[Cynog Ap Brychan]

What is the point of this "armor" besides making the camera really ugly and the controls more difficult to operate?

Is that a serious question?

[kenspo]

Hate to sound like a broken record, but it looks like you've been vindicated yet again Ken.

Thank you I will always tell what i can and never pretend to know more then i do! I didnt ask deeper about the meaning of this body armour, but im shure they will tell more them self, when people starts to ask.

[edri]

The one for the K-S1 just appeared one day, Edri, before the product release.

Thanks, so at the beginning of March.

[kadajawi]

What is the point of this "armor" besides making the camera really ugly and the controls more difficult to operate?

The material looks like TPU or silicon. If it is TPU that's what is used for smartphones to protect them from drops. Citroen uses TPU for the exterior of one of their cars, it protects it from small bumps etc.

Likewise silicon, it protects too. Both also make the camera less slippery.

[rawr]

Camera body armour can also help muffle camera shutter/mirror noise.
So it can have a variety of uses.

[totsmuyco]

I thonl the armor are for people who don't like scratches on their cameras. Like kadajawi said it will protect your camera like they o. On smartphones.

[Kunzite]

TPU or silicon? Completely unsuitable for a "camera body armour". Make it Chobham armour, and we'll talk.

[kadajawi]

The reason I use TPU or silicon is to protect my phone from the sort of drops that shatter the screen. Scratches I don't care so much about. That's also why I have a pane of tempered glass on my screen. It is supposed to crack before the display does.

Not sure how a DSLR would be protected, I suppose the things that damage it are different.

[cbope]

I thonl the armor are for people who don't like scratches on their cameras. Like kadajawi said it will protect your camera like they o. On smartphones.

It gives the illusion of protection. Dust and grit will find its way between the body and armor, and by handling it you are literally grinding this material into the body finish over time.

Kind of like the car bras from the 80's, ever remove one of those after a year or two? The paint underneath is basically ruined. Or, you removed it and cleaned underneath everytime you washed your car, and the constant removal and replacing the bra damaged the paint.

[AtitG]

I don't think its an armour. I expect this to come in 10 colours in typical pentax fashion with a limited edition hello kitty design

[severalsnakes]

Well, I agree that the "armor" probably makes the camera more difficult to use, but if you're set up for shooting and ready to go and not fiddle with buttons, I'm sure it's great. My K-30 is beat to shit. I've taken tumbles with it, I've dropped it, it's bounced around at the bottom of my bag and in the passenger seat of my car. It has scratches, chips, and a pretty good chunk of the "horn" broken off just under the pop-up flash. If it had been wearing the armor, it would look a hell of a lot better than it does now.

Critique and finding the negative aspects are certainly things that come pretty easily to some people. I prefer to be optimistic.

[robtcorl]

Well, I agree that the "armor" probably makes the camera more difficult to use, but if you're set up for shooting and ready to go and not fiddle with buttons, I'm sure it's great. My K-30 is beat to shit. I've taken tumbles with it, I've dropped it, it's bounced around at the bottom of my bag and in the passenger seat of my car. It has scratches, chips, and a pretty good chunk of the "horn" broken off just under the pop-up flash. If it had been wearing the armor, it would look a hell of a lot better than it does now.

Critique and finding the negative aspects are certainly things that come pretty easily to some people. I prefer to be optimistic.

lol, remind me not to loan you a camera.

---------- Post added 02-15-15 at 08:12 AM ----------

looking at the armor pic, why does camera condom come to my mind?

[severalsnakes]

lol, remind me not to loan you a camera.

Why, because I'll take it everywhere with me and use it all the time? :-P Fair enough!



We're happy together, me 'n my camera.

I would consider the body armor, depending on the price point. And yes, I would absolutely want to buy it in a fun color. Why not?

Haters gonna hate.

[bobmaxja]

TPU(Urethane) is not use in these application . They use now TPO(olefin) , a lot easier to mold and cheaper material

[Marktax]

"Actually, they definitely were thinking "selfies" although I don't think their marketing stuff uses that term."

I'll stand corrected on my comment that they weren't thinking selfies, given the info about the w-fi button conversion to shutter button, which I didn't know about. But my main point -- which perhaps I did not make well enough -- had been that I do not think that the K-S2 was rush-developed after observing possibly low K-S1 sales, and making the K-S2 selfie-capable for that reason alone. I think the K-S2 was in design as an articulating screen replacement for the K-50 even as K-S1 was just being marketed. I would have to hear Pentax say that K-S2 was a K-S1 rescue mission before I thought otherwise.

That the w-fi button converts to shutter button, I am actually jubilant about, because it is exactly the kind of out-of-the-box, quirky-yet-useful idea that Pentax is so good at. It's a very cool touch. And perhaps it's in the nick of time, too. Today (2-15-15), The New York Times has a page-one story on selfie sticks being BANNED from museums. And I quote: "One by one, museums across the United States have been imposing bans on using selfie sticks for photographs inside galleries (adding them to existing rules on umbrellas, backpacks, tripods and monopods), yet another example of how controlling overcrowding has become part of the museum mission." This is only going to spread to other kinds of locations as people continue to knock things over, poke strangers in the head, etc. with their selfie sticks. The K-S2 wi-fi button swap to shutter button is a very timely development. Good for them yet again.