[Stavri]

Can someone open a thread so we (current pentax K3 owners) can voice our desire to have Ricoh include some of the K3ii features (like pixel-shift, and improved AF) with firmware updates????

[JPT]

The Imaging Resource article on the high resolution technology implied that Ricoh is already planning to do this. But I think it would be unlikely that this would come until the K-3 II was already shipping. That would be May 22 in Japan.

[geomez]

Can someone open a thread so we (current pentax K3 owners) can voice our desire to have Ricoh include some of the K3ii features (like pixel-shift, and improved AF) with firmware updates????

It is a noble cause but I don't think it'll go anywhere. There are essentially four things this new camera has that the K-3 does not. GPS, pixel shift, better SR, and hypothetically better AF.


I don't think they'll concede any of those new features if it means people buying vastly cheaper K-3s over K-3 IIs.


Worth a try nevertheless

[Stavri]

It is a noble cause but I don't think it'll go anywhere. There are essentially four things this new camera has that the K-3 does not. GPS, pixel shift, better SR, and hypothetically better AF.


I don't think they'll concede any of those new features if it means people buying vastly cheaper K-3s over K-3 IIs.


Worth a try nevertheless

I agree 100%, If the K3 had some of the software features of the K3ii, it will not make the upgrade as desirable. Maybe i'm naive but I'm a believer of the "Ricoh listens to their consumers" philosophy, hopeful they might indulge K3 users. I guess time will tell.

[IchabodCrane]

FWIW, the move away from an on-camera flash indicates, I think, an increased interest in picking up professional photographers. When was the last time you saw a professional photographer use an on-body pop-up flash? Never to almost never. Most of the time professionals aren't even mounting flash units on top of a camera unless it's to bounce it.

Well if they thought removing the built-in flash would attract more professionals, why did they then put the GPS onboard? Pros don't use that, either.

[JimC1101]

Can someone open a thread so we (current pentax K3 owners) can voice our desire to have Ricoh include some of the K3ii features (like pixel-shift, and improved AF) with firmware updates????

What is intriguing to me is what was mentioned in Photo Rumors, not the best source, of course, regarding pixel shift technology:


"There are also unconfirmed rumblings that this technology could be rolled out to other older Pentax and Ricoh branded cameras via a firmware update. "

I have not seen anything definite yet, this was sent a month or so ago, but if they can do that in the K-3, or other Pentax cameras for that matter, Pixel Shifting will be a feature to all cameras.

[wed7]

The APSC DSLR market seems to be the only one people blow a gasket when they hear a model doesn't have a built in flash.


M43 bodies: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Sells like hotcakes.

APSC mirrorless: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Sells like crazy.

APSC DSLR: OMG, NO BUILT-IN FLASH! THEY WILL SELL ZERO. PENTAX IS DOOMED!

FF mirrorless: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Innovation.

FF DSLR: no built-in flash. All the pros buy them. Everybody else wants them.


A little silly don't you think?

You nailed it!

[gazonk]

This is the perfect camera for absolute newbies - they won't risk looking stupid firing the flash at faraway subjects

[Zygonyx]

Excellent !

[JimC1101]

You nailed it!

Well, two things, number one, we are going to see the same thing when the FF come out without a flash....but we already discussed it in February and the results were pretty much the same. The Nikon D810 and I believe the D610 are both FF with on board flash so it is not that only FF don't have on board flash.


Secondly, and it is nice to see how things have toned down since yesterday when we had a war so that is good. I don't think there is any right or wrong in this, some of us want GPS, some of us wanted on board flash, and neither of us were wrong. We all look for the different options in a camera, and before someone says if you want a FF flash then say "Buy a Nikon". I don't want to change brands and I am happy with Pentax, but there was just a little disappointment for all the conveniences that could have been there.


It will be interesting to see the poll on how the K-3II will reflect an on board is or is not important for this camera. I hope that if the poll shows that it will be a disappointment or they will not buy, I hope a lot of people wont say that we are crazy and don't know what we are talking about, we should just all want GPS and flash is crap so it should have been dropped all along. To each his own and that is what is most important.


