[Kunzite]

New? And it isn't second hand/scam/stolen/whatever?
That's outrageous; in Romania, the K-5 never had such insane prices. And right now it's 811 euro (24% VAT included) - not too bad
I'm amazed if you have such extreme differences - insanely expensive Pentax and insanely cheap Nikons.

[Emacs]

New? And it isn't second hand/scam/stolen/whatever?
That's outrageous; in Romania, the K-5 never had such insane prices. And right now it's 811 euro (24% VAT included) - not too bad
I'm amazed if you have such extreme differences - insanely expensive Pentax and insanely cheap Nikons.

Very new, I was the first who bought K-5 in Moscow
Today it costs about $1300
But yes, it's pure stupidity to buy pentax in Russia: no service, high prices. No hope to get better quality with the same lenses (beat me, but I don't see any quality difference between my K-m and K-5 at low iso).

[Kunzite]

I was asking about the too-cheap 5DMkII.

[Asahiflex]

A new 5D Mark II is currently at € 1729,00 in The Netherlands.

[trublubiker]

If they can fit an APS-C sensor in the K-5 (which is 11mm narrower than the K20d) with SR, then they can fit a full frame sensor (which is only 9mm wider than an APS-C) into a K20d body and still retain SR. I'm all for leavin' out the frivolous crap like Wifi, and GPS, and if only there were some way of removing video... I want a no-nonsense, precision photographic instrument. I can even live with only one SD slot, though the option to have a second in the battery grip would be nice, I love my BG.

I'm with you.

If I wanted a video camera, I'd buy one.

I generally have a rough idea of where I am so GPS is wasted on me as is WIFI.

Tethering would be nice, I can see me using it a lot.

I want a no-nonsense, precision photographic instrument.

SO DO I !

If you try to please all of the people all of the time you'll probably get shot (in the foot and by yourself). Whack the video camera in the mid range model.

And I believe that with the quantum leaps being made in sensor technology, in the short term APS-C type sensors will soon be on a par with the FF offerings.

I don't believe that we will see a FF offering from PRIC. Pentax saw the writing on the wall years ago.

The best move for Ricoh would be to smartly sort the niggles out in the K5 with a Mk11 version and come in with a 24MP APS-C in a new model in 12 months.

[Emacs]

And I believe that with the quantum leaps being made in sensor technology, in the short term APS-C type sensors will soon be on a par with the FF offerings.

Well, it's about optics now at low ISO (and I don't particularly interested in high iso performance).
And for the given FOV decent lens on FF returns about 2.25 (2.56 in case of Canon) times more details than decent on APS-C:
It's enough for the FF lens to have 1.5 worse resolution capability to achieve the same details as one on APS-C. But the resolution is usually about the same. Moreover, the FF lens of the given FOV on FF provides 1.5 times more magnification compared to APS-C and thus about 1.5 times more details (which are not particularly distant though). So we have now 1.5*1.5=2.25 times more details in general.
The 2.25 times difference IS IMPOSSIBLE to overcome. So you WILL NEVER HAVE an IQ of FF at APS-C sensor. Period.

BTW, pls wait until new FF offerings will out and then speak about APS-C which is on par with FF.

[Rondec]

I don't understand why people have the impression that if you strip out features that you suddenly lower the price of the camera. If you use a current generation sensor, you will have the ability to do video, whether or not you enable it in the camera. It seems silly not to make a camera that appeals to the broadest possible audience.

If Pentax makes a feature-poor camera for 200 or 300 dollars less than the competition and has minimal currently produced lens offerings it certainly could be disastrous.

[unfocused]

I don't think I've ever read so much techno-freakery concentrated in one place...

We forget too easily that the greatest images in the history of photography were made with the likes of the Nikon F, Pentax Spotty/MX and Leica M. They didn't have elaborate "feature sets". At best you might have had built-in metering and aperture priority automation. And you were satisfied with a small handful of primes - a 28/35, a 50/55, and an 85/105.

The first dSLR I purchased was the *istDS. It carried forward much of the simplicity and fast handling of the film SLRs. It wasn't cluttered, it wasn't overloaded with trivial features. The buttons were mostly in the right place. Even the 'green button' (in this case the AE-L lock) was right under your thumb, so no messing about. It remained essentially a photographic tool. It retained a proper pentaprism finder which is a joy. It was no larger than the *ist 35mm camera and not too much heavier either. They are both sitting here on my desk as I write.

Stick an f2/35, ar any of your legacy fast primes, onto the *istDS and you recapture much of the essential magic of SLR photography. It still fulfills the advertising punchline "Just hold a Pentax". The camera was obviously created by designers who still had a feel for real photography. Where are they now? They seem to have vanished by the time the K-7 and K-r arrived.

