[godavari]

As there is not firm release date announced for Full Frame DSLR and some of us who like to upgrade from K-5 and have been waiting to review Full Frame option from Pentax wondering if should go for K-3 II instead. There are following factors I consider.

1. No announcement of release date and final feature set yet.
2. No clue on the price
3. No announcement on support for existing DA* lenses

Considering the holiday season is approaching and the only option I see is K-3 II which seems to be a better upgrade option for K-5.

Thoughts?

[mee]

Get impatient, buy now, be unhappy and regretful in a month when it is released or at least details are released.. yes go now!

If your K-5 isn't broken then why not wait? And are you for sure going to upgrade to a FF body? I mean what if it costs 3 grand? Are you willing to spend that kind of cash? What do you expect to get out of a FF body? Why will a K-3 II not meet your needs? Why do you need an upgrade in the first place? Why can't you wait until Black Friday and see what the prices are like then?

[Fenwoodian]

The K-3 II is indeed a very nice camera. I owned it for a couple of months.

I returned the K3II because it was one with the lock up issues (no longer an issue if you buy from B&H in NY,NY,USA). I then got a K3 - which I love, but I do miss the pixel shift and compass on the K3II.

I plan to keep my K3 for a long time. I also plan to get the full frame Pentax at some point.

After I get the full frame, I'll keep the K3 for use as a back up, or for those excusions where I want to go light, or need to use a long telephoto lens.

So, there's nothing wrong with you purchasing the K3II, and the full frame - keeping the K3II as a back up and for those times when you need to go lighter and/or need longer reach with your telephoto lenses.

[JimmyDranox]

We have a clue about the price, at about 2000 Euros for the body, from as early as spring in Spain. And a clue for the date of release date, at October. Maybe 6, for the announcement.

[godavari]

Get impatient, buy now, be unhappy and regretful in a month when it is released or at least details are released.. yes go now!

If your K-5 isn't broken then why not wait? And are you for sure going to upgrade to a FF body? I mean what if it costs 3 grand? Are you willing to spend that kind of cash? What do you expect to get out of a FF body? Why will a K-3 II not meet your needs? Why do you need an upgrade in the first place? Why can't you wait until Black Friday and see what the prices are like then?

mee - yep those great points particularly price. That is exactly why I am wondering about specs, pricing etc.

[Zygonyx]

We have a clue about the price, at about 2000 Euros for the body, from as early as spring in Spain. And a clue for the date of release date, at October. Maybe 6, for the announcement.

It has been long said that the "pentaxeros autogranted launch price" of 2000 € for the forthcomming FF body was total fancy.
Yet we don't even know if it will be available without kit-lens...
And that price looks highly unrealistic, if the sensor is to be Sony's A7rII 42 Mpix BSI-s DSLR adaptation.

[Adam]

As there is not firm release date announced for Full Frame DSLR and some of us who like to upgrade from K-5 and have been waiting to review Full Frame option from Pentax wondering if should go for K-3 II instead. There are following factors I consider.

1. No announcement of release date and final feature set yet.
2. No clue on the price
3. No announcement on support for existing DA* lenses

Considering the holiday season is approaching and the only option I see is K-3 II which seems to be a better upgrade option for K-5.

Thoughts?

The official release date is "late 2015". There will be support for crop lenses, but the implementation hasn't been decided yet. All this info was discussed/posted here:
2015 Pentax Interview Transcript - CP+ 2015 | PentaxForums.com
Pentax Full Frame DSLR Officially Announced - Pentax Announcements | PentaxForums.com

As for the price, there's nothing but speculation at the moment but I would expect it to be somewhere in the low to mid $2000's.

The K-3 (or K-3 II, they're essentially the same in practice save for the flash/gps) is an excellent upgrade path and it won't cost you nearly as much, so it might be worth upgrading for the time being.

Adam
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[Bob from Aus]

I made my choice a couple of weeks ago. I already has the K3, but the K3ii had all the extra features I've always wanted. I spent the money I had saved for the FF. The K3ii meets my expectations and for my needs is more useful than a FF. I suppose I wanted the FF for my FF Ltd lenses. In my case the K3s will live on my sigma 500 and pentax 60-250 90% of the time. If you don't need the benefits of APC as I do then hanging out for the FF is worth it. If you don't already have the FF lenses then I would be going for K3 or K3ii.

[btnapa]

As there is not firm release date announced for Full Frame DSLR and some of us who like to upgrade from K-5 and have been waiting to review Full Frame option from Pentax wondering if should go for K-3 II instead. There are following factors I consider.

1. No announcement of release date and final feature set yet.
2. No clue on the price
3. No announcement on support for existing DA* lenses

Considering the holiday season is approaching and the only option I see is K-3 II which seems to be a better upgrade option for K-5.

Thoughts?

My upgrade path was from a K5IIs to one K3 then adding a second K3 because I shoot occasional assignments and needed a back up. I have about 10k clicks on the main body and another 3k or so on the back up. I have had zero issues with both cameras. But in all honesty my original K5IIs was a beast too. The only reason I let it go was because my brother wanted to upgrade form a k500 and I sold it to him.

If I were you I would go K3 which goes for almost half of what I paid for mine or the K3II which is still a bargain considering the image quality and the feature set.

I am somewhat in the same boat too wanting the extra resolution. I would get the k3iI in a heart beat. The only problem is that I shoot studio work with strobes and also do nature and landscapes (lots of moving trees and water) which the k3II pixel shift is not suited for. So I am gonna stick to my K3 because the k3II does not offer a significant upgrade for my type of work. Meanwhile, I will wait for the FF to show up.

[Mattox]

I feel the same, but I can't justify an update from my k5 to the k3ii. I will wait till Christmas for the FF. Until then I will enjoy the rumors then get very excited about the first tests and reviews

[FantasticMrFox]

Considering the holiday season is approaching ...

Did you just say the holiday season is approaching? In early September?! As the honorary president of the International Association against Premature Christmas Decoration (IAPCD) I firmly protest this notion.

[UncleVanya]

If you can wait. You get to select either the ff or maybe a clearance priced k3 as another option.

[monochrome]

The absolute dearth of chatter from the usual suspects makes me believe something is imminent. I sort of expect some kind leaky-type posts starting in about a week.

[mee]

The absolute dearth of chatter from the usual suspects makes me believe something is imminent. I sort of expect some kind leaky-type posts starting in about a week.

What happens if you're wrong? Do we get to give you a noogie?

[monochrome]

What happens if you're wrong? Do we get to give you a noogie?

If we're going to give noogies for all the wrong speculations around here we're going to be knockin' a lot of noggins.