[johnmflores]

FWIW, I spent two days this weekend playing NYC tour guide for my cousin and his wife. Millenials (on the older end of the spectrum), he brought a Canon T5i with an all-purpose zoom and portrait prime and a Samsung Galaxy S5. He's an accomplished photographer, making side money with head shots and portraits. And he has an eye for light and composition that I can only dream about.

We did the standard tourist things - MOMA, Times Square, Chinatown, Freedom Tower, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry, Greenwhich Village. I'd say about 70% of his photos were taken with the Samsung Galaxy and the remaining 30% with the Canon. And 100% of the social shots were taken with the Samsung for immediate (or within hours) sharing.

Is he aware of the difference in image quality between the two? For sure. Is he glad he brought along the Canon? I'd imagine yes, especially when he gets home and processes the photos.

Would he ever do a trip like this with just the Samsung? Not likely, at least as long as the smartphones continue to lag in low light, shutter delay, etc.

Would he ever do a trip like this with just a DSLR or mirrorless camera? Not likely, as least as long as cameras require extra steps to share photos on the cloud, because there's something addictive I think about being social and sharing your journey as you live it. In this environment, each additional step (transferring photos from one device to another, whether by card or wifi) compounded a dozen or more times through the course of the day becomes more effort than it is worth for most.

This reflects my own experiences while on motorcycle travel assignments. I used to take photos from the roadside with my smartphone. But I wanted better image quality so I bought an EyeFi card. But adding that one step repeated a dozen times in a day becomes too much of a hassle. Now, I'll try to do one image transfer/edit/post at lunch and one or two more in the evening. If I had a camera that had Snapseed and either wifi or a data plan I'd definitely use it several times a day.

Coud I see the KS-1 work well in this touristy situation? For sure. Just as well as the Canon T5i even though the T5i has a flip-twist screen.

I think people are misjudging the KS-1 because it's not striving to be a smartphone replacement. Most people, after all, are more practically and emotionally tied to their phones than their cameras. Striving for the hottest new phone has basically replaced getting a Camaro or Mustang. But as an adjunct to this phone-centric generation? Sure.


As an aside, it was interesting to see what devices people were using to capture memories of their trip to New York. Lots of smart phones and tablets of course, as well as DLSRs, mostly with kit zooms or similar. I did, however, see a fair amount of mirrorless cameras - notably from Samsun, Sony, Nikon 1. This is a cross-section of tourists from all over the world.

[Clothears]

People have accepted the lousy, front facing selfies, so it's going to be hard to get them to step up to a camera where selfies have to be done with a tripod and cable release. It's not going to happen. They won't trade their phones in for this, especially at this price, and especially considering the one way they could have continued their selfie sharing would have been a swivel LCD with Wi-Fi, which this body does not have.

In which case there's no point in doing anything to try to make selfies easier/possible on anything that is a capable camera (as opposed to any camera with poor optics). If it's a camera for taking quality pictures, let it be optimised for that, even if some features are left out of some models to reduce the price. Leaving features out also helps reduce the weight, which is a plus.

[stevebrot]

You can discuss Wi-Fi and hinged LCD's all night - I'd actually agree about a hinged LCD if commenters would just admit its purrpose is the same as a refconverter was in analog days. However, the number of posts referring to a hinged LCD as a selfie tool is astonishing - even from shooters! I really, truly think (except for the few users who would actually fill up a Pentax FluCard with files) in-camera Wi-Fi is a solution in search of a problem. Do we really want a 'Publish' button on a dSLR? Really?

There is another case for an articulating rear LCD...the overhead shot. That being said, I have long suspected that the persistent requests for a hinged rear LCD and Wi-Fi (and to a lesser extent GPS) are being made by users that feel diminished because Canon, Nikon, and Sony offer those features on their mid-tier models (70D, D5300, and A77II) and Pentax does not. The lack of these features result in a lower score at Consumer Reports and other similar resources and also leads to the inevitable "But what about..." comments when comparing camera features with relatives and friends.

For me personally, I would use these features:

• Rear LCD, fairly frequently for macro*
• Wi-Fi, never
• GPS, never
• In-camera publish, never

Steve

* I would probably not purchase such a camera however due to inherent issues with durability...been there, done that...

[RonHendriks1966]

I think you are forgetting some important things on making a camera more easy on making selfies. Yes the swiffelscreen helps, but the second sensor/lens module makes it a very different camera.


