[Vantage-Point]

Ok THoog, do you thing that Pentaxians can hope for a improved K-s1 with optical viewfinder with better grip more auto focus points, better tracking and overall performance? The point is to have a more capable but also more compact camera as a viable alternative to a mirrorless camera.

[THoog]

Ok THoog, do you thing that Pentaxians can hope for a improved K-s1 with optical viewfinder with better grip more auto focus points, better tracking and overall performance? The point is to have a more capable but also more compact camera as a viable alternative to a mirrorless camera.

Well, we can always hope. Given the chilly reception the K-S1 received (and the K-01, for that matter), I don't think Pentax is going to try for ultra-small for awhile. Actually, given the trend towards "bigger is better" in Pentax lenses, I was surprised by the KP. It's not in the same size range as the 01/S1, but it appears someone at Pentax is still willing to experiment with ways to make the bodies smaller.

[monochrome]

Well, we can always hope. Given the chilly reception the K-S1 received (and the K-01, for that matter), I don't think Pentax is going to try for ultra-small for awhile. Actually, given the trend towards "bigger is better" in Pentax lenses, I was surprised by the KP. It's not in the same size range as the 01/S1, but it appears someone at Pentax is still willing to experiment with ways to make the bodies smaller.

Both the K-01 and K-S1 were designed by contracted industrial designers, not internal camera people. Camera people design cameras for camera people. Industrial designers design cameras for magazines - and accolades. That's how you get yellow cameras and disco lights that are covered when you hold the camera.

[THoog]

Both the K-01 and K-S1 were designed by contracted industrial designers, not internal camera people. Camera people design cameras for camera people. Industrial designers design cameras (and everything else) for magazines - and accolades. That's how you get yellow cameras and disco lights that are covered when you hold the camera.

Agreed, but I have to wonder if the reason why they went with outside designers was to distract from the amount of features they had cut in trying to get size to a minimum. "Lipstick on a pig", if you will. (Not that I think either is a pig - I'm quite fond of both, and I still think the 5-LED countdown timer is an interesting idea.) IIRC, they gave Newson the dimensions they wanted to work with, so they had a good idea what the hardware would be. Beneath the rubber and LEDs, both are typical Pentax hardware, except for the mini circuit board.

[monochrome]

They protect the brand by using unique designs.

The K-01 was a testbed camera for the new, smaller IBIS system in the K-3, and for LiveView advances. A K-01 is essentially a LV-only K-30 with the mirror box removed. If the technology had failed they could have blamed the K-01, tried again and moved on without besmirching the dSLR 'brand'.

I'm not quite sure why they did the K-S1, but I heard they used a team from the San Francisco office of a global design firm for the body. Jim Malcolm was supposedly convinced K-S1 would sell like hotcakes to the iPhone set. Maybe he pushed it.

I know a Beta Tester who was present at a design preview who pointed out the LED's would be covered, and the designers were stunned - that was the first they had realized the error and that's probably the moment the camera failed in the West. There was actual laughter in the room. The Countdown Timer idea was spin. They were supposed to be cool lights for Millenial buyers. Then RIAC gave us Big Hands Woman . . . . . Maybe Ricoh learned something about LED's from K-S1.

It's really a shame - I have both and they're decent cameras.

[THoog]

I'm not quite sure why they did the K-S1, but I heard they used a team from the San Francisco office of a global design firm for the body. Jim Malcolm was supposedly convinced K-S1 would sell like hotcakes to the iPhone set. Maybe he pushed it.

There seems to be a huge gap between what the Japanese thought the K-S1 was, and what the Americans thought it was. The Japanese literature emphasizes small size again and again. I have a hard time believing RIAC had much influence on the product. (BTW, Pentax Japan credits the external design to Ziba Tokyo - Ziba lists offices in Portland, Oregon, and Tokyo, but I can't find any trace of a SF office.)

[monochrome]

There seems to be a huge gap between what the Japanese thought the K-S1 was, and what the Americans thought it was. The Japanese literature emphasizes small size again and again. I have a hard time believing RIAC had much influence on the product. (BTW, Pentax Japan credits the external design to Ziba Tokyo - Ziba lists offices in Portland, Oregon, and Tokyo, but I can't find any trace of a SF office.)

Portland then, but I understood it was led by the American team.