[24X36NOW]

I've got a WOW product idea - a FF dSLR with a Foveon sensor, about 12 megapixels is all you'd need in a Foveon to turn D3Xs and 1DSIII's into $8,000 paper weights on image quality.

[lol101]

I've got a WOW product idea - a FF dSLR with a Foveon sensor, about 12 megapixels is all you'd need in a Foveon to turn D3Xs and 1DSIII's into $8,000 paper weights on image quality.

Yep! At least up to ISO 400...

Yep! At least up to ISO 400...

Slight correction if I may: up to ISO400 in GOOD light!

Radu

[bergfire]

They need to make waterproof lens more affordable. If the kit lens were waterproof it would be like a jeep product prettymuch ready to hit the trail. No need to worry about weather ruining your $800 camera. That would be fairly smart marketing, pentax owners out in the storm while everyone else is finding a window to shoot through.

[GaryM]

They need to make waterproof lens more affordable. If the kit lens were waterproof it would be like a jeep product prettymuch ready to hit the trail. No need to worry about weather ruining your $800 camera. That would be fairly smart marketing, pentax owners out in the storm while everyone else is finding a window to shoot through.

Small, rugged, waterproof body + small, rugged, waterproof lenses = win. Unfortunately, I don't see anything on the horizon that indicates movement in this direction. Maybe Olympus will grab the brass ring here.

[er1kksen]

Small, rugged, waterproof body + small, rugged, waterproof lenses = win. Unfortunately, I don't see anything on the horizon that indicates movement in this direction. Maybe Olympus will grab the brass ring here.

I see a press release from a few months back about pentax repositioning itself as a maker of rugged, compact, weather-resistant outdoor products throughout the range starting in 2009, and it does indeed fill me with hope for such an affordable weathersealed lens to occur.

Speaking of Olympus, it's ironic; Pentax has the affordable weathersealed bodies, Olympus has the affordable weathersealed lenses. Neither has both. One or both of them needs to get on the ball and realize that neither is fully realized without the other!

[tigrebleu]

they need a camera that when placed next to competitors will push them off the ledge... that'd be pretty "wow"

Much like the K10D when it was released. This Pentax flagship DSLR won many international awards in 2007, taking some away from Nikon and Canon. And, although it had a few flaws, the K10D still remains a landmark in DSLR innovation.

The K20D was pretty much a K10D without the main flaws: no vertical noise pattern at high ISO (I only saw HPN twice on the K20D, with quite underexposed shots), better AF in low light (lowest EV value went from 0 to -1), higher maximum ISO and better high ISO performance... and a sync connector.

A very good improvement but not really "wow" after the K10D.


The next big "wow" thing might be one of the following:

- 645D (I'd be surprised, but it's still possible).

- High spec APS-C K3D or K30D, much like a Nikon D300 / Canon 50D, at an affordable price (fall 2009, maybe — it could be a real alternative to Nikon and Canon's APS-C flagships if more affordable).

- Micro APS-C mirrorless DSLR with electronic viewfinder (there's some market to grab there, even if I don't like the concept).

- FF Pentax DSLR with weather sealing, in-body SR and affordable price for a FF DSLR (unlikely right now, as Pentax-Hoya have commited to the APS-C format — maybe in 2 or 3 years, with luck).


My bet: micro APS-C DSLR or K30D. But who knows, really?

[tigrebleu]

22MP DFX body: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Square format?



I'm in!

I shot enough 6x6 medium format film to know I would love such a camera.

Sounds improbable, but sounds like music to my hears anyway.

[PentaxPoke]

22MP DFX body: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Square format?



I'm in!

I shot enough 6x6 medium format film to know I would love such a camera.

Sounds improbable, but sounds like music to my hears anyway.

When you think about it, it makes so much sense. Why in the digital age are we wasting so much light that comes in from the round lens, and lands on a rectangle? A square sensor would use the same light circle as a DA lens, and eliminate the need to rotate our cameras to portrait mode. If Pentax released something like this, I would buy it tomorrow!

[ftpaddict]

No, no square format. Ever. Consumers do not want square format, only 5 people on this forum and on dpreview.

[ewalk]

No, no square format. Ever. Consumers do not want square format, only 5 people on this forum and on dpreview.

Even if the default was the format/crop that we know and use today in the K20D/K200D?

Where's that "i want to believe image" again?

[Reportage]

actually they already do have one. the K20D, other then the 3fps and resolution and....it has a lot of the features the 1DMKIII and the D3X. Notice i dont mention the ISO as even if the iso is in the tens of thousands...depends a lot if the photos are even useable at such high iso speed. Funny thing is its 1/5th the price of an 1DMkIII....i dont know why they capped the speed at 3fps because at 6fps could easily give even the D700 a run for the money.