Me on the left at the concert of Miley Cyrus in Amsterdam. I actually bought the book.

This is only for one camera that serves the crowd that would want things like this next to having a serious camera in their hands.

Anyone any idea how expensive such a camera/lens module would coust to put on the back of the K-S2 and three ledlights?

[bobell69]

One of the Pentax Promos indicated that the new camera has excellent dynamic range. It will be interesting to see how the dynamic range on the K-S1 compares to the K5. If there is a marked improvement, then I think we will see a different side to this camera.

[Mistral75]

The ultimate weapon for selfies (inter alia):



Sony ILCE-QX1: E mount, Wi-Fi, NFC, works with your smartphone or tablet.



(don't shoot! )

[Kunzite]

So it's something that Pentax did it first, with the FluCard?

[normhead]

When that thing rolls off the table and over the edge into the valley below, those people are going to be very unhappy. A great example of modern design though. "Lets take something that used to be two pieces and make it 3 pieces. " "People will need more camera bags." Completely funded by the camera bag industry. Hey does that guy know he can take the same picture with the built in camera in his tablet? Now you can have a camera that looks like a 2x Teleconverter, but you still have to carry a 3 pound lens to use it. I have to admit though. With a 40XS on the front, it would be awesome. It would be lost before I used it even once. It's bad enough jut keeping track of the TCs. (What lens did I leave the TC on... let's see when did I last use it?)

What the heck is going on over there at Sony?

[chin261]

The ultimate weapon for selfies (inter alia):



Sony ILCE-QX1: E mount, Wi-Fi, NFC, works with your smartphone or tablet.



(don't shoot! )

hmm....

[konraDarnok]

I could see astrophotographers really digging the ILCE-QX1. . .or any other type of remote shooting.

[IchabodCrane]

When that thing rolls off the table and over the edge into the valley below, those people are going to be very unhappy. A great example of modern design though. "Lets take something that used to be two pieces and make it 3 pieces. " "People will need more camera bags." Completely funded by the camera bag industry. Hey does that guy know he can take the same picture with the built in camera in his tablet? Now you can have a camera that looks like a 2x Teleconverter, but you still have to carry a 3 pound lens to use it. I have to admit though. With a 40XS on the front, it would be awesome. It would be lost before I used it even once. It's bad enough jut keeping track of the TCs. (What lens did I leave the TC on... let's see when did I last use it?)

What the heck is going on over there at Sony?

I'll give them credit for trying but they sure do like to just throw things at the wall to see what sticks. Is that a Canon lens on that thing?

[Mistral75]

(...) Is that a Canon lens on that thing?

No, a Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS (E mount, optical stabilisation, 24x36 image circle).

[VoiceOfReason]

The ultimate weapon for selfies (inter alia):



Sony ILCE-QX1: E mount, Wi-Fi, NFC, works with your smartphone or tablet.



(don't shoot! )

I would use that for astrophotography. Looks perfect to stick on the back of my camera.

[monochrome]

Ya know, I think my tablet is too heavy to read a book on; to kludgy to type on without another 1lb. accessory keyboard attached (and always carried as a magnetic cover); just horrible as a camera (ergonomics); counter-intuitive as an interface-centric device (all those icons spread out over swipe pages, or, "Which Folder did I put that in?"); angst-worthy as a battery powered personal organizer (horrible apps, too).

In short, anybody want a Verizon iPad4s with only 467 clicks?

[normhead]

Ya know, I think my tablet is too heavy to read a book on; to kludgy to type on without another 1lb. accessory keyboard attached (and always carried as a magnetic cover); just horrible as a camera (ergonomics); counter-intuitive as an interface-centric device (all those icons spread out over swipe pages, or, "Which Folder did I put that in?"); angst-worthy as a battery powered personal organizer (horrible apps, too).

In short, anybody want a Verizon iPad4s with only 467 clicks?

After buying an iPad for a trip out west to do email and stuff on... my big question has been , what do I do with it now? With the FLUcard... ok half an hour later I'm bored... Apps, haven't found any I really like, I have the bird ID app, but a new bird turns up maybe once a year. When we go to the coffee shop, the wife likes it if I talk to her, not stare at some device. I do shopping lists on the notepad on my phone. I use it to show my friends pictures, maybe 5 times a year, but an iPad is a horrible thing to manage a picture library on. It basically requires the same library be maintained on my computer. I've had issues getting pdfs on and off of it. It's just a confusing piece of aggravation. Can you sell mine too?