[Alizarine]

This statement is not fully accurate. Here is my example. The Pentax K-01 also does not "appear" to have the connections, but... I've seen a K-01 that does indeed have a battery grip; does not appear to be made by Pentax, does not appear on their site, and can't seem to presently find it anywhere on the internet - for sale, even pics of it - - anything. But I have in fact seen it. It connects via the tripod socket and simple allows the bottom battery door to remain open through the install. So yes, it could be made to work with a K30. I've seen the photographer with that Pentax K-01 and the battery grip throughout the general Pittsburgh area; I believe that she also attends Point Park. The next time I happen to see her with her K-01 w/gripI'll try to tactfully ask if I can get a few pics of the grip.

While it may not be fully accurate technically, what the person you saw did to his K-01 was a DIY project, something Pentax will not support and will probably advise people not to do due to inherent dangers of tampering with electrical contacts or something.

[rvannatta]

While it may not be fully accurate technically, what the person you saw did to his K-01 was a DIY project, something Pentax will not support and will probably advise people not to do due to inherent dangers of tampering with electrical contacts or something.

pentax had a similar grip for late film models. - --- open the battery door drop the batteries out and a grip with a long finger reached in and
hooked up to the battery contacts.

[aleonx3]

I agree 100% with this, except that I'll be sticking with my K200D for quite a while yet. Still, it's nice to know that Pentax have returned to making models that interest me and are affordable.

I could live without the top LCD, although I love it. What I couldn't live without is a battery grip. So far there is nothing to suggest that the K30 has this option, and that's a MAJOR missing feature, I'm surprised I haven't seen it mentioned by anyone else. Pentax are doing themselves out of money, all they had to do was make an optional grip and they'd have an extra accessory to sell at a big profit.

I don't think the k200D was WR model... I remember at the time only K10D, K20D... and subsequent models are. But it does have the top LCD much like the K100D. It does however has the K10D sensor with the AA option which was (and still is) a nice feature for some.

[Marc Sabatella]

I don't think the k200D was WR model... I remember at the time only K10D, K20D...

The K200D was most definitely WR, that was its major selling point. It was - and remained until yesterday - the only "affordable" WR DSLR you could buy new.

[Tonto]

A battery grip without contacts would be exactly that- a battery grip. There would be no provision for anything like portrait shooting buttons which would defeat the 'grip' somewhat.

[aleonx3]

The K200D was most definitely WR, that was its major selling point. It was - and remained until yesterday - the only "affordable" WR DSLR you could buy new.

Thanks, Marc for the correction... so it was very much like the K10D without the top LCD.

[Alizarine]

pentax had a similar grip for late film models. - --- open the battery door drop the batteries out and a grip with a long finger reached in and hooked up to the battery contacts.

Thanks for the heads up. Saw the MZ-S, I think that was it (and only it--the only WR film body after the LX). But to do that, you have to remove the battery door, right? Also, as Tonto mentioned above, no other contacts aside from the power would well... just make it an extended-power option, while competitors have the contacts to enable the grip for vertical orientation use

[boriscleto]

Thanks, Marc for the correction... so it was very much like the K10D without the top LCD.

It had a top LCD too. It only had one e-dial and was more plastic than the K10D.

[aleonx3]

It had a top LCD too. It only had one e-dial and was more plastic than the K10D.

Sorry, I got it both wrong... so, K200D has top LCD and WR, just a single e-dial.. thanks for the correction!!

[rparmar]

The K-30 has certainly narrowed the feature gap considerably, so I can see why some wonder what is left for Pentax to implement in their top-of-the-line body. To answer, one only has to have a look at the Olympus E-M5, which has several features Pentax misses out on.

Before someone comments on the obvious: I do realise that I am comparing an SLR with a mirrorless camera, but I am approaching this from the viewpoint of getting a job done, not caring what technology is under the hood.

This is needed just to bring parity:

• tilt LCD
• EVF with overlays for setting changes, blinkies etc. (perhaps a hybrid viewfinder like Fuji)
• full manual control and AF in video
• much improved shake-reduction
• much improved AF (we'll see how the K30 does)
• non-crippled lens mount
• multiple customisable buttons
• improved metering

And also let's go for:

• focus peaking -- EDIT: K-30 has this!
• switchable "catch-in-focus" that works for AF lenses
• in-camera hyperfocal distance calculation
• focus bracketing
• improved P-TTL
• faster flash sync speed
• switchable low-pass (AA) filter
• increased diopter range on viewfinder
• ability to set dials to ISO in M mode (why is this so hard??)
• ability to add aperture information manually (as we can with focal length)
• option to not release shutter unless SR engaged
• option for shooting RAW with fewer megapixels
• tethered shooting with software access to camera parameters
• lower iso settings: 50, 25... (or built-in ND filter)

This list hasn't changed in some time. The only difference now is that the competition is adopting these features, but Pentax isn't.

[pghwarrior23]

Improved P-TTL and 1/250 flash sync to go along with a new flash as well with wireless capabilities on par with Canon and Nikon would be FANTASTIC!

I also would really like dual memory card slots in the new K-5 replacement.

But REALLY digging the blue K30 and might have to get one as a backup/second camera for my K-5!!

[nms_photog]

A battery grip without contacts would be exactly that- a battery grip. There would be no provision for anything like portrait shooting buttons which would defeat the 'grip' somewhat.

Actually, I could see third party grips come out similar to the old k100's that were popular, where you have an attachment that plugs into the remote port. Not as seamless, but very viable!!!

[Aristophanes]

The K200D was most definitely WR, that was its major selling point. It was - and remained until yesterday - the only "affordable" WR DSLR you could buy new.

The K200D was a pentamirror and the K-30 uses a pentaprism.

That's a fairly significant under-the-hood improvement. By comparison, the Nikon D7000 is a prism but the 5100 is a mirror.

In many ways the K-30 is a step up from the K200D, regardless of the 4 year tech gap between the two.

Pentax needs an articulating LCD badly. The K-01 screams for one, and the K-30 really should have one.

[rvannatta]

Thanks for the heads up. Saw the MZ-S, I think that was it (and only it--the only WR film body after the LX). But to do that, you have to remove the battery door, right? Also, as Tonto mentioned above, no other contacts aside from the power would well... just make it an extended-power option, while competitors have the contacts to enable the grip for vertical orientation use

indeed the extended power option was all it was, and the battery door did not need to be removed.... there was a 'hole' in the grip and you
just left the door open. but this of course defeated the weather proofing. What you got for it was more battery horsepower.

But the fact remains: if you are going to have a price range of cameras, you have to leave some features out of the down line models.
They are building the new line from the bottom up, but internally they certainly have a vision of how the line looks. The top of the line
(not the K-30) will have 'everything' while the down line models will have things missing and a lower price.

With the K-01, the left out the viewfinder. With this model they left out the mother of all internal buffers, and support for a grip. but put the viewfinder back in. As I gather from the specifications, It has half a new focusing system....--- a material upgrade to the single shot focus system but not to the Movie focus system.

If the 'up selling' scheme is to work, the K3 (or whatever the k-5 replacement is called) needs to have some value added

[karlito]

i am confused about the video file format, is it mpeg4 or have they actually gone to avchd?