New Pentax Stuff are (Still) Coming! (as it seems to be..)

Despite I have kept updating my (pre-)Photokina news blog entry frequently once important news for new gear (brand regardless) arose, I opt to write a new entry about the possible coming of new Pentax stuff this time!

Since there is no leak nor not much more trustworthy news so far for any new Pentax gear right before the Photokina and there is only 4 days left from now on for the Photokina to start, many Pentaxians have been disappointed for long, already! (Well, the last time there is an (almost) official report about a new Pentax DSLR body was that piece of news, which I reported in early August.)

So, Pentaxians, please don't be upset. And here are some light which I would share!

My special thanks to one of my readers, Thomas W. S. from the Germany, who kindly dropped me an email, to tell me that there was a new Pentax Ad at the site fotocommunity.de & forums a few days ago, there were 3 DSLRs shown, including the K200D and K20D plus a secret model. Here is the screen capture:-


(Click to Enlarge)

So, that new DSLR is smaller than both the K200D and K20D. And, the left hand mode dial is now absent and possibly it is just replaced by buttons and thus this new smaller DSLR is very possibly an entry level one with trimmed down operation facilities.

But I think the more important message from this Ad is that very possibly there will only be ONE new Pentax DSLR to be shown at the Photokina and I guess it will be marketed shortly and there will be no K20D replacement at least for the time being (and this explains why Pentax and Samsung have cut the price of the K20D so dramatically), although the K200D might be simply replaced by that new model as the sales of the K200D have never been really good (other entry level DSLRs from the competitors are selling far better nor the K200D is as popular as the K100D it replaced did). Anyway, the K20D successor may come before the X'mas, which I dare to make a sensible guess, just follow on for why..

Now PentaxForums user Asahiflex writes today that he has seen the new Pentax DSLR body and has got some insider news for the coming new products from Pentax, see his new post below:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/37365-i-have-seen-new-stuff.html

I do believe mostly for what he says from his tone of reporting (and from what I know about the poster as well for the considerable amount of time when I was at the forum). Now, the new entry level DSLR body (if there is one, but very possibly, again!) is of a new series but not with the K-something designation. If this is true, this will (very likely) mark an end to the somehow short-life K series which has only four models since the K100D (I don't count the "Super" model which is just indifferent from the original K100 except just for the SDM lens support). Maybe Hoya/Pentax now know well it's the time to drop the K line as those cameras have been infamous for long for those persistent shortcomings. Maybe (and much hopefully) there will be new AF and/or new metering system to be included in the new DSLR body very soon - so that Pentax/Hoya decided to start a new DSLR family. Who knows? (at least not publicly known at this moment) Anyway, we shall know just within a few days!

As for the new P-TTL ring flash. If it is true, it will too mark a formal full-stop to the traditional Pentax TTL OTF (Off-The-"Film") flash support as seen from this determination of Pentax as shown (which is good to have than not have it anything, even if this is to "kill" something). But, as I and others old(er) Pentax users who have an older generation(s) of Pentax dedicated flash units, which are excellent and extremely accurate and consistent, our almost perfect (but "stupid", as seen by today's Pentax) flash units will become obsolete forever! The new P-TTL flashes and system are by no means as good, as widely reported by many users. I do hope Pentax could improve it vastly anyway.

The SDM adaptor, if true, will also hint that Pentax just want to shift from body driven AF to ultransonic AF in lenses, as they already did it for the new DA 17-70 lens. Such an adaptor will have a multiplying factor yet, for both the focal length and the apeture number, inevitably, nonetheless.

Last but not least, I do really really hope Pentax should show some commitments in Photokina in the development of new upper class bodies and lenses, especially to re-introduce a Full Frame lens system and to tell the world that they are prepared to develop a real FF DSLR body/system sooner (or even later) - despite that it is of no doubt that this won't come true in the near future! But, as least they should kick off now! And, they should let us know, in order to prevent further loss of existing users and retain many of those customers!