Pentax Pentax FF announcement in 2 days? - Nope!!

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Or, if anything at all, merely a new APS-C.

Pentax K-3 24MP full frame camera announcement on March 27th? | Photo Rumors

Few weeks ago I reported that Pentax is going to soon introduce several new DSLR cameras as early as this month. RiceHigh received some information that the 24MP Pentax K-3 full frame camera will be announced next week on March 27. In another post, RiceHigh reports about photographer Mike Svitek who has posted this on hig g+ account:

"Testing out the new Pentax K-# HDSLR [ icon wink Pentax K 3 24MP full frame camera announcement on March 27th? WINK WINK... NUDGE NUDGE ] with the Pentax 77mm Limited Prime lens ... 1/500s f/11 ISO25600 Custom WB

I love the tones, the dynamic range is amazing, and the resolution (while being too high for my taste) has its advantages when clearing up some noise. With the combo of the new sensor and processor, there is very little noise to clean up in the first place. It only starts showing up visibly at around ISO6400 (becoming obvious here at 25,600 and pretty bad at the extended range of 102,400) ... As I already stated, this camera sits between its competitors with the D800 and the D4 or the 5D Mrk.3 and the 1DX ."


Edit: now, according to folks at PF, the doomsdate is 4/17.

:daz:
 
That will be interesting. The PF guys will be wetting themselves with excitement. I keep thinking I would like to go full frame, but really, APS is fine.

I agree. I'll be very happy for all of the Pentaxians who've been pining for a full-frame DSLR. And I hope a lot of professionals begin using it. But, as a long-time Pentaxian myself, I have no need for full frame and my days of paying $1500-$3000 for a camera body are long past. But if it will boost the brand, fantastic.
 
Pentaxians strike me as the most cult-like of the camera brand fans... them and Fujians.

Anyway, if the FF thing is true, I hope Pentax does something to significantly differentiate itself from the other FF offerings.
 
Massively so .. fundamentalists I'd say - I'm on Pentax User (though a Canon Man at heart) and the fanboyism is equal to, if not beyond, that of Apple fanboys.

Back when I was a DSLR shooter, I shot Pentax. It was fine, I enjoyed it, all the brands are good with different strengths & weaknesses, I just really don't understand the need to disparage other brands... I guess some people simply have a "if they're not with us, they're against us" mentality.
 
I'm reminded of last year, when Adam - the proprietor of Pentax Forums - played an April Fool's joke. He created an image of a FF "Pentax K-3" and posted it along with fictitious details. I thought it was hilarious and well done - other sites actually picked up on it as genuine - but more than a few Pentaxians were outraged, a few even left the forum. If you do a web search on "Pentax K-3" you can still find the "hoax"! :rofl:
 
that about sums it up - the Canikon thing just strikes me as pathetic and childish beyond belief and I just feel like shouting grow the **ck up !!!!

I see you shott an LX7 - does appeal to me does that camera ...trouble is I already have 4 DSLR's (3 pentax as it happens) a Canon G10 , a Pentax Q and yesterday added a Panny GX1 ...I really need to stop ...I think I may need help
 
Pentaxians strike me as the most cult-like of the camera brand fans... them and Fujians.

Anyway, if the FF thing is true, I hope Pentax does something to significantly differentiate itself from the other FF offerings.

Two things: Pentax can make it smaller than the Canikon FF DSLRs and make sure it has weather resistance.

Meanwhile, sometimes, Pentax Forums can be exhausting. Not all Pentaxians are fanboys or cultish. I know I'm not. But a lot are. It was Pentax Forums that convinced me a number of years ago that photography, on balance, has some of the most conversative hobbyists I have even known - with the possible exception of ham radio operators. For the longest time, there were lots of posts like: "Auto-focus? Never! APS-C? Never! Electronic viewfinder? Never! All I want is a full-frame camera with OVF so I can use my 30-40 year old classic Takumars. Now go away and leave us alone! All this talk of APS-C, micro four thirds and mirrorless frightens me!" But there aren't many of those posts anymore and many Pentaxians were, in fact, early mirrorless adaptors. I can't blame many Pentaxians for being sensitive. After all, their storied brand almost went away completely during the past decade. And it might not be out of the woods yet - although things seems better under the care of Ricoh.
 
that about sums it up - the Canikon thing just strikes me as pathetic and childish beyond belief and I just feel like shouting grow the **ck up !!!!

I see you shott an LX7 - does appeal to me does that camera ...trouble is I already have 4 DSLR's (3 pentax as it happens) a Canon G10 , a Pentax Q and yesterday added a Panny GX1 ...I really need to stop ...I think I may need help

The LX7 is really sweet... sell one of the Pentaxes, buy the LX7!
 
