Originally posted by eddie1960 it's not the same market as the D3, medium format was never the same market as 35mm either. and yep it dominates the MF market in sales
you can't look at that camera from the perspective most users on the forum. It's a tool for specific markets (as are the Hassy and Phase/Mamiyas) not out to compete with the D3 or the 1dx/s
from a medium format market standpoint yep it was a game changer.
I wouldn't be so assertive, when transitionning from Film to Digital, many photographers moved from MF to 35mm/APSC for budget reasons.
I can definitively see someone moving from a 5DmkII/Alpha850/D3X to a Pentax 645D for the added pixels and rendition.
When comparing systems, high-end 35mm tend to get relatively close to Pentax MF in term of prices.
Canon & Nikon bodies have been used for fashion, product, landscape etc... where MF was used during the film era. The Pentax 645D is gaining back that market (more a part of)
But the market for D3s/1Dx is vey different, its core market is photojournalists, especially sport photographers. Model refresh comes 6 months to 1 year before major sport evens. In such market, autofocus speed and accuracy, iso performance and frame rate are extremely critical. Pixel count much less so.
I believe the reason Canon cancel the dual model low pixel count / high pixel count strategy is because this later market is now addressed by MF (and Pentax)
My 2 cents.
Now back to Pentax FF, if pentax was to (likely) adopt the rumored 36Mpx Sony sensor to make their camera, they would have to beef up before the 645D to avoid canibalisation of sales.
So I would count on a 645D mk II with full 6x4.5 sensor, 60 or 80Mpx before any release of Pentax 35mm.
In any case, Pentax has to seriouly beef up processing power and auto focus systems before releasing any of the 2 cameras.
Maybe Ricoh is willing to pour the money in such a project, but they will need also engineering ressources that comes with it.