I've never heard of this radioactive lens issue...thought the only thing i needed to worry about was whether my Pacific tuna or salmon was affected!

I won't be able to afford one whatever the price, however I still want to see it appear, as I want to see 'Pentax' the brand strengthened and given more credibility.

On the subject of price, if $2800 is fairly accurate, that equates to about £1875-£1900 body only, although the UK price often ends up closer to the dollar equivalent.
I would say that they need to bring it in at below £2000, particularly if it uses the same sensor that will have had a 6 months headstart on a Sony camera. Can't really understand why it seems to be taking so long to appear.

If management are not quite sure about FF then they could have always taken a cheaper , less risky route and gone for APS-H.

"...to launch in early 2013..." (taken from 1st link)

Thats no good, the world might have ended by then!

Agree with nipper, well done

Very nice Alan, lovely colour fidelity and very sharp. Nice to see the 'reds' rather than the usual 'greys'.

Nice shots, helped by the pilots doing lots of banking! Particularly like the Dakota.

Very nice quality little compact. I see jessops are doing the black version for £50!

Some translations for those who don't speak US Canonese:

EOS Kiss X4 = EOS550D

EOS Kiss X5 = EOS600D

EOS Kiss X3 = EOS500D

Remember these figures are for Japanese domestic sales. Not always a good indicator
of European tastes. It would be interesting to see UK/European sales figures for
2011 by both make and model.

vrapan,

Agreed, fewer sales could mean higher prices and will certainly mean fewer resellers.

I predict that by Easter there will have been major corporate retail casualties on the High Street, unfortunately many smaller photographic chains and family businesses will also have gone under by then. My comments were mainly based on the K5/Ricoh though as the subject of the initial posting.

Ricoh is a high volume, mass market brand and i'm assuming will want to take Pentax down that road. If it doesn't then it has just wasted hundreds of millions in its investment and Pentax will probably fold this year. As long as Canon, Nikon and Sony
stay in the DSLR marketplace then Pentax will be forced to compete or close. Trying to reposition a mid level but mass market company as another Leica, Rollei or Hasselblad...just won't work in current economic depression.

With regard to the 'urgency' factor due to the time limited price that you imply is 'rushing' you into a decision, I would ignore this totally.

The K5 is undoubtedly a fine camera but has been steadily dropping in price due to its age and market position relative to the competition.The short to mid term price level is likely to stabilise at around its current discounted level until well into the new year by which time its replacement will likely have been announced.

Don't forget the UK economy is getting worse all the time. Unemployment is continuing to rise, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers will be paying more into their pensions and thus have less disposable income, rents are increasing faster than wage growth as is the cost of transport, utility bills are continuing to rise relentlessly...all this means that disposable income is shrinking for most of the population. Camera gear is a 'luxury' for most and will therefore face strong downward price pressure. All manufacturers will have to accept lower 'profit'
or exit the industry.

So, in a nutshell make your decision on perceived increased capability, ergonomics,
usefulness etc...but don't allow yourself to be stampeded by corporate marketeers.