[benjikan]

There is something in the air. The rumors are running high. Will there be a Pentax Fall Surprise? The indications seem to reflect that there may be. From some of the posts I have read from credible sources and my own info it seems to lean in that direction. I could be wrong but there could be a major lens and body Blitzkrieg...

[Timbuctoo]

Lenses yes, but I believe Pentax will be waiting for some positive reviews regarding the next Sony sensor before a new body is released unless it is a K10D redo like the K100D Super. No one knows over at Sony land when the new camera will be released but some say early September. The rumored specs for the new sensor is APS-C, 12.8mp and ISO sensitivity up to 3200. Pentax are smart so they'll wait and see what the new Sony is like and then do what they did with the K10D and make a better than Sony Pentax version. My guess is that Pentax may announce a new camera at the next big camera show like last year and you'll see a new camera on the shelves just before Christmas. Maybe the rumors are for a tweaked K10D and the two new star series lenses.

Tim H

PS> Pentax's major competitor right now is Sony and they do have some advantages over them. Like always they can see the Sony camera and then design a better camera around the new sensor. The other major advantage is that Pentax are keen to SDM all their future lenses. To really break away from Sony who have SSM but only in $2000 plus lenses Pentax needs to SDM all their future lenses.

[roentarre]

I could be wrong but there could be a major lens and body Blitzkrieg...

Really? A body between k10d and k100d super?

A major lens as not being planned in the original road map? I hope it is something Da 400mm f2.8 hehe (I am dreaming).

p.s. What happened to the D645 body in the end?

James

[GaryML]

There is something in the air. The rumors are running high. Will there be a Pentax Fall Surprise? The indications seem to reflect that there may be. From some of the posts I have read from credible sources and my own info it seems to lean in that direction. I could be wrong but there could be a major lens and body Blitzkrieg...

Blitzkrieg?? I'd be happy with a small expeditionary force. Pentax hasn't brought any new SLR lenses or bodies to market in all of 2007. The promised DA* lenses were supposed to compliment the K10D, which was released in late fall 2006. They are still not available, and probably won't appear in stores until the fall of 2007. I'm tired of rumors and vapor-ware announcements of new products "coming soon;" it's time for the products "announced" last year to actually appear on store shelves.

[barondla]

Just hope they don't call it the K10D - SUPER. That may work for entry level slr but not for a semi pro model. Would be as big a gaff as *ist.
thanks
barondla

[ZaphodB]

Blitzkrieg or expeditionary force, amphibious landing or parachuted in... any Pentax assault on the shelves will be welcome Hopefully a campaign designed to shock and awe reviewers and consumers... can't you hear the military band playing?

[FLASH]

I continue to be amazed at the parade of digital photography advancement and the consequenctal new products. I have wondered before if the point and shoot cameras might not supercede the SLR's as events move forward. How large does a good pro-quality digital camera need to be? Is smaller better in this regard? And does China have any interesting digital SLR cameras on the market yet?

In a popular science magazine the other day I saw a vivid and graphical portrayal of what the next computers of the future will look like. They were hard to believe, but they are coming! In some ways, our digital SLR and point and shoot digital cameras are computers and becoming moreso all the time it appears to me. So perhaps the future digital SLRs will be a sophisticated combination of a telephone, video camera, still camera, and a computer, and it will be small enough to hold in one hand and provide pro-quality photos.



FLASH[/I][/B][/I][/B][/I][/B][/I][/B]

[Entropy]

I continue to be amazed at the parade of digital photography advancement and the consequenctal new products. I have wondered before if the point and shoot cameras might not supercede the SLR's as events move forward. How large does a good pro-quality digital camera need to be? Is smaller better in this regard? And does China have any interesting digital SLR cameras on the market yet?

In a popular science magazine the other day I saw a vivid and graphical portrayal of what the next computers of the future will look like. They were hard to believe, but they are coming! In some ways, our digital SLR and point and shoot digital cameras are computers and becoming moreso all the time it appears to me. So perhaps the future digital SLRs will be a sophisticated combination of a telephone, video camera, still camera, and a computer, and it will be small enough to hold in one hand and provide pro-quality photos.

The laws of physics will probably prevent that from ever happening. It is highly unlikely that any advances will ever be made to improve noise performance of small-sensor point-and-shoot cameras and cameraphones that can't also be applied to larger sensors.

Yes, high-end point and shoots probably grabbed many from the film SLR crowd for a while (like myself - I switched from a PZ-70 to a progression of digital P&S cameras because film and processing was too expensive, I just returned to the SLR world after 7-8 years recently.), but the digital point-and-shoots will never be able to match the versatility and performance of DSLRs.

[bt*ist]

I'm sooooo glad I bought my K10D recently... so I can hear about these nebulous new products (rumoured to be coming real soon any day now maybe!!) dispassionately, and not have my purchase decision(s) clouded by yet more (hypothetical, until released) options

... but I'm looking forward to some kind of K1D purely so that I can wave the Pentax flag. Not because I'd actually buy one of those. Yet.

[blende8]

There is something in the air. The rumors are running high. Will there be a Pentax Fall Surprise? The indications seem to reflect that there may be. From some of the posts I have read from credible sources and my own info it seems to lean in that direction. I could be wrong but there could be a major lens and body Blitzkrieg...

