Originally posted by rawr In the film days, lots of wedding shooters used Pentax. Pentax has certainly been in that space, but it kind of dropped out when digital came along. But weddings, of course, remain a HUGE area of commercial activity for photographers, probably the biggest.
I like your suggestion that Pentax build a digital FF system around how wedding photogs work, perhaps after studying wedding photog requirements in camera markets like USA, China, UK, maybe even Australia. It just makes sense. Perhaps they are already doing so. Who knows.
Much of what Ricoh may learn about weddings would also apply to other event and live music photography, so many would benefit.
Yes, I've heard a few wedding shooters say they used Pentax in the pre-digital era, but were forced to change due to the slow uptake.
I've thought for quite some time now that studying the requirements and workflows of wedding photographers would be an excellent basis on which to develop a new FF offering, not just because (as you say) it's a big industry in the commercial photography world, but also because a system that is great for wedding photographers will also be great for almost any other type of photography (event, portraiture, sport, and landscape).
To be honest with you, the Pentax system already has many of the ingredients for a great wedding system (size, build quality, WR, user interface, image quality, features vs price). The only ingredients lacking in the mix are the larger sensor and benefits that brings (high ISO noise, shallow DoF, and better wide-angle / distortion properties), and a range of fast (f1.4) lenses to take advantage of the improved low-light and DoF performance. Maybe an improved Pro-support network, but that wouldn't be a must-have straight away.
As Asahi Man suggested, a FF in a K-3 style body and with K-3 features, with 24 MP, for around $2,000 would be a killer offering. All they would need to seal the deal is some fast, quality lenses. A new 'pro' line of lenses, also alluded to by Asahi Man...
If only...