rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Pentax is ready to announce the camera that will replace the K-3ii

http://news.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/rim_info2/2019/20190920_027963.html?_ga=2.211622805.1670534003.1568942385-248097550.1530273962

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Sounds exciting.
Likely a APSC camera for action sports, motocross and other rigorous activities requiring a professional level camera.
Will be interested in seeing what is introduced.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Not a "K-3iii"? How about an APS-C Mirrorless (better than the old K-01), that keeps the compatible K-mount even with a full auto adapter if need be? I'm getting too old for my K-3, K-5, K-20D, K-100D weight-wise. They are all some much heavier than my Pentax film cameras! A Pentax MILC may keep me with Pentax otherwise I may be headed to Fuji for a X-T3, and a few lenses.

Not too crazy about the roundness of that pictured prototype. I much prefer the square shape of the old Spotmatics and first series K Cameras (KM, KX, K2, and also K2 DMD, K1000, K1000SE).

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

They have been very coy about the name; in particular, at times they have said this would not be just a continuation of the K7-K5-K3 line .... implying perhaps a new name. They have kind of painted themselves into a name corner. Since this is the announcement of an upcoming announcement, they don't feel obligated to tell us the name yet.

There has been a lot of 'push-back' from Pentax 'faithful' against MILC.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I've kind of noticed that. Yet Pentax had the K-01 (16MP, K-5-like sensor) MILC years ago. Sold mainly in Japan I think. A friend of mine who is a Pentax digital fanatic bought the FF Pentax K-1 the first day it was available for under the usually then price of $1,699.99 via some wild promo-sale. I never did get a FF and now find I can't bear the weight due to arthritis. He does not even look at other brands or even Pentax film cameras. I've own around 12 or 13 (Honeywell, Asahi, Hoya, Ricoh) Pentax cameras over the years. I own around 35 Pentax K-mount and M-42 Screw Mount lenses and would love to give them a home on a MILC as well! I'm a bit more open minded and can stand some change. I once owned a Pentax 6x7 film camera. Used 120 Format of course. You don't get 20, 24, or 36 negatives to a roll though.

Yes, they kinda ran their names back-wards for a number of years (especially for their flag-ship models). K-100, K-110, K-10, K-20 (Exception), K-7, K-5, K-3. The K2 was a film camera (I own the fancy DMD version), and the K-1 is of course a FF. Not sure Pentax ever had any actual logic to their product names. KM, KX, K2, K1000, MX, ME, MV, LX, etc., etc. Microsoft has also kind of painted a weird naming sequence for Windows, not sure what came before my entry into the PC market), many dead ends and sub-flavors as well: Windows 3.11 (over DOS 6.21), Windows 95 (experiment), 98 (buggy), 98SE, N.T., 2000 (sucked), ME, CE (for communication with machines like cash registers), Server, XP, Vista (sucks), 7, 8 (crazy without a touch screen, really for handheld devices), 8.1 (for PCs to recover from Windows 8 train wreck), Had To Skip 9 Because of 95/98/98SE, 10.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

There must be something else about '9' - Apple also skipped it {with iPhones}

I believe Pentax learned the wrong lesson from the K01 - this was about the same time as the Canon EOS-M and the Sony NEX series ..... none of the three was viewed as a success. I believe the real issue was that none of them had an EVF. Canon and Sony kept at it, and now the Canon EOS-M50 and Sony A6nnn are successes, while Pentax 'learned' "MILC is not for us".

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

You are probably correct about that. I probably was not thinking about that when I first studied the Pentax K-01, but noted the lack of any advanced or pro features like the K-20 and K-5 had that I owned. But after having used my SmartPhone for photography I can see I would never buy a camera with only a back screen. The Fujifilm X-100 series and their full MILC X-Pro series each have both a EVF and OVF as well as a back screen because they are actually digital rangefinder cameras with several focusing modes. Personally I've found the Fuji X-100T I originally bought for my wife too complicated and advanced for both of us. I plan to sell it and possibly either save up and buy a Fuji X-T3 with a couple lenses or buy a used Pentax K-5iis for myself and give my wife my K-5 to use. She actually prefers film cameras and I bought an entire system of a used Pentax Spotmatic and a bunch of Takumar lenses for her. But her eye sight is getting bad and she really needs to shoot with AF.

With my several Pentax DSLRs I usually only use the OVF, but I will use the back screen indoors for LV or Focus Peaking on my K-3. And I will sometimes use the back screen to check critical focus for close-ups and macro shots. It may seem odd, but I really like the K-5 and K-20D best. I am not happy with the K-3 even with its higher 24MP resolution. It is noisy at high ISOs and seems to get it self confused and me at times. I've gotten pretty used to my K-5 and find it as easy as my old film K2 DMD.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Rumors are that this new Pentax, whatever it is called, will have the same 'accelerator' technology that the K-1ii and KP have; I know that my KP does extremely well on higher ISO values.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

Love both my K-3 and K-1. Shoot mostly portraiture and some scenics, great for both. The newest Pentax would have to be a fantastic leap for me to buy it.