And Here's Pentax Coming up on the Blind Side !!!!!!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022307pentaxnews.asp

and here with pictures.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/pentax_02232006_645dslr_pr.html

Very pleasing news - thank you for posting. The uni-focal wideangle sounds interesting.

Thanks for the "heads up" Brian
Wouldn't be amazing if they actually released on time?! (Mind you, I can talk - mega behind on my firmware release schedule )
Matt

Best way to predict future behaviour is to analyze past behaviour, looking for patterns.
My guess would be Pentax will get thier new 10 mp slr out late, and after other companies get thier 12-18mp slrs out in the same price range in a year or two......
A string of minor bug fixes passed off as new models a la ds - ds2, dl - dl2....
and down ward enginerring to justify price slashing whilst attempting to not alienate recent customers......

Don't get me wrong I'm buying one and am hopeful they prove me wrong....

A couple more news items:
http://www.ephotozine.com/news/fullnews.cfm?NewsID=2729
http://www.ephotozine.com/news/fullnews.cfm?NewsID=2730

More lenses coming

Whatever's going to happen to George's resolution??!
Matt

A oddish set of lenses:

DA 70mm f/2.4 (expected around October, 2006)

Not sure what that's for as it's quite slow unless it's a Macro.

DA 16-50mm f/2.8 (expected around December, 2006)
DA 50-135mm f/2.8 (expected around December 2006)

I'd be tempted by both of them if they're not too heavy and not too expensive. That'll be a no then... If it had been a 50-135mm F4 then I'd be very keen.

Plus the
DA 21mm F3.2AL (June 2006 tentatively)

Should make a nice standard lens for the *ist-D series
Matt

F3.2 though - that's very, very slow for a prime.

Actually, the best standard lens for the *st D so far is the 31mm 1.8 Limited. Pricey, but worth every penny!!

They finally got the point about the zoom range. The 50-135 will give you pretty much what the 80-200 did on the full frame cameras. I get a lot of use out of an old 45-125 lens, so one stop faster and able to communicate with the electronics in the camera is very attractive!!

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

I'm getting that 10MP when it's out! Just what I've been waiting for! Let's hope it comes on time and there's no "MZD-like-fiasco"
Can't wait to hear more details! EEEHHHH! I'm excited! (screaming like a little school girl)

Both these lenses are pancakes, which is why they're a bit slower than normal.

Making a fast lens adds a lot of size and weight, particularly at the wide end.
Just look at the size of the A20/2.8 or FA31/1.8 for comparison!

Cheers,
Mike

I'll forgive the prime lenses their lack of speed if they're cheap!

The 21mm is a DA Limited so it won't be cheap!

I just hope Pentax don't drop the FA Limiteds now they've all but ditched 35mm...

I don't mind all these limited lenses being released but I'm not really all that likely to buy one. I do hope that Pentax will put some effort into releasing some lower price primes as well.

From what has been said elsewhere, I'm not sure 10 MP will give a significantly better image than 6 MP, and then you get into noise problems(http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=14849487

I'm happy to stay with what we have until we get affordable, low-noise 30-40 MP full frame 35mm equivalent cameras.