Originally posted by BigMackCam I agree with you regarding the reduction in new DSLRs, though thankfully this could actually be a positive for Ricoh / Pentax. I'm certain we're not the only group of folks who have a preference for DSLR photography when the use cases suit.
As for the A1, I'm sure it'll be nothing less than amazing. Sony gets a fair bit of stick around here... some of it is deserved, much of it not. I think for the right audience, the A1 will be an awesome camera. I'm not sure how large that audience is, mind you, but it only needs to be large enough for Sony to turn a nice profit on R&D and production, and/or to rattle the competition and put doubts in the minds of their users...
There are certain group of folks who have a preference for film photography also, but it's a niche.
There are too many DSLR users in order for me to imply that DSLRs will become a niche in 2-4 years, but it's quite impressive how fast mirrorless gains popularity. And if new DSLRs won't be released anymore, people will start to switch. Some will replace the bodies first and continue to use DSLR lenses on them with adapter until the lenses need to be replaced (myself included), some will replace the entire DSLR system with a mirrorless one. At some point, cameras and lenses have to be replaced, especially when we talk about photographers who use their gear to earn some money or to make a living out of it.
The fact that an R6 it's close to 1Dx Mark III in terms of tracking and the animal eye af makes it a little better than the flagship in certain circumstances, with the R6 beeing less than half the price of 1Dx, it can't be ignored by enthusiastic photographers who don't afford or simply don't need the build quality, weight and durability of the 1Dx.
As much as I love to, I really don't think that OVF will be such an important aspect so that Pentax can count as an alternative for the lack of new Canon and Nikon DSLRs. Mostly because you only have one alternative to choose from in terms of full frame, because there are some gaps in lens department that needs time to be filled, because of the slow release of new products and not lastly, the lack of third party support.