The answer could come from Samsung, forever-partner of Pentax for digital SLR photo cameras. The network of informers in direct contact with Samsung keeps repeating that Samsung is ready to launch a new SLR camera, probably to be named GX-30, as soon as next 7th of July. Of course, this is soft music to the ears of Samsung lovers (I have to admit that they are more numerous in Asia than in Europe, by far), but it’s also source of wonderment in the Pentax lovers ranks. They immediately rushed to the near-obvious conclusion that the Pentax K30D is around the corner (since, usually, Samsung launches its copy of the Pentax design a few days or a few weeks after the Pentax original).

So, a Pentax K30D before the end of June? Then, a Samsung GX-30 right after that?

It’s not so sure. Pentax and Samsung could well be on the verge of splitting their strategies and going on different roads. Instead of sharing all of their SLR camera designs, the two brands could start diverging in 2009 and 2010. That would give a Samsung GX-30 which would not be a Pentax K30D…

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• Pentax K30D
• Nikon D400

The most obvious point was the appearance of an ad for it.

And a German user informed us that the name should be Pentax K7D. This would be good to start what is expected as a significantly new product line in the Pentax SLR cameras.

The proclaimed price tag is €1500.

Two locations on the Internet published notably different (though precise) feature sets:

From PentaxForums.com:

• Square (?) sensor 1.3x crop factor.
• A new, overhauled AF system
• Continuous shooting: 5fps or more
• 1.0x viewfinder
• 720p video with audio
• 1/8000s shutter
• 2.7 or 3.0 inch VGA res screen

From 43rumors.com:

• Same sensor as the K20D
• Sensitivity: Up to 6400 ISO with better noise treatment
• Continuous shooting: 5 images/sec
• 100 % viewfinder
• Better weatherproofing
• Mirror lockup
• Liveview and HD Video
• Better stabilizer.
• Better DRE mode
• 77 zones light metering
• Much better AF system even with non-SDM lenses
• 3 inches/ 920,000 pixels screen with in-body editing (crop, …)
• 1/8000s shutter with 1/250s flash sync

We’ll have to wait until 21 May…

Thanks to Mash and NeutralDay.

Things are getting more and more difficult to understand in the rumour coming from Shanghai about the possible new Pentax SLR. After a first blurry image, we now get a photo which shows a group of Pentax SLR photo cameras and the one on the left cannot be identified as one of the existing products.

One would start thinking that there is somebody with a good information available and actively leaking information. In short, something like “The new Pentax will have…

• a new K20D-class body,
• but a smaller body,
• EV compensation,
• ISO buttons similar to the newest 645D prototype,
• and green button on the back as 645D as well.

From what was voluntarily leaked before by Samsung, Hoya and Pentax people, we can also assume that it will contain anything trendy like video capture, HDMI output, etc.

Now, there is something definitely weird. To me, this source of information seems too organized, too clean (despite the blurry look of the first image), to be an accidental leak. It smells a lot like viral marketing, or marketing exploiting the powers of the Internet to distribute whatever information the manufacturer wants us to know and understand.

I’d say that whatever is taken as fact from the photos is probably true, but any extrapolation or approximation must be forgotten. And, in the end, all this amounts to what has been made available by Pentax (and friends) already: A new smaller body, but no Full Frame in 2009.

I’m afraid we will have to wait.

We know from multiple sources that Pentax is preparing a new digital SLR photo camera that could be bringing a number of surprises including a significant change in the body form.

Rice High has actually found on a Chinese forum a blurry image that would be showing part of a new Pentax SLR photo camera. So, is it the Pentax K30D, the Pentax K3D?

It is difficult to be sure, but Rice High rightly points at issues that are deeply interesting. He pointed at the differences with a Pentax K20D to ensure that it’s not an existing model.

And he noticed that the original image was removed bringing credibility to the genuineness of the original images probably stolen during some beta-tests of the new photo camera.

But a question is still here: Is it really an SLR camera with this very small viewfinder block? It could be a bridge. If not, we are possibly looking at the Pentax K30D with an electronic viewfinder. Or more.

FotoMagazin, German monthly photo magazine, tells us the news in its lastest (April) issue: Pentax joins Olympus in the non-race. After Nikon whose Nikon D700 had shown an honorable restraint with its 12 mega-pixels only digital sensor (in 24×36 Full Frame sensor format), here is Gabriele Remmers, Marketing Communication Manager of the Division of Imaging Systems of Pentax Europe, who revels that today it is more important to bring out image quality, low levels of noise and deep details rather than a pixels explosion. End of the show! Let’s start being serious about quality.

I have to say that I fell in love with this Gabriele. In the interview, we can surprise her defending optical viewfinders (as the pentaprism of our SLR cameras) against Electronic View Finders (EVF).

