[Adam]

Adam, could you elaborate on this part? Did they say anything about when they wanted to have it ready?

Nope, they just said it's in development, as you can see in the interview:

CP+ 2018 Pentax Interview - CP+ 2018 | PentaxForums.com

As for the other comment, it was made off camera.

Adam
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[Fogel70]

From the interview: "we put our resources mainly to the development of full frame lenses".
So the K1, and of course the "alternative high end APS-C camera" KP are the direct causes for the postponement of a next generation flagship K... series.
But from the interview as a whole, it does appear that the new K3 style flagship will be one of their next important projects, so sept.-oct. 2019 is possible, although that is still some time away.

If they are designing a brand new generation of APS-C flagship it's probably a bit too optimistic to expect it will be out as early as second half 2019. In the interview it sounded as if they just started to design or is about to start designing the K3II replacement, and a camera like this takes at least 2 years to release.
A brand new design from ground up, with new design on the body, new sensor, new AF, plus include all other new things in other cameras since K3 release in 2013 and refine them. And maybe some brand new features we have not seen before.

I was expecting Ricoh to be a year into the development of a K3II replacement by now, with a release planned for late 2019, but now I think I have to set my expectation for second half of 2020.
And as it is already 4-5 years since K3 was released they need to aim for more advancements for the K3II replacement, than it was from K5 to K3, so it may take more time to develop than it usually takes. It's about the same gap in time it was between K10D and K3.

[Rondec]

I'm not so sure that three years are needed to develop a new DSLR, even a high-end APS-C one.

Remember that there were 16-month intervals between K10D and K20D, between K20D and K-7 and between K-7 and K-5.

I think it probably depends on how aggressive the changes are that you make from one model to another. The auto focus array did not change one iota between all of the cameras you mentioned and while tracking auto focus improved a little bit, it still wasn't very usable, even on the K5. Obviously there are two different body styles there, but the biggest thing was the different sensors and what they brought to the table -- faster frame rates and video with both the K7 and K5.

On the other hand, if Pentax is going to improve tracking more or maybe use a different auto focus array, that won't be as easy as just plugging in a new sensor. It feels like the days of easy camera releases with the only changes being a better sensor are over. Also, my guess would be that they make some kind of a new body style -- similar in ergonomics to the K-1, but slightly smaller.

Anyway, odds are that whatever things they are developing for the K3 III will end up in the K1 III and 645z II as well.

[Chris Mak]

I think it probably depends on how aggressive the changes are that you make from one model to another. The auto focus array did not change one iota between all of the cameras you mentioned and while tracking auto focus improved a little bit, it still wasn't very usable, even on the K5. Obviously there are two different body styles there, but the biggest thing was the different sensors and what they brought to the table -- faster frame rates and video with both the K7 and K5.

On the other hand, if Pentax is going to improve tracking more or maybe use a different auto focus array, that won't be as easy as just plugging in a new sensor. It feels like the days of easy camera releases with the only changes being a better sensor are over. Also, my guess would be that they make some kind of a new body style -- similar in ergonomics to the K-1, but slightly smaller.

Anyway, odds are that whatever things they are developing for the K3 III will end up in the K1 III and 645z II as well.

The KP sensor performance is pretty high. I can only see real improvements with a 24mp BSI sensor, which seems to be the road that Sony is taking.
Auto focus however could do with a total redesign, a denser AF-point layout, smaller AF points that can accurately discriminate small subjects in S-AF, and that can aid accurate tracking in C-AF. There is such a lot to gain here for Pentax. The Olympus EM1mkII recently got a firmware update to select smaller AF points in the software, a very useful feature for telephoto wildlife shooters.I really hope they go for a 50+ point AF layout this time, or otherwise it is going to be yet another marginal upgrade. The KP has taken responsiveness to where I hoped, so its now up to the new lens motors and a new AF module. My DA560 appears to not have that slow a DC motor after all now I have used it on the KP, no complaints here. But there is a limit to the DC motor concept, telephoto lenses should really feature ring motors.

Anyway, the KP is some sort of comfort in the barren APS-C body land of the coming years, my main hope is that they really aim higher with the new APS-C flagship, and not simply add a larger buffer and higher fps and second card slot and higher capacity battery to the KP and call it a day.

Chris

[Rondec]

The KP sensor performance is pretty high. I can only see real improvements with a 24mp BSI sensor, which seems to be the road that Sony is taking.
Auto focus however could do with a total redesign, a denser AF-point layout, smaller AF points that can accurately discriminate small subjects in S-AF, and that can aid accurate tracking in C-AF. There is such a lot to gain there for Pentax. The Olympus EM1mkII recently got an update to select smaller AF points in the software, a very useful feature for telephoto wildlife shooters.I really hope they go for a 50+ point AF layout this time, or otherwise it is going to be yet another marginal upgrade. The KP has taken responsiveness to where I hoped, so its now up to the new lens motors and a new AF module. My DA560 appears to not have that slow a DC motor after all now I have used it on the KP, no complaints here. But there is a limit to the DC motors concept: telephoto lenses should really feature ring motors.

Anyway, the KP is some sort of comfort in the barren APS-C body land of the coming years, my main hope is that they really aim higher with the new APS-C flagship, and not simply add a larger buffer and higher fps and second card slot and higher capacity battery to the KP and call it a day.

