Pentax FF - a poll

First: I do not mean to reopen a discussion on whether FF is better that APS-C format.

It seems to me that the largest number of forum members believe that there is no justification to go from APS-D to FF.

But I have a different question: if Pentax were to release a FF camera within the next 2 years at a competitive price level (say below £2000), would you buy it?

Would we ever be happy with second best just because it is good enough?

Even if Pentax releases FF camera now I will not buy it within next 2 years. I bought a K-5 few months ago and I decided not to buy another camera body within 3 years(Actually I promised that to my girlfriend).

Anyway the K-5 is an excellent camera and I am absolutely sure it is good enough for my needs for coming few years.

At present I'm not even willing to shell out the dosh to upgrade from my K20D to the K5 even though there are aspects of the K5 that appeal. If there was a "full frame" Pentax dSLR I might consider it but only if it was considerably less than £2000. I'd rather buy a second-hand K5 and spend the difference on more lenses...

I also note with amusement your not-quite-concealed bias...



K.

I suspect in two years, the 645d would be selling at a reduced price and the 645d mk 11 will out... effectively blowing a 40-80 mb hole in your ff theory.

interesting read:
link

If price decreases, then maybe. But I'm not in any hurry at all, the K5 is brilliant. For me the only reason would be to get full use of older wide angle lenses and - presumably - further improvements to noise levels in low light.

How is that bias? You cannot deny that APS-C is second best when compared to full frame. Or can you?

Thanks for posting that link Don - excellent read and very informative, especially re. production costs. Even though it seems he may have reached the wrong conclusion in terms of market performance.

The K5 has stimulated the Pentax APS-C market to such an extent that the talk of FF has dramatically receded (along with the introduction of the 645D) compared to the level pre-Photokina 2010. It also shows that Pentax engineers were not working on FF but on the K5.

re. FF lenses, whilst the FA* & DA* ranges are still in production the most recent completely new lense is APS-C only (DA 35) though it's inexpensive enough to possibly write off in terms of FF. Although there is the upgraded release of the DA*100 which is FF and now WR, though it wouldn't have made sense to make any changes to it other than WR which stimulates sales whilst being cheap to implement.

Personally I thought the most interesting segment of the article was the short comment on pixel density and then I was musing on how manufacturers could possibly reduce this and so offer both a wide and a long version of the same camera with different FF sensors to enable longer lenses to function as they do on crop factor sensors !

Yes. the K-5 is second best to the 645. I've bought two K-5s. I love them. I'm not interested in a FF pentax

Exactly. My Canon shooting buddy uses a FF 5D body. My K-5 Blows it away. he's jealous.

What's the obsession with FF?

I would eventually buy one if it had the ability to use my DA lenses (as per Nikon D700) but with enough megapixels to make it worthwhile to do so. I think the D700 is around 12mp and using a crop lens brings the output down to around 5/6.

I would rather have something like a WR 100-400mm f4/5.6 and a decent AF WR teleconverter though.

As you say, the K20D is a perfectly capable camera and more than enough for most of us. Nevertheless, a large number of us have not resisted upgrading to the K-5 (myself included).

So I am curious to see how many of us would honestly resist upgrading to a FF Pentax, if released. Whether really needed or not.

I think it depends on what your lens line up looks like - if mostly DA lenses then probably not worth pursuing FF. All but one of my lenses are FF so I would be keen to get my hands on a Pentax FF body if the price is similar to the 5DII/D700. I am in agreement with Kris though - I feel no need to upgrade my K20 to a K5 (although the K5 does have better high ISO performance this is not something I need).

I thought you had a 645D? Why would you 'downgrade' to a full frame Pentax?

I don't see the two as mutually exclusive!

Voted not-interested-at-all. Things might change in future (I retire in 12 years, might be a nice present) but for now I'm happy with APSc.