The rumored new Pentax digital SLR may ultimately be a new high-end model that sits at the top of the line. An Austrian forum leak corroborated separately suggests that a new camera known as the K7D will be unveiled in the third week of May and that it won't be a sequel to the K20D but instead its own, unique model. The single-digit naming scheme implies Pentax is pursuing the quality of a camera like Canon's EOS-5D Mark II.

What features would define the K7D aren't known, as is whether the recently leaked image (pictured) reflects that camera. Its sensor is likely to be sharper than the current 14.6-megapixel example of the K20D and may inherit software features like art filters from newer Pentax cameras.

A price and a ship date also aren't mentioned in the claim. [via Pentax Forums]