All I want from Pentax is the *istDS with a 14MP sensor and the other parts of the spec honed a bit. If they shoe-horn a full-frame sensor into it so much the better. As someone else put it, "my 24mm is once again a 24mm" and I don't have to go out and buy a great lump of 16mm. If they can't do that for around £700 there's something wrong.

By the way, Pentax will be in trouble if they ignore those with a big investment in K-mount glass. This is a captive and hungry market sector. Quality glass is what matters. The body is secondary and could be supplied by anyone if Pentax don't want to. I've used Pentax lenses on Edixamat, Yashica, Cosina and Ricoh when looking for a second body in the past. They all performed well even if they didn't feel as good in the hand. Much as I've loved my Spotties and my MX, what really kept me faithful to the Pentax name was their glass.

Ricoh, you used to know what a real SLR looked like and how it handled, with your excellent XR7. What do you say?

______________________
K-7, K-r, *istDS, *ist, Contax Aria

[Kunzite]

If Pentax makes a feature-poor camera for 200 or 300 dollars less than the competition and has minimal currently produced lens offerings it certainly could be disastrous.

I agree.

I don't think I've ever read so much techno-freakery concentrated in one place...

Techno-what?

We forget too easily that the greatest images in the history of photography were made with the likes of the Nikon F, Pentax Spotty/MX and Leica M. They didn't have elaborate "feature sets". At best you might have had built-in metering and aperture priority automation. And you were satisfied with a small handful of primes - a 28/35, a 50/55, and an 85/105.

A "small" mistake: it worked then, because everyone had more or less the same feature sets. But this is not what you're suggesting...

All I want from Pentax is the *istDS with a 14MP sensor and the other parts of the spec honed a bit. If they shoe-horn a full-frame sensor into it so much the better. As someone else put it, "my 24mm is once again a 24mm" and I don't have to go out and buy a great lump of 16mm. If they can't do that for around there's something wrong.
[FONT=Arial][/FONT

No you don't. And even if you're a masochist and you really want such a thing, you are be the only one.
The result would be much more expensive than £700 - because everything would have to be redesigned from scratch. No, using outdated components won't cut the cost that much - it will only make the camera fail.

[eddie1960]

New? And it isn't second hand/scam/stolen/whatever?
That's outrageous; in Romania, the K-5 never had such insane prices. And right now it's 811 euro (24% VAT included) - not too bad
I'm amazed if you have such extreme differences - insanely expensive Pentax and insanely cheap Nikons.

it was advertised a couple of weeks back for 1999 in toronto
it's the end of line clear out so the mk III can release to a clean market. normal practice
K5 is 1099 last time i looked here which is similar to your 811 euro (actually it's higher with taxes)

[ogl]

Very new, I was the first who bought K-5 in Moscow
Today it costs about $1300
But yes, it's pure stupidity to buy pentax in Russia: no service, high prices. No hope to get better quality with the same lenses (beat me, but I don't see any quality difference between my K-m and K-5 at low iso).

The price of K-5 body is approx. 937 EURO now.
The service of Pentax in Russia is not worse than Canon or Nikon.
Not bad service.

[eddie1960]

I don't think I've ever read so much techno-freakery concentrated in one place...

ou used to know what a real SLR looked like and how it handled, with your excellent XR7. What do you say?[/SIZE][/FONT]

______________________
K-7, K-r, *istDS, *ist, Contax Aria

Welcome to the FF discussion area on the forum

As for your other points on feature set, those were/ are some of my favourite cameras, but in the modern world (read 30-50 years later) it won't cut it to release too stripped down and simple. While I might prefer it (and in fact am happy with Manual focus 90% of the time i shoot) Reality is bells and whistles sell gear. Omit them and you lose customers

[Spag]

I think we can conclude this thread by saying that:

1) The letter received by Adam was nothing more than a "Thank you for your interest, we will forward your letter to Japan"
2) Every Pentax user wants something different for the future (FF, mirrorless, APS-H, 14MP *istDS, a Pentax 5D MkIII, etc...)
3) Every one here knows the truth.

[Jan67]

Byrd-2020, there's a huge problem with the "cut all the non-essential parts": people can't agree about what are those non-essential parts Most people would rather have features they don't need and not use them, than missing something they deem useful.
Besides, the camera would get poor scores in reviews.

We all just speculate.

Nobody can prove what is right, since there is no such camera on the market, except M9 (and that is different story). I don't think that missing video influences M9's sales.
So FF camera, going back to roots, is maybe big risk, maybe big opportunity.

Pentax can choose.

[Emacs]

The price of K-5 body is approx. 937 EURO now.
The service of Pentax in Russia is not worse than Canon or Nikon.
Not bad service.

BS, once I used it. Got my gear back after a month (not warranty, paid repair).
It is usually much faster with both N and C