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Professional support really is only a thing for sports photographers, isn't it? Other professional users wouldn't get support anyway. I'd say ignore the sports crowd, the cameras aren't suitable for that anyway. I do think plenty of professional users need good video. They may be hired to do both at the same time, and if they can't, well, there's a competitor that does it. Job offers I've seen recently more or less say "people who don't do video too need not apply".
Pentax is not competitive in the video sector, and it does not matter how good they are for stills. In any case any DSLR takes good enough stills, and has for the past 5 years at least.
The weird thing is that it's mostly software tweaks that could make Pentax competitive. Nikon uses pretty much the same hardware and gets better results. Sony too, though their processor is a better one, giving them a nice advantage. Invest a bit in the firmware, hire people who actually do video and know what is needed on the semi-professional to professional market (instead of thinking video users are absolute beginners in that segment).
Canon can't go all in on video, because they intend to sell cameras at 2x the price because they have a few firmware tweaks optimizing them for video, and they have really expensive cameras to protect. Sony is in a similar position, though I don't see how they artificially limit the pretty amazing A7S (unlike Canon, who does do that). Panasonic has a professional video arm too, but is still able to do such a hybrid camera with a reasonable price tag. Olympus seems to start to get it, Nikon has gotten the memo but is moving a bit slow. Pentax seems to not care, not notice, I don't know.
EVFs do get better all the time. I could imagine a 3 color OLED screen that uses a prism or so to combine the colors (i.e. 3 CCD/CMOS sensor cameras in reverse). That way you can stack the 3 different colours on top of each other, drastically improving pixel density. The A7 is already pretty good, though I still, at this point, prefer a good OVF.
Sony is just randomly trying things, throwing them at a wall, and see what sticks, but that works well. (But Pentax is probably not in a position to do so).
I'd be excited by a 4K APS-C Pentax DSLR or mirrorless with improved shake reduction (especially towards rotation). Basically the sensor has to be exactly 4096 pixels wide (and 2730 high), i.e. an 11 MP sensor.
Video stuff:
Enable shake reduction for video. Clean HDMI with 4K resolution (4096x2160) and 10 bit video. That way a 1.9:1 aspect ratio 4K video for movie productions can be used with 1:1 pixel mapping, leading to a very sharp picture devoid of aliasing etc. (Other resolutions, like 16:9 would simply be cropped). 11 MP is plenty (just look at the Sony A7S everyone goes ooooh and aaaah over), in turn you get pretty good low light capabilities and dynamic range. Not as good as the A7S, but better than most other cameras. The same camera could also be offered with a different sensor, like 24 MP, for people who require more stills resolution, rather than better low light capabilities. Basically "imitate" the Sony A7 A7R A7S family. A minimum of 3 options for 1080p recording: 1. Read all pixels, bin them together. Gives a sharp picture with minimum aliasing and moire. Rolling shutter just like in 4K mode. Very low noise, good dynamic range. 2. Only read the needed pixels. Very fast readout allowing high frame rates as well as eliminates rolling shutter, at the expense of artefacts like aliasing and moire, noise, etc.. Sometimes one, sometimes the other is preferable (if you're moving very fast with the camera, in a shaky handheld way, you won't ever notice the aliasing or moire, but you will very much notice the rolling shutter wobble. 3. Punch in zoom... take a 1920x1080 crop from the center of the sensor. 4. Varying steps between 1 and 2.
Allow fine control over the shake reduction, again giving several options at least. In 1080p there can be no SR (uncropped or cropped sensor turning it into a 2x crop/mFT size), movie SR (electronic, sensor cropped (2x crop)) and sensor shift based SR (cropped or uncropped), as well as a hybrid SR (cropped, having the sensor shift balance out fast movements, and the movie SR do slow movements as well as moving the sensor back into center position). Different amounts of stabilization can be configured, from handheld look to glidecam/steadicam look, with a button being available to indicate the camera one is going to pan now (so the sensor doesn't bounce back after a pan). On screen indicators telling where the sensor is in relation to the range of motion it has.
