[Simen1]

Pentax usually buys sensors from Sony and their A6300 sensor might be on sale. Of course with Pentax tweaks. The silicon chip is of course not hardware adjustable, just software configurable, but the color filters, whole sensor filters and partially blocked pixels (PDAF-pixels) is possible to tweak according to what Pentax wants. If Pentax want different filters or no PDAF-pixels, the same silicon may be used. The main advantage this chip has over earlier ones are speed. Som might say 8,3 fps is enough, but speed are more then that. Speed also means 60 fps 1080p, 30 fps 4K, and faster pixel shift sequence. Video will also get less rolling shutter effect.

I didn't find out who made the sensor in Nikon D500, but that might be Sony as well. This sensor, with Pentax tweaks, may also be a candidate for Pentax K-3III. This sensor have slightly fewer pixels (20,9M) and much of the same speed properties as A6300 which are good for both video, pixel shift, and if anyone cares, sports too.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

I'm hoping that Pentax will at least give us specs for their upcoming APS-C flagship near the end of the year.

I'm going to guess:

• Improved SR or new 5-axis IBIS.
• Improved AF.
• Improved high ISO IQ.
• Improved video with AF capabilities (probably no 4K yet).
• Some kind of tilting LCD screen.

These are just guesses & I'm basing them off of the recent K-1 & the new K-70.

[RonHendriks1966]

I think it depends if they bring a K-3iii or a new number and thus probably more improvements. I think a fast update with K-3iii would be more likely. Using the same body and sensor. Updating the SR, Safox module, user interfase, prime IV engine and faster writing speed. Would make a good update. If you want more, maybe the waiting for the new camera will be longer.

[pathdoc]

20MP isn't that much of a step back, and if the nominal K-3 successor gains significant (not merely incremental) across-the-board performance increases in every other measure, it could be a price worth paying. At the very least, let them concentrate on those other performance metrics without trying to gain any increase in pixel density (of course if having those gains meant going to a newer, slightly denser chip, that would be fine too, but it shouldn't be allowed to become an end in itself).

[mee]

I'm hoping that Pentax will at least give us specs for their upcoming APS-C flagship near the end of the year.

I'm going to guess:

• Improved SR or new 5-axis IBIS.
• Improved AF.
• Improved high ISO IQ.
• Improved video with AF capabilities (probably no 4K yet).
• Some kind of tilting LCD screen.

These are just guesses & I'm basing them off of the recent K-1 & the new K-70.

This is reasonable as far as estimations go... that is, on the safe side of guessing. Obviously, no one here knows.. so these threads are a bit of a lesson in futility.. but I suppose it can be somewhat amusing to guess and dream as long as we don't get too serious.

I think we get the sensor in the K-70 with the improved IBIS and AF of the K-1 and, as you say, some form of tilting screen... in the K-3 II body.

I see the K-70 as somewhat of a testbench for the next high end crop body... much like the K-30 was for the K-3. I'd be surprised to see a larger pixel count. And, should they go that route, would likely keep the count minimal (25-30 mp). But I still think we stick with 24 MP (from the K-70) and improved electronics and shutter allowing the camera to shoot burst quicker and longer while also emptying the buffer quicker... those are easier features to design and market than evolving the AF tracking several generations over to get in line with Canon/Nkon (even though I could see potentially some improvement in tracking).

I'm sort of waiting it out myself to see what Ricoh present before weighing my options further.. almost went for a K-3 II recently, but I figure the prices aren't going up -- the trend is very slowly down. So I can wait and see.

[totsmuyco]

I would really love to see a huge improvement in high ISO low light settings. planteater showed what the k-70 can do at ISO 102400 and I think it's a significant improvement. I would love to see highly usable shots at ISO 6400 and fantastic shots at 3200. I love the way the k-5II handles low light at ISO 800. It's much much better than my k-3II. But if it can do better than that, I see my bright future with Pentax.

[Simen1]

Regarding high ISO noise. There are physical limits to how low the noise can be (shot noise), and modern sensors are quite close to that limit. There is little (read noise) left to improve. Yes, there are still some small improvements that can be made, but the main high ISO noise "improvement" are faking ISO numbers. For example ISO 1024000 may actually be ISO 2048000. This is legally possible since the ISO standard don't define ISO good enough. This is the main reason some new cameras can claim to have extremely high ISOs. These improvements are mainly done at very high ISOs and show little to no effect at low ISOs.

I don't mind having extreme ISO numbers, but I prefer them to be real. I also don't care about noise at claimed ISO, i care about noise at real ISO.

