[tclausen]

I'd just like the K-01 to support all the features of the GPS unit. They could do it with a BIOS update. I may end up snagging a used Kr, or eventually a K-30, just so I can get the star tracking support.

That's one thing that Pentax should really be pushing, IMHO. All cameras should support star tracking, even the cheap bodies and they should really upsell the star tracking functionality in their complete camera lineup.

Charles

Ah, astrophoto and that weird simple-gps-nav is very esoteric - I guess that it's a minority of people needing either. Of course, while I do not do astrophoto, I wouldn't object to them supporting it...it's just, I dunno, something that, I gather, is important to a sufficiently small market segment to not be a priority for Pentax-marketing....

[crs]

I don't want a K-02 necessarily. Just give the K-01 a VF already. Problem solved. Unfortunately this won't happen.

[Medium FormatPro]

I don't want a K-02 necessarily. Just give the K-01 a VF already. Problem solved. Unfortunately this won't happen.

It would be quite easy to do a VF, but since Pentax claims that they are alredy not being produced anymore... More about the VF... Taking a close look at the internal electronics and hardware of the K-01 - it looks as though it was originally built to have a VF, minus the physical attachment point on the "what looks like a pentaprism hump" and also the lack of an electronic connection for it. But it would have been quite easy for Pentax to have added it in there - at any point in the manufacturing process

[crs]

Exactly. And that is what I don't get. They would've sold so many more of them if there were a VF for it. I know at least ten people who didn't get one for there not being a VF. And that's only the people I know. They really failed here.

[monochrome]

Exactly. And that is what I don't get. They would've sold so many more of them if there were a VF for it. I know at least ten people who didn't get one for there not being a VF. And that's only the people I know. They really failed here.

Put the Prime-M image processor in a K-30 style body sans mirror plus an EVF, which would improve video performance at the expense of impaired still image results, and see how the Photoblog community responds to it.

I suspect not well.

The K-30 is a K-01 with a viewfinder, optimized for still.

[THoog]

Basing my estimate on other brands' add-on EVFs (maybe the mark-up is insane, but it's the only reality-based numbers I have), an EVF would add another $200-400 to the original pricetag. Not the $300 fire-sale-just-get-rid-of-it pricetag, the original $900 bundle price. That would make the K-01 as expensive as a K-5, and it would flop just as hard if not harder. And like monochrome said, there is a K-01 with a viewfinder available - the K-30. I have both, and they really are the same.

Saying "it would be easy to add a VF to the K-01" is like saying "it would be easy to add AF points to the K-x". It would require different wiring, different main board, different chassis components, all of which have to be designed and tested - it's a new camera.

[bullitt_60]

I don't think we will see another K-mount mirrorless camera. The flange back distance is too big in order to get the camera small enough to compete with the established lines from other manufacturers. Not taking anything away from the K-01 as its users seem to love it, but if you compare it to the entire market it is a bit of an odd duck.

[mrNewt]

They should introduce a new flange - I'm all for it - AS LONG they will produce an adaptor so you can use k-mount lenses - something like they did for the Q.
Nothing wrong with that ...

[THoog]

They should introduce a new flange - I'm all for it - AS LONG they will produce an adaptor so you can use k-mount lenses - something like they did for the Q. Nothing wrong with that ...

My thought was to make the adapter more intelligent, some sort of snap-in 'snoot' that incorporates the various lens contacts and even the screwdrive motor, if they could stuff it all in there. Maybe different modules for other legacy mounts (probably completely unrealistic).

But that would be a whole new beast, with no more relation to the K-01 than the K1000.

[mrNewt]

My thought was to make the adapter more intelligent, some sort of snap-in 'snoot' that incorporates the various lens contacts and even the screwdrive motor, if they could stuff it all in there. Maybe different modules for other legacy mounts (probably completely unrealistic).

But that would be a whole new beast, with no more relation to the K-01 than the K1000.

