[Ex Finn.]

Peilittömissä on kaikki hienoudet, vain kamera puuttuu.

I must agree, no matter how technically advanced, without a mirror it is not a "real" camera. So please Pentax, keep the mirror.

[D4V1D]

I must agree, no matter how technically advanced, without a mirror it is not a "real" camera. So please Pentax, keep the mirror.

I second that, please Pentax, keep the mirror.

[Captmatt]

I must agree, no matter how technically advanced, without a mirror it is not a "real" camera. So please Pentax, keep the mirror.

I think that argument was used when shifting from plate to film, viewfinder to reflex, film to digital. A camera is still the box that holds the lens that allows light to strike the recording media. All the rest is personal preference, and changes with technology and consumer spending. I like the mirror too, but unless people stop buying mirrorless we will get the version that costs less to manufacture.

[senn]

If the next body improves on the k5 great, it does not really matter if FF or not, for me a 500mm F4 is my dream...

I second that ..

[Chex]

As Ron Hendricks asked for.. (mini) USB 3.0 port would be GREAT! OR better yet, wireless tethering IN the camera.. turn it on and let it go! Full tethering support is becoming standard in higher end models, and Pentax doesn't even have it in their $10,000 645D.. quite sad they want someone (3rd party) to make it for them.. and there is not even an SDK kit released to work from.. assnine.
Future models should also have time lapse functions being able to shoot more than 999 images.. is it THAT hard to give the command for ONE more digit to max at 9999???
Of course I would love a FF, and when I'm ready to go there I won't think twice about jumping ship if it's not there or in development, as I'm sure many others are in the same boat. Mirrorless IS going to be the future of photography, weather people like it or not, so hopefully this Feb we see a FF mirrorless that John Carlson is oblivious to.

[j0n4hpk]

Now, on advertising. I think that if Ricoh / Pentax really promotes more with professional sports photographers (Yeah, those guys and girls we see close to the field in baseball, football, basketball and other sorts of physical / contact sports carrying their CanNikon hardware and even hatwear every time we see such events in HDTV) and tries newer ways to advertise (like Internet and Blogs) more efficiently, they'll have a fighting chance to thrive in the market. I strongly recommend advertising and marketing people in Pentax as well as this community to see in YOUTUBE the video titled: Stop Advertising in Photo Magazines - Head West to the Web. If you head to Youtube, copy and paste or type the title in Youtube search. PS: I will like to see the FA lenses back too, like they were (aperture ring and all).

[Chex]

Yes, I saw Trey Ratcliffs nice coverage of how ineffective the magazine publication adds were in comparison to web based advertisements.. we can only hope someone in Pentax Marketing saw the same.

[DaveBlack]

I second that ..

+2 on the long lens.

[DaveBlack]

Now, on advertising. I think that if Ricoh / Pentax really promotes more with professional sports photographers (Yeah, those guys and girls we see close to the field in baseball, football, basketball and other sorts of physical / contact sports carrying their CanNikon hardware and even hatwear every time we see such events in HDTV) and tries newer ways to advertise (like Internet and Blogs) more efficiently, they'll have a fighting chance to thrive in the market. I strongly recommend advertising and marketing people in Pentax as well as this community to see in YOUTUBE the video titled: Stop Advertising in Photo Magazines - Head West to the Web. If you head to Youtube, copy and paste or type the title in Youtube search. PS: I will like to see the FA lenses back too, like they were (aperture ring and all).

+1 on the FA lenses!!

[GordonZA]

If you want Pentax to compete with Canikon, grab the management and engineers from Pentax, give them each a K5 and a complete set of new currently available lenses (and ONLY currently available new lenses), then also give them a Nikon D4 or Canon 1DX plus a complete set of currently available new lenses from those companies, then send them out to take a range of photos forcing them to get the best possible shots for each situation from each brand. Then force them to compare photos from Pentax and the competition for each scenario... maybe then they will understand where the huge holes in the Pentax range lie!

Or if you really want to show holes in the current new range give them their 645D and current new lenses....

Pentax, you need to pull finger and start producing lenses at all focal lengths and particularly fast glass. There used to be beautiful 300 F2.8, 500 F4.5, 600 F4.0, 400 F2.8, 1200 F8.0, the stunning 250-600 F5.6, etc etc etc... not too mention the TC's.... we used to have the choices, now those of us that want to use these kinds of lenses.... cant. The best I can currently do is use my scope adapter and connect to my 80mm spotting scope...

