As Herb already noted, Pentax had a booth at Photo Expo in NY. It was about the same size as usual and rather quiet. My chat with the rep from Colorado didn't yield any more information than has been posted here. In fact, it seems that information about products reaches the Pentax US, through official channels, about the same time it hits the internet. The rep thought it was very funny that the same day his boss was in Japan being briefed, he got a call for a customer who gave the rep all the details on the DSLR. The rep had no idea when the DSLR would actually go on sale. It could be when it was announced (probably at PMA the first week of March) or months later, sometime in the fall. (that macro lens could be mine yet) I couldn't resist asking about the release of the "Flagship". He burst out laughing, and I told him about the info out of Pentax UK. He had no comment.
Other Random Show Notes: Minolta wasn't there at all (I wanted to look at their new scanner.). Digital was all the rage, as it has been for the 3 or so years I've been going. I played with the Sigma DS9: step right up, no waiting. I found the camera not particularly comfortable in the hand. It shoots like a camera and you see a little picture on the rear LCD. Perhaps because NY is such a pro oriented market (or at least many of the folks going to the show are) there wasn't much interest in the camera. There was a lot more interest in the Kodak 14n (or what ever that new one is called). It handles very nice. It is much more than a digital back on a Nikon body. The main body casting is made out of magnesium and done by Kodak. The Kodak rep said they just buy "a bag of parts" from Nikon. I think they should have bought a bag of F100 parts instead of the N80 parts. Kodak also makes note of it being a 6th generation DSLR. Pentax has a lot of catching up to do. BR
