When a Pentax Full Frame

That's easy to do. I'll just think back to that K1000 in 1981. When I picked it up I couldn't find anything wrong with it at all, except that it seemed a bit heavy. I didn't feel limited by having only a 50mm lens, needing to manually change ISO at the end of every roll, not getting feedback on my shot immediately, having no video, being restricted to manual focus, having only one exposure mode, dealing with scratched negatives, having to wait to develop... or anything else for that matter.

Of course, in hindsight...

Likewise the K-5 is not limiting to anyone who actually learns photography. For everyone else there are various toys they can use, first and foremost their iPhone.

Ah, the K1000, my first SLR, wot's an iPhone!

do some research on this. How many features on a modern pro level d-slr are there that were first introduced on consumer level cameras before being adapted to pro cameras?

like it or not the truth is, in the camera world technology is trickle up. Pros get nearly everything last because they stubbornly stick to the "old ways". true story. look it up.
now that I'm shooting video with the kr, I've finally found a reason to turn on "SR".... still focus manually though...

My whole life is research.

Don's right Pro's never wanted built in light meters and shock! horror! auto-focus. Nikons first AF lenses were about half the price of the MF lenses, because they were aiming purely at amateurs

the first pro mirrorless will probably hit the video market first by way of a 4k video camera that happens to take aps-c lenses and happens to take very high quality stills.




when this bad boy link gets a "Prosumer" little brother, priced for the masses, and a couple competitors from say samsung and Panasonic, I will likely buy a pk adaptor for such a camera and never go back to d-slrs again...
well maybe for nostalgia, I don't like throwing stuff away... but for work?

unless Pentax goes this direction, it will be hard to justify buying the next big thing from Pentax...

Maybe you should "do some research". The NEX-FS100 is the prosumer version of the F3. And it already has competition from Panasonic - sheesh! Last time I looked, it was a video camera that will cost six grand in the most basic configuration. It's also huge compared to the K-5. Absolutely incomparable. You may as well go on about 70mm cine cameras and how they invalidate anything Pentax has ever done.

Threads like this always go off into la-la land. Because it's much easier to fantasise than actually compare like to like.

I've done my research. I'm saying expect an "evil class" Prosumer version of the nex system in the future... that will be one of the first "d-slr killer"s in the mirrorless class.... it will either come from panasonic, samsung or sony (canon possible) and it really will match the k5 for still image quality, have 4k video and still be price competitive with d-slrs.... when it arrives... I assure you THAT CLASS of Prosumer Evils will force the market to change. D-slrs will eventually be taken over in the market. get back to me in a couple years on this one.

So we could resume :

1) No Pentax FF in the near future (no matter if you would buy it or not)
2) Pentax will stay in the "PRO" Market only with the 645D

So I will wait for a while in case the 645D will drop the price down (I do not want to pay more than 5000 Euros body+lens NEW) or stay with my 645N II and scan the images I require with a Pro Scanner LAB.

Thanks to all

Ciao

Alberto

Alberto, I believe your conclusions are valid. I also doubt the 645D prices will drop soon. Better to get/use what you need now rather than waiting for some ill-defined future.

I think that's a very good summary.

I do the think the price of the 645D (and its successors) will drop, just as all digital technologies before them have dropped, I think you'll probably have to wait at least a couple more years though. In the meantime, pro scans from your 645n should be more than a match for your friend's Nikon.

This is indeed true.

But I wouldn't put it down to stubborness but more down to "tried and tested"

Tried and tested is a fair point. Nobody earning a living takes an untried technology out to use unless it is backed up and backed up again.

When electronics started to creep into professional SLRs it caused quite a stir and there was initially a lack of trust in the new technology.

I think both are fair comment...
"Tried and tested" is fair, but af, p-ttl, matrix metering and the list goes on and on... yet I still use manual for most of my shots... so it is a little stubbornness as well....

on the other hand the other week I was helping a young lady learn to shoot... WE had to pull out her owners manual to figure out how to turn her Oly to "manual", so I could teach her some portraiture... but as soon as we figured out how to do manual, I was able to use the camera at a professional standard.
Much easier than reading the WHOLE owners manual!

This is the main problem I have with compact cameras. On my K-m I just flick to Av mode, adjust ISO and aperture to taste, and shoot. Because compacts frequently hide these options (if they're even user adjustable) how on earth are you supposed to do things like ultra long exposure shots of water?