_fotocamere-digitali_pentax_k_70.aspx

indeed the price fell today after the announcement of the KF

[reh321]

I can remember eight changes between the K-3ii and the K-3iii.
Listed in order by how I see them are
1. New processor - faster and possibly “more powerful”
2. New firmware - more graceful in handling old lenses and “eye focusing”
3. Faster data path - possibly even apart from the new processor
4. New AF sensor
5. New data sensor
6. New prism - to me, it just adds weight
7. New controls {which I don’t fully understand}
{ 8. “accelerator” is the eighth, but since the KP has one, I didn’t rank it }

I do appreciate the ability my KP gives me to change ISO quickly, but I suspect the KF has #1 and possibly #2 {we’ll know once they make the actual announcement}. I just weighed my K-mount digital cameras using my wife’s kitchen scales. Without battery or lens, the K-30 weighs about 70 grams less than the KP; with batteries {I use AA’s in the K-30 - especially since the battery hook broke; the door keeps the AA-holder in place} I was surprised that the K-30 weighs about 35 grams more than the KP. I expect the KF to be similar to the K-30 in weight - which would be another advantage from my pov.


Added: after thinking about it, I think my issues with the KP’s AF {focusing on moving things} may primarily be processor issues; the KF is looking better and better to me, the more I think about it.

[Michael Piziak]

I wonder why they still bundle cameras, albeit entry level, with the dated 18-55 with screwdrive AF and not with the more modern and appealing 18-50 RE...
Do they have warehouses chock full of 18-55 to empty ?

Well, I'm just guessing there is still a market for entry consumers that want some sort of lens with their camera....

---------- Post added 11-08-22 at 11:21 AM ----------

From the guy who used to manage Nokishita Camera:

• Colours: Black, Crystal White (limited to 700 units), Crystal Blue (limited to 700 units)
• Kits: Body only and 18-55WR lens kit
• Retail price: body ¥119,800, lens kit ¥139,800
• Scheduled release date: 25 November 2022

Too bad these rumors don't include some specs..

[panonski]

I just heard it would have 8K video with 120 fps ....

[simon_199]

I just heard it would have 8K video with 120 fps ....

What if...it is a video-oriented camera for vloggers ....

[panonski]

What if...it is a video-oriented camera for vloggers ....

.... soon in your theathers

[Rondec]

Well, I'm just guessing there is still a market for entry consumers that want some sort of lens with their camera....

---------- Post added 11-08-22 at 11:21 AM ----------


Too bad these rumors don't include some specs..

We'll know soon if it is released in the next 2 and 1/2 weeks. I just don't think we should get our expectations up too much. This is an 800 dollar entry level camera that will have a street price between 650 and 700. I think we know the sort of things we can expect in such a camera...

[Des]

I was told this directly by the Australian distributer, CRK.Hi Paul,It caught us by surprise as well. We would have rather seen the K-70 go, but Ricoh Japan thought that having the KP & K-3 Mk III competing would confuse the market, while the K-70 has a bigger feature gap that makes the upgrade more relevant.They are very wary of not falling into the Canon trap, where cameras are so closely positioned to each other that it confuses the market. – 4 March 2021

I wouldn’t put stock in that as gospel. But it is plausible.

It's second-hand, but in the absence of anything direct from Ricoh, CRK is as reliable a source as we will ever get.

And it does seem to make sense. Ricoh have to walk a line between including enough features from the flagship model to attract new customers but not so many as to cannibalise sales from the flagship model.

Cannibalisation is real. I am one of those who hasn't bought a K-3iii (so far!) because the KP is so good I can't justify the expense of the K-3iii. (Plus I would miss the tilting screen.) I think there are quite a few of us. In a sense the KP is still costing sales of the K-3iii. Even worse for Ricoh, when I got my KP at the end of 2018, it was only $A100 or so more than the K-70. One of the all-time bargains and never to be seen again.

Ricoh must have figured that if the new model had been a KP successor (at around 60-70% the price of the K-3iii) - particularly with the new AF from the K-3iii - it would have had a big impact on sales of the K-3iii, while not being cheap enough to bring new users to the brand. Who are we to argue with that as a business decision?

I just don't think we should get our expectations up too much. This is an 800 dollar entry level camera that will have a street price between 650 and 700. I think we know the sort of things we can expect in such a camera...

Exactly. Ricoh has to make a hard-nosed business decision.

[UncleVanya]

It's second-hand, but in the absence of anything direct from Ricoh, CRK is as reliable a source as we will ever get.

And it does seem to make sense. Ricoh have to walk a line between including enough features from the flagship model to attract new customers but not so many as to cannibalise sales from the flagship model.

