Originally posted by stevebrot I suspect these recurring threads regarding a K-3/K-3II replacement are coming from people who are considering a gear upgrade, but for whom the current models are not a big enough step up in features or specs to justify a purchase now. I was in that position when the K-5II launched and was quite ready to buy when the K-3 became available.
I'm in the position of having a K-5II and see the new features in the K-70 vs what is in the K-3II so I'm awaiting to see if they refresh it this year or not.. I don't want to get into the situation of buying the K-3II and then, a month or three later, they announce the successor with all the fancy bits I'm now missing. Esp since the prices on bodies haven't dropped so largely over time like they used to.
It is similar to when the K-30 was released before the K-3. The K-30 had upgraded features over what was in the K-5II at the time, but the K-3 wasn't out yet with those said features. So it was a case of go for the older higher-end body or go with the newer lower-end body. I went with the former and it has been a pretty good fit. But I want my cake and to eat it too. And, in this situation, it could be quite possible.
The successor has to come sooner than later.. the camera market isn't standstill.. and, despite some claims, Pentax is still competing in a market saturated with Canon and Nikon. Meaning: They (Canon and Nikon) largely define what is 'modern' and what is not since they control the largest portions of the crop body market. Argue it all you want, but when a buyer is comparing apples to apples, they are going to look for feature X Y Z across the spectrum of brands. This isn't advocating a 1:1 matching of features on each camera, but it is advocating that Ricoh has to keep the train moving forward with the market if they want to keep or build on their marketshare.
Otherwise they'd have kept cranking out K-50s... which are really K-30s... but they didn't they launched an update. I suspect the same for the upper end guy soonish too. Probably closer to CP+ time though.. (feb 2017). Yet holding out to see what happens in a week or two...
But it is a personal choice on what one buys. If you're happy with your camera's output, then keep using it. No one is twisting anyone's arm to upgrade, but some of us just want an upgrade. The updated features are beneficial to us and we don't have to validate that decision with anyone else.