But, for the most entrenched pentax lovers like some of our readers, she may have a surprise in store when she is questionned about the upcoming cameras. Speaking of 35mm Full Frame, she tells us that you will have to be very very patient. There’s nothing on the drawing table, Pentax is stuck with its range of APS-C “small sensor” lenses. No Full Frame before creating (shoudln’t I say “re-creating”) a full range of lenses targetting this sensor format (some extension of the current D-FA and FA ranges). And if you look into mid-size format, Pentax is still thinking about it but with a low priority (nothing to be expected in the short term).

So, what will be the next Pentax K30D? Quite certainly an APS-C SLR camera with a 12 to 15 mega-pixel sensor optimized for image quality, with an optical viewfinder looking through a nice pentaprism.

This is DC.Watch.Impress who was able to interview Taku Sendai, Product planning manager at Hoya (Pentax mother company).

First of all, we get the confirmation that the 645 range of large format cameras will be the answer from Pentax to the Full Frame cameras from its competition. Let’s hear this again: No Pentax Full Frame, but 645 cameras (so, this is even better in terms of IQ, but more expensive and bulkier. Is it really better for all of us here?)

Furthermore, there will be a new photo camera before Summer 2009. Ah! Not really at the high-end of the SLR range (Rather an extension of the Pentax K200D) but with very advanced photo features and looking at the “consumer” level of requirements. So, probably neither a K30D, nor a K3D. Maybe some Pentax K300D, maybe a Pentax K3000D… As there seems to be no significant change in the lens range, the sensor should not change its size either (in my humble opinion, APS-C is still a very good option and dropping down to 4/3 sensor format would not be sensible for Pentax who got its fame with the APS-C sensors).

It’s clear that the SLR body will have a surprising form factor. Pentax decided to shock us all and I think it could go as far as dropping the usual SLR aspect either in favor of a bridge-like shape (let’s hope this would not come with an electronic viewfinder and its poor quality frightening the “serious” customers) or a HD-video-camera shape.

So, this is both good news for Pentax lovers and it may be disappointing for the those waiting for a natural extension of the current Pentax SLR range. Will it loosen contacts between Pentax and Samsung? Not sure. But 2009 could well be the year when Samsung and Pentax will cease to share the exact same model under different names and badges, splitting some of their design efforts.

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Who will be the first to bring this innovation? And I really think it is inevitable that it will come soon on our reflex cameras. Even if only because it reduces the number of needed buttons and it brings a certain flavor of technical progress that should appeal to most of the camera enthusiasts buying SLR cameras (just think about the unrelenting success of video modes which should -as a matter of fact- only be considered as anecdotal on a photo camera).

I think that it’s possible to list the best candidates for this:

• Low- to mid-range camera at Sony, like a Sony Alpha 400
• Entry-level camera at Nikon, like a Nikon D65
• Lowest price cameras at Samsung and Pentax, Pentax K3000, Samsung GX-3000 (and maybe even a mid-range option for these brands are striving to distinguish themselves technically from the market leaders)
• A complement to Panasonic DMC-G1 under the name of DMC-G2 or DMC-G3

This is all mere observation of technolody presence among the compact models (such point-and-shoot cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T77, the Nikon S60 Coolpix, the Samsung NV34HD or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580). And there is more reality to these remarks than to most predictions about the launch of presumed major products at the next PMA fair in Las Vegas.

Visibly, the Nikon D400 is considered more worth of rumours and comments than any other possible future camera.

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of nikon d800 in the last 12 months.

pentax k30d 0  canon 500d 0.75  nikon d800 1.00  nikon d400 1.80

All the details on the Google Trends page comparing pentax k30D, canon 500D, nikon D800, nikon D400.

Source: Photography Bay.

Now, this has a clear impact on the decisions in photography-related companies. Who would want to spend millions of dollars on advertisement, press information, etc. if the potential customers are not even listening because their attention is focused on managing their day-to-day life or a foreclosure? Additionally, many camera manufacturers see their prices forced up (at the worst possible time) by unfavorable evolution of exchange rates (everybody is speaking about the world-wide price hike-ups of Nikon, Sigma and a few others). So, many marketing departments of photo companies are reviewing their launch calendar.

It seems that one of the first companies to have made a decision here is Canon. The word is out that the Canon EOS 500D is currently pressured for a delay which would make its launch more in line with a less depressed market. It may be pushed from this Winter to Spring or early Summer 2009 (Northlight Images even say Autumn). Of course, this goes with the possibility for the designers to add new features if it is still possible to use this delay. This could be a good financial and technical strategy.

