[savoche]

App functionality and WiFi on future Pentax DSLR.
1:Touchscreen UI
a: Picture recording app
b: Video recording app
c: Viewing app
d: Settings app
e: Preferences app
2: Ricoh/Pentax camStore - Camera app store.
a: Camera apps can be bought and downloaded directly onto the camera
b: Camera apps can be updated directly onto the camera
3: App examples
a: DOF app: Automatically calculates Depth of Field from the exif data provided by the camera
b: HDR app
c: Panorama stitch app
d: Focus stacking app
e: Filter simulation app
e: etc.

All I can think of is a DSLR with the battery life of my "smart" phone...

If you can put all of these features (or "features") into a camera without ruining a good user interface (which means physical, tactile buttons I can use without having to look) and without reducing the number of shots I can get on one battery charge then go ahead. If not, well, I'm all against it!

I so do not want to change batteries every half hour. Or wait a minute for it to boot every time you change batteries. Or having to boot because a memory leak in one of the apps made the damn thing freeze. We will think fondly back on the times when "mirror flapping" was our greatest fear

One thing that could be potentially useful is a custom "my menu" where you can collect your most frequently changed settings (I believe Nikon has this). But again, with a good button layout and usable user modes I don't really miss such a menu.

[nomadkng]

App functionality and WiFi on future Pentax DSLR.
1:Touchscreen UI - I so wouldn't want a touchscreen GUI. The ones on phones don't work (well enough - I;m tired of pushing something 4 times before it figures out that's what I want it to do), I sure don't want one on my camera
a: Picture recording app - isn't that the memory card?
b: Video recording app - isn't that the memory card?
c: Viewing app - isn't that the LCD screen?
d: Settings app - Menu?
e: Preferences app - User Settings?
2: Ricoh/Pentax camStore - Camera app store - for what? more apps that we can already do, but just feel like paying an extra 1.99 for?
a: Camera apps can be bought and downloaded directly onto the camera - for what? more apps that we can already do, but just feel like paying an extra 1.99 for?

b: Camera apps can be updated directly onto the camera --for what? more apps that we can already do, but just feel like paying an extra 1.99 for?
3: App examples
a: DOF app: Automatically calculates Depth of Field from the exif data provided by the camera - I already have this, it's called a laminated hyperfocal chart
b: HDR app - lets see, I have a choice between Photoshop doing this and a camera manufacturer doing this.... I choose Photoshop
c: Panorama stitch app - lets see, I have a choice between Photoshop doing this and a camera manufacturer doing this.... I choose Photoshop

d: Focus stacking app - lets see, I have a choice between Photoshop doing this and a camera manufacturer doing this.... I choose Photoshop

e: Filter simulation app - lets see, I have a choice between Photoshop doing this and a camera manufacturer doing this.... I choose Photoshop

e: etc.

this sounds like some of my clients, "yes we know the information is already there, we just want you to make a NEW form so that all the information can be somewhere else instead because we think it'll be more convenient to US"

[waterfall]

I have to say it. Is this a rumor about a future Pentax or a rumor about a future rumor? Sorry, my Logic and Philosophy class from decades ago seems to have made me a perennial skeptic.

[mee]

I have to say it. Is this a rumor about a future Pentax or a rumor about a future rumor? Sorry, my Logic and Philosophy class from decades ago seems to have made me a perennial skeptic.

It is a list of suggestions labeled as a rumor of things that they would like to see occur in the future.

I wish we could set whole threads to ignore and not see them in the list.. because this would be a good one to try out such a feature.

[RuiC]

Obviously I can't say much more than that because of that nasty NDA I signed, but what I enjoyed more on this new camera I'm testing is the VOICE COMMAND OPERATION control. It does wonders!! Unfortunately the camera collapsed when I gathered a few people for a group photo and shouted: " SAY CHEESE" and then kaboommm!!!

[thibs]

Or the future?

If you look at the GUI on Cell phones, Tablets, PC and what not, the GUI on DSLRs are stoneage. The same goes for connectivity.

Which is why it works very well.
Change your phone camera aperture setting in half a second without getting the eyes of the scene.
Call me when you managed to do it in 4 times what I asked you to.

[I won't wait more than a few years]

[noser]

All I can think of is a DSLR with the battery life of my "smart" phone...

If you can put all of these features (or "features") into a camera without ruining a good user interface (which means physical, tactile buttons I can use without having to look) and without reducing the number of shots I can get on one battery charge then go ahead. If not, well, I'm all against it!

