well since the registration distance must be much less than for pentax 'k' mount, that more or less dictates that it is NOT 'k' mount but something rather more modern and suitable to a camera like this.

What we really need to know is whether there will be complete adaptor hand-shake with 'k' mount lenses.

The new Samsung camera with evf,...apparently no pentax involvement. Pentax meanwhile has bee assing about with the X70 'bridge camera'...yet again the wong camera at the wrong time with minimal innovation...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0903/09030201samsungnxsystem.asp

Well then they need to "prioritise" in the most important sector and that is (fast becoming) the full frame/MF sensor market. Pentax has lost what may be called it's 'non-consumer' sales which were centred around very cost effective medium format systems. As yo will notice, both full frame DSLR's and digital MF systems are now beginning to be very important commercially,..several digital MF/large sensor systems about to launch in the next weeks/months....so where is pentax? This is THEIR territory.

Well it's complete nonsense that the full frame market is "too small" as it is a major area for both makers and 'image users'. That is quite apart from the important matter of being in the right arenas of camera development and design etc. At the moment th only hope for a long term pentax survival is to get back into the former 'core' activity of serious camera systems for demanding applications,....the area formerly well served by pentax 67 and 645. This is the area now hotly contested by the full frame models of sony, canon and nikon.

This will NOT eliminate/duplicate the use of a tilt/shift lens,..just in case anyone reads it and gets the idea that it will.....

This is just that weird fad for imitating models by artificially reducing depth of field,...already well overdone to no obvious purpose.

".....if the new pentax has a square (aps squared, ff or anywhere in between) and high def video then I'm buying one.."

Agreed, that would be the camera I have been waiting for and goodbye to the black plastic blob (hopefully!)

"..... but proper pentaprism finders are very superior to EVFs..."

Unfortunately, the way things are going, "proper pentaprisms" are probably going to be a thing of the past whether we like it or not, along with all the other stuff we have discovered we have to do without such as aperture rings, split image rangefinders and 'real' metal cameras,..there's lots of dumbing down to come yet.......

If it really does turn out to be a 'micro 4/3' camera then it will be a very important milestone for nearly everybody who follows pentax. Any micro4/3 camera will NOT have a pentax K mount but it will not be a problem as the beauty of micro4/3 is that adaptors are easilly made for any lens. In the case of Samsung there is a very good chance that the adaptor will have a full interface with both lens mount and camera so there is a good chance of full lens functions to camera.

The only downside of micro4/3 is that an electronic v/f becomes more or less essential for thru the lens viewing. Up to now these have been hated by photographers but if the Panasonic G1 is anything o go by then we will all be getting much more used to them.

About two years back I mad ea post on this site in which I 'asked' for a different type of pentax,...on with a square sensor.

The spec that I wanted was briefly, a sensor 23x23mm with jpegs from either horiz. or vert. images chosen by thumb switch and RAW from the full square sensor. This would make a very useful camera with no need for extra grips of having to turn the camera physically. I also asked for detachable v/f's and a remote lcd etc.

I am amazed to see almost this exact same idea now being suggested as forming the basis for the "K3D". At the time of my post it was treated with derision by other posters notably Uncle George.

While I take no credit for this rumour it does make me wonder if someone has been watching. If only they have been!

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=30983324

Focus is a useless event which exists only to fleece the punters on entry and parking fees, and has been for the past few years. The sooner it fails completely and makes way for a better 'bigest UK photo show' the better.

As far as 'Pentax' disappearing, I think thepentax name will be around for a long time yet. Sadly, I'm by no means as sure that it will continue to be a name of high quality imaging systems.

For many years pentax has been a brand of inovation and was a serious player with a large commercial side to it's camera business with medium format models used extensively not only by pro photographers, but by the army of people who need good imaging in connection with other activities. These included police, medical, military and academic technidcians around the world.

Pentax is currently out of this important business and since these people are often in very cost concious organisations, they are now looking to the three 'cheap' full frame cameras from Sony, Canon and Nikon.

Pentax is no longer paddling it's own canoe and is presumably controlled by its new masters. As such it may not be allowed to continue to inovate. The 'KM' debacle, wherein pentax was a year late with it's 'entry' camera that was 40% more expensive than the competitors and the same price as the next pentax model (?!!), looks like a Hoya demand.

For an inovator pentax has only had one serious product in the digital arena, namely the K10 (& K20 facelift) This was mirrored by Samsung so perhaps it has been planned for Samsung to take over the camera element of pentax all along in the same way as Sony aquired the camera division of Kon.Minolta (the other great SLR inovator)