Ricoh announces development of long-awaited full-frame Pentax DSLR

And so it was written that since the beginning of recorded time, Pentax shooters have predicted the release of a full-frame K-mount DSLR. Today, their prayers have been answered, as Ricoh has announced the development of exactly that.
The company didn't share a whole lot of detail, other than to say that it will be compatible with DA lenses via a crop function and that it will be available by the end of 2015. The concept model (pictured above) will be shown next week at CP+ in Japan where we hope to learn more about it.

Before you get too excited, this isn't the 'new' full-frame DSLR. This is a picture from our archives, of a full-frame DSLR which Pentax showed off at a couple of trade-shows way back in 2001. Although developed at least to the point of being a semi-functional prototype, the unnamed 6MP camera didn't made it to market in the estimated timeframe of 'summer 2001', or indeed ever. Which is a shame, since we quite liked the ergonomics. Second time lucky? We hope so.

Some of us have been around long enough to remember the last time Pentax announced a full-frame DSLR, way back in 2001. Here's hoping that this time around, the camera proves to be real. What do you make of the announcement? Is this the full-frame camera you've been waiting for? Let us know in the comments.