Originally posted by maxfield_photo This succinctly cuts to the heart of the problem, and I don't think Pentax HQ understands this simple point. I had hoped that Ricoh might force them to explore a FF option in order to compete with Canon, but now that the imaging portion of PRI has been handed over to Pentax, it seems unlikely that it's going to happen.
That's also where I'm at. I shot Pentax for both work and for fun for a long time. In the film days, they did a decent job of satisfying those needs. Then digital came and it took forever for them to make the transition. Then the focus was mostly on lower and mid level cameras with very few lenses and certainly no 'system' approach. I waited, lived with what was available.
By the time the K20D was due to be replaced (I wore out 3 of them in just over a year and was loosing faith it could take the workload), I felt I needed to make a choice. The camera, although nice, was a limiting factor. Lenses were an issue as well (SDM). The K-7 was announced with very little in the form of an upgrade and it was time to move on.
So if they made another half-assed move to a new platform, I wouldn't consider coming back. It would have to be a complete system, lenses, flashes, accessories and a seriously competing body with clear direction on adding a second upper end body. I don't think one body will do. All of this would have to be launched together and available in the same year.
For me, and I suspect those like me, I can't afford and even if I could, I wouldn't run 2 different brands. I'd need a complete system ready to do a switch back over a month or so.
So as was stated, the system is a dead end for those moving up the scale. I'd most likely spend $20K to switch back since I have at least that tied up in Nikon. But the D4 is on this year's shopping list and if I bought that camera, I would need a hugely compelling reason to switch. For the Canon shooter, the new Canon EOS 1D X has raised the game for them and meets or exceeds the D3s. So for Pentax to get in the game, it's not going to be easy.