The K5 is no more...

Now that it has been announced that that the K5II's is to be discontinued. Will the K5 camera be recognised as the most Iconic body Pentax has ever produced...?

There are indeed such things as iconic cameras. These are models that changed the way we approached photography in some significant way.

One example is the Pentax Spotmatic of 1964, a revelation with its inbuilt CdS light meter. Another might be the ME Super, the pinnacle of the compact automatic cameras of the 1980s.

Does the K-5 achieve this? An interesting thought, and I'm undecided. Is it too soon for any digital camera to be iconic, or not?

Is the K5 all that unique from a design standpoint? I know subtle curves here and there can make or break a design, but I don't see it as standing out all that much from its competitors besides being a little more compact and angular in places. The user interface is unique, certainly, but I'm not so sure about the design. It isn't too soon for it to potentially achieve iconic status though, I don't think.

I think all of those attributes you describe might more accurately be awarded to the K7 The K5 was merely a copy from that design.

I don't think it would reach such status. I do see it as being THE best 16Mp camera that was produced though.

I am very very glad I bought mine a couple of weeks back. The down side for me was that I initially thought it was just a stop gap camera. I was wrong and I could have been using one for some time.

That then raises the question of just what do you do when Ricoh introduce these new or revised versions of a camera? Buy into it or sit tight and await the next model which is what I did, going from a K5 to the K3.

This may sound odd but I consider my K5 IIs to be in the same category as my *istD and K10D in that they are keepers as far as I'm concerned.

Classics in their own right.

Best regards

Agreed, was the K100d the first to have in body sensor stabilisation? That's a pretty significant step forward.

I think of the K7 rather as I do the Mustang: a good design which needed a great engine. For Rolls Royce twelve cylinder Merlin, read Sony 16mp sensor. So maybe it's the chip that's "iconic".

But I think there's more to it than that.

Pentax have produced some lovely DSLRS following on from their fine SLRs which we have been privileged to own and use. A pleasure denied to the majority of photographers, for various reasons.

In many ways the choice of a digital camera is much more important than a film camera because you're stuck with the built-in recording medium. The resulting pictures are much more distinctive than a camera using, say, Fuji slide film, where, given accurate metering and shutter timing, only the lens can influence the frame.

I never had an *ist, but wouldn't part with my K100D Super, K10 or K5. Hopefully, between them, they'll see me out.

(I shouldn't mind a K5iis, though...)

I'm still using my K5 which makes it too early to say 'iconic'. Bit like the odd habit of calling stars 'legends' while still alive.

To the lay person of course they are all black lumps the same shape. Ask the wives of most on here who get to change models without them noticing.

I think wives might be more perceptive than that, they will pick up the frisson of excitement and know quite well what's going on.....

If Trish detects a 'frisson of excitement' I'm in real trouble

This wife notices, but then I am the one changing models. His Nibs notices too - when he reviews the credit card bill if nor before. I always discuss buying a new camera with him anyway.

I shall hang on to my K5ii for now. It suits me, and I can't really justify the K3. Maybe the next model though .

I suppose it also asks the question of just what we mean by "iconic"?

I know the K5 is a great camera, but, as someone else points out, this doesn't per se make it iconic.

There are some iconic designs out there that have not necessarily been great cameras or which were not necessarily groundbreaking in some way.

Interesting the parallels that can be seen with the K7 and the K5 and designs from other manufacturers where an otherwise solid design has not had the sensor or other technology that allowed it to perform to its utmost, but which was a good design all the same.

Yes maybe "Iconic" was a bit of a step to far and I should have used the word "Classic" of the Pentax world...

In the film world I only had ME Super experience. But would also label this a classic.