That was part of the game.

definitely

Live view is a must.

I hope you realise the tech behind 5 fps and video have so much in common, that taking away video is not going to make the camera any cheaper.

They can make a slightly bigger camera, but please don't make it nearly as large as the K10D. That size is a disaster for the market they're trying to break into.
As for sensor size, anything larger than APS-C is a pipe dream.

Why limit other people's choices? As long as they make a black one you should be happy. Nobody forces you to buy all the other colours.

If you have no use of these features, just don't use them. Having effects and video will not make the camera any more expensive than not having them.

So advanced customers should not have any preference in the body colour, I guess it's your implication?

This "absolutely full featured" camera is not likely to be more expensive than the bare-bone camera.

What you haven't realised is that these features you don't want only contributes to a negligible cost of the body. Mostly the money goes to features that the purists lust after:

1. better sensor
2. better VF
3. tighter build quality

These are the costly items. Not video. Not live view. Because they incur a one-time R&D cost and that's it. MJPEG is trivial to implement. A microphone only costs a few cents. All modern sensors support LV and video. More output channels are needed by both high fps and video.

To be honest i'd like to see the the K-x with the top info LCD panel on the top to make shooting modes easier and weather sealing. These are the things that i feel the k-x really misses but to make sure a "K300D" is distinctive enough add the 14MP sensor from the K-7 into the mix.

Oh and finally a return to affordable bodies, The quality of the images, lenses and the wearther proof body that was affordable was why i left Canon for Pentax, i know the company needs to make a profit to continue development but to be honest why not open up the Pentax Lens range to other makes so Canikons and Sony users can see the quality that they are missing out on, give us a bigger share of the market.

"What would you like to see in the new K300D to keep it pure as the K200D but with improvements???"

Purity is a slippery concept, and beyond one person, is completely arbitrary.

My wish list for a K300D:

• Get rid of the weather sealing (does add cost, and lack of weather sealing differentiates it from the K7 and flagship cameras.)
• Dual control wheels, OR
• Use an uncrippled mount and allow aperture ring usage
• Use the K7 sensor
• Video, with switchable 24 fps or 30 fps
• Put the Video frame rates into the Drive Mode selection, so that all the exposure controls are available in video mode
• Live view
• Updated styling (i.e. squarish like the K7)

My prediction for the K-5 is simple:

1. body design almost identical to the K-7, sealed
2. polycarbonate instead of metal
3. single control wheel. Has P-shift instead of HyperP. Batter grip available.
or
3. double control wheel with HyperP. No battery grip.
4. no User mode, add picture modes.
5. K-x sensor or better, because they always pick the best sensor available at the time.
6. A 95% prism.
7. AF microadjustment.
8. K-7's SAFOX VIII+, however, use strobe instead of dedicated AF assist light.

More importantly, the way Pentax implements it, it's an extremely low-cost feature to add - nearly "free".

Motion JPEG means they can use their existing JPEG compression engine within the PRIME chipset. AVCHD would require a lot more work. In short, MJPEG does not require any extra hardware, just a bit of firmware work.

"Do not try to predict how the K300D will look like - that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no K300D."
I'd say the same thing about the rumored K-5 (though I think Pentax could make a camera named K-5).

How can we say there aren't too many purists out there. This thread alone has generated over 37 replies overnight from K200D lovers. I'd like to do a spreadsheet on this to see how many like minded people there are and what they would like in the new K300D. I know there's a lot of crystal ball gazing about them not using the K300D but who really knows, yes a dream/fantasy thread but I think a worthwhile exercise.
I'd like to send all these comments to Pentax to see how they react or not. Do I have your permission to do this?
I like the articulated LCD and the increase megapixel to say 12 to 15, increase speed.
We could collectively build a great purist camera and why not? Is it available to us now? other than the great K200D?
jo

Rightly said!

The great K200D didn't sell very good as I understand. Both the K-x and K-7 is feature loaded cameras. Hard to sell anything that looks inferior for the vast majority
of buyers.

This thread reminds me of those typical 'Religion and Politics' discussions in which people talk past one another while thinking there's some real, logical divergence among them. The good thing: no heat so far.

retro look. a la k1000.

with old Pentax logo..

Soooo sexy

I think not all of those 37 replies are from "K200D lovers", and even less are from "purists". At least I'm neither - and you counted my post, like you counted posts who clearly are opposed to this.
And we can't collectively build a great purist camera, since we won't agree on what a purist camera should and shouldn't have. This was said before. Besides, the K200D clearly wasn't a "purist camera".
What would I want from Pentax, then? That's easy: improve on K-x&K-7. Which is most likely what they'll do.