Chris

Olympus uses auto focus points on the sensor, not? For Pentax, at least for non-live view auto focus, there is a separate auto focus array that would require updating in order to allow for more/smaller auto focus points. But either way, my point is more that I think that Pentax is going to do more than just drop a new sensor in this camera and a significant redesign/improvement of features takes more time than just a year and a half.

[D1N0]

If I had to pick between KP and K-70 I would be hard pressed. The K-70 has antiquated AF (but it would stilll work for my purposes). It's IQ is equivalent to the KP. It has a decent grip with a shutter button on it and it is a lot cheaper.

[Chris Mak]

Olympus uses auto focus points on the sensor, not? For Pentax, at least for non-live view auto focus, there is a separate auto focus array that would require updating in order to allow for more/smaller auto focus points. But either way, my point is more that I think that Pentax is going to do more than just drop a new sensor in this camera and a significant redesign/improvement of features takes more time than just a year and a half.

Yes, but there apparently áre possibilities to program the "small AF point" feature into a DSLR too. I remember that my 1600,- Olympus E5 also had that feature in the software menu, and it really helped on smaller, more distant subjects. I have no idea how they did it, but a new denser AF module may make it redundant anyway to use a software trick. To think that the E5 was really 1600,- (without grip), and that at 999,- the KP completely obliterates the E5 IQ.....

I am willing to spend 1600,- on a truly upgraded body, and I have a hunch that there may be more that will be willing to pay that price after that long a wait....

[beholder3]

Yes, but there apparently áre possibilities to program the "small AF point" feature into a DSLR too.

The "size" of a cross type PDAF sensor "point" is pure software. They could make it 1/3 size in a second.

But few people understand that 1/3 sire also means 1/3 of contrast data to use, so it will inevitably be much less reliable/precise. Try to use a single tiny bit from a"microprism" group instead of a large split screen prism.

[Chris Mak]

The "size" of a cross type PDAF sensor "point" is pure software. They could make it 1/3 size in a second.

But few people understand that 1/3 sire also means 1/3 of contrast data to use, so it will inevitably be much less reliable/precise. Try to use a single tiny bit from a"microprism" group instead of a large split screen prism.

So it is fully a "software trick" then. It might still be useful if there is enough light and contrast, en you are aiming for smaller subjects, especially when a transition of foreground to subject to background comes into play. Say I want to single out a distant curlew in a field of grass and the field is well lit in daylight/sunshine. Shots like these are typically a challenge for AF, and I remember the "small AF point" setting on the Olympus could help here.

[beholder3]

This here explains things well enough:
Canon DLC: Article: An inside look at Spot AF

It's a nice feature with upsides and downsides.

[Chris Mak]

This here explains things well enough:
Canon DLC: Article: An inside look at Spot AF

It's a nice feature with upsides and downsides.

I remember reading this (on Spot-AF) at the time when it was added to the Olympus dslr. I forgot all about it, but now reading back on it, it is a very nice feature. There are plenty of instances where the light is more than sufficient for Spot-AF. I wonder why Pentax never added this feature to the menu?

[beholder3]

There are literally dozens of things all makers could implement in firmware and for some reasons they dont. Since they dont speak to us directly it feels like sheer ignorance or idiocy, but probably they all have valid reasons to do what they do (I hope at least).

[Krusty Surfer]

Well what can they improve?

Faster Auto focus
Accurate Auto focus for sports
higher usable ISO
higher frame rate (10fps would be sweet)
lower the sensor MP size to 20 so it has a better Pixel Pitch

my K-3 is Bricked and precision wants $708 to fix- (out of focus image and cropped image)

so do i buy another K3 or wait for the next APSC flagship?
K5IIs i can buy below $400 for just the body
K3 are sub $500 now......... so it is a tough call

[BigMackCam]

my K-3 is Bricked and precision wants $708 to fix- (out of focus image and cropped image)

so do i buy another K3 or wait for the next APSC flagship?
K5IIs i can buy below $400 for just the body
K3 are sub $500 now......... so it is a tough call

Unless you have access to another Pentax camera that you'll be happy with for the next 12 - 18 months or more, I wouldn't wait for the K-3II replacement. That's a long time where you could be out and about shooting instead of stressing about the new model's release date.

Personally, I'd go for a nice, lightly-used K-3, since that's what you've been used to until recently. You can re-sell it when the new camera arrives and get back a good portion what you paid for it, and the small loss can be considered an extremely reasonable "equipment rental" fee

[Ishpuini]

my K-3 is Bricked and precision wants $708 to fix- (out of focus image and cropped image)

so do i buy another K3 or wait for the next APSC flagship?
K5IIs i can buy below $400 for just the body
K3 are sub $500 now......... so it is a tough call

I've had a similar experience with my K-3II. Well, it's not actually bricked, but it did refuse operation for about two days after my having foolishly changed lenses without waiting for my great to adapt to a warm humid interior after coming in from the cold... Condensation inside the camera body... Lethal for most electronics, but the Pentax survived. Despite it working perfectly after those two days, I wanted to have it serviced when I got home. I got an offer for about 800€!! I refused it, and instead found a new one for 825€. So now I have two bodies, and I'm set for sure until the new advanced APS-C comes in 2019...

If I were you I wouldn't hesitate and get a replacement now. Unless you have no photography planned for the rest of the year...

Besides, you never know whether the new one will actually meet your requirements? In case not, you might regret not having bought the camera now that they are still cheap and available.

Wim