Two things: Pentax can make it smaller than the Canikon FF DSLRs and make sure it has weather resistance.

Meanwhile, sometimes, Pentax Forums can be exhausting. Not all Pentaxians are fanboys or cultish. I know I'm not. But a lot are. It was Pentax Forums that convinced me a number of years ago that photography, on balance, has some of the most conversative hobbyists I have even known - with the possible exception of ham radio operators. For the longest time, there were lots of posts like: "Auto-focus? Never! APS-C? Never! Electronic viewfinder? Never! All I want is a full-frame camera with OVF so I can use my 30-40 year old classic Takumars. Now go away and leave us alone! All this talk of APS-C, micro four thirds and mirrorless frightens me!" But there aren't many of those posts anymore and many Pentaxians were, in fact, early mirrorless adaptors. I can't blame many Pentaxians for being sensitive. After all, their storied brand almost went away completely during the past decade. And it might not be out of the woods yet - although things seems better under the care of Ricoh.

If by "better" you mean "drastically higher lens prices", then yes, things are getting "better"!

Still, in spite of it all, if I ever get a DSLR again, it will most likely be a Pentax... and the K30 seems a really, really good deal.
 
If by "better" you mean "drastically higher lens prices", then yes, things are getting "better"!

Still, in spite of it all, if I ever get a DSLR again, it will most likely be a Pentax... and the K30 seems a really, really good deal.

The thing is, Pentax was very nearly out of business when Hoya bought them. Hoya didn't want the camera company, but rather Pentax's medical imaging division - and they kind of let that be known. But, to Hoya's credit, they vowed to never fold Pentax Camera and they kept their word. They began triage by halting the hemmoraging and putting Pentax in the black (if not by much). This involved halting production on any product that had marginal sales (by Pentax standards). This is why a lot of lenses went out of production, never mind the moaning from the faithful. Then, manufacturing was moved to Vietnam. This may or may not have been a mistake but the decision was made in good faith. New product devleopment slowed to a crawl, but some good cameras came out under Hoya's reign: the K-10, K-20, K200D, K-7, K-x and K-5. I suspect the K-30 and K-01 were all planned during Hoya ownership as well.

Hoya also began to charge more money for the lenses they did make during this period. The price increases generally came in two separate jumps over the course of two years. This came as a particular shock for most long-time Pentaxians because the brand had been selling excellent product at fire-sale prices for a long time. Pentaxians, who were as well-known for cheapness as Pentax was known as a value brand, had been spoiled.

Hoya was shopping for a permanent partner for Pentax all during this period. At first, it looked like it was Samsung. But either they couldn't come to terms or Samsung only wanted to learn more about cameras so they could launch thier own line. Either way, the real partner turned out to be Ricoh. The latest jump in advertised lens prices was reportedly designed to position the brand as a premium product and get more brick-and-mortar stores to carry the brand. But this may have been a mistake. Ricoh needs to build reputation and demand for Pentax before hiking prices again. The good news is that many Pentax lenses can be had for substantially less than the advertised price. Just pick up the phone and call B&H or Adorama. Or drop buy their stores in New York.

The real fruits of the Ricoh-Pentax marriage are yet to be known. It is only about now that products from the Ricoh era are finally being introduced. But Pentax camera bodies appear to offer as much value as ever. I don't need a K30 (I have a K5 and K-01) but I'm tempted to pick one up anyway.
 
I want my old K200D back. It wasnt fancy, didnt have live view, was crap above ISO800, but I loved it. I became a Pentaxian because it was affordable. It is still affordable but is no longer *more* affordable than a Canikon, and thats what Ricoh/Pentax needs to watch out for.
 
I want my old K200D back. It wasnt fancy, didnt have live view, was crap above ISO800, but I loved it. I became a Pentaxian because it was affordable. It is still affordable but is no longer *more* affordable than a Canikon, and thats what Ricoh/Pentax needs to watch out for.

I had a K200D myself. My niece now has it and it continues to get good use and function fine. I never minded that the image quality fell off a bit after ISO 800. I got some decent results with it even at ISO 1600. But at ISO 100 and 200? Almost nothing out there could beat it.
 
I had the K100D, K2000 and K-x, enjoyed them all, but found the K-x to be particularly amazing at the time.

Regarding the lens prices, Pentax is not simply matching the competitors, but in some cases overshooting the target. For example, the Pentax 18-270, which is a rebadge of a Tamron design, sells for $300 more than its Tamron twin. The Pentax 50/1.8 is twice the price of the Canon 50/1.8. For less than the Pentax 35/2.4 you can get a Nikon 35/1.8.

Couple the increasing lens prices with Pentax's vague product support, and it seems that the value simply isn't there anymore.
 
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