[Mark Ransom]

I wish the K-3 II successor inherits a few things from KP, especially its control and dials design.
- 3rd control dial (setting dial). I do not mind if that means the sacrifice of top LCD.
- The position of the capture mode selector switch (to select between viewfinder, live view or video) at the base of the 3rd control dial
- 5 slots to save USER mode
- Tiling screen!! This one is not about the control, but it is useful when you want to lower your camera to the ground or raise it up high. (even better with a 'cross-tilt' LCD similar to K-1)
- Scene Analyze Auto Mode!! It will surely come in handy when you need to hand your camera to others who do not know how to operate them.

In contrast, I wish they retain many things from K-3 II.
- Front and rear IR ports for remote control
- Turning the main switch to check the depth of field
- AE-L button (even better if it is customizable)
- AA battery tray for a battery grip
- GPS with astrotracer!!
- Two card slots
- Design of the hand grip!!

I suspect that's exactly what they're working on, something that melds the best of both the K-3 II and the KP. And adds a few surprises.

The only issue is one of timing.

[08amczb]

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

[beachgardener]

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

sounds promising

[parinya-ekparinya]

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

Such a good term for this type of LCD screen

I wonder will other brands consider the moonlander screen for their camera in the futuere?

[Mark Ransom]

Such a good term for this type of LCD screen

I wonder will other brands consider the moonlander screen for their camera in the futuere?

I agree, moonlander is a great name. How long has that name been around?

If Pentax is smart they've patented that arrangement so nobody else can do it without paying royalties.

[sbh]

I have been thinking about it and, well, it's a bold move; maybe only they can make it and be happy, but do you remember when Leica got out a digital rangefinder camera without screen? No live view, no EVF, just the normal rangefinder patch...

Ok, it's maybe silly not to be able to watch your pictures and see if you need to correct some things, but it's bold, it's a brave movement, a statement of pure art and craft: if you know how you want the picture, you can just make the picture: no gimmicks, no nothing.

I agree with those who praise the EVF for previewing the shot, having the histogramm right there, and so on... But it makes you... comfortably numb (paraphrasing that great music group). It's not an aid for your walk, it's a vehicle to moving you around. It's the same when people tells you: don't shoot with a zoom for a while: get used to a prime and zooming with your feet, because you will discover new perspectives, new points of view, new pctures, in definitive, when you do it this way. Zooms as framing tools are a bad habit. Zooms should be tools to get the picture in the right mood: wide landscape, or maybe a zoomed in mountain range? Not just not to have to crop too much in post... If the rules are. wide for landscape, normal for street, groups, lands, maybe portraits, and the tshort tele for portraits and long tele for wild life; then that's your zoom lens usefulness. And if you want to breat the rule, and make a 24mm portrait, then you know what you are doing.

I purposely keep my screen off, I don't want to pimp my pictures, every time I shoot. I might check metering, this is an advantage, to be able to check in situ, but it's not a fundamental part of taking a picture... It's not a necessary part of the craft... Pros will want to have everything and the sink kitchen, because they want to be as effective as possible, to create the best job with the less hassle and less work as possible. That, of course, needs not an EVF, or a histogram or anything: 120 years of Photography demonstrate it is possible, in manual focus and in manual everything. Of course, the number of keepers might be higher nowadays, with the wonderful cameras we have, the amazing continous AFs and all the shiny things. They are useful tools, not needed tools.

So maybe a DSLR without a screen would be amazing: you have your card(s), your command dials, your display with all the parameters, and all the modern things, but you cannot chimp. Of course, someone might be able to tether to an external monitor: more power to you, pal! But you don't usually go around with a monitor on your armpit, do you?

Of course, bold Leica move. If Pentax does get a no chimping DSLR, there will be those who ask for an EVF! Ah, cheaters! LOL



Now I am eager for Photokina! :-)

I think Pentax would be the right one to pull such a thing off. It wouldn't compete with other's pro stuff but it would be an additional camera people would love to have. Kind of like the GR. it doesn't replace anything but it has it's own place.

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

Moonlander screen?! nice description. I love it and use it all the time. Hope Pentax has more such great ideas and brings them to market.

[TedH42]

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

I'd get that one.

[reh321]

Just fix the AF and give me a KP in a K-3 like body with K-1 the new controls and the moonlander screen of the K-1!

If that is all they do, some disgruntled users will ask why they didn't release that back when the KP came out ... or when the K-1ii came out.

[TedH42]

If that is all they do, some disgruntled users will ask why they didn't release that back when the KP came out ... or when the K-1ii came out.

All these negative waves.

[Mark Ransom]

If that is all they do, some disgruntled users will ask why they didn't release that back when the KP came out ... or when the K-1ii came out.

I already know the answer to that one, at least to my own satisfaction - of course Pentax would never tell you this was true.

They never realized the need for an APS-C flagship, they were only planning a single flagship - and the K-1 was it. When people kept asking them about an APS-C flagship they realized their mistake and got busy, but it cost them a couple of years of development time.

[Pål Jensen]

Why do they plan high-end aps lenses with no plan for a high end aps camera?
Seems like nonsense to me.

APS provide the tech platform for 645 and FF bodies. The K3 replacement will showcase features of the next generation of bodies. This spread development costs. A hiatus between the K3 and it successor will only increase demand for the latter.

[ffking]

They never realized the need for an APS-C flagship, they were only planning a single flagship - and the K-1 was it. When people kept asking them about an APS-C flagship they realized their mistake and got busy, but it cost them a couple of years of development time.

That might be true, but it would honestly surprise me - the K-3/ii is a very different beast from the K-1/ii - for one thing, 8.3fps was a pretty competitive frame rate when the K-3 came out - the KP is slower. So the K-3 was on the cusp of the rush to FF, and the game changed a bit it terms of APS-C -but when the dust has settled, APS-C will still be more than good enough for most people and still outsell FF.The only reason for not making a more advanced K-3 is that it's becoming clear that DSLRs will never again compete with mirrorless in the speed stakes - so maybe Ricoh did decide to take a different route - hell! - I'm talking myself out of ths...

[richard0170]

If that is all they do, some disgruntled users will ask why they didn't release that back when the KP came out ... or when the K-1ii came out.

Probably so, but they would come into what I would class as the " Professionally Offended". I would just be grateful for the upgrades, however late.

[mtgmansf]

Why do they plan high-end aps lenses with no plan for a high end aps camera?
Seems like nonsense to me.

APS provide the tech platform for 645 and FF bodies. The K3 replacement will showcase features of the next generation of bodies. This spread development costs. A hiatus between the K3 and it successor will only increase demand for the latter.

Or make people move to other platforms. As someone over 60 years old, one eventually decides that time is running out - both for new bodies and lenses. In my case, if a replacement is not on the horizon by 2019, along with availability of the 11-18mm, I will bite the bullet and go with either a Nikon Z with 14-30mm, or a Canon or Fuji equivalent. Final decision all depends on DR, resolution, weight, and price, but actual availability will be paramount!

[Rush2112]

What I would like to see is innovation. Perhaps a hybrid viewfinder for a Pentax DSLR body, and a PDAF/global shutter sensor for APS-C so an EVF could be used for video etc. Everyone said Fuji couldn't do it, but they sure did it alright.