Originally posted by kooks Could be but i wonder, why should they do it?? if they can get a more "experienced" brand with for example Nikon.. more available lenses, parts, support, accesories, etc..
When i got my first DSLR i compared every camera that was in my "price range" and i found that Pentax was giving me more features at a better price than Nikon or Canon.. and many people jumped into Pentax for the same reason, thats something that Pentax do since a long long time, great features at an afortable price.. so why should they do it different with the FF? ... MF cameras are a good example of this, and is part of the reason why the brand is so big in this segment.
I do think that Pentax needs something to compete with high end FF cameras... i just dont think that this is really smart as a first release, basically because they will need to grow their FF market fast, and having an expensive body will slow it down. But yes, eventually they will need to have something for this segment. With glass is different, glass is something that last a long time if is good and is something that people just buy it once ( if is good ), i dont think that saying that the FF body will be expensive just because the announced glass is not cheap is not totally true, it could be, but is not nessesary.
It's also alone in the MF segment as the only brand offering an APSC offering and borrowing tech from "consumer" products. the 645d/z are essentially DSLR's with an MF sensor at the end of the day, instead of the typical camera/digitalback modular construction of a Phase one or Hassy.
The balance has to be features for money. The unrealistic expectation is to deliver a highly spec'd wonder camera and have it the same price as a 2/3 year old discontinued camera or current entry level 35mm format camera.
I originally believed that Pentax would be going after the D610/6D series. Offering the superior Pentax egronomics, a 24mp sensor, SR, and everything else from the K3 carried over with no other improvements.
Now that rumors are rolling around of a 36mp sensor (of which I cannot find the source of that rumor, please someone link it to an official interview), and all the other high end specs we are assuming it has based on the mock up and interview answers we are seeing what is more likely to be a standard-professional grade camera that would compete against the 5Dx/D8x series of cameras. Therefore a price tag to match.
I don't doubt that the camera will be the best bang for the buck in it's class. But I don't see it being cheaper than it's competitors beating out previous generation models which a lot of people seem to be comparing it to.
(ie: well the discontinued D800e is this price)