[kadajawi]

Se can only hope it has been left out of the spec sheet my mistake then

However, are we sure that noise is the real reason it was disabled and not only what pentax told us ? I mean maybe there are other more "shameful" technical reasons like i don't know...overheating with prolonged use ? Or battery drain...or perhaps durability concerns...that forced the engineers to disable it, or to rework the system completely. Since there are some cameras with mechanical SR enabled, and to the best of my knowledge there are no more failures than then norm...i guess noise is the real reason then

It's possible, I suppose, I was wondering about that too. The official reason makes little sense... but my K-5 works, and I have shot a lot of video with it, always with SR, and some of them while walking or even running. My camera works. Battery drain... it lasts literally forever. 500 photos? 40 minutes of video? Still got enough battery left... and that was with one of those old sensors that ran pretty hot...

[VE2CJW]

One thing I find lacking is the fact that Pentax has not included a wired remote control socket on the KS2, I have that on the K30 and use it a lot. What a shame. By the way, has anyone seen the remote control application "Image Sync" somewhere, I'd like to look at it.

[i83N]

Full credit to @i83N for finding it.



If anything, the overall screen is thicker - the frame on the tilt screen looks pretty thick - I'd say at least 7mm, plus the plastic back of the camera, and there's a little space between the back and screen when closed. The screen only sticks out a couple mm. The old screen did have a pretty wide air gap between the LCD and glass. It's possible they just replaced the existing screen with the tilt screen without squeezing anything else, but it's tight.

I keeping my eyes constantly M.Kurosawas page, because he has some kind of accreditation from japanes camera manufactures that give him acsses to prototypes of new cameras models sometimes even befor officiall presentation.

[THoog]

I keeping my eyes constantly M.Kurosawas page, because he has some kind of accreditation from japanes camera manufactures that give him acsses to prototypes of new cameras models sometimes even befor officiall presentation.

The clear K-S2 probably has issues with light leaks, but I still want one!

[Not a Number]

The clear body is quite fascinating. You can see how densely packed the innards are. I know one member was redesigning the K-S2 to suit his/her tastes but if you look at the LCD screen it would not be possible to shift the buttons slightly to the left without using a different (smaller) LCD screen. And you can see how much more size the weather sealing adds. The air-gapless screen might have something to do with the design too. I wouldn't be surprised if the LCD screen is a standard item from some supplier. I looked at some Canons at Costco the other day and the frame on the LCD was about the same dimensions - just the wider frame area was on the hinge side.

[THoog]

The clear body is quite fascinating. You can see how densely packed the innards are. I know one member was redesigning the K-S2 to suit his/her tastes but if you look at the LCD screen it would not be possible to shift the buttons slightly to the left without using a different (smaller) LCD screen. And you can see how much more size the weather sealing adds. The air-gapless screen might have something to do with the design too. I wouldn't be surprised if the LCD screen is a standard item from some supplier. I looked at some Canons at Costco the other day and the frame on the LCD was about the same dimensions - just the wider frame area was on the hinge side.

Yeah, the LCD is probably an off-the-shelf component from the same parts maker Pentax has been using for years.

The question is: pictures of a K-S2 with a clear shell / no shell - are they art, or porn?

[kadajawi]

What I wonder is why they picked such a screen.

Just look at these photos of the S5 OLED screen.
https://hytparts.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/samsung-galaxy-s5-lcd-teardown-1.jpg
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/OmB2r3bgXHGJChNY

And another OLED screen:
http://mewsview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/samsung-flexible-oled-android...ne-display.jpg

These, mounted to a stiff metal plate and with a pane of gorilla glass on top (edge to edge), would make for a pretty nice screen IMHO... and one that is very thin. Some water sealing around the edges and done. It would look sexy, be thin and won't need a big border (the clear K-S2 IMHO shows that the LCD screen takes plenty of space).

As for image quality... yes, those Samsung displays are very saturated, but just because they _can_ be very saturated it doesn't mean they have to be all the time. The advantage is also a much bigger range of brightnesses (great for shooting at night), and, perhaps, bigger dynamic range. These displays are also ridiculously sharp. I can see the dots on my K-5 screen, I can't on say the Galaxy S5 screen).

So... any idea why they went for a conventional LCD screen, again? Samsung uses OLED screens on their cameras (though the main screen doesn't have a higher resolution than say the K-3...), but apart from them...

[THoog]

That's easy: Engineers like to stick to what they know. (or in other words, engineers are by definition geeks, and geeks HATE change!) Pentax has probably been using the same vendor's screen since they went to 3" with the only change being the air-gap-less screen, which may have been an innovation from the vendor. Switching to a different brand/technology would probably require a bunch of redesign of support components and firmware. Trying to make engineers give up a screen that they know and like would be harder than oh, making photographers give up AA batteries.

