Originally posted by Mistral75 Given the above I wouldn't have too high expectations concerning the novelties in K-1 Mark II in comparison to K-1. Many of them should correspond to the improvements and additional functionalities the new firmware would have offered to the K-1, i.e. be software driven.
I too do not expect a K-1 Mark II to be significantly different to the K-1.
If, however, the differences were only based on software and it would have been possible to bring the K-1 to the same level as the K-1 Mark II by just releasing an (originally planned to be released very soon) firmware, that would be the pinnacle of lameness.
Contrast this to Cactus who sold the V6II as a trigger that has no P-TTL capabilities except for HSS. Instead of offering a successor model that offers P-TTL features like second-curtain sync and automated metering, they offered a
free firmware upgrade for the existing V6II hardware. In other words, one initially bought an HSS trigger -- without any promise for future functionality whatsoever -- and later one got upgraded to a full-blown P-TTL trigger.
What Pentax should do is to refine the hardware a bit (perhaps more than a bit if they want to sell to K-1 owners as well) but keep K-1 owners happy. If you only have a small user base, it does not look like a smart move to me to alienate it by charging ~$2000 for a firmware upgrade.