[Kennod]

exactly! - That's all I needed to say above

[civiletti]

Personally, I see no need for Pentax to meet the D800 feature-for-feature. That would be an exercise in futility.

Instead, I would prefer that they field a camera that breaks the mold a little bit. Think K-5 + GXR (sort of). What I would envision is a modular FF SLR where the base camera is little more than a sensor, shutter, electronics, mirror box and mount. No AF, no eye-level finder, No onboard flash, with a battery sized to meet the needs of the base features supported. Small, light-weight, and basic. To add AF, you would purchase the grip with the bigger battery to support this power-hungry feature. To add video, slip in an expansion card. Need an optical viewfinder? Remove a panel and slide one on to enable the mirror mechanism. Don't need an optical finder? The camera would default to live view or an accessory finder and the mirror stays up. Want a hybrid viewfinder to be used mirror-up? Simply slide one on.

Get my drift yet? I am talking about a system camera. A game changer, that could be configured for a number of different shooting modalities.

And last, but not least...Bring back the non-crippled mount...


Steve

I like this concept. I'd buy this camera.

[Raffwal]

What FF does Pentax need to keep you vs the D800?

Well, first of all it should not be imaginary.

[philbaum]

Attractive as it is as a gadget, I'd still have to justify the D800 to myself by asking: do I need it at all?

My answer at the moment, and for the foreseeable future: no.

The tools I have at the moment are more than adequate for my requirements. My current gear isn't the factor that is holding me back from taking good photos.

These latest-and-greatest gadget merry-go-rounds are fatiguing. One day it's the latest Fuji's as the next 'game changing' camera, next day it's the latest NEX's, now it's the latest Nikon. By the end of 2012 it will be another batch of super-gadgets.

So true. The photo technology market continues to change so rapidly, why sink $3000 into a D800 or a Pentax FF, when it will be obsolete in 3 or 4 years. Makes no sense to me. My K5 already does more than i really need at this point.

[rawr]

The photo technology market continues to change so rapidly

Indeed. All the consumer hardware tech action now seems to be in digital imaging, non-PC (tablets etc) and mobile telephony. Presently the upgrade and hype cycles are amazingly short here.

But many of the fundamentals don't shift that greatly between cycles, including, in my case, user skill.
I'm only a marginally better photographer today using my K-5 than I was using my K200D, or using earlier point and shoots, or even film bodies.

[bossa]

Does anyone think a GXR-FF mountor is more likely than a K-FF camera?

I agree with this. If they released a 24mpx GXR K-mount sensor then I'd forget all about the D800 and I'd keep my FA LTD lenses and FA 300.

Most of the people shouting for a Pentax FF seem to have forgotten that Ricoh own their soul, that they have a modular camera ready for more modules and that Ricoh have placed 'Pentax' in charge of camera development.

PS: People harping on about fast AF seem to discount the lenses. I wonder if the slow speed is due to the low powered SDM motors more than the AF system itself?

[Northern Soul]

The same body as the K5/K7, but with a bigger viewfinder, naturally.

It'd have to be very cheap for me to buy it though, because for most of my purposes APS-C suits me just fine. APS-C, a handful of lenses and a laptop running darktable gives mer results I'd not have thought possible when I bought my first Praktica.

[Kerrowdown]

What FF does Pentax need to keep you vs the D800?

Make one to start with

[Rainer Dynszis]

So if Pentax is to come up with a FF by year end or early next year.
What would need to be on it to keep you from jumping?

What do we expect for :
Price?
AF expectation?
SR?
ISO?
Features?

As far as I am concerned, you left out the most important aspects:

(1) Quality Control
(2) Glass

Ad (1): I would have gladly, very gladly indeed, paid $2000+ for the K-5, because IMO the K-5 would be totally worth it -- if, and that's too big an if, if it did what it's supposed to do. But it didn't, thanks to the neverending story of totally unacceptable f*ck-ups with sensor stains, focus problems, mirror flopping, etc.pp. ad nauseam.

Ad (2): Any camera is at most as attractive as the lenses available for it. I might try to score on eBay some old Made-in-Japan glass from the "limited" series, but that's not a substitute for the standard 70-200 f2.8 that Pentax simply does not offer. I don't see anything in Pentax's current lens portfolio that makes me go "wow! wanna have!"
.

[JohnBee]

I could be wrong, but I think the K-3 will have the same sensor that's in the NEX-7, so you should be able to see how it stacks up to the D800 right now..

I think so too.
I've found Pentax consistently produces higher marks against the competition. ie. when comparing the K-5 to the 5n, we find improvements across the board despite the fact they both use the same sensor. Likewise, I'm inclined to think that it is possible that Pentax will maintain this advantage with the K-3. That is to say that we can expect numbers that are closer to the D800 than any other APS-C on the market. Specifically in DR, SNR, color and tonal range.