Oh man, this gets really boring.
If you know nothing just keep quiet.
We all know that new lenses are due in fall and new cameras too.
So, do you know more than that?

[Matjazz]

My local Pentax dealer reassured me that this fall the AF540FGZ will be back on the shelves. Now ain't that something

"I'M A PENTAXIAN. A STARVING PENTAXIAN.
I ONCE BOUGHT A *IST DS AND WAS VERY
HAPPY TO SEE THAT I CAN FIT ALL OLD LEN-
SES UNTIL I FOUND THAT THERE IS ONLY A
HANDFUL OF NEW LENSES AND EVEN LESS
OTHER EQUIPMENT. I HEAR A LOT OF BEDTIME
STORIES ABOUT THOSE HEADY DAYS WHEN
THE CAMERA KNOWN SIMPLY AS "THE PENTAX"
WAS THE BEST-SELLING SLR MADE. I STILL
DON'T SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS WHINING.
I JUST TAKE PICTURES. AND WHILE I ONCE
MAY HAVE BEEN TEMPTED, ON OCCASION,
TO TURN TO A STRANGER ON AN ELEVATOR
AND SAY, "PENTAX IS JUST ABOUT TO RELE-
ASE 16-50 STAR LENS AND I CAN'T WAIT TO
GET ONE" I'M NOT ANYMORE. I'D REALLY RA-
THER BE USING THE LENS THAN TALKING
ABOUT IT. I,M NOT SURE THAT PENTAX UNDER-
STANDS THAT PHOTOGRAPHERS NEED CAME-
RAS AND EQUIPMENT TO TAKE PICTURES.
THEIR NEW DIGITAL SLR'S ARE THE RESULT
OF LISTENING TO PENTAXIANS AND DELIVE-
RING TOOLS FOR TRUE PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS.
THESE CAMERAS ARE ALREADY CREATING
MANY MORE LOYALISTS. SO THE QUESTION IS:
WILL THESE NEWCOMERS COUNT THEMSELVES
AMONG THE STARVING DIEHARDS? HEY, PENTAX
JUST MIGHT ANNOUNCE ANOTHER DELAY"

[Ishpuini]

My local Pentax dealer reassured me that this fall the AF540FGZ will be back on the shelves. Now ain't that something

"I'M A PENTAXIAN. A STARVING PENTAXIAN.
I ONCE BOUGHT A *IST DS AND WAS VERY
HAPPY TO SEE THAT I CAN FIT ALL OLD LEN-
SES UNTIL I FOUND THAT THERE IS ONLY A
HANDFUL OF NEW LENSES AND EVEN LESS
OTHER EQUIPMENT. I HEAR A LOT OF BEDTIME
STORIES ABOUT THOSE HEADY DAYS WHEN
THE CAMERA KNOWN SIMPLY AS "THE PENTAX"
WAS THE BEST-SELLING SLR MADE. I STILL
DON'T SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS WHINING.
I JUST TAKE PICTURES. AND WHILE I ONCE
MAY HAVE BEEN TEMPTED, ON OCCASION,
TO TURN TO A STRANGER ON AN ELEVATOR
AND SAY, "PENTAX IS JUST ABOUT TO RELE-
ASE 16-50 STAR LENS AND I CAN'T WAIT TO
GET ONE" I'M NOT ANYMORE. I'D REALLY RA-
THER BE USING THE LENS THAN TALKING
ABOUT IT. I,M NOT SURE THAT PENTAX UNDER-
STANDS THAT PHOTOGRAPHERS NEED CAME-
RAS AND EQUIPMENT TO TAKE PICTURES.
THEIR NEW DIGITAL SLR'S ARE THE RESULT
OF LISTENING TO PENTAXIANS AND DELIVE-
RING TOOLS FOR TRUE PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS.
THESE CAMERAS ARE ALREADY CREATING
MANY MORE LOYALISTS. SO THE QUESTION IS:
WILL THESE NEWCOMERS COUNT THEMSELVES
AMONG THE STARVING DIEHARDS? HEY, PENTAX
JUST MIGHT ANNOUNCE ANOTHER DELAY"

You have a point. Pentax should first get its current offering into the market, and that includes at least the first to DA* lenses. I don't want to hear about new bodies (or slight upgrades). Even if these may have features I could use, I would rather have some new DA* lenses.

However, I must say I never had a problem getting lenses though, but perhaps I was lucky in my exploration of the second hand sources on the internet? My previous generation glass works really well, though I would like to replace some of it by DA* glass.

Wim

[c.r.brown]

Theres nothing like offering a sealed body camera only to not offer any sealed lens for a year or so after releasing it.

That roadmap put every lens buying decision on hold for me except for a mid-prime and ultra wides.

I'm not too sure of the sense of updating or releasing upgrades to an SLR barely a year after it was first introduced especially not having any new lens offerings to take full advantage. Especially since I just bought the K10D. :/

[philmorley]

will there really be any surprises? any lenses not on the roadmap? the rumor mill has pretty much decided what the next two cameras will be and is now working on next years


Phil

[feronovak]

I will be happy if they finally release 16-50mm and 50-135mm lenses ... I will wait until September but for winter season I might jump ship and buy into system with proper lenses