K60/K600/KL...

Pro's list gives Ricoh Pentax a lot to work with, to create something pretty darn good.
Sensor wise that is, obviously some of these details don't count for phooey here!
Pro:
•New 20.1-megapixel sensor delivers excellent (and upgraded) resolution
•Capable of very large prints
•Above average exposure accuracy
•JPEG engine does a very good job at reducing noise at high ISOs
•Good dynamic range
•Full-time phase-detect AF
•Excellent autofocus speeds
•Very fast prefocused shutter lag
•Useful multi-frame modes (Handheld Twilight, HDR, Multi-frame NR, Sweep Panorama)
•DRO works well when dealing with high-contrast scenes
•Lots of optional in-camera lens corrections (distortion, CA, shading)
•Very good video quality, with Full HD 1080p recording at 60i/24p
•Movie mode allows for Program, Priority, or Manual exposure settings
•External mic input
•Multi Terminal
•Crisp and bright high-resolution OLED viewfinder
•Accurate EVF and LCD monitor coverage
•Multi Interface hot shoe allows for external flashes and other accessories
•Built-in flash supports wireless mode
•Good flash range and recycling time
•Very good battery life, particularly for an EVF-equipped camera

Con:
•Plastic lens mount may not be as durable as metal
•Video downgraded somewhat to max. 60i/24p frame rate at Full 1080p HD resolution
•Reduced burst shooting rate of only five frames per second maximum at full resolution, down from a reported eight fps on the A57
•Mediocre kit lens with high barrel distortion at wide angle, and soft corners
•EVF instead of optical viewfinder may be a turnoff for some
•Downgraded LCD no longer fully articulating
•Support for IR remote dropped (but a new wired remote is supported)
•Some aliasing artifacts (when used with very sharp lenses)
•RAW files are a little noisier than competing models at high ISOs
•Sluggish startup and mode switching
•Shallow buffers (though common in entry-level models)
•Narrow flash coverage
•Autofocus can struggle in low light
•User manual not very detailed

If the KL appeals it'll be a good stand alone camera but I fear not as a second or even Main body with another Pentax as the handling will be too different, retro = clunky in my book, K5/K3 = peerless in the same book...
Each to their own of course...

As a Z-1 user from '91, the K-5 feels retro to me

The Df allows you to use the 'rabbit-ear' lenses (whatever they call them) you only have to set the aperture twice (once on the camera, once on the lens), now that's clunky!

The Thick Plottens...
http://photorumors.com/2014/01/29/rumors-new-pentax-k-60-camera-and-two-lenses-f...#more-54088

•Support NFC and Wifi

Now that would be a class leader. Not entirely sure what it would be used for but hey

I guess another way to put this is how realistic is it to expect significant increases in dynamic range and IQ given the current crop sensor technology being utilised today? The K-3 does not appear to have increased on this too much (other than an obvious resolution increase) over the K-5.

Future developments on this same sensor technology are far more likely to be around increased functionality 'add ons', improved interface design on screen and button layout, and improved process aspects such as focussing ability etc. I expect we've already actually got the better IQ many are after.

Use Firefox. It saves the contents of dialog boxes as you go so if there's a crash, or you navigate away from the page without submitting. IE is crap compared to FF, I stopped using IE years ago

I use a blackberry mobile phone ( Miss Smeggy donated to me ) with a free GPS Logging APP on it. I import the resulting GPX file into lightroom and use Lightroom to aut add the GPS data to each image. You8 have to sync up the times on the phone and camera of course, but even if you forget you can easily shift capture times in LR all at once to make sure GPS position is accurate.

I'd much prefer to have the facility in cam though.

The blackberry phone battery lasts for many hours with the GPS App on. I'd expect some drain in a camera of course but not excessive.

