[RonHendriks1966]

Both electronic megagiants
no wonder some of us want simpler cameras. If only Pentax still had a warehouse of k-x chips to wire into updated safox/prime, M mode/DNG only. Or do we also 'demand' no safox, manual focus too w/split screen? And oh yes it has to be ugly* to keep forum chat strong!

* Like how I worked the K-s1 theme back into our thread? Was that wrong?

well I did mention Full Frame, so I hoped to spend 60 pages on that new topic.

[Aristophanes]

Notice that the two least camera-centric companies making cameras (Samsung, Sony) are the two that are further along with some of the ideas floated here in the past couple of pages.

You mean the lest optics-centric companies. Both have been making cameras for a long, long time.

There is no doubt the Japanese companies in particular (Sony is the most American of them) are caught in a "not invented here" rut of their own making, and Ricoh/Pentax with strong ties to only the domestic market is probably in a rut of a rut.

Even with video. The DSLR and the smartphone (both) started to destroy dedicated videocam sales. Add in GoPro and you have the perfect storm. But do Pentax, Fuji, and even Nikon beef up their systems to be major players? Not really. Fuji is video awful and I have been told firsthand that that impedes sales. They are soooo reluctant to tread on the videocam turf even if it is there for the taking. The Ricoh GR with an astounding WA lens should have been amped for video. I believe one reason why mirrorless sales have not been as much of a force as it was predicted was the very mediocre video offerings. Smartphones ate the mirrorless video lunch. The engineer and marketing firms in these companies are stuck in their Bento boxes.

The KS-1 adds a dedicated,l prominent video switch this time but no articulated screen. Frustrating to watch half-measures. Since the K-30 on the Pentax video and Live View has been really good (and LV focus speed has been excellent). But it is difficult to hold and track with a fixed screen. They are so close to true all-purpose products with superior retro functionality via k-mount. Pentax cameras have IBIS video stabilization for Pete's sake!

Video and wireless are holding things back IMO. And all of it needs to tie in strongly to mobile OS's much, much, much better.

[JPT]

Special site for the K-S1. By clicking the links on the right, you can see the different colour variations from some different angles and with different lenses.

PENTAX K-S1 ???????????RICOH IMAGING

I really think they should have made the rubber of the HDMI flap match the body colour.

[monochrome]

Interesting that they illustrate these with a series of nice primes and better zooms

[gazonk]

Special site for the K-S1. By clicking the links on the right, you can see the different colour variations from some different angles and with different lenses.

Nice, the more I see it the more I like it. The denim blue looks quite good, and what a surprise that they show it with what must be the oldest-looking current lens! (The DFA 50 macro)

[NicoleC]

Special site for the K-S1. By clicking the links on the right, you can see the different colour variations from some different angles and with different lenses.

PENTAX K-S1 ???????????RICOH IMAGING

I really think they should have made the rubber of the HDMI flap match the body colour.

That color collection is gorgeous. Very understated and rich looking, except the lime green with the black, which is just fun. No wonder they photographed most of them with their prettier lens -- the kit lenses are kinda ugly.


Those colors are squarely aimed at the Pinterest/Martha Stewart/Happy Homemaker crowd. Or at least that crowd in the US; I'm not sure how they translate overseas.

[monochrome]

Pinterest/Martha Stewart/Happy Homemaker crowd

Now that's an interesting take . . . . .

[Aristophanes]

That color collection is gorgeous. Very understated and rich looking, except the lime green with the black, which is just fun. No wonder they photographed most of them with their prettier lens -- the kit lenses are kinda ugly.


Those colors are squarely aimed at the Pinterest/Martha Stewart/Happy Homemaker crowd. Or at least that crowd in the US; I'm not sure how they translate overseas.

They are aimed to be the exact opposite of the Fuji X100 and Nikon Df retro design.




vs.

[mecrox]

I suspect 4K may be quite prominent at Photokina even if only as a means of shifting more cameras rather than as a practical utility for most folks. But in DSLRs? If the Milbeaut processors can't yet do it, then 4k will be on other things like bridgecams and more M43 cams perhaps.

I must say, a good bridgecam like the Lumix FZ1000 is looking very tempting for everyday and holiday things - 16x zoom, wifi, articulating screen, raw, 20 mpx 1" sensor, 4K video, sophisticated AF, macro mode - that's quite a bit to be getting on with while the DSLR boys argue over how many features they can leave off $$$ cameras and fight over whose rut is the ruttiest rut of them all. The Lumix isn't cheap at +/- $900, but how much would it cost to get comparable stuff on a DSLR which wouldn't be nearly so convenient anyway.

PS: I like the K-S1 going in the opposite direction from the Nikon Df or the Fuji "Old Bloke Specials". < extracts tinfoil hat from pocket ...>

[jimr-pdx]

Special site for the K-S1. By clicking the links on the right, you can see the different colour variations from some different angles and with different lenses.

PENTAX K-S1 ???????????RICOH IMAGING
.

Yet the website doesn't show the jade/coral/dark olive above. Curious!

[shaX 07]

I'd like to propose that nobody continue to claim to know who the K-S1 is designed for, and should generally accept that the Pentax K-S1 target audience is "Those of whom want to take photographs".

[DennisH]

I think the cotton beige, with the gray side and grip, would look great with a silver FA 43 or 77.

[normhead]

I suspect 4K may be quite prominent at Photokina even if only as a means of shifting more cameras rather than as a practical utility for most folks. But in DSLRs? If the Milbeaut processors can't yet do it, then 4k will be on other things like bridgecams and M43 perhaps.

I must say, a good bridgecam like the Lumix FZ1000 is looking very tempting for everyday and holiday things - 16x zoom, wifi, articulating screen, raw, 1" sensor, 4K video, sophisticated AF, macro mode - that's quite a bit to be getting on with while the DSLR boys argue over how many features they can leave off $750 cameras and fight over whose rut is the ruttiest rut of them all.

PS: I like the K-S1 going in the opposite direction from the Nikon Df or the Fuji "Old Bloke Specials". < extracts tinfoil hat from pocket ...>

Like the RX10, the FZ1000 features a 20MP 1"-type MOS sensor (and the suspicion has to be that it's a Sony chip), but, rather than the Sony's 24-200mm equivalent zoom range, the Panasonic reaches from 25 to 400mm equivalent. To stop the whole thing becoming enormous, the FZ1000's lens is slower than the Sony's: its maximum aperture rapidly drops from F2.8 towards F4.0 as you zoom in, but there are plenty of people who'll accept that decrease in return for the additional range.

Sensor dimensions...
13.2x 8.8 = 113.52 sq.mm
APS-c 23.5x 15.6=366.6 sq. mm

That's a 1.5 stop difference in light gathering ability....
But I 28 to 400 zoom is fantastic. Except 400 FF is 250 PAS-c so really it's 20-250 for us APS-c types. Still good... but not a birding option.

[stevebrot]

Those colors are squarely aimed at the Pinterest/Martha Stewart/Happy Homemaker crowd. Or at least that crowd in the US

Now that's an interesting take . . . . .

I thought the same thing as soon as I saw the colors arranged as "collections" in the same manner as furniture or window treatments and named after fabrics!


Steve

---------- Post added 09-04-14 at 09:57 AM ----------

Yet the website doesn't show the jade/coral/dark olive above. Curious!

Hmmm...good point! Perhaps there are a few other "collections"?


Steve

[THoog]

Yet the website doesn't show the jade/coral/dark olive above. Curious!

Maybe there will be other "collections" later in the production run? I kinda like the teal/jade with brown grip, but I will probably end up with the metallic blue.