[Alizarine]

Why does it take years for Pentax to add features others already have? I dont see them having a touch screen before 2018, and forget wifi before 2020. They may add a swivel screen shortly after we colonize Mars.

I think they see the point that not every feature other manufacturers put in is actually something of good use... or at least, will not make the brand look any "different" which, is something they want to make for themselves, hence the myriad of colors... legacy lens support.... stuff like that. I do hope they put in more useful features like focus peaking in future models.

[Alizarine]

It seems like every Pentax shooter is just thrilled with keeping a camera as old school as possible, 2013 be damned! Like nobody except old people shooting birds uses Pentax. This is why we cant have nice things.

Hey, that was a little mean. I don't see my K-x or K-5 IIs anywhere near "old school" as far as "being vintage" is concerned apart from the mount itself. The K-5 IIs' focusing system sees better than my faulty eyes can in low light. Can't say that's not "a nice thing."

I'm not even past the numbers in the calendar in terms of age and I shoot people in costumes most of the time, something called "cosplay" that 90% of the world probably don't even think exists or care about, so I rarely shoot birds. I hope you don't put Pentax down just because it doesn't include all the Canikon bells and whistles.

(though I do hope Pentax would update the flash system already...)

[jatrax]

Why does it take years for Pentax to add features others already have? I dont see them having a touch screen before 2018, and forget wifi before 2020. They may add a swivel screen shortly after we colonize Mars.

Your entitled to your opinion but please do not assume everyone agrees with it. Touch screen? What on earth for? They are building cameras not iphones.
WiFi? again what for? So you can take a picture and upload it to Facebook?
Swivel screen? Not for me, more expense, fragile and takes up space.

While all of those are 'cool' features they are not something I would be interested in or use and I'm glad Pentax doesn't waste the time and money developing them. Your needs may be different of course but for me I want to take pictures not figure out new gadgets.

[chiane]

Why is having bells and whistles a negative? They dont have to take the place of something else. They dont make anyone less, or more, of a photographer. I dont see how they hurt.

[chiane]

Well i guess your needs are the important ones. Btw, if I cant even get tethering, I'll take wifi. Its not for facebook. And an articulating screen is not a fad for teenage girls. And quickly using a touch screen to move a focus point instead of the current archaic way, oh the humanity. Like I said, even suggesting these things brings out seniors yelling at e to 'get off their lawn'. I guess I would be less surprised if Pentax went all manual. The nostalgia would be intoxicating.

[hangman43]

Well i guess your needs are the important ones. Btw, if I cant even get tethering, I'll take wifi. Its not for facebook. And an articulating screen is not a fad for teenage girls. And quickly using a touch screen to move a focus point instead of the current archaic way, oh the humanity. Like I said, even suggesting these things brings out seniors yelling at e to 'get off their lawn'. I guess I would be less surprised if Pentax went all manual. The nostalgia would be intoxicating.

I am by no means a senior and I do not see where a touchscreen would improve my K-5 at all every smart phone I have ever used has been more aggravating than helpful when it comes to the touchscreen they are no where near accurate enough also wifi eats up battery power that could be used for taking pictures. Articulating screens are jst one more thing to break anywhere there are moving parts there is a danger of breakage.

[chiane]

I am by no means a senior and I do not see where a touchscreen would improve my K-5 at all every smart phone I have ever used has been more aggravating than helpful when it comes to the touchscreen they are no where near accurate enough also wifi eats up battery power that could be used for taking pictures. Articulating screens are jst one more thing to break anywhere there are moving parts there is a danger of breakage.

You can turn off touchscreens, you dont have to use wifi, and you never have to articulate the screen. And you dont have to ruin it for others. If you think smart phones are aggravating, no wonder you're so scared of these new fangled electronics. I actually feel like I'm talking to my mother about technology.

[hangman43]

You can turn off touchscreens, you dont have to use wifi, and you never have to articulate the screen. And you dont have to ruin it for others. If you think smart phones are aggravating, no wonder you're so scared of these new fangled electronics. I actually feel like I'm talking to my mother about technology.

I am a long way away from being scared of new fangled electronics I am just a firm believer in they have there place technology is great I am all for it and have never been scared of it and I do not have to be a little arrogant smart ass like you either.

You can turn off touchscreens, you dont have to use wifi, and you never have to articulate the screen. And you dont have to ruin it for others. If you think smart phones are aggravating, no wonder you're so scared of these new fangled electronics. I actually feel like I'm talking to my mother about technology.

The more electronic gadgets that are added just make them more of a disposable commodity look at the cell phone industry you hardly ever even have a phone last long enough for your contract to end before they are broken and it cost more to repair than to replace.

[Mistral75]

Source? Even when doubtfull, it would be intresting to check it out...

