[Madaboutpix]

With my current gear still going strong and continuing to give me both pleasure in the use of it and photos that I like, plus Ricoh slowly but sustainably bringing updates and upgrades to the market, I'm pretty confident about the future of the Pentax brand. As long as Ricoh retains and evolves Pentax and its own camera lines as capable yet arguably more joyful propositions than a lot else out there, I think they will find their discerning buyers and will weather these tough times for the industry. Particularly looking forward to the upcoming APS-C flagship, which could make 2020 a rather special Pentax year.

[paolojackson]

Posts like these really make me think about jumping ship. Would Eye AF (or a different AF system altogether) help my photography? Am I making it harder on myself by using Pentax? I think they are valid questions for a lot of people, but I keep telling myself that if I can't make money with my K-1 and it's incredible image quality, how will changing systems do me any better? I already changed systems Pentax K10d/K20d --> Canon 5DM2 --> Pentax K-1. Changing back to Pentax did reinvigorate my love for photography, but for me I've been better about not chasing gear and just creating images. I would love to see what Pentax does in the next few years with FF and the 645 line.

Glad you are happy with your jump to Sony, keep snapping away!

[The Squirrel Mafia]

After many considerations, I just got myself a A7RIII this Thanksgiving.
The focus speed and eye focus feature alone is crazy. like it's not even fair.

My baby turn 1 yo. and running around.
My Pentax K1 + Sigma 35 missed shot 90% of the time.
A7RIII nailed eye focus 95% of the time.

I do a lot of people shooting with my K-50. I still get a lot of keepers with it, but I do wish it had more accurate & faster AF. I have to focus manually quite often & the focusing screen doesn't really help at all. It was a lot easier to manually focus in the 80's with the focusing screens that they had. It's a bit hard to manually focus with the K-50 through the viewfinder at times, but I still manage.

The eye AF feature in the recent Sony bodies is insanely good. Like a million times better than what the K-50 people liveview AF can do. Whenever I pick up my dad's Sony a7III, it blows me away at how insanely easy it is to get very good people photos out of it. It's like you don't even have to try. Far better than what his Nikon D7200 can do & I'm not even going to compare the K-50 to it. Hahaha! My only gripes with that camera are the EVF. & ergonomics. They seemed to have cheaped out on the EVF & I wish the body was a lot larger to grab a hold of it a lot easier. It's like way too crammed for me.

Who knows how much effort Ricoh has placed into the AF system of the upcoming flagship, but I do hope that it's far more accurate & faster than anything ever released before this camera. I do hope that it has some type of 3D tracking feature where you can place the AF point on something & then the camera follows it, similar to what a lot of other manufacturers have where it not only can track in the X & Y axis, but also in the Z axis where stuff is coming at you or going away from you.

I guess we'll find out sooner or later about that camera. It's only a few more months until CP+ 2020. Hopefully all the beans are spilled by then.

[pentaxus]

totsmuyco, I am thinking (hoping) the same thing.

[Vmax911]

The 3D tracking on my KP is a tremendous improvement over my KS2, so they are definitely heading in the right direction. But can the catch up?

[travelswsage]

I have to focus manually quite often & the focusing screen doesn't really help at all. It was a lot easier to manually focus in the 80's with the focusing screens that they had. It's a bit hard to manually focus with the K-50 through the viewfinder at times, but I still manage.

It would be nice to be able to have the option of changing focusing screens in future cameras -- it would go along way to helping with manual focus.

[Serkevan]

It would be nice to be able to have the option of changing focusing screens in future cameras -- it would go along way to helping with manual focus.

IIRC manual focus screens interfere with PDAF sensors :/
An easy-to-swap screen would be amazing, though.

[kevinWE]

Nah, Pentax is not doomed. How can people think we're doomed. It's going to be Christmas soon. I have the following items on my Christmas list. I'd like 2 KPs with 18-135 kit lenses each. I want 1 solo KP body. I want 3 battery grips, one for each KP and 9 extra KP batteries. I think Santa's elves will bring me my presents and slide them under my bed.

Some people think everybody and everything is doomed. I seen post about Sony and Nikon being doomed. It's all speculation and opinion's. It's all quite silly.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

It would be nice to be able to have the option of changing focusing screens in future cameras -- it would go along way to helping with manual focus.

IIRC manual focus screens interfere with PDAF sensors :/
An easy-to-swap screen would be amazing, though.

It would be even better if they could re-implement some kind of "split screen" to aid in manual focusing while they still keep the PDAF accurate. My guess would be that too much engineering effort would be required. Yeah. I'm crazy. Hahaha!

[lesmore49]

Question many of us have thought about, no doubt...does Pentax have competitive equipment ?

I don't use my camera equipment to make money...it's a hobby...pleasure for me. So, not a lot of pressure, that those earning a living have.

Rewind back many years to late '60's, very early '70's and part of my income was derived from photography when I worked for a publishing company.

My tools of the trade were basic...one 35mm SLR, my Pentax S1a, one Takumar 55mm F 2 lens and to meter it all...one Sekonic Auto Lumi 86 light meter. Worked for me then...reliable and so durable...I still have this minimalist equipment and all works well.

I'm not saying all you need to make a buck is one camera, one lens...but when I think about it, one of the greatest pro press photographers of the past century...IMO...was Alfred Eisenstadt...who worked for Life Magazine for years and my understanding is that his regular go to camera stuff was his simple Leica Rangefinder...with a generally a 35 or 50 mm lens. He got some fabulous photos and made a good living with a lot of times, basic equipment. I know that he had access to specialist equipment when he needed it...after all this was Life Magazine which was huge back in the '30's to the '60's.

I think sometimes over the years I get the old...I absolutely need this lens...this camera body...and generally I've gone ahead and bought it. It's great but I think you get to a certain level of equipment and unless you require a specific piece of equipment for a specialist shot...mostly the 'trinity' of lenses...approximately...24-70, 15-30 and 70-200...all @ F 2.8..will do the trick for many pro situations and Pentax has this gear....along with primes like the 77mm F 1.8 lens.

I'm very happy with my K1, but probably could of got along just fine with my K5. I think my K5 was where I achieved that certain level of equipment that I needed and really didn't need to get a more advanced camera body. A buddy has a Canon 7D, another a Nikon D300...same deal...cameras at this level do pretty well everything, IMO.

[totsmuyco]

I still have my k-5II bought in Feb 2014 and my k-3II bought last Sep 2016. If they won't break, I think I'm set for the next 5 to 10 years.

[mlt]

I still have my k-5II bought in Feb 2014 and my k-3II bought last Sep 2016. If they won't break, I think I'm set for the next 5 to 10 years.

That’s the way I look at my K-3 and K-1 bodies. Since buying the K-1 when it was released, upgrades/additions have been all about the glass for both bodies, albeit on a limited budget.

[totsmuyco]

That’s the way I look at my K-3 and K-1 bodies. Since buying the K-1 when it was released, upgrades/additions have been all about the glass for both bodies, albeit on a limited budget.

That's how I do things. I only have 1 system and I grow into the system. Body and kit len/s. Then add more lenses and then another body. After that add more lenses little by little as the need arises. As the bodies grow old, we replace them and then more accessories as the years go by. That's how I build my arsenal. I guess, I really am old school.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Hopefully the new flagship is a worthy upgrade from my K-3. I'm hoping that 2020 brings me an opportunity to refresh and consolidate my gear (I have four bodies - a K20D, a K-5, a K-5 IIs, and a K-3...need to hit up that marketplace and sell!).