Originally posted by K-9 Right now, we have small APS sensors (Pentax Q, cell phones), larger APS sensors (point and shoots, consumer DSLRs), full frame (advanced DSLRs), and medium format sensors of various sizes. IMO, all DSLRs should be full frame, with point and shoots remaining at APS, and the medium format juggernauts staying where they are for those with megapixel envy. This may indeed happen in the future, then Ricoh will have to either join the DSLR-full frame union, or bow out.
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I agree with this... mostly.
One problem is that some of us came to Pentax specifically for the smaller form-factor DSLR with a robust build and the beautiful Limited primes.
I have no doubt that Pentax/ Ricoh could build a smaller full-frame DSLR that is comparable/ better in build quality to Nikon/ Canon... but smaller is a relative term. There is only so much reduction in size possible when building FF due to the size of the supporting elements of FF. It's been mentioned in this thread at least once that I've seen.
"Slightly" smaller/ lighter than a D700 did not entice me to Pentax. I know others who are currently looking at Pentax for exactly the same reason I switched.
Another issue associated with our opinion is the legacy lenses that will not work well on FF. Dumping APS-C will relegate some lenses to paperweight status at some point in the future. This will alienate some users. Nikon is going to have to deal with this as well as they have an ever increasing amount of "DX" lenses. One option would be to make sure the FF MP count is high enough that they can include an APS-C sized "crop" option that is an equal/ higher MP count and equal or better quality than the current APS-C cameras. At that point all lenses sized for APS-C would be "backwards compatible". This will also help a bit with those APS-C users who use the crop cameras for the additional "reach" afforded by the sensor crop.