[awaldram]

Pentax usually buys sensors from Sony and their A6300 sensor might be on sale.

to what purpose ?

E mount registration = 18mm
K mount = 46mm

A sensor designed for E-mount will vignette as to be unusable due to the micro lens

[Simen1]

The micro lens array and filter stack are something laid on top of the silicon sensor, after the silicon chip is finished and ready. Its the silicon sensor part that is extremely expensive to change and thus requires large production series to be economical. The filter stack and micro lens array are a lot cheaper to change according to a customers wish. Even for relatively small series (a few thousands of cameras). This is the reason we see a lot of sensors with the same pixel count and size, but with various features like optimizations for different register distances, color filters (some H-a sensitive astro cameras or even monochrome variants), different on sensor PDAF numbers, with or without AA-filter and so on.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

This is reasonable as far as estimations go... that is, on the safe side of guessing. Obviously, no one here knows.. so these threads are a bit of a lesson in futility.. but I suppose it can be somewhat amusing to guess and dream as long as we don't get too serious.

I think we get the sensor in the K-70 with the improved IBIS and AF of the K-1 and, as you say, some form of tilting screen... in the K-3 II body.

I see the K-70 as somewhat of a testbench for the next high end crop body... much like the K-30 was for the K-3. I'd be surprised to see a larger pixel count. And, should they go that route, would likely keep the count minimal (25-30 mp). But I still think we stick with 24 MP (from the K-70) and improved electronics and shutter allowing the camera to shoot burst quicker and longer while also emptying the buffer quicker... those are easier features to design and market than evolving the AF tracking several generations over to get in line with Canon/Nkon (even though I could see potentially some improvement in tracking).

I'm sort of waiting it out myself to see what Ricoh present before weighing my options further.. almost went for a K-3 II recently, but I figure the prices aren't going up -- the trend is very slowly down. So I can wait and see.

Indeed. My main interest is improved AF, improved high ISO IQ, & improved IBIS. Everything else is a plus. Even though I don't shoot video, if they implement better video options, I'll welcome it.

I'm also waiting for flagship options. Depending on if Pentax releases flagship specs later this year, I'll either be getting a K-3II by the end of this year or waiting another 4 years & then get the next generation APS-C flagship when that one is being phased out by the following one. I can keep shooting my K-50 until then if I have to.

[JimJohnson]

I'm the old-school type of anticipate the moment and do your best to capture one best image. Even as quiet as the K-3 is, I do not want to listen to a paparazzi buzz of a flapping mirror.

What I would really like are:
* While I use AF 90+% of the time, an OEM focus screen that better supports manual focus in the optical viewfinder. In addition to some manual focus primes, I find that I periodically want to tweak the focus point via quick shift. Reading the threads on the 3rd party focus screens, it seems as though the best all interfere to some extent with metering. Taking my eye off the subject to observe the green in-focus octagon is counter-productive, and red focus overlay blinks upon focus but doesn't guarantee you didn't drift past the focus point.
* Keep the internal flash and find room in the body for GPS. I often can only take one external flash for space/weight reasons. With an internal flash I can use the external flash both on and off camera, optionally use the external as key and the internal as fill, or frankly just use the internal flash for non-critical snapshots. Internal flash is more important to me than GPS, which is why I own a K-3 rather than a K-3ii. A basic GPS recorder would be great. I personally don't care about the astrotracer capabilities, and even small P&S cameras now-days can capture location metadata in EXIF. Searching images by automatically recorded location would be a huge benefit to me.

[jimr-pdx]

Of the K-1 features I would wish to bring in, the tilt screen - not necessarily w/stilts - and SR II are the big ones. Also the customizable Info-screen, and a smaller copy of the floating-mirror update which the K-1 brought. Perhaps some version of the 3rd control wheel can be added too, that would be cool.. but the smaller body would make things pretty crowded.

If the K-70 had the 24-point AF system I'd find it more interesting, but no doubt they have plenty of earlier subsystems like that to use up before completely moving forward.

[Azergoth]

I think people will have many ideas!

* An "A" version like the D810a for nightscapes and astronomy
* Lower base ISO (50? 64?)
* Better AF
* A focusing screen
* Auto AF fine tune (cfr. Nikon)
* Hand-hold pixel shift
* Tilt or articulated screen
* Touch screen
* Electronic front curtain
* Real video capabilities (Sensor stabilisation, AF, 4K, pixel binning, ...)
* The B (Bulb) beyond 30" instead of a dedicated mode
* Integrated intervalometer
* A lower speed limit in autoISO mode
* Fast prime lenses or give a phone call to Sigma

...