I guess they could ... but in that case you still have the same bulkiness and making things maybe a little too complex ... !?
Personally I really think the best way and the cleanest way is the introduction of a new flange with an adapter.
And keep the adaptor around until they build a new large army of lenses for the new flange.

Shoots two birds with one stone sort of speak.
Those who complain of how bulky the camera is, will be happy (and free to complain of other stuff ) and those who still want to use k lenses will be happy as well via the adapter.

[THoog]

I guess they could ... but in that case you still have the same bulkiness and making things maybe a little too complex ... !?
Personally I really think the best way and the cleanest way is the introduction of a new flange with an adapter.
And keep the adaptor around until they build a new large army of lenses for the new flange.

Shoots two birds with one stone sort of speak.
Those who complain of how bulky the camera is, will be happy (and free to complain of other stuff ) and those who still want to use k lenses will be happy as well via the adapter.

Oh, I didn't say it was realistic. It's just that MF-only adapters won't sell new lenses, and while we all love our old glass, the average buyer is going to want AF (or will use as an excuse not to buy it). Pentax will have enough problems trying to have beef up the lens lineup to support the you-know-what-frame - adding yet another lens family is probably too much. (Although, the average buyer never takes the kit lens off the camera, so maybe one decent zoom would be all they would need.) Another idea I had was a Super-Q, with an enhanced Q-mount and a more intelligent adapter.

[mrNewt]

Oh, I didn't say it was realistic. It's just that MF-only adapters won't sell new lenses, and while we all love our old glass, the average buyer is going to want AF (or will use as an excuse not to buy it). Pentax will have enough problems trying to have beef up the lens lineup to support the you-know-what-frame - adding yet another lens family is probably too much. (Although, the average buyer never takes the kit lens off the camera, so maybe one decent zoom would be all they would need.) Another idea I had was a Super-Q, with an enhanced Q-mount and a more intelligent adapter.

The new generation and those who want smaller things won't be that open for the MF lenses anyway; so I am sure the new lenses will sell and slowly in time will pick up very fast.
I would see the life span of the K-mount adapter to be as long as the "old generation" is present ... or for very few people that wants to be different - years and years from from now.
I'm also pretty sure that a "smart" mount can be produced to continue the AF capabilities of k-mount lenses ... anything is possible when you put your mind to it.

Go in a new, better direction and give "hybrid options" for those who still want to use older gear AND keep it simple and clean.

[Medium FormatPro]

Saying "it would be easy to add a VF to the K-01" is like saying "it would be easy to add AF points to the K-x". It would require different wiring, different main board, different chassis components, all of which have to be designed and tested - it's a new camera

The wiring is already there; or should I say the place to connect the wiring. The main board is also there; just not enabled for that VF function. The chasis would already allow it.

To conclude, one would be quite suprised as to how many components that Pentax reuses in their camera bodies.

[THoog]

The wiring is already there; or should I say the place to connect the wiring. The main board is also there; just not enabled for that VF function. The chasis would already allow it.

To conclude, one would be quite suprised as to how many components that Pentax reuses in their camera bodies.

I'm sorry, but as an electronics engineer, it wouldn't work. There is one connector on the main board for the LCD panel; adding another display with completely different specs (dimensions, voltages, timing signals) would require additional interface circuitry on the main board. You can't daisychain a second LCD/LED off the first unless it was designed with some sort of bus to support multiple displays.

In the Digi Cam Watch interview with the design team, they specifically say they ruled out both add-on and internal EVFs in the design, the first because providing an external connector complicated the design, and the second because (if my translators are correct) it would use as much space as the pentaprism, which they had removed "with much trouble".

[wizowel]

Okay, it's a bit funky looking and whoever located the Green Button had no idea what it was supposed to be used for but for less than half the price of a K-30 I got a MILC with a state of the art APS-C sensor that takes great pictures through any lens I own and it works equally well on manual or auto. I love it! Who needs a K-02 when you have a K-01?