[barondla]

Actually Nikon can't even build the D800. Take that Sony chip out and there is no advantage over their D700. You could argue Nikon is no more a camera manufacturer than Pentax. Nikon is headed where Pentax has been the last 15 years - a niche player. Nikon has thrown everything they have at cameras ( even Ashton) and all they have to show for it is slipping from #1 to #3 world wide. They know nothing of video and that is where the pro world is unfortunately heading. Still pro cameras will become less important to the companies image. Nikon knows this - look at their little colored cameras and the 1. They are becomming much more consumerish.

For Pentax. Skip FF and give us a hot rod Medium format camera for landscapes. Mirrorless, No af. Maybe manual and Av exposure modes. Have body take adapter tubes to allow Aps-c, FF, or 645 medium format lenses. Have port for optional external evf. Sell this hotrod for under $2500. Watch it sell
thanks
barondla
It would be like a giant mirrored Dobsonian telescope.

[Boris]

Objectively, the gap between Pentax and other manufacturers in terms of FF cameras is widening. It stands to reason that merely slapping your favorite picture engine to the current FF sensor from Sony or whomever won't really cut it - much work is needed, and Pentax may not have the know-how. Although I used to be a FF proponent, I don't think that Pentax should really bother. No matter how hard Pentax tries, it will be taken by the market as "me too" kind of effort and the community of Pentax followers is not big enough to warrant such a project from economical point of view.

So may be Pentax could do something extraordinary - mirrorless FF camera, rangefinder-like FF camera, retro FF camera, etc...

Or may be even together with Ricoh they will introduce GXR+ system with slightly bigger body to which they will introduce a FF K-mount module. That could be pretty darn good.

[bossa]

Actually Nikon can't even build the D800. Take that Sony chip out and there is no advantage over their D700. You could argue Nikon is no more a camera manufacturer than Pentax. Nikon is headed where Pentax has been the last 15 years - a niche player. Nikon has thrown everything they have at cameras ( even Ashton) and all they have to show for it is slipping from #1 to #3 world wide. They know nothing of video and that is where the pro world is unfortunately heading. Still pro cameras will become less important to the companies image. Nikon knows this - look at their little colored cameras and the 1. They are becomming much more consumerish.

For Pentax. Skip FF and give us a hot rod Medium format camera for landscapes. Mirrorless, No af. Maybe manual and Av exposure modes. Have body take adapter tubes to allow Aps-c, FF, or 645 medium format lenses. Have port for optional external evf. Sell this hotrod for under $2500. Watch it sell
thanks
barondla
It would be like a giant mirrored Dobsonian telescope.

This is probably not a bad idea when you think about it. They already differentiate themselves with the 645D so why not just upgrade it. People are running around like chooks with their heads cut off over the D800 and comparing it to the 645D when it's really not fair to do so. When the Pentax gets an upgraded sensor and whatever else they do to it I'm sure the D800 will be a distant memory.

**I dunno if a tiny camera can be called a giant Dobsonian but I guess if you compared it to the puny opposition it may well be seen that way.

[Rondec]

To answer the original question I want my Pentax full frame camera to:

• Take my K mount lenses
• Have a 100% pentaprism VF
• Be weather sealed
• Have in-camera SR
• Have super clean low ISO performance
• Have accurate AF (fast wouldn't hurt my feelings either)
• Be durable and reliable

That is all. Simple.

Stuff I could care less about:

• Cost, so long as it's under $4k US
• Video
• High ISO (above 3200)
• Frame rate
• Compactness
• Video
• High ISO
• Bells and whistles
• Goofy colors
• Compactness
• Video
• And having a big-name designer

There is one thing that the D800 can't do and that's mount K-mount glass. That's really the only advantage Pentax has left in my book, but it is rather important to me. That's what is keeping me with the brand. If Pentax can't get their act together and release a camera that their loyal followers want, then the point of being loyal eludes me. Time is running out, I'm just about ready to move on to greener pastures.

So what you are saying is that you want a D800 sensor in a K-01 body?

[RonHendriks1966]

So what you are saying is that you want a D800 sensor in a K-01 body?

Please Marc Newson, make it Yellow!

Well I would like 24 megapixel and not the enourmous numbers of D800. I think that you all don't realize how many owners of a D800 by the time of X-mass are complaining about the huge files the sh*it camera is bringing home. The fun of all those nice new camera's will be gone by then.

I would like to see both a mirrorless (like K-01, but with EVF) and a real dslr, small compared to 1Dx and D4 as a K-5 with attached grip. Both would make a great camera. The dslr for more action and the mirrorless for landscaping and leisure.