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I strongly believe, that with all the pressure from the competitors coming with the 24mm by 36mm sensor cameras Pentax will have to make one too and soon. They at least have to give a strong notion of going this way RIGHT NOW.
Optics was their stronger point. I have not seen them coming up with anything really remarkable here for the last 20 years. No much different form their bigger brothers though. One real strong point left is that pentax bodies support their older lenses.
The icons of Pentax in 35mm were K1000 and LX. Does Pentax have anything same strong? No way. Mid format sensors will not be in the affordable range for still about at least 5 years.
With its full frame body line, Canon looks professional, strong and reliable. Having introduced their first full frame bodies, Nikon and Sony look somewhat second hand, but still OK. Currently pentax clearly follows the bigger 3 with nothing making it to stand out, except its support for its older lenses. It seems logical to assume that Pentax will continues following the larger brands and continue to support its older lenses.
To summarize it:
I think Pentax is now forced to introduce or announce 24mm by 36mm camera as soon as possible. The only advantage of supporting older optics may become too week of an argument to keep customers, after full frame bodies became more affordable from the 3 bigger brands. On the other hand Pentax have to sell some critical amount of their APS stuff in order not to sustain financial losses. I have a good reason to think that R&D to put in a bigger sensor is not a big deal in terms of electronics or mechanics.
ALL electronics costs go down about 50% each year. The cost of 24mm by 36mm sensors are rapidly coming down. APS feels inconvenient to people used to 24mm by 36mm and does not replace it. APS was a temporary solution for the SLR market to survive. I think APS will gradually come to non-existence within the next 5-7 years.
Last edited by yus; 03-17-2009 at 12:02 PM.
Reason: clarity