Allow different recording options, ranging from h264 (with various quality settings, including 10 bit h264) for regular consumers/when you need to take a lot, to MJPEG or h264 with I-frames only, to ProRes or raw. Give plenty of options. Heck, why not let users plug in a SSD to the USB 3.0 socket and let them write videos and photos onto that?
Stills stuff:
Implement features that for example take a few photos in short succession with the sensor being shifted slightly, in order to increase resolution once the photos are processed ON THE COMPUTER. The sensor could for example pixel, to eliminate the need for a bayer filter (in this case it could probably stitch the raw file in camera, with color information for every pixel, like that Foveon sensor). Likewise a mode that shifts the sensor as much as possible in order to if possible fill a full frame image. No processing needed on the camera. Though a preview would be nice perhaps (like a preview button that does it in liveview and quickly stitches the photos so you get an idea of the frame).
I also liked the idea of using a bigger viewfinder, maybe full frame sized, on an APS-C camera. Use a custom LCD screen to create overlays marking down the frame you'd get in the stitching mode, or that you get with APS-C (with what's outside being either being dimmed down or a line around the APS-C frame). That way you get something like what rangefinder users enjoy... an idea of what's almost in the frame, what is going to be in the frame soon, etc. Makes it easier to await the right moment.
Built in GPS is a given, it would be very neat. Likewise WiFi with an API (!) that lets others write software for smartphones, tablets and computers to control the camera. The amount of control must be excessive. Basically it would be very neat to write scripts for the camera or have a UI that lets you click one, combining things like the pixel shifting with exposure rows (automated perhaps? The camera takes a test photo and then determines what the optimal exposures are to get everything well exposed), sensor shift to extend the frame, focus stacking etc. Let people get creative and extend the functionality of the camera. Heck, Pentax could do an app store and earn a bit through these. The camera could take 3D photos automatically through such a system, create depth maps, i.e. Would that be something everyone would use? Of course not. But some people would. And depending on the functionality that gets added there could be something for everyone. A product photographer for jewellery could set up everything once, create a script/use a program that takes a photo with the right amount of DoF and high dynamic range and sharpness, start the script, the camera takes several photos, replace the product and start the script again. File names would be named so it's clear what belongs together and what the settings were (to make it easier to join the data). An interior photographer could have the camera take wider angle photos, and create a "video" by taking several photos with a predetermined motion, shifting the sensor from one side to the other (so it looks like the camera was on a slider). Astrophotographers can track stars (they can already with the GPS unit, but I'd guess you can do more if it's controlled by a computer).
Mirror lock up with electronic shutter, for street photographers perhaps. Or wedding photographers who are trying to shoot in a church without having the camera make a massive noise.
Basically move the camera up a notch, make it a professional tool for people who seriously invest in achieving the best quality/an optimized workflow. Later they can do the same camera with a larger sensor, and they can integrate the same stuff in the 645Z (to a certain extend, especially the API, and maybe the sensor shift, which may be used less to do shake reduction than to allow the other things it makes possible) successor. Such a move could also hurt Canikon, as they don't provide high end APS-C cameras. And Pentax would leave the K-50/500 more room to breathe.
Now people may criticize these ideas for being too nerdy and difficult, complicating the camera, that they just want to take great photos... Your computer is able to do a ton of stuff. Your smartphone too. Depending on your needs you install what you need. You activate what you need. There's no reason why Pentax could not have an option that lets you select which features you want to be able to access. Or levels of user, i.e. you can say if you're a beginner, intermediate, professional etc. user for both stills and video. Have a mode that goes excessive in terms of options, that holds nothing back out of fear it may confuse users. A Here be Dragons mode.
Oh, and of course their distribution and marketing team needs to really get going. Where are the incentives for sales people in shops? Pay them to push the cameras out there, Canikon does it. Get the cameras in stores.
Last edited by kadajawi; 08-11-2014 at 02:09 AM.
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Originally posted by Adam 
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