[shardulm]

hmmm lots of dials and buttons. It also seems like a polycarbonate body (K-x ish) if you will. I am now seriously thinking this thing would be priced lower than expected. From what I could extrapolate from the pricing of the DA*lens to K-3/K-3ii bodies... The bodies are consistently less expensive or on par with the lens prices. SO given a 24-70 2/8 is going for $1300 right now.. I am thinking this body is going to priced around $1100 or between $1100-$1300 and or soon will get in that range if not at the time of launch. If that is even remotely true then its a killer price for a full frame and I am sure it will have super resolution coming with it which pretty much puts the competition to sleep.
If any of what I said is even remotely true then things are looking very interesting. Nikon should start worrying about this launch. Canon is not in the same league (far behind from) as Nikon and Pentax as far as IQ is concerned.. So they need not worry as their cameras have no competition (pun intended).

Overall this suspense is killing me..... ugh... Deep Breath and Say "Auuuuuuuummm.........." .

---------- Post added 10-23-15 at 10:56 AM ----------

But having 3 times control of the same parameters, adding complexity and chance of bugs/reliability issues over time, it's just not neat.

How do you know? Button-ing out controls from the software menu make things faster and more reliable. So having buttons as against more menu items is a good thing IMHO.

[Kunzite]

It looks like mag alloy shell (with stainless steel chassis), and no, it can't possibly be that cheap.

[Alizarine]

has anyone seen any comment here by Kenspo or asahiman yet?

Anyway, what's this mythical being come to life? Pentax FF? What is this, Jurassic Park for cameras? A dead brand come alive again! (though really, once those young C/N/S fanboys hear of this... They'll immediately dismiss it again)

[filmamigo]

I LOVE this design. It's a great way to give folks who prefer direct manual controls what they want, while delivering modern configurability.

hinman, being able to dial up ISO is exactly how I would use this function. I miss having a dedicated ISO dial, instead of the button. So this new customizable control scratches the itch for me. Others will feel differently -- that's the beauty of this design, everyone can be catered to.

Glad to see Pentax doing some innovative work on camera interfaces again. The PZ1p was a leader in establishing the current interface (dual control wheels in an electronic camera) and the MZ-S was the last attempt at innovation.

There are few labels that seem intriguing but not obvious to me


Picture copied from Rico on Page 4

Wifi
Crop
SR
Grid (?)
HDR
BKT
CH/CL (? something high/low)
ISO
+/- (?)

ISO function seems redundant. Pixel Shift will be quite awesome if it is made available on the FF model. Any K3 II owners can share if any of the above labels make sense for Pixel Shift dial?


Happy Guessing,
Hin

[shardulm]

And I just figured from untrusted sources that model name of this full frame is K-2

[biz-engineer]

hmmm lots of dials and buttons. It also seems like a polycarbonate body (K-x ish) if you will. I am now seriously thinking this thing would be priced lower than expected.

It's not going to be cheap. Most probably priced between a D750 and D810.

[DennisH]

hmmm lots of dials and buttons. It also seems like a polycarbonate body (K-x ish) if you will. I am now seriously thinking this thing would be priced lower than expected. From what I could extrapolate from the pricing of the DA*lens to K-3/K-3ii bodies... The bodies are consistently less expensive or on par with the lens prices. SO given a 24-70 2/8 is going for $1300 right now.. I am thinking this body is going to priced around $1100 or between $1100-$1300 and or soon will get in that range

You're setting yourself up for disappointment. There's no WAY this is going to be that cheap. That's less than the K-3 at launch. Be realistic.

[shardulm]

being able to dial up ISO is exactly how I would use this function. I miss having a dedicated ISO dial, instead of the button.

you bet.

[pathdoc]

Speculation on the Dials:
The lower right dial, it looks like it has a tiny display inside it which it's similar from the dial of Pentax MZ-S.

Could be - to me it appeared like some sort of mode-select centre confirm button, but if you squint just right it might be some sort of display. The only problem with this theory is that we already have a top LCD right next door - so what will this tell us that the other doesn't? Time will tell, but for now one thing is sure - we have a LOT with which to whet our appetites.

My theory is they're going to break new ground in workflow for this camera, and that plus the image quality is going to make it a winner.

Uluru uses the words "Film era usability" like they were blasphemy, but IMO there's nothing at all wrong with my Pentax film cameras as regards usability - if anything, they're easier than digital. One knob to set ASA at the start (if that; DX coding is a wonderful thing), two* knobs to turn during general use (three* if you both can and want to offset set the EV), and that's it.

* Subtract one for the ME, of course.

[bertwert]

And I just figured from untrusted sources that model name of this full frame is K-2

Makes me think of the second tallest mountain in the world...
Wait, Ricoh, it should be called the Pentax Everest!

[shardulm]

You're setting yourself up for disappointment. There's no WAY this is going to be that cheap. That's less than the K-3 at launch. Be realistic.

Don't tell me you wouldn't want it at that price????
Historically the 16-50 ish (24-70 equi on FF) lenses were on par with the body pricing for APS-C bodies atleast. And like I said its was a mathematical extrapolation which may not exactly work for FF bodies and lenses. Also if its isn't a poly carbonate body like K-x then it may be more expensive. But they have done it before by offering superior bodies for a lower price. That is Pentax's forte. SO there is a very likely chance that the pricing will be amicable.
But I may be completely wrong.

[max_pyne]

i say it is going to be priced between 1800-2500 at start...

[pathdoc]

I miss having a dedicated ISO dial, instead of the button.

I get what you mean, but I think they left the button on because by now, so many Pentax users are accustomed to reaching for it and not all of them will want the menu selector on ISO all the time (some will want it for EV, HDR or burst modes, for example). If you used it before, you won't have to retrain your fingers if you don't want to. I like their thinking.

I have the feeling that it packs too many things, Wifi and GPS ok. I don't know how many features are there; so; there would be tilt screen, WiFi, NFC, built in GPS, crop mode, on top of the features already existing in the K-3 + additional direct controls of the same parameters, adding complexity and chance of bugs/reliability issues over time.

I see what you mean, however, consider the warship HMS Warrior - the first true iron warship (1860). Everything in her had already been done before, but the thing which made her revolutionary instead of evolutionary was the way it all came together in the one ship.

[DennisH]

Don't tell me you wouldn't want it at that price????

That's a different question. At that price I'd buy two, and I don't even need it. This will be well above $1100, and probably well over $2000.

[filmamigo]

too many dials on top. What is that? Dial mania? Just do it like Nikon Does:

Why? I'm no fan of the Nikon control layout for their top-tier cameras. There is nothing obvious about that control design, it's a product of 1980's microprocessor-driven thinking that ignored ergonomics.

If you are going to copy, why not use a mature and intuitive design like the Fuji X-T1?



But Pentax knows that a traditional design would irk the kids ... so they've tried something different. Seems like a good compromise to me. Better than the confusing compromise attempted by the Nikon Df.