That's one of the things I dislike most about a possible EVF or single glass UI panel on the back. Unless it's some monster-resolution OLED that really only sips power... that might work for some users.

I like that I can look through an OVF and just wait for the right moment, all the while getting the composition just right for very little battery drain.

[Kunzite]

Which is why it works very well.
Change your phone camera aperture setting in half a second without getting the eyes of the scene.
Call me when you managed to do it in 4 times what I asked you to.

[I won't wait more than a few years]

This reminds me of what the author of the C++ programming language has to say about certain "stoneage" stuff:

"Legacy code" often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling.

And in IT every day there's someone trying to sell you the latest and greatest, legacy-killer something. Much is promised, little is offered (and when it does work, usually it doesn't replace - but complement "legacy").

[DeadJohn]

I have to say it. Is this a rumor about a future Pentax or a rumor about a future rumor? Sorry, my Logic and Philosophy class from decades ago seems to have made me a perennial skeptic.

Psst, a confidential source told me that someone will start a new unfounded rumor about a rumor.

[Belnan]

Moderator, we are losing control in this forum.



We must be desperate.

[monochrome]

I wish we could set whole threads to ignore and not see them in the list.. because this would be a good one to try out such a feature.

Top of thread, small X next to small Printer. Click. Thread Ignored. Done and Done.

[gazonk]

That's the wrong direction for Pentax!

Here's what I'd like: A digital camera that looks EXACTLY like a Pentax LX - including the film advance lever - reincarnated to charge the batteries.

[Digitalis]

If you look at the GUI on Cell phones, Tablets, PC and what not, the GUI on DSLRs are stoneage.

You can't treat a camera like any other portable mass produced consumer device - it has been tried before and the real aficionados will always prefer hard programmed controls compared to soft ones. Physical tactile response from actual buttons allow professional photographers to work quickly and smoothly instead of wasting time by needing to activate some critical function on a touchscreen or digging through menus. For me tactile interfaces are by far the most intuitive.

[wullemaha]

If you look at the GUI on Cell phones, Tablets, PC and what not, the GUI on DSLRs are stoneage.

Well I would already draw a line between cellphones/tablets and PCs.
While the first 2 are consumer products that need to look nice and flashy, the latter is actually used for work in some cases.
And anybody else remembers the sh*tstorm that rained down on Microsoft for their "app-like" Windows 8 surface?
The first thing everybody tried to do was getting the thing back to looking and feeling like a "real" PC again.
And I don't know of any company actually using Win8 in a professional setting yet - it's a home-PC operating system only.

Same goes for cellphone vs. DSLR - the latter is more of a tool in my account.

You can't treat a camera like any other portable mass produced consumer device - it has been tried before and the real aficionados will always prefer hard programmed controls compared to soft ones. Physical tactile response from actual buttons allow professional photographers to work quickly and smoothly in stead of wasting time by needing to activate some critical function on a touchscreen or digging through menus. For me tactile interfaces are by far the most intuitive.

+1

If I want slow responses on gimmicky GUI that is flashy and colorful but does not add anything to the process of taking a picture, I will buy a smartphone.
If I want direct controls on how I take a picture (and as far as I know that's still only 4 things: shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focus), I buy a DSLR.

[troenaas]

I knew I was sticking my neck out then posting this thread. And I expected a real bashing, but it hasn't been as bad as I feared.

I don't have any experience from other camera forum sites. I've always used Pentax. I know that many of us have been waiting a long time for a Pentax FF camera. What I don't understand is the level of naysaying and doomsday predictions. But I guess that’s me!

What I predict at the beginning of this thread isn't necessarily what I want. It is what I think is inevitable. Technology evolves and impossible to stop. The cellphones today are very different from what they were 10 years ago. And the first Android based tablet was released in 2009, and the first iPad in 2010.. In 10 year’s time, cameras will be quite different from what they are today.

If a camera brand wants to attract the young into photography, and grow the brand, they will have to change the cameras both externally and internally. I think that the K-S1 is proof of this. You might not like it! I might not like! But it is what it is.

What I posted isn't necessarily what I want, but what I believe we will see in the future.

Some readers wants this thread removed, and that is fair enough. But if we look at other threads and especially comments, there is a huge amount of information that should be deleted.

Have a nice weekend and happy shooting!