Didn't we already have this discussion regarding the square sensor? or the APS-H sensor? or the full-rame sensor?
How can anyone think it would be smart marketing for Pentax to throw away their entire product catelogue to produce some mystical full-frame camera? I'm surprised I haven't heard the usual bits of wisdom in this thread I'm used to in others:
"Well, uh, some of the DA lenses would work, so Pentax could just explain which lenses can be used"
Right. So the Pentax marketing reps / user guide copy editors and writers have to explain that SOME DA and DA* lenses can be used at full resolution, but some cannot, and provide some confusing table, listing which lenses can be full-frame and which ones can't.
One person even went so far to suggest that
"the 16-45 covers full-frame from about 22mm onward, so Pentax could just make a note of that in product brochures and manuals" -- yeah. Right. Something like:
Quote: The Pentax K30D -- The Power Of Full-Frame*
*Excludes the DA14, DA15, DA21, DA*16-50 (from 28mm onward), DA16-45 (from 22mm onward), DA35 Macro, DA12-24
"But, what if they just redesigned the new DA lenses to make them full-frame?"
Ha. Yeah. Right. The Canon 16-35/2.8 costs twice what the 16-50 does, and doesn't have the same coverage. Pentax may be a great company, but they're not magical -- they're not going to redesign all their existing crop-camera lenses for full-frame (even if they could).
Remember, Full-frame designs are big, heavy, bulky and expensive. None of those words are what Pentax's marketing niche is, so there's absolutely no reason it makes sense for them to design a full-frame body.
"But they could just bring back their old FA designs, with SDM technology"
Right. So now, a dinky little Pentax, who doesn't think it could sell 200 MF cameras in a country like the U.S. -- with a population of 275 million people -- suddenly has the resources (read:capital) to carry FOUR lens lines?! (the DA, the existing FA/FA Limiteds, the DA*, and the mysterous, new FA* or whatever)
I guess my point is, sure, old FA glass would work great on full-frame, but why would you want your favorite camera manufacturer to go out of business designing and selling (probably at a loss) a new full-frame camera, and not have any glass for it? It would encourage everyone to go buy old used FA glass so they can use it, which would ruin Pentax.
It's mind-boggling that so many people are screaming for a full-frame camera. Obviously, you shouldn't have bought into the Pentax system. They're whole thing now is small, light-weight, affordable, and rugged. expect to see D-SLRs continue to fit that mold.
That is, if Pentax ever wants to survive.
If you want a full-frame camera (for reasons I have yet to understand), go buy one. I hear Nikon and Canon and Sony all make some decent ones. But stop wasting internet bandwidth on this nonsense.