Paul wrote:
> But if it's medium format it will probably fail. Not enough of an installed > base of potential users to support it. If it's K-mount, it may have a chance. Maybe it is just me and maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe theres a brick wall at 35mm sensor size where any gain in potential image quality stop making sense and stops having market potential. For film there never was such a limit and for digital there are in fact fewer drawbacks for increasing the real estate of the medium compared to film. In my opinion it is the price vs quality ratio thats going to settle the issue. I don't think Pentax are ever going to release a MF based DSLR if it cannot be made at near reasonable prices. If Pentax had been interested in ridiculously priced MF digital solutions there would have been digital backs for Pentax MF cameras years ago. It is a correct observation that current digital MF solutions are simply no match for 35mm DSLR. Due to the price, and not helped by the fact that they are add-on ad-hoc solution for older existing cameras, they can simply never sell in quantities even justifying continue manufacturing of lenses to fit the ! systems. It is pretty clear that MF systems cannot survive with the price level current MF digital solutions demands. Sensor prices have to drop first and I'm sure they will. As for the installed base I disagree with you. Pentax MF customer base is significantly larger for MF than for K-mount. (yes, there are far more K mount lenses made than MF lenses but most of these lenses are the cheap stuff not necessarily in the hands of people that are going to be Pentax loyal or about to buy a DSLR). In addition, they are in current use, often professional as well. The fact is that Pentax stopped being a brand for serious amateurs and professionals in 35mm 15-20 years ago; ie. after the advent of AF more or less. The exeptoion is the odd crowd at PDML but we cannot sustain a camera manufacturer. Recent comments from Pentax clearly states that they consider the DSLR line to start at scratch. They will build up a new customer base (because they really don't have any!) starting with the *istD's and they will eventually offer a complete line-up when the users base of Pentax DSLR's are large enough. So Pentax is basically making the *istD's for K-mount users and the 645D for MF users, and frankly I don't see what other options they had considering their market penetration. Pentax have 40% market share for MF in Japan and if one agree to that MF has a future at all (I do), then not making a 645D seems to be a vast of oportunity. I'm certain that in the future there will be DSLR's with larger sensors than 35mm and for this segment Pentax is in the best of positions. P�l