I'd be expecting to turn it on and off (via and easy menu setting) as required, if there was a noticeable effect on the camera battery life.

yes of course it should be a feature that's selectable

http://photorumors.com/2014/01/29/rumors-new-pentax-k-60-camera-and-two-lenses-f...#more-54088

This rumour to me seems the more credible since both of the Lenses are kinda on the road map, the convertor which I'm pretty convinced is just a Photoshop job (Would be disappointed if it's not!), the Body, well as I said earlier they need some kind of model lineage/hierarcy and the K60 would do just that, wheras at the moment you have the K500/50 same sensor and the K5II which to the average Joe Public is the same as well.
Or you can have lightweight and weather sealed (K50) Or Heavy and weathersealed (K5IIs), the other stuff doesn't matter diddly squat to Mr Average and so you could conclude that all Pentax's are the same...
This could be a great step, if it's true at all! Kind of forced on them as Sony Ain't made a 16Mp sensor in a while now, having moved on to the 20...

I would expect the drain to be essentially zero. After all I can run a gps app on a phone continuously for a couple of hours and the camera would only have to turn it on for a few seconds when a shot is taken, or maybe even just when the camera is powered on (which would be my preference).

And therein lies the rub. When it comes to arguably the most important component of the system Pentax are at the whim of the sensor supplier. If that is Sony, then they are always going to be playing catch -up. It was for me, why the earlier tie-in with Samsung made sense, but I guess cultural differences played their part there.

From what I have read on DXO the 20Mp is nothing to get excited about and for most K5 users would represent a drop in overall IQ.

These are still only rumours, so I guess we will have to wait until mid February to see , what is actually announced. I was initially excited by the thought of a KL, but Pentax would have to sprinkle a liberal amount of pixie dust on that Sony sensor to get my interest.

Regards - Steve

I'm not sure that "forced on" and "at the whim of" are really how it works. It's equally so for all manufacturers. It's just continued development, which we expect. Otherwise, we might still have 6MP DSLRs. Improving those was an aim of all camera manufacturers, not something that was forced on them by sensor manufacturers, surely?

Not really. Plainly when Pentax want to bring out a new design they are limited to the sensors commercially available at that time but I would expect them to have a continuity agreement with the sensor supplier for at least the minimum expected lifetime of the model. Even beyond that it is probably still possible (albeit commercially daft) to get Sony to do a production run of an old model.

Not really fair to compare SLT's to DSLR's, lets go back to the much vaunted 16Mp Sensor we all know and love...
More than anything so that we can compare apples to kind of apples...

http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Pentax-K-5-IIs-versus-Sony-S...

Sony SLT'S vs Sony DSLR
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-SLT-Alpha-57-versus-Son...

And lastly DSLR's similar (Not exactly the same) Sensors...
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Pentax-K-5-IIs-versus-Nikon-...

Conclusion Sony SLT's are at a disadvantage in comparison to DSLR's and secondly Sony does a worse job with it's own sensors than anyone else! (Yes I know the D7100 is a Toshi!)
Remember this is only SLT's Vs DSLR...

The point that I was trying to make is that the sensor manufacturer holds a great deal of power. The fact that Sony is both sensor supplier and competitor weakens Pentax's position. It stands to reason that Sony's camera division will always have first dibs on its technology.
I did read that in the recent past Nikon negotiated a time limited exclusivity deal on a sensor, but Pentax do not have the same buying power.
Yes there may will be continuity agreements, but I suggest very little influence. The rumoured new models seem to me to be appearing earlier than expected and I can't help but wonder if, Sony having made its decision, have not forced Pentax into an earlier than planned launch.

As I stated previously the Samsung-Pentax alliance to me made great sense. The implementation of the alliance and the manufacture of competing products did not. To my mind that was a missed opportunity on both sides.

I am confident that Pentax engineers will get the most out of any sensor they are given, but I am equally resigned to the fact that if it is a Sony sensor, then they will be playing catch-up.

Anyway this is all rumour and conjecture at the moment, so lets be optimistic and be enthused by the level of investment that Ricoh are pumping into the Pentax brand.

Regards - Steve