However, there is a lot of pressure mounting inside Canon in order to close the gap created by Nikon with the launch of the Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Nikon D3x. The Canon 500D with video features would be a good answer.

It is also said that the Pentax K30D may be delayed. Or is it that Pentax is unsure about what to include in the package right now?

Sony has a lot of things to send to the market in 2009. Scheduling the launches in steps could be natural if they need to spread the costs, but I doubt they will adopt such a strategy. Despite the financial issues they recently disclosed, they seem quite able to pursue their usual strategy of “maximum impact” which supports well the simultaneous disclosing of a wealth of products. Nevertheless, it could lead to a step-by-step availability.

Nothing seems to be said of Nikon delays. Is it because they are perceived as having such an impetus that they can’t stop pushing new good products to the market?

Whatever happens, recession is a factor that the marketing department of any major camera company must take into account. There is little doubt that 2009 (and possibly 2010) will be a bad year for all consumer-oriented industries. Since no part of the world will be doing really better than the others, this brings the need to be cautious. Let’s hope that camera brands will not stop showing us good (better?) cameras.

Last minute note: Nikon Watch just announced that both Nikon and Canon were posting decreasing profits.

This article that collects elements of an interview of Young-Bae Kim, Samsung’s Director of DSLR business, brings us informations all the more important that we remember that (and this is confirmed again) Samsung and Pentax work tightly together on the development of digital SLR cameras. Nothing is told in precise words and terms, but some important conclusions can be drawn.

If the name of the future successor of the Pentax K20D or Samsung GX-20 is not confirmed yet, everything leads us to think that it will stay as Pentax K30D and Samsung GX-30 and we will keep these names for the time being. Nevertheless, contrary to the hopes of many a pentaxian, Mr Kim is very clear on th fact that the sensor will stay in the APS-C form factor. No Full Frame for the Pentax K30D.

However, he insists on the fact that this new camera will be a significant milestone in the trend of the Pentax/Samsung SLR cameras. More specifically, size will be the matter of news. Look where I’m headed: A completely digital new viewfinder would reduce the size and weight a lot: no mirror cage, no pentaprism. But, why should they appply this to a camera in the high-medium range? Probably, because Pentax and Samsung nwo need to stand up in the competition (where they can’t really enter up to now) between Canon, Nikon and Sony.

Furthermore, I think that despite what Mr Kim says, the video mode -even with its limitations- will be introduced in such a camera. Digital viewfinders already include the video capability; So, why not go a step further. 2009 being the year when video-capable SLR cameras seriously hit the shelves and Samsung already having the technology included in some of its digital compact PnS cameras, I think that they will have no choice here. The marketing pressure will be very high on the engineers in charge of the design of the Samsung GX-30 / Pentax K30D.

Consequently, my prediction for the features of the Pentax K30D (or Samsung GX-30) goes along the following lines:

• CMOS APS-C sensor of 15 to 17 MP (Samsung origin)
• Sensitivity: 100-6400 ISO
• Video mode 720p (maybe 1080p)
• Electronics fully digital viewfinder (100% coverage)
• 3″ LCD rear display
• All-weather body

That being said, I would forecast some heavy workload for the designers at Samsung to develop a Full Frame sensor anyway. But no announcement before the 4th quarter of 2009. Mayeb this will give us the nice names of Pentax K3D and Samsung GX-3 ?

But, further than the obvious pun, I start to think that many people (on the Internet) are speaking of the future Full Frame reflex camera from Pentax not using its usual name of Pentax K30D, but as Pentax K3D. This would leave the K30D using an APS-H sensor (maybe around 20MP) and would lead to a Pentax K3D with a real 35mm FF sensor (and 30MP if most dreams come true).

A feature list can be extracted from the various elements currently available even if it is difficult to split between dreams and under-development reality.

• CMOS 21 MP Full Frame sensor (under development at Samsung)
• Sensitivity: 100-3200 ISO or more
• Improved Autofocus (faster)
• Continuous shooting at 3.5 fps (6.5 fps in reduced resolution)

A few important-to-mention contradictory comments:

1. An interview of Mr Kitazawa (leader of development of Pentax K-m) suggests that instead of going Full Frame, Pentax would try to reach the 20+MP mark with an APS-C sensor, trying a technology breakthrough in image quality. But I don’t see why such an advantage would be more than temporary (if it can be done).
2. In November 2008, there were a lot of talks about the use of a sensor in APS-H format (1.3x) with only 14MP resolution, but it’s source is uncertain and it was too precise to be exact for a product arriving only in mid-2009. Note that such an APS-H format has only been seen before on the Canon 1D series.

Let’s wait until the Pentax K30D really appears. But it could make things interesting again on the Pentax front line.