Originally posted by savoche As to the K-3 successor - I'd say Ricoh would not be very smart not to make one. Unless the upcoming FF is priced as the current APS cameras I see no reason to buy one. I find APS to be close to the perfect set of compromises for me.
I suspect that Ricoh is working on the assumption that the majority, probably the vast majority, of people buying entry-level or mid-level K-mount APS-C will
never move to FF.
The highly vocal people in forums who crave FF are a tiny minority of the entire Pentax customer base. They are not representative, either of the current customer base or what it will plausibly become over (say) the next 5 years.
I don't think Ricoh wants to (inadvertently) promote the following message to newcomers:
"Buy our entry-level or mid-level APS-C cameras, then enhance your system with our DA and DA* small light lenses, then when you are ready for a top-end APS-C camera, we will force you to buy an FF camera and to replace all your DA and DA* lenses with D-FA lenses".
Ricoh don't promote the Q range as a step on the way to the K range. They don't promote the K range as a step on the way to the 645 range. They promote these as separate comprehensive systems in their own right.
They don't need to promote the K-APS-C range as a step on the way to the K-FF range. That might scare people off the K-APS-C range. They should promote the K-APS-C range as a comprehensive system whose top-end is capable of professional and international-class photography. (
Which it most certainly is). And one which has the major benefits of comprising small and light (and good value) cameras and lenses which will be a good investment for the customer to make.
Ricoh should continue to develop the flagship model of the K-APS-C range.