Source is Digital Camera Info:

??????K-50????????????? - ????info

[Racerdew]

Sure they could make a camera with toys on it and there would be a market for it. I think most us want a quality pro type camera taht is a great machine. They did that with the K-5 and the K-5 two's. They are just fantastic cameras every way you look at it. But it is time for another great camera and not another make over job. Looks like the k-50 will be a make over from parts of the k-5 and k-30. Pentaxians are looking for a jump with technology towards a better machine with the state of the art components. The C class sensor is strong and doing well. They should continue with this fine area of photography. Yes the world is ready for a FF pentax DSLR.
But it better be right when they do it or don't do it at all. Perhaps it hasn't been right so they don't pull the trigger on it. Knowing Pentax, when they do go FF it will be a very nice camera. Toy lovers, remember they take power and will kill the battery faster.

[jatrax]

Well i guess your needs are the important ones. Btw, if I cant even get tethering, I'll take wifi.

No they aren't. You expressed an opinion and so did I. I you want 'cool' extras good for you, I don't believe I said anywhere you could not have them. I merely expressed my opinion that I don't need or want them and I'm glad Pentax has chosen to take a simplistic path. A camera is a tool that lets me do my job, if it has features I don't need or won't use that is extra cost and weight.

Tethering on the other hand I will agree would be very nice to have. And I suppose as an alternative to a cable wi-fi would be OK. In fact I believe I proposed some time ago that Pentax do wi-fi in a grip that could be added on when needed. In the studio, battery use is not as important as in the field so not a concern. But it is not something I need all the time so I don't want to have to carry it all the time.

[GordonZA]

I would use wifi for photographing birds at the nest... That ability to set the camera up then sit some distance away and be able to fully control the camera as well as have a live view feed coming through on an iPad would be pretty amazing!

[Alizarine]

Next up I want Assassin's Creed and StarCraft II on my camera. OK, maybe I can also watch Game of Thrones on it.

Photoshoots are boring sometimes, need more distractions. just kidding!

I do agree on the tethering part though. Still wondering why Pentax left it out of their... "enthusiast" cameras.

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

I'm puzzled by the nomenclature. When the K-5 was top of the line, Pentax came out with the K-30, where one might have expected a K-50 at that point. Did they in fact have a K-3 in the wings only to scratch it for some reason? K-50 at this time seems a bit anomalous, but having asked that, when did Pentax's naming of cameras make a lot of sense?

[kadajawi]

The k-30/50 is Pentax's lower end camera. And can anyone explain to me why we cant have these features, and good image quality? It seems like every Pentax shooter is just thrilled with keeping a camera as old school as possible, 2013 be damned! Like nobody except old people shooting birds uses Pentax. This is why we cant have nice things.

Funny. A friend wants to shoot birds, that's why he didn't pick Pentax. He went for Panasonic instead (gives him a compact camera with good image quality (still a rather big sensor) and something like 600mm 35mm equivalent. You can't have that with Pentax, unless you go for MF or a huge lens.

I think it'd be cool to have GPS on a Pentax... with Garmin installed. So not only can you do geotagging, you can also use it to navigate. The ideal outdoor/travelers camera.

I'd be happy with being able to use the Fx/RAW button for video recording though. Why can't they give me the option...

@hangman43: Touchscreen would be nice when working on a tripod or with liveview in general when you want to refocus. But other than that I don't see much point. Maybe you could have a row below and above the camera for ISO... so you tap on it and pull it up or down to change the setting... but it's not that important.

For my work an articulate screen would be pretty nice, since I could then move the camera even further into corners to get the angle that I want (a touchscreen would certainly help there...). Or better yet proper tethering, for example via WiFi, connected to my Android phone.

Besides, WiFi can be nice for photojournalists. Just tether to the phone and then send the photo immediately to your editor. Also when doing a professional shooting in a studio environment it can be nice I suppose. Take the photo and immediately check it on a big and high res monitor. Especially when you are working with an art director perhaps. When you are shooting a movie you usually have a monitor or two connected to the camera. At least one for the director so he can validate stuff. It would be awesome if Pentax would have that capability, with a few more additions (CineDNG etc.) they could produce a bonafide cinema camera, based on something like the K-5.

Maybe you are not pro enough to make use of features like an articulate screen or WiFi? Kidding, it's just that you may not use the camera in ways where you could benefit for the features, or you can't think of ways where you'd benefit from it. But to say that these features are useless and only for noobs or whatever, that's ridiculous.

Oh and as for smartphones? My HTC Magic lasted me 4 years, it is still working despite having dropped on pretty much everything countless times, but it is simply too slow and underpowered to be usable anymore. My current Galaxy Nexus is nearing it's second year, and it is doing well. Nothing failed so far. Yes, there are lousy ones with bad touchscreens (typically cheap phones, on expensive ones they are really good), that will fall apart soon after purchase. But the better ones? Nope, they are good.