Pentax is finally getting a full-frame DSLR

Pentax has fallen off the DSLR radar of late, unless you're looking for a medium-format camera or a hot pink K-series model. Parent company Ricoh has just pricked up the ears of the brand's many fans, however, with long-awaited news of its first ever full-frame K-mount Pentax DSLR. All we know so far is roughly what it looks like (the prototype is shown above), that it'll work with Pentax's DA APS-C lenses using image cropping, and that it'll pack a full-frame 35mm sensor. The cropping part is unfortunate, since enthusiasts would want a full-frame Pentax camera for the extra resolution and depth-of-field. Some DA lenses may already be compatible without cropping, however, and we'd hope that Ricoh is also working on new full-frame DA lenses.

There's no word so far on the sensor resolution, price or other specs. This isn't the first time the company has teased a full-frame model -- it revealed a 6-megapixel prototype way back in 2001, but never developed it. The late 2015 release sounds ambitious, but we'll know more when we see a prototype next week at the CP+ camera show in Tokyo.