Pentax and Full Frame

Apologies if you've already seen this:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/pentax-and-full-frame.html

John

So as Pentax have always stated ... no FF for the immediate future.

Very poorly worded letter Items 5 and 6 contradict one another
and to say "Futhermore, there are many users with older Pentax bodies (*ist, K10D, K20D) who aren't upgrading to the current models simply because they're not enough of a leap forward." is nonsense

I'd disagree here, I kept the K20D when the K7 came out, partly due to the ergonomics but mainly because I didn't see it as an upgrade. The K5 has had too many teething problems for me so I'm waiting to see what appears next and I still have the *istD and K10D.

John

It's always dangerous ground to claim to represent the views of a large number of people who haven't been asked....I'm sure Pentax get lots of letter seen as "fan letters" from interested groups, as will other manufacturers.

If a market opened up for a Pentax full frame DSLR I'm sure there would be one on the drawing board ready to go. After all, we know there was one in existence that never made it to market and the 645D was also a reality long before someone pushed the "Go" button.

The K-7 wasn't a big step up, but the K-5 from the K20D is
Especially for the high ISO, I can now take photos of birds in the shade at 400ISO which was impossible with the K-20D (which I've still got). Even if you forget to change the exposure (using manual) and the bird looks like a black cat in a coal hole, it can still be pulled back with no loss of quality. Smeggy has pulled back up to 5 stops

I no longer have to be frightened about cropping shots.

I use the K-5 mostly in manual mode and rarely use the bells and whistles, but I'm glad I upgraded. It's like going from a Point and Shoot to a K20D

I think the letter makes a lot of good points. I'm not sure 'thousands of Pentax users have been waiting for FF for years' is accurate though, most have simply gone over to Canikon if they really want full frame, we see it on the forum all the time. How many people skip Pentax altogether for it's lack of FF is something that can't be quantified.

Pentax Europe's response gives no hints about any specific product, but the mention of 'high quality products intended for advanced amateur and professional photographers' is reassuring and it's far less of a curt response that previous queries have received!

Given that people won't pay for a K-5 one wonders how many would actually pay for a full frame camera anyway.

I'd rather Pentax concentrated on improving what they now have on offer, and providing more choice in lenses than spending a lot of money on developing what will be yet another niche market camera.

People won't pay for a K5 because of the QC issues which have unfortunately tarnished its reputation slightly, and then there are some people who want to wait and see if the next body has some feature or other they want, like a flip-out screen for example, and then there are some people who are simply happy enough with their K10/K20/K7. Some of them may be persuaded to upgrade for the advantages a FF would have over the K5, but the K5 alone isn't quite enough to spring their wallet open.

Personally I'd like to see Ricoh put a big rocket up Pentax's backside, and develop BOTH the new bodies and new lenses existing and potential customers are demanding. It doesn't have to be either/or anymore, with a big, committed company like Ricoh behind them.

Ricoh have stated they want to put Pentax alongside Canon and Nikon. For me, that's practically a statement of intent to introduce a FF camera, as well as expand the lens range. The only question is 'when?'

People wouldn't pay for the K5 before the QC issues became known, they said it was too expensive, they'd wait until it dropped in price below X amount, even though it was only slightly more than previous models had been at launch.
The same people want a FF camera - which will cost a heck of a lot more than the K-5 did, and are also the same people who complain about Pentax not offering enough choice in models/lenses etc.
If you aren't prepared to pay the asking price you can't expect Pentax to make money and be able to develop new products. If you don't buy the products even when the price has dropped below X amount then Pentax will die, Ricoh cash input or not.

I hate to think of the teething problems Pentax would have
with a FF camera. I think I'd wait for the 3rd incarnation/model if
I was buying one..... which I wouldn't

I might be tempted if the body was covered in
"white cobra skin"

Surely not buying a newly announced model until it has dropped a bit in price isn't a phenomenon entirely unique to Pentax?

People have had no trouble coughing up for a 645D, in greater numbers than I think any of us anticipated. And if they can build that camera, and bring it to market, I don't see why a 35mm format body would pose a problem.

It might be if considered to compete with the 645d.......

Is there any news on the 67d yet?

I don't know... the 645D is already in competition with the very top (£4,000+/-) FF cameras from Canikon, and doing quite nicely, despite being twice the price. I don't think as many Pentax users will ever upgrade to 645D as would potentially go to full frame 35mm, if it was priced under £2,000 say.

Well if you look at the price of the Canon 5D MKII now (£1500) and Nikon D700 (£1700) I would think sub £2000 would be easily obtainable.

Especially considering Pentax always seem to give a little bit more (feature wise) over a comparative Canikon body.