K60/K600/KL...

Agree there, and its beginning to look like the first loser will be Panasonic...

http://photorumors.com/2013/11/20/panasonic-to-announce-five-new-digital-cameras...

http://www.sansmirror.com/newsviews/bcns-final-japanese-market.html

I have no particular desire for a KL, although I know many do, because I don't see the point in buying something just because it looks like something from the past.

This may seem like a contradiction as I've been enthusiastic about my MX-1, but that enthusiasm isn't because it pays lip service to the MX of old. It doesn't look anything like it in reality, any more than any compact digital camera can look like any film SLR. The MX-1 is a delight in what it is, and it borrows some aesthetic qualities that it has in common with things that appealed about the original MX. Its beauty lies in what it is and what it does and the fact that it's really well made.

Back to the KL, if it happens we'll see how many buy it or not, but it is worth doing as it will appeal to some. Of course if it just so happens that it turns out to be a really ergonomic DSLR design, then I will be interested.

The K600 and K60 seem logical extensions of the current range. The K50 in particular is a really great camera, so a new chip with more pixels seems logical enough.

Meanwhile, my K-5 bodies keep soldiering on...and I'm loth to upgrade even the K20D as it's in pristine condition and worth more than anyone would pay for it.

He He.
Got to say, every time I've picked up a K50, I've been impressed but I'd like something that isn't a K3 that can pretty much go toe to toe with it, if it had to. (If my Camera jinx strikes and the K3 has to go in for repair!) So in a pinch do the K3 job, K5II, erm I decided no in the end, I want something a little smaller but not so tiny and frustrating I end up chucking it in the river, oh yeah and weather sealed just in case I do...
I don't see why I should sacrifice on the sensor though and was about to pull on the Fuji Xe-2 (no weather sealing)but I'll now wait to see what these new Pentax's, if real turn out to be like...

It's getting interesting again, the KL if simple to operate and not an ergonomic nightmare like the Nikon DF, could be just the ticket but alternatively so could a K60...

In "the good old days" (were there any?)this would mean a huge pile of brochures to browse and browse and ruminate over.

These days models don't last long enough to print brochures...so we download them and use huge amounts of paper and ink if we want a hard copy. Or we don't, as the case may be.

But, as an aside, don't throw those brochures away. I sold one for £58 recently.

A real dilemna actually.

If they can engineer a ff sensor into a K3 body then they have a very tempting product. At least a tempting concept for the next few years.

If they need to make it mirrorless then the body will be bigger than it needs to be.

So what happens when mirrorless technology catches and negates the advantages of having a mirror?

The likes of Fuji in particular have no baggage and can steam in there, well they are doing that. Sony are quite happy to pour money in to a news lens mount and lenses, and then another.

How do you solve a problem like the brick? Gamble that mirrorless will never quite catch up? Bring in a new mount now to compete in future and hack off all your customers? Bring in a new mount later and come to the party way too late? Put your faith in the brick?

Dunno.

It's not totally possible to predict how people will react, and no doubt various options are always on the drawing board.

At the moment, mirrorless cameras are not doing very well in most markets and the money seems to be in DSLR lenses. Time will tell, but as for the mount the K mount is a modern mount compared to say Nikon, so I don't see any particular problems for it in the foreseeable future.

When the K-3 can out-resolve most FF offerings, I don't see much of a problem for APS-C either. There's nothing wrong with being the leading APS-C manufacturer and Pentax are very well placed in that regard.

Personally I'm not wishing for a FF mirrorless "compact" any more than I was for using a Fuji 6x7 or 6x9cm rangefinder when I used film. Pentax 67 was far more useful and that's the one I wanted but never actually managed to get.

I can't say I disagree with that. There is nothing wrong with being the leading APSC manufacturer. But this new Fuji is a challenge to that and a sign of future challenges to come. All early new technology products have their failings. But they normally win out in the end as the innovation progresses.

K3 purchase now on hold

Yes, I'd certainly be spitting feathers if I bought one, and then the -60 range was swiftly followed by a K-3 Mk 2, with significantly improved high-ISO performance.

I realise it would need another new sensor for that, probably, but even that isn't impossible.

I'd actually like Pentax to be King of APSC, because, well because someone has to be! I'd like em to attack the market with a line of APSC based mirror-less cameras too, they'd only need a few lenses to flush out a mirror-less system and they could provide adapters to work with our current lenses too.
There is very little evidence to say that APS is dying, it's market has shrunk from about 95%-85% of interchangeable Lens Camera sales in ten or so years, mainly because mirror-less and FF were not competitors way back then in fact not in existence at all.

There be no K3 MkII, not for a good bit yet at any rate, besides it's practically perfect!

You're probably right... how long after the K-5 did the K-5II come out?

Think it was almost 2 years, then a few of months for the IIs and then about 7 months for the K-3? Something like that....

You're probably right... how long after the K-5 did the K-5II come out?[/quote]K5II/s came about for the need to put something on the table when Ricoh took over, and sort of interfered with the natural cycle a little.
I think, I remember Ricoh having a very long think about what sensor to use in the K3, I know they looked at both the Sony and Toshiba ones and rejected the Toshiba, in any case they weren't really ready to release the K3 last year and that's why we got the K5II/s...

Much better Translation...
In 2014 Pentax will have a range of four reflex cameras, the K3; the KL retro, the K60 and the K600. Pentax is keeping the most advanced features for the K3 , with a simplified exposure system from the K3 used for the new models and a 10 point AF sytem for the K60 ,whilst using the SR and AA simulation for the KL.

Using an improved chassis for new models and new electronics.

The K600 uses the body of the K60 except the back panel will be the same as the K500, only available in black. Faster and more reactive with an improved AF using the K500 AF module. The AF points will now be highlighted in the viewfinder.(great news). Using the existing 16Mps sensor and no WR.

The K60 will have a new front and back panel design and new covering in keeping with the KL and also a body grip available in many colours. A new 20Mps sensor with an AA filter and a new AF model derived from the K3 with 17 points of which 15 are F2.8 cross type. WiFi is built in as well as WR.

The KL will have a plastic body in black or silver (limited ed.) with the back panel from the K60, it will use the K3 battery and have a LCD top panel. The 20Mps sensor has no AA filter using the SR and simulated AA filter of the K3. AF also comes from the K3, however the shutter is from the K5, larger buffer. WR and HDMI. Also includes a traditional dedicated depth of field control.

K60 wifi built in...
K60 should be at least as sharp as the K5IIs and with decent AF/WR and some sort of colour meter. Game on!

The models stated here have a nice hierarchy to them, ordered, and you can see why you'd be buying each of them, it's a much cloudier view at present, which they seem intent on changing, a good thing...