[mamethot]

I believe that the hump dissimulates a motor for the spin cycle, needed for the theta attachment.

[RonakG]

Okay, so before the reality dampens the rampant speculation:

The hump is a wifi receiver and sending unit. This is needed, because the LCD screen is removable and usable as a remote with full depth-of field preview as well as focus peaking. This allows birders and astro-photographers to leave the rig set up and take pictures from afar... a gimbal mount controllable tripod will be announced simultaneously. This way you don't need to be near the rig to take pictures. It also feeds into the 'selfie' obsession where you can see exactly how the picture will look in real time before taking it (since real outdoors people (the pentax niche) are often on their own in the wilderness. Also, they've rammed a GPS tracking unit as well as a superior flash unit in there... just for good measure.

Cheers,

Removable LCD screen sounds way better than swivel screen. Kudos to Ricoh if this is true.

[Fogel70]

@Fogel70: Dedicated video cameras usually suck. No matter how expensive. Unless you go for something like a Black Magic, RED, ... but those aren't exactly meant for consumers. A dedicated video button would make very much sense, the K-5 is a great video camera that can easily beat Canon, all that is missing is a dedicated video button and some small firmware changes. Besides, you could always reconfigure the video button to something you want. They could even allow us to use the Fx button for video recording, I'd be happy with that. But sadly no one at Pentax shoots video... huge missed opportunity. I hope that stupid mode dial is cheap to fix, cause it won't last long because of the stupid lack of a video button.

I agree that a multi-function button could be configured as a video button, but that's not the same as a dedicated video button.
I dislike the dedicated LV button on my camera, and would prefer it as a multi-function button that I could configure for something that I use more often.

[VisualDarkness]

I think the hump is a stun gun, for those "hard to catch subjects".

[rawr]

"The hump" under different lighting

It looks like it may have a removable rubber cover, which looks quite large. The size and barrel shape resembles the connector plug on the front of the D800, which is there for the Nikon 10 pin 'Remote Terminal Connector', used to connect accessories like remote controls, GPS devices etc.

[Tesla]

MF / AF Only?

Thats lame, i realy do like the fast and good working idea with the lever on my K5, but AF/MF only seems a bit lame for some flagship DSLR...

Still there, but AF mode is now button. I think a button would be easier to use.

[johnmflores]

Oh god. I'd love to see a Newson designed DSLR! The last time they let a famous industrial designer do a DSLR this happened:



Ever since cameras looked the way they do now. And that was Colani, who I'm not so much a fan of. Newson is however is pretty good.

Ageed.

[Asahiflex]

It looks like it may have a removable rubber cover, which looks quite large. The size and barrel shape resembles the connector plug on the front of the D800, which is there for the Nikon 10 pin 'Remote Terminal Connector', used to connect accessories like remote controls, GPS devices etc.

This picture indeed supports your thoughts:

[Fogel70]

Still there, but AF mode is now button. I think a button would be easier to use.

It will be easier to use a button, and the button could have dual function.

Button + rear wheel switch between AF-S and AF-C, and button + front wheel switch between: auto AF points, selected AF points or center AF point.
The mechanical AF point switch is also difficult to use.

The only reason to keep the mechanical switch for MF/AF is because in MF the screw-drive has to be disengaged from the lens.

[kadajawi]

I agree that a multi-function button could be configured as a video button, but that's not the same as a dedicated video button.
I dislike the dedicated LV button on my camera, and would prefer it as a multi-function button that I could configure for something that I use more often.

I use the Lv button frequently cause for work I shoot with a tripod and need perfect focus, need to get into tight spots where I can't see anything through the viewfinder, ... but I can see that being able to reassign it to something else may make sense for some. I don't have any use for the Fx button... I have assigned it with a feature I rarely use... would have no problem using it through the menu though. But video mode I use very frequently, and I also very frequently switch between video and photo.

I wouldn't want a removable, rotateable screen. I would want WiFi though, with an Android app + SDK. Then there could be applications that give you the possibility to script certain things for example, and you could get some really extreme angles. Say you want to use the sensor shift to take several photos covering the biggest possible area, and do it while taking a HDR with focus stacking covering a certain range (that the app has calculated for you). Hit the button once and boom, 100 new photos that can be processed into one.

It'd be nice if Pentax could find some great industrial designer who is actually a passionated photographer/videographer too. Let him design a camera. I think the result could be pretty great... with some nice out of the box thinking that still benefits the photographers who are going to use it.

[dankoBanana]

Okay, so before the reality dampens the rampant speculation:

The hump is a wifi receiver and sending unit. This is needed, because the LCD screen is removable and usable as a remote with full depth-of field preview as well as focus peaking. This allows birders and astro-photographers to leave the rig set up and take pictures from afar... a gimbal mount controllable tripod will be announced simultaneously. This way you don't need to be near the rig to take pictures. It also feeds into the 'selfie' obsession where you can see exactly how the picture will look in real time before taking it (since real outdoors people (the pentax niche) are often on their own in the wilderness. Also, they've rammed a GPS tracking unit as well as a superior flash unit in there... just for good measure.

Cheers,

I hate you now I'm hoping for this

[filoxophy]

It looks like it may have a removable rubber cover, which looks quite large. The size and barrel shape resembles the connector plug on the front of the D800, which is there for the Nikon 10 pin 'Remote Terminal Connector', used to connect accessories like remote controls, GPS devices etc.

There certainly appears to be a removable cap there, but I'm asking myself why it seems so "camouflaged" unlike e.g. the mic port. Yes, most access points on the K-7/5 are flush with the body, but this is actually under the grip material itself. That says to me that it's an infrequently accessed point. I think I'm more excited about the possibility of WiFi, etc, being hidden under that hump than an accessory port, but whatever it is, it's new! (And new is always good! )

[crewl1]

That says to me that it's an infrequently accessed point.

It is a service access port for the new K-3 AF motor.
Sorta works like the 5 screws on the back of SDM lenses for infrequent access to the AF motor.

[kadajawi]

I hate you now I'm hoping for this

Why not use a smartphone for this? Adding a battery, wireless transmitter etc. to the actual camera screen would be waaay too expensive, but adding WiFi and an app+SDK? That may add a few dollars at most. Many have a smartphone or tablet, so they could make use of this, and if not, they can still buy something. The screen on my smartphone is way better than the one on the K-5. I'd love to be able to attach it to my camera to shoot video... getting the focus right would be so much easier!

And if we want to go further than that, make it so that you can still use the camera screen while using the smartphone/tablet, and let the smartphone/tablet control the AF motor... including the speed it focuses at. Basically integrate focus pulling capabilities, or make it possible to add them at low cost. That and a few more video centric features and I'm sure indie filmmakers will drop their Canons and switch to Pentax. The funny thing is that such features do not have to cost so much money to implement, and they also (in parts) benefit photographers. Most video issues of current Pentax cameras come from a lack of trying. Small firmware updates could fix a ton of things, but Pentax isn't bothered fixing these issues, thus driving away many potential customers.

[Na Horuk]

Wow. cool images, but lots of speculation - some is sensible, some is pretty out there. I think we are again setting up wrong expectations. The camera looks cool, but Ill wait for official confirmation on specs and features rather than speculate too much