Pentax’s DSLR Dreams Won’t Come True if It Does the Same Old Thing

Pentax is in a challenging spot. Its parent company, Ricoh, remains committed to the Pentax brand, and Pentax wants to continue to make DSLR cameras. The problem is nobody wants new DSLR cameras.

New DSLR camera shipments were 997,608 in 2024 and 690,911 in 2025. DSLR cameras are in a death spiral, and the only thing keeping them going now is that entry-level DSLRs are still super cheap.

But Pentax, which has been researching how to make a popular new DSLR camera, doesn’t make super-cheap cameras. The company has always targeted the enthusiast and professional space, with price tags to match. However, enthusiasts, and certainly not professionals, are not lining up to buy DSLRs anymore. The vast majority of them have either moved to mirrorless already or will do so with their next purchase.

“When considering the Pentax brand, focusing solely on current customers will not sustain the brand. The engineers are researching and making a strong effort to answer what a DSLR system camera should be which will attract the younger generation. That is the discussion we are having internally,” Ricoh’s leadership told PetaPixel earlier this year.

It’s a tough nut to crack. How does a brand like Pentax, best known for its increasingly old-school and very niche DSLR cameras, attract all-new users with no attachment to the brand, no existing stock of Pentax SLR and DSLR lenses, and a broad desire to buy a mirrorless camera, whether that’s an interchangeable lens model or a fixed-lens one?

Pentax is insistent that to deliver the best user experience and have customers who love to take photos, it must stick with an optical viewfinder. This is the result of Pentax’s core principles, and the company’s commitment to them is unwavering.

“So maybe, we chose a hard path. But our commitment to the Pentax principles remains unchanged,” said Kazunobo Saiki, General Manager of Ricoh’s Camera Business Division.

At the time, Saiki added that the company was “not in a hurry, but the longer we wait, the fewer opportunities we have.”

If a new Pentax DSLR is going to arrive, it should be relatively soon. The path only gets harder the longer the company waits.

Per a very reliable Pentax leaker, “asahi man,” the next Pentax DSLR may not be too far out.

“The new camera is not only a speculation or still a project,” asahi man wrote, per Pentax Rumors. “The production is in progress.”


Given asahi man’s track record, Pentax is most likely quite far along with its next DSLR. But will it be a success? What kind of DSLR should Pentax make?

A Pentax K-1 Mark III

“The one that would make the most sense is a K-1 Mark III with the new menus and AF from the K-3 III. That’s a necessary upgrade, but not an exciting one,” says PetaPixel‘s Jordan Drake.

“It would maybe stem the flow of Pentaxians switching systems but wouldn’t get them any new users.”

Pentax K-1 II | Pentax

Pentax announced the K-1 Mark II way back in 2018, just two years after the original K-1 hit the scene.

Both the K-1 and its successor introduced features no other full-frame DSLR had at the time, including handheld pixel-shift shooting and a rather remarkable tilting display. As PetaPixel wrote just a couple of years ago, the K-1 and the K-1 II were way ahead of their time.

These days, though, they are far behind. A K-1 III with improved usability, better autofocus, and some new image sensor, like the 45-megapixel one used in the Nikon Z7 II, would at least close some of that gap.

All-In On Vintage

However, a modern DSLR will still be inherently old-school, no matter what image sensor it has. Even the best DSLR autofocus systems, which a new Pentax DSLR won’t have, by the way, pale in comparison to mirrorless cameras today.

It would make more sense for Pentax to stop chasing the recent past and instead focus on a distant one.

“I would specifically like to see them make a vintage digital camera much like the Nikon Zfc,” says Chris Niccolls. “It could be a DSLR, although I would prefer a mirrorless. Pentax’s reliance on old-school K glass is tired and outdated.”

Pentax K1000 | Photo licensed via CC BY-SA 2.5.

“I would like it to be something like a K1000 digital, so like a D1000, but perhaps in a nicer body like the Pentax LX or ME.”

So, basically Niccolls’ hope for a Pentax DSLR is that it isn’t a DSLR at all.

The stunning Pentax ME | Photo by Hiyotada, licensed via CC BY-SA 3.0.

Embracing the SLR In DSLR

But it’s worth pulling on the “vintage camera” string a bit here. Perhaps instead of trying to be a good, modern DSLR camera, Ricoh Pentax would be better served and better able to attract a new audience by leaning heavily into the old-school aesthetic and usability.

A camera doesn’t have to be especially swift, modern, or even performant to be popular. Many photographers are seeking cameras that deliver a satisfying tactile experience, even at the cost of cutting-edge features and performance. It’s more about the joy of taking photos than having the “best camera.”

The beautiful Pentax LX film camera | Photo by Alfred from Germany, licensed via CC BY-SA 2.0.

I think this vision would align very well with Pentax’s guiding principles of making cameras that encourage the joy of photography and celebrate the photographic experience itself. As the Pentax 17 half-frame camera launched in 2024 demonstrated, Pentax can still make cool, retro cameras.

Arguably, when the K-1 II launched, Pentax was trying to satisfy its ambitions through traditionally “good” cameras with high-end specs. I think that ship has sailed by now, though. These same goals would be met more successfully today by going all-in on the experience and worrying much less about specs.

Satisfying and plentiful dials, a vintage design that is “cool,” and a mirror with a healthy thwack sound when you press the shutter. Emphasize what makes an SLR fun and interesting to use rather than try to make a camera that competes with mirrorless ones.

What makes Pentax special is that it can deliver an experience nobody else does anymore. The farther that experience gets from being just a worse version of a modern mirrorless camera, the better.

A new Pentax DSLR’s greatest strength is that it is a DSLR. Ricoh should not try to overcome the format’s limitations, but rather embrace them.

Image creditsPentax. Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.com.