Originally posted by audiobomber I'm having trouble visualizing the choices. Is my white K-x silky or shiny?
Agreed. Now that we have good pictures, though, It would seem that the K-x was less shiny than the crystal, but the "silky" finish looks positively matte. Personally, I think the crystal is WAY too shiny, and the matte, while it looks nice, is going to gloss up with the oils and friction of being handled.
As much as I love the way matte-finished things look, I've had a matte-finish guitar, and it turned a kind of sickly glossy wherever my arms rested. And for the strong of stomach, look what happens after a couple months of usage on a matte-black macbook:
Ugh
No matter what kind of next-gen plastic finish they use, I'm afraid something you grip with your hands (even if you wash your hands before using it), and put up to your face is going to get sebaceous gland oil on it. That can be wiped off, but over time, any friction will polish the matte texture off to a semi-gloss. That includes friction of your hands on the plastic, not to mention the microfiber cloth you'll have to wipe it down with because of the aforementioned oils.
Personally, when I show up to a paying photo gig with my white camera (especially with my big black lens and/or flash), I feel like it doesn't look super professional, plus it looks a little patchy. I just don't like the way it looks any more. I'm really looking forward to having a black camera when I get either the K-5 or the K-30.
Interestingly, if you look at the press images of US-spec K-30's, the black one looks like the typical texture:
And the white one looks like the same not-so-glossy finish we've had on the K-x and K-r.