Its just that Pentax not as agressive on product marketing as Sony, Nikon and Canon in my opinion and not as wide a range of lenses. I really hope Pentax does better in Hoya`s hands.

[thePiRaTE!!]

22MP DFX body: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Square format?



I'm in!

I shot enough 6x6 medium format film to know I would love such a camera.

Sounds improbable, but sounds like music to my hears anyway.

DFX, mix between FX and DX? This person reads too much Nikon literature. I'd say it would be called the FDA, oh, wait...

actually they already do have one. the K20D, other then the 3fps and resolution and....it has a lot of the features the 1DMKIII and the D3X. Notice i dont mention the ISO as even if the iso is in the tens of thousands...depends a lot if the photos are even useable at such high iso speed. Funny thing is its 1/5th the price of an 1DMkIII....i dont know why they capped the speed at 3fps because at 6fps could easily give even the D700 a run for the money.

Its just that Pentax not as agressive on product marketing as Sony, Nikon and Canon in my opinion and not as wide a range of lenses. I really hope Pentax does better in Hoya`s hands.

K20D is not a 'wow' product. It is a Subaru. It does what it does well within its budgetary scope. Rugged, dependable, safe. Subaru's have a lot of the features formula 1's have as well, and can even go places you'de never take a formula 1, but there is a reason many pro's choose to race in formula 1's and not Subaru's. Horses for courses.

Much like some multi system shooters choose a Nikon for low-light work, Pentax would do well to extend themselves further into the outdoor, rugged niche as the go to option for this segment, it's their specialty. Have you ever personally heard anyone complain about their 3x5 pictures? I guarantee that 99.9% of you are saying no. How about hearing people wanting to take their cameras to the beach, or to the lake or to the mountains but were afraid it would get wrecked?

Forget reinventing the format, leave the sensor alone. Put the (limited) resources into what they are already becoming known for and be good at that so people think of Pentax when they think of taking a camera out in the rain or on their holiday to the Amazon. There is still room for wow with cameras built to last. A camera for a different kind of working professional. Combine this with Pentax reputation for quality imaging and put in the best APS-C CMOS Samsung can muster so the body cost is justified for several years use and perhaps they'll cater to the loyalties of the invested crop format segment, shaken in other camps with their companies emphasis on FF. It may not be the future, but its a wave they can ride right now.

K.

[Reportage]

all it takes is several people to take the camera where nikon and canon cannot go and then brag loudly about it. Still waiting for more people to show up.

over an F1 car, i`d take a more nimble Subaru which can do 100% track, outdoor and street rather then an F1 which only works on track. The only reason for pros choosing F1 could be the money and sponsorship deals and many will argue on this but track racing is safer compared to the races the Subaru can enter.

The way I see it Pentax (the *new* Pentax IF that means a more innovative company) should also shed like an old skin a lot of his "supporters" and maybe attract more open minded ones as it's true niche. I understand that some folks with a K100D suffer from the irony of their dorm mates (guys with Rebels and D40s tops) because "we have no FF". I doubt that any top camera is targeting them anyway. I don't understand though why real creative people like Kelly talk about this as a bad idea without other arguments than "Pentax should see his nose length (a saying we have here) and don't try to innovate just be the poor guy who gets whatever table leftovers the big guys throw at him.

The way I see it it's better for Pentax that all the other companies explain to their current and prospective customers why their APS-C cameras are better with 14-15 Mp and we have an totally useless 22Mp on a 1:1 crop plus the "classic" 14.6 Mp in the same price range. I mean who in their right mind would make such a picture of a landscape for example and latter chose the most interesting part? Only a lunatic I can assure you!

It's funny that other than smart remarks no one here disputes whatever that guy wrote on the other forum. There were plenty of details yet nobody seems to fault those details but the idea itself. And yet not so long ago a lot of people were saying that for K30D or whatever all they wanted is a faster AF in some situations and a bit more fps. They will probably get a new AF and 5.5 fps in the "normal" 14.6Mp plus an integrated grip, plus a bigger viewfinder, plus a bigger and movable LCD (with SMC coating nonetheless ) plus an easy way to change from portrait to landscape mode YET they don't like the extra 7 Mp that they are free NOT TO USE.

I don't know about you guys but IMO if Pentax doesn't innovate now it may never have another chance. And not because "the sky is falling" but simply because the niche of being always a year late and a feature short will become less and less anybody's favorite place.

Radu