[RonakG]

The top LCD shows VITAL information that is displayed NOWHERE ELSE.

We need sarcasm font on the forum .

[ElJamoquio]

I own a K30. I don't understand the irritation against either of those two bodies, aesthetically speaking. It is, however, the first DSLR I've owned without an LCD on top. I think running the rear LCD probably spends a ton of energy, and may be largely responsible for the poor battery life. Therefore, my next body will be whatever replaces the K5II. What do you guys who've owned both think of that theory?

For me it's completely personal. I like some things (the textured grip) but I don't like the slanted-down flash portion. It just looks wrong to me. I would've approved it in development, though, if I were in charge of Pentax - I think it would appeal to others, and I can understand why.

[jatrax]

We need sarcasm font on the forum .

just use /sarc

[Racerdew]

I don't know if everyone has found this info, but I ran across it looking around. Seems to me from the information given at this site; this K-50 has the same equipment as the 30 and the 5. There is nothing new but a different shaped body. Unless there is a lot missing, this is a joke! We have a k-5 and a k-30 and this is old stuff packaged together. Sounds like the butchers Monday special! The boss must have told production that we are not coming out with anything "new" until all the spare parts are sold. Wrap them up in a new package and get them out the door!

This link gave all the details of the camera.

Pentax K-50 DSLR camera leaks on retailer's website in France | Photo Rumors

[Racerdew]

I am guessing that as technology advances we will see the camera slow down on growing performance. Pentax has not hit the peak of the mountain as we know the competiors have things Pentax does not. But for making a great picture, the tools are all there. We have great cameras that can do increadable things today. We have to do the rest of the work. I can see cameras becoming more like software. I can see a new wave of technology being in processing. I can see them putting PP software in the camera. It would be limited at first and then grow to be able to get more information storage in the body. More infusion type abilities, layering in processing inside of the camera. Getting more, more pixles and sharpeness is at an all time high! Go look at the lens ratings from five years ago and the line resolution has gone up with better bodies. I think Pentax needs to join the party with the latest technology in the Pro cameras, then they will have caught the pack but not passed it.( Pentax doesn't seem to listen to their consumers but the make a quality product on their terms.)

Then work on making processing images easier and faster. We spend hours processing the pictures after we take them. I can see them having installed programs that you could use or presets, to get the job done faster. Make a portable view screen that plugs in like the HDMI port and use 7 inch screen to view like you can do witht you laptop now. This would work for still photography very well. Just an idea, got some investment money! We could make a fortune!

[Bestzoom]

I don't know if everyone has found this info, but I ran across it looking around. Seems to me from the information given at this site; this K-50 has the same equipment as the 30 and the 5. There is nothing new but a different shaped body. Unless there is a lot missing, this is a joke! We have a k-5 and a k-30 and this is old stuff packaged together. Sounds like the butchers Monday special! The boss must have told production that we are not coming out with anything "new" until all the spare parts are sold. Wrap them up in a new package and get them out the door!

This link gave all the details of the camera.

Haha....

Pentax is waiting for the D3200 sensor to be made available in its new flagship APSc K5IIs replacement....

Hopefully its not the same 16Mpx sensor again...

[LXNights]

Couldn't they have added improvements to the K30 and called it the K30 II like the K-5 etc...

[Clavius]

I don't know if everyone has found this info, but I ran across it looking around. Seems to me from the information given at this site; this K-50 has the same equipment as the 30 and the 5. There is nothing new but a different shaped body. Unless there is a lot missing, this is a joke! We have a k-5 and a k-30 and this is old stuff packaged together. Sounds like the butchers Monday special! The boss must have told production that we are not coming out with anything "new" until all the spare parts are sold. Wrap them up in a new package and get them out the door!

This link gave all the details of the camera.

Pentax K-50 DSLR camera leaks on retailer's website in France | Photo Rumors

And what's worse: Pentax tells us consumers to "be interesting", whilst they are quickly becomming the tiny boring clone of Canikon, instead of being the tiny but interesting and innovating oddball that they always were.

