Originally posted by fast_boat FF will definitely have bigger and bigger market in the future.
Does Pentax have technical difficulty to develop FF? I thought FF just have the big sensor compared to AFS. Is that right?
Pentax doesn't develop full frame because doing so would be foolish.
In order to enter the full frame market, they would have to:
- have a full frame camera (pretty easy)
- a complete -- check the A* lens list; note what isn't there for the DA* lenses, which aren't full frame anyway; note the difficulty they seem to be having with the DA* line expansion -- modern range of full frame pro lenses
- have a worldwide support network of affiliates and "pro shops" to support professional use of their cameras, since if you produce a full-frame DSLR and pros don't use it, the well to do folks who might buy it as a hobby camera won't.
- a big marketing push with a very substantial ad budget
That involves spending money they don't have to make very little, because the top of the market isn't big enough to be really lucrative.
Also, Pentax isn't trying to the be the #1 global camera company; they're trying for an outstanding value proposition. There isn't an outstanding full frame value proposition; the bodies -- which remain effectively disposable consumer electronics -- cost too much for that.
So they can, well, three obvious things that are obvious outstanding value propositions:
- APS-C cameras with features you can't get without paying much more from another maker (doing that)
- APS-C "interchangeable lens compact" (they might be doing that)
- Digital medium format that's either not consumer electronics or has a really good price point (they've considered doing that)
I don't think you're inherently correct about the full frame market; lots of people want a
small camera, and lots more people don't need anything better than what goes up on the computer screen. The globally market-dominant camera is the cell phone camera. The idea of a prosumer full frame market is effectively unproven, and it's not clear anybody is going to make enough money at it to want to do it. Certainly not for the next couple years, and by then the price point for the mediums is going to be gnawing on the pro market for full frame.
Me, I've got a K20D; it's a much better camera than I am photographer and produces raw images larger than I have the hardware to print. It's going to take me years to fix the first problem and at least some time to fix the second. A full frame camera would make both problems
worse, for more money, and not -- with the possible exception of a better viewfinder -- involve any more fun.