[jpzk]

Well, since it is official, the K5 is going to go for $1599, body only.

Looks like nearly everyone wants "it", in spite of its price.

Now, there will no doubt be loads of Pentax DSLR's for sale on the MarketPlace very soon, according to what I am reading all over the forum.

Will the price of a used K7 (and K20D, K10D) simply go down a LOT as a result?

What say you people?

JP

[Prox-iee]

I think it will. Pentax sort of failed when its entry level produced better pictures then its flagship. Now that they fixed it with the k-r and the k-5 I wouldnt be surprised to see the k-x around 300 and the k-7 around 500

[chalion]

Nature of the beast. When new product comes out, it always reduces the price of what's already on the market. (Except for lenses, to my utter dismay).

[JeffJS]

I wouldn't count on the prices of Used cameras (k7, kx, k20d, etc) dropping like a rock anytime soon. Most people who on the K7 and the Kx have barely had them for a year. No one has had a Kx for more than a year. The K20d is more than 2 years old and still commanding a (used) price tag of $500+.

[dgaies]

No doubt that there will be an impact as I would expect there to be quite a few K7 and Kx (not to mention K10D and K20D) bodies up for sale as people start to replace them with the Kr and K5.

I'm sure I will replace my Kx and K7, although I will likely wait a bit as I seldom buy a new body right when it comes out. Look for mine sometime early next year

[dgaies]

I wouldn't count on the prices of Used cameras (k7, kx, k20d, etc) dropping like a rock anytime soon. Most people who on the K7 and the Kx have barely had them for a year. No one has had a Kx for more than a year. The K20d is more than 2 years old and still commanding a (used) price tag of $500+.

Agreed that they won't drop like rocks. In my last post I just meant that as people start replacing them (which might be over the next year) the price of used Kx and K7 bodies should go down.

As for the K20D, I feel that's kind of a special case in that there are a lot of people who felt the K20D was superior to the K7 that replaced it. Either because of the physical size of the K20D or the better noise handling at high ISO, there were things about the K20D that helped keep it's used price somewhat higher than it might have otherwise been.

[aleonx3]

I would expect the price of K-x will be down a bit like as well as K-7 initially as people trying to upgrade or move to the other camp (which is expected). It will then level off to 450 and 650 level give and take afterwards.

[JeffJS]

Agreed that they won't drop like rocks. In my last post I just meant that as people start replacing them (which might be over the next year) the price of used Kx and K7 bodies should go down.

As for the K20D, I feel that's kind of a special case in that there are a lot of people who felt the K20D was superior to the K7 that replaced it. Either because of the physical size of the K20D or the better noise handling at high ISO, there were things about the K20D that helped keep it's used price somewhat higher than it might have otherwise been.

Fact is, we don't really know yet. I'm going by watching prices over the last several months as I've thought about buying another K20d. For what reason, I don't know. I sold mine shortly after I bought the K7.

There are features people are willing to pay money for and they may not care about other features. It won't ever be worth the original price but the K10d, can turn off DFS, and if you have one not updated to 1.31 (mine is still at v1.00), you can backdate the FW to 1.20 to turn off SDM. Many think the ISO performance of the K10d between 100-400 is better than the K20d. Those three things, I think, keep the K10d a desirable camera.

The K20d is a very nice machine as well and I think it was a significant improvement over the K10d in many areas. Slight re-design in the buttons, the size and form of it's predecessor, grip-less, I actually prefer it over the K7. I paid $175 for a grip on the K7 because it was too small for me.

Feature to feature, the K7 still stacks up pretty well against the K5. Those needing or wanting the faster AF and high ISO performance, AND willing to pay for it, may be looking to dump their K7 (20,10, etc). For everyone else, the K7 will still be the way to go. I for one, am still learning how to get the best out of mine. I would say a previously mentioned price of $650 for a used one, sounds quite reasonable for a -1 generation flagship camera.

You may be correct though. Out of the box, comparing the K7 against the K20d, there were a number of things I did not like about the K7 (still don't). I hate what they did to the button layout for a larger screen for instance. I hate even more, the locking mode dial. The AE-L button is directly where my thumbprint rests. That may be fine for some but to me, it's a negative. Both the 10 and the 20 have tethering. Removing it for the K7 (and I assume the K5) is a move I'm still scratching my head about.

[creampuff]

The K-7 is still a workhorse and I do not think the prices for it will plummet overnight. What will plummet will be the prices of old and discontinued models like the K10D/K20D because the new cameras are far superior in so many ways.

[Ex Finn.]

$650 or so compared to $760 that I paid for the 7 is not a big deal. I will get the K-5 in a little while, no plans of getting rid of the K-7.

This is going to be great, Program+ and Super Program sitting next to K-7 and "K-7 super", talk about old school.
(both with identical grips non the less)

[pentaman]

For the general mass, a $300+ price difference is probably good enough to buy an used older model, so K7 might still be in 700s for a while. Despite the new K7 being $850, the used K20D is still selling for about $500. Used K7 will go the same way.

[deadwolfbones]

I'd expect 'em to drop based on the going price for new K-7s, not the introduction of the new model.

[JoepLX3]

Yeah, I am curious how Pentax is going to dump their K-7's (and how many they have on stock). Personally I am interested in the K-r, but given K-x is, at least according to the spec, significantly smaller (probably mainly due to LCD) they might stay on the shelves next to each other for some while...

[zerodaze]

I was one of those early adopters to the K-7 as I needed to purchase SOMETHING at the time, and after a ton of research I plunked down the $1300 for a new one in July of 2009. Most would have waited and they would have been rewarded in several Ben Franklins, but I didn't have quite the patience for it. The K-7 is a beautiful machine, but if I drop mine in the river or off a cliff, I will gladly buy the K-5. But until that unlucky day in the future, I will hold onto my K-7 and continue to enjoy what we can do together. Sorry, no used K-7 to be sold from me in the near future.

[dgaies]

I'd expect 'em to drop based on the going price for new K-7s, not the introduction of the new model.

True, as Pentax drops the price on new K7 it will push the price down on used K7 bodies.

However I'm not sure that Pentax has to cut the price of new K7 models that much in the beginning as the price of a new K5 high. Some people might choose to buy a new K7 for around $700 vs a new K5 for twice that amount at $1400.