For what it is worth, I am disappointed in the poll that there is no flash, but I was disappointed that there was no wifi because Pentax has now added wifi in the S2 but I am not going to be such a hater that I will not consider the K-S3II. I just want everything so that there would be no question that it is the top of the line flagship with all options available and make the Canikon people be envious, regardless of whether everyone would use it of benefit or not.

[NotaxPen]

You nailed it!

I would disagree. The APSC market fits a space between mirror-less and pro-oriented full-frame. Many want the ability to have better quality than mirror-less, but they also don't want to carry around all the larger, heavier pro equipment. I'll use an external flash on a job, but I'm not going to carry an external flash with me everywhere.


The K3 fits a unique sweet spot. I can use it on a job with the grip, a large lens like the DA* 50-135, and a flash attached, and then I can take it on vacation with the grip removed, a small limited lens, and the built in flash. GPS does absolutely nothing to improve the quality of a photograph. Balancing the light and shadows with flash makes a HUGE difference in many cases.

[vcollerp]

That kinda makes sense.

OGPS-1 is a pretty big bit of hardware. Cramming it into a K-3 body means something had to give.

Here is the answer from the Ricoh press Q&A sheet for the announcement.




Why did you remove the flash unit from the K-3 II?Because we needed space to install the GPS module.

[mikeSF]

This is the perfect camera for absolute newbies - they won't risk looking stupid firing the flash at faraway subjects

well, there is that.

[RonHendriks1966]

This is the perfect camera for absolute newbies - they won't risk looking stupid firing the flash at faraway subjects

I would buy it if had a flash. I mean........You can't even put in fillflash with on board flash when doing your average night of astro-photography. How can you make descend images of those stars?

[Rorschach]

Well, two things, number one, we are going to see the same thing when the FF come out without a flash....but we already discussed it in February and the results were pretty much the same. The Nikon D810 and I believe the D610 are both FF with on board flash so it is not that only FF don't have on board flash.


Secondly, and it is nice to see how things have toned down since yesterday when we had a war so that is good. I don't think there is any right or wrong in this, some of us want GPS, some of us wanted on board flash, and neither of us were wrong. We all look for the different options in a camera, and before someone says if you want a FF flash then say "Buy a Nikon". I don't want to change brands and I am happy with Pentax, but there was just a little disappointment for all the conveniences that could have been there.


It will be interesting to see the poll on how the K-3II will reflect an on board is or is not important for this camera. I hope that if the poll shows that it will be a disappointment or they will not buy, I hope a lot of people wont say that we are crazy and don't know what we are talking about, we should just all want GPS and flash is crap so it should have been dropped all along. To each his own and that is what is most important.


For what it is worth, I am disappointed in the poll that there is no flash, but I was disappointed that there was no wifi because Pentax has now added wifi in the S2 but I am not going to be such a hater that I will not consider the K-S3II. I just want everything so that there would be no question that it is the top of the line flagship with all options available and make the Canikon people be envious, regardless of whether everyone would use it of benefit or not.

Where's the poll?

---------- Post added 24th Apr 2015 at 11:27 ----------

I would disagree. The APSC market fits a space between mirror-less and pro-oriented full-frame. Many want the ability to have better quality than mirror-less, but they also don't want to carry around all the larger, heavier pro equipment. I'll use an external flash on a job, but I'm not going to carry an external flash with me everywhere.


The K3 fits a unique sweet spot. I can use it on a job with the grip, a large lens like the DA* 50-135, and a flash attached, and then I can take it on vacation with the grip removed, a small limited lens, and the built in flash. GPS does absolutely nothing to improve the quality of a photograph. Balancing the light and shadows with flash makes a HUGE difference in many cases.

Good for you. However, there is much more to a photograph than just image quality. A photograph is very often a story, especially when it is linked both to time and space, a location. Then it can be connected to things that happened there and then, people, events and so on. GPS makes that very smooth. Also, it's not just the photographer himself who might need that location info, it could be his grandchildren or their children. Unless this kind of info is embedded into the image itself, it is very easily lost for ever.

Additionally, many photographers have huge boatloads of quite similar images from quite similar locations and it is impossible to remember any useful location infos after a surprisingly short time has passed. I have image mountains like this from my real job. They depict field research sites for site documentation purposes. Most of them are quite boring but all of them are very useful. Too bad GPS integration wasn't yet available when 90% of them was shot.