[kadajawi]

Erm. I consider myself a geek, and if I could I'd have a new phone every month. Or at least a new ROM. Or some other gadget. New toys to play with!

But yes, I can understand that they want to stick to what they have... camera makers seem rather conservative. I wonder how phone makers deal with it though... they are MUCH faster to adopt the latest technologies. They were quick to jump onto the OLED bandwagon... as soon as big enough screens could be produced. Sharp's IGZO screens that barely require a bezel? As soon as the tech became available, phone makers used it. And what happens when a phone maker makes cameras... which is what we see with Samsung. Will we constantly get the latest tech from them? Won't that make Pentax (and the others) seem not competitive when they keep using outdated technology?

[clackers]

camera makers seem rather conservative. I wonder how phone makers deal with it though... they are MUCH faster to adopt the latest technologies.

Really different customer mindsets, Kadajawi.


Mobile owners get a new phone every two years when their contract comes up - a recurring, already paid for, built-in upgrade cycle.


On this forum, there are people who still use *ists!

[THoog]

I don't know. Pentax may be able to survive sticking to solid, proven designs and gradual change, or they may go the way of car makers like Hudson or Packard - they made excellent cars, but they couldn't afford to change styling every year just to keep up with the latest fashion, and they couldn't beat the "big three" on price.

As others have said, phones are nearly disposable items, with the expectation that there will be a "new and improved" model every year/month/week/minute. There are always going to be those who want the latest and greatest phone or camera, but an awful lot of Pentaxians seem to be fairly resistant to change themselves. (I think my phone is coal-powered.) The question is whether that group is large enough to continue to be a profitable niche.

[kadajawi]

Really different customer mindsets, Kadajawi.


Mobile owners get a new phone every two years when their contract comes up - a recurring, already paid for, built-in upgrade cycle.


On this forum, there are people who still use *ists!

True, but OLED screens are less likely to get damaged (they are bendable for example), the only thing that hurts them is too much usage/burn in of on screen elements that are constantly being displayed. But how long is such a camera screen on overall? Especially on a DSLR? Yes, the device is used over a longer period of time, but a phone screen can be on several hours a day, every day. I doubt the same can be said of a DSLR. Also, for a device that will be used over a long period of time, isn't it better to have the latest and greatest? You'll be stuck with it for a long time, it better be good. (Reminds me for example of the new (European) Ford Mondeo/Fusion. The touchscreen interface is incredibly laggy. Push a button, and a second or two later something happens. That seems unacceptable to me. That is frustrating, and you have to live with that for 10-15 years?! I'm much more willing to accept sub-par performance/quality on something I'm only going to use for a year or two, rather than 5, 10, 15 years).

Ps: The last time I got a phone with a contract was... I think 11 or 12 years ago now. I buy my phones off contract, and sometimes second hand.

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

With respect to OLED screens, I'm perfectly happy with the screen on my K-3, but I'm always open to improvements. However, I don't have an OLED monitor to PP or view my photographs on. Would there be much of a mismatch between what I see on the rear OLED screen of a camera and an LCD/LED monitor?

[kadajawi]

With respect to OLED screens, I'm perfectly happy with the screen on my K-3, but I'm always open to improvements. However, I don't have an OLED monitor to PP or view my photographs on. Would there be much of a mismatch between what I see on the rear OLED screen of a camera and an LCD/LED monitor?

OLED screens are different, for sure. Blacks are deeper, colors can be more saturated. As for the rest it depends on the calibration, I suppose? I don't like the way Samsung sets up and calibrates their screens, but I'm sure Pentax could do a better job, create something that comes close to a calibrated monitor.

I have quite a mismatch between any of my displays, be it laptop, good 24" monitor (S-PVA), TV, phone with OLED screen, phone with LCD screen... a colorimeter would be a good thing to have. The OLED screen only stands out because of a pretty strong green tinge it has, but I think that can be fixed.

Btw., what _I_ want is something that is so good that I am happy to use it for a long time. For example my phone... though I bought it last year, it was launched in 2013. It is still one of the fastest devices on the market... not _the_ fastest, but you'll hardly feel the difference to a current flagship device, it reacts instantly to any button press. The screen is still a good screen. The camera is still a decent one. Most phones launched today would still feel like a downgrade. That's the ideal situation IMHO, I don't feel any need to get a new phone. That is why I think Pentax should use the best possible display they can find. The best possible CPU. etc. So that the usage experience even in 5 years time is a very pleasant one, one that doesn't make you feel "I wish I had that new camera...".

[Not a Number]

but an awful lot of Pentaxians seem to be fairly resistant to change themselves.

Amen. Look at all the reaction to the K-01 and K-S1 or even just putting "Ricoh" on the back of the K-3.