Back to the bodies, while the K5 is a wonderful body comparable to the 7D or D7000 it cannot compete with the pro bodies from Canikon. The 645D is a fantastic camera but is for a completely different genre.

Ricoh/Pentax stated that their aim was to compete, so pull finger and start competing!

[RonHendriks1966]

So I went two weeks to the European Championship Waterfly in Eindhoven. Taken pictures 14 days, every day following 2 to 4 games. A hard learning school and I did enjoy it.

I used K-5, K-5 Silver, FA*85mm, DA40mm, DA21mm, DA15mm, DA*300mm and Sigma 70-200mm (OS version). I have three new SanDisk PRO cards 45mb/s and one older 32 GB classe 10 and 16 GB classe 6 card. Took a laptop to use in the mediacentre. Used a monopod and a Metz flash.

I took thousends of pictures during that time. There are some real fantastic pictures with it. Learnd a lot from some of the pro-shooters there (1D Mark IV, 5D Mark II, 7D, D300s, D3, D3s and loads of pro-lenses up to 400mm/f2.8). There where a few with transmitters to send their images to their laptops standing next to the pool. I spend time waiting for my camera to be ready with processing and storing files while next to me someone is standing reviewing the same pictures and selecting and deleting. Time I could not spend on my pictures. I'm talking about 8 hours or so during those two weeks. The K-5 is a slow camera in that way.

So what do I want?

• I want better image quality then K-5 offers at hi iso-settings to meet magazine printing quality. So I guess I want APS-H or Full Frame. For newspaper it is fine as K-5 is, but the future is demanding more.
• I want faster processing in the camera and up to UHS-I speed of writing to cards to stop loosing so much time on waiting for my camera to be ready.
• I want a smarter and faster AF system. I want lenses that are faster in focussing to work with that new AF-system.
• I want a second cardslot in my camera. To make RAW and jpg.
• I want to have a sort of transmitting of images to my laptop. I want to have an option to mark good pictures so I can find them back faster then now.
• I want a DA*400mm/f4 or a DA*135-270mm/f2.8 with a DA*1.4x TC.
• I would like to have the option to change to 12-bit RAW. Especially with hi iso (iso 1600 and up) to have smaller files that process faster.
• I would like an integrated grip. The K-5 body is perfect otherwise. So jyst attache the vertical grip to it and make it one fast camera full of options.
• A new and better flashsystem would be great.
• In sportsphotography a shutter garanteed to use for 100k times isn't so great. So making a new one better to use for at least 200.000 actuations would be great.

From an other ways satisfight user.

[ajaya]

Dear Pentax,

I would like to know why there are no Pentax dealers present in INDIA !! I see there are so many photographers want to have PENTAX but due to no Dealership & Service centers people are going for CANIKON . I had to wait for 8 months to get my KR but i am really surprised that how can such a wonderful camera not available here !. hope i will get some good news from PENTAX.

--
Aj

[Chex]

Ron, as for the PRIME processor units, they have a road map of what's in the works for it.. because like most things, Pentax doesn't make the parts themselves... The K-5 is 5th Gen chip, 6th gen shows a little more video capabilities and supposedly "faster image processing" so we can only hope that this means something that can fill and clear that buffer FAST.. With this upcoming K-01 being APS-C, it sure would be an upgrade to have the 6th gen chip to make burst mode and movie modes both more functional.

[RonHendriks1966]

Ron, as for the PRIME processor units, they have a road map of what's in the works for it.. because like most things, Pentax doesn't make the parts themselves... The K-5 is 5th Gen chip, 6th gen shows a little more video capabilities and supposedly "faster image processing" so we can only hope that this means something that can fill and clear that buffer FAST.. With this upcoming K-01 being APS-C, it sure would be an upgrade to have the 6th gen chip to make burst mode and movie modes both more functional.

Thanks, nice to read. Now Pentax has to descide to spend money on it and change the internal electronics to make the camera that speedy and not use the current electronics for another generation.

[maxfield_photo]

Dear Pentax,

Cameras should be held to one's eye.