Cannibalisation is real. I am one of those who hasn't bought a K-3iii (so far!) because the KP is so good I can't justify the expense of the K-3iii. (Plus I would miss the tilting screen.) I think there are quite a few of us. In a sense the KP is still costing sales of the K-3iii. Even worse for Ricoh, when I got my KP at the end of 2018, it was only $A100 or so more than the K-70. One of the all-time bargains and never to be seen again.

Ricoh must have figured that if the new model had been a KP successor (at around 60-70% the price of the K-3iii) - particularly with the new AF from the K-3iii - it would have had a big impact on sales of the K-3iii, while not being cheap enough to bring new users to the brand. Who are we to argue with that as a business decision?

My objection is semantic. I don't think we can take CRK as the word of Ricoh - so I can't accept your statements about "Why Ricoh did xyz" as fact. I can take them as a plausible explanation. I have always assumed this about the KP:

1) It sold poorly at the offering price.
2) It missed as a flagship replacement but was required to provide nearly the same level of function in the lineup during transition to the K3iii availability.
3) It became a cult classic too late to save it.

Also assumed:

* It cost too much to make and sell at the prices it was eventually sold at.
* It uses older parts that may no longer make sense to use given the transition to a new OS/Processor.
* The Ricoh market has too little room for stratification of Low End / Mid Tier / High End within APSC lineup.

But as I said, I would mark all of these as assumptions not assertions. I have no inside track for reliable info.

For the record - I hated the KP as a flagship replacement, the lack of dual card slots, the anemic buffering, the lower spec shutter life - all of these made it difficult to swallow as a replacement for the K-3. But as a nice midrange - after I bought it - I realized I didn't need top end or low end. It was a goldilocks camera. Also at the price I paid... I feel like I stole it.

[reh321]

I have always assumed this about the KP:

1) It sold poorly at the offering price.
2) It missed as a flagship replacement but was required to provide nearly the same level of function in the lineup during transition to the K3iii availability.
3) It became a cult classic too late to save it.

Also assumed:

* It cost too much to make and sell at the prices it was eventually sold at.
* It uses older parts that may no longer make sense to use given the transition to a new OS/Processor.
* The Ricoh market has too little room for stratification of Low End / Mid Tier / High End within APSC lineup.

But as I said, I would mark all of these as assumptions not assertions. I have no inside track for reliable info.

For the record - I hated the KP as a flagship replacement, the lack of dual card slots, the anemic buffering, the lower spec shutter life - all of these made it difficult to swallow as a replacement for the K-3. But as a nice midrange - after I bought it - I realized I didn't need top end or low end. It was a goldilocks camera. Also at the price I paid... I feel like I stole it.

As I have said many times, I would have been unwilling to pay flagship prices for it, but it came down to my level. My only complaint with it is focusing on speeding train cars; I was thinking at first that I might need K-3iii focusing, but now I am thinking that ‘KP focusing’ might work with better processing, so this may be what I want. {I am one of those Pentax is unwilling to abandon }

[Erictator]

Clearly, the KF is for all 28 of us who have held on to the amazing 35-70 f2.8 AF lens, and KF means it will autofocus with it (though it still needs green button metering)

Only a little more seriously, I also like the colored body caps. That's fun, if only a rendering...

But good news, I think, that Ricoh hasn't abandoned the entry-level... especially with a similar sensor to the K3iii, even if it skimps a bit on the frame rate, buffer, and the prism.
I hope they give it 4k, though... even as a rudimentary thing with few fancy modes and such... to appeal to folks who don't need a dedicated video rig but who would like to shoot movies of their kids on stage or something...

-Eric

Hey Eric, another Eric here, and I also still have my smc PENTAX AF ZOOM 1:2.8 35-70mm for the Pentax ME-F and if they ever did make a Digi body for it, they better put some lead in its arse, or its going to be front heavy with all FOUR of the AA batteries loaded in that lens. LOL!

Thanks for the memories, I'd use that lens more just for laughs, it is plenty sharp, but the MF ring is so tiny and awful, I just can't bring myself to see it as any more than just a collector piece on the shelf.

I guess I'll play too...

KF stands for the KF(irmware edition!) The first Pentax camera that you pre-order with your own ala carte' chosen Firmware loaded.

Sample order: "Yeah, send me a KF with FW update to 4K Super 35 video 60fps, Add the graduated ND filter option, Motion corrected pixel shift internal processing, oh, and make sure I get the flashing red dot A/F indicator upgrade for the viewfinder... wait, that'll be how much? Never mind... just send me the base firmware load."...

Eric