[Uluru]

And what's worse: Pentax tells us consumers to "be interesting", whilst they are quickly becomming the tiny boring clone of Canikon, instead of being the tiny but interesting and innovating oddball that they always were.

.
.

Isn't the K50 quite curious product even from that perspective — introducing something interestingly novel for Pentax: development with (tadaaa!) .. a plan!

What this really means is that is seems design and development teams have finally put their heads together, and are working with some good plan .. and not just rambling and wandering around with crazy ideas that hit the market and leave everyone scratching their heads about.

Pentax the crazy, Pentax the oddball, Pentax the square peg, Pentax the clown ... isn't necessary Pentax the truly innovating, and Pentax the smart. I prefer the latter. Only smarter, slightly tempered and refined Pentax can have more supporters, which will enable them to work on innovations.

[altopiet]

If the new camera body looks more like Canon or Nikon cameras, will that really matter? Do you actually buy stuff like that purely on looks? If that is what it takes to keep the K mount going, who really cares....?

[Kunzite]

I'm curious how many of those complaining this supposedly new Pentax is too bland or whatever were also complaining when Pentax made oddball products, and how many were actually accepting them. Because I have the feeling that Pentax can't win, no matter what they do - people will always complain.

[Clavius]

Pentax the crazy, Pentax the oddball, Pentax the square peg, Pentax the clown ... isn't necessary Pentax the truly innovating, and Pentax the smart.

When they were the oddball, they were very innovating indeed. They were the only ones with IBIS. They were the only system with WR. Were the only ones with quickshift. They were the ones with both affordability and very high quality. If a tiny company acomplishing all that is not innovative, then I don't know what is. And we owe all those cool features to the rambling and wandering developement teams that you mentioned.

Ohw well, maybe we're just spoiled and unrealistic in expecting them to keep it up. I guess trying to cashcow old developements into infinity while hoping that the competition will sit still is a plan too.

[Clavius]

I'm curious how many of those complaining this supposedly new Pentax is too bland or whatever were also complaining when Pentax made oddball products, and how many were actually accepting them. Because I have the feeling that Pentax can't win, no matter what they do - people will always complain.

That's funny. You yourself were the one complaining about the K20D a few posts back in this very thread. Whilst the K20D was many times better then any of its competing models at that time.

[Kunzite]

No, I wasn't complaining - I merely said it was "met with little enthusiasm by the market" (guess what, people complained it's just a K10D with a different sensor). I still have mine; though I plan to sell it together with the K-5.
I wouldn't call it an oddball product, either.

[RobA_Oz]

If we want Pentax to succeed as a brand, not to mention progress as a camera maker, it's obvious they have to sell into the market, and sell well. If that means having to pull their styling heads in for a while, then so be it. The K-01 was an interesting styling exercise, as well as being a CSC toe in the water for the K-mount, but it didn't work, probably because it attempted two innovations at once. Which aspect contributed to that failure is hard to say, but there was certainly a loud group here denigrating its appearance, right from the start. Nobody seriously decried the underpinnings, though, even if they could have been improved marginally, because they were already proven.

Now it seems we are about to have another, this time conservative styling attempt on proven underpinnings, and we're getting much the same negativity being expressed here, albeit for the diametrically-opposite reason. This is clearly an entry-level camera, intended either for people transitioning from film or less complex camera types, or as a second body for existing K-mount owners. It's not for enthusiasts or aficionados or well-off poseurs. The underpinnings are well-proven, and that means reliable, which is one of the things that new users want most. They're also getting a good package of features that will be hard for the bigger brands to match at the price.

Selling lots of these is going to do more to securing the future of higher-spec Pentaxes than quirky and interesting frolics like the K-01, as much as some of us have come to appreciate them. I'm not in the market for one of these, but I'd be comfortable recommending one to family and friends who want to make a start in DSLR use.