[stevebrot]

They also fixed AF inconsistency under tungsten lighting for K-5ii/iis series.

I believe that was part of the SAFOX X AF upgrade. I will amend the comment above to be more clear.


Steve

[ogl]

Repeating message #3 above:
incorporating the noise reduction from the K-70/KP is very good and did require a hardware upgrade.

It's not new already, it was in K-70 and KP.

Rather derisive upgrade of K-1...

[mille19]

I'm quite happy with that, looks like minor update to me (not enough to entice me into going FF)........ looks like the K3II replacement will be the Pentax major announcement, or is that just wishful thinking :-)

[Adam]

If you compare the KP's high ISO performance to that of the K-1 (original), the KP holds its ground surprisingly well. It will therefore be really interesting how the K-1 II will fare alongside other FFs given this improvement. Could make it an absolute killer camera for astro work (not that it isn't already).

I think adding this tech to the K-1 makes a lot of sense. Pentax seems to be betting pretty heavily on appealing to those who value image quality above all else. But not improving the AF might piss a lot of people off (look at the comments coming in on the homepage)...there certainly doesn't appear to be any innovation going on. IMO they should have done a little bit more.

Also, I wonder what pixel shift II brings to the table.

Adam
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[biz-engineer]

I think adding this tech to the K-1 makes a lot of sense.

Really? I think improving noise and pixel shift on FF are two things of marginal utility to the users, definitely not worth spending the money. I'll continue saving my money for Nikon.

[LightBug]

If you compare the KP's high ISO performance to that of the K-1 (original), the KP holds its ground surprisingly well. It will therefore be really interesting how the K-1 II will fare alongside other FFs given this improvement. Could make it an absolute killer camera for astro work (not that it isn't already).

I think adding this tech to the K-1 makes a lot of sense. Pentax seems to be betting pretty heavily on appealing to those who value image quality above all else. But not improving the AF might piss a lot of people off...there certainly doesn't appear to be any innovation going on.

Also, I wonder what pixel shift II brings to the table.

I'm guessing with more processing power from CPU, they can improve the motion compensation aspect of pixel shift.

[davidsladek]

how long can they produce this thing if the 36MP chip is no longer manufactured? do they have a warehouse full or will this cover just a short period of time??

[Adam]

Really? I think improving noise and pixel shift on FF are two things of marginal utility to the users, definitely not worth spending the money. I'll continue saving my money for Nikon.

It would have been better if the original model came with it, but at least now nobody will be asking why the flagship lacks something that even the entry-level model brings to the table. And the $100 price hike is modest at best.

Of course I would have liked the K-1 II to have 100 AF points like everyone else, or improved video. But perhaps it's time to accept that Pentax will always be behind in these areas.

how long can they produce this thing if the 36MP chip is no longer manufactured? do they have a warehouse full or will this cover just a short period of time??

Isn't this just a rumor?

[davidsladek]

Isn't this just a rumor?

apologies, this is obviously not verified, but I read it here so many times that I started believing it

[HarisF1]

The APS-C camera will be the one to look out for if you want the innovation. The K-S2 featured the first tilt screen, the K70 featured the AF tracking improvement and new mount and the KP featured the accelerator chip. These are now incorporated into the K1.

Hopefully we'll see the K3iii soon enough and it should offer a great deal more innovation. I see reason to call doom and gloom but I'm cautiously optimistic about the APS-C camera. This FF upgrade doesn't seem like a good idea though.

[redpit]

The rumoured MkII specs look promising. Having the K-1 and seeing what is capable of in terms of IQ I'm very interested in how much IQ improvement we will get with the new model. It is important for me that they improved both the normal and PS image quality.

For those that are already unhappy with Pentax I can see there may be more reasons now to go away (although high expectations for a totally different II model is what might ruined it for them). I have to say something and I'm really serious about that! Before you jump ship find good reasons for doing so (e.g. much better AF-C performance, more FPS, deeper buffer, more lens options). There are many. I would advice them though to shoot side by side with some good photographers with D850 and 5DIV with top lenses and compare the results

There might be some surpises. I remind you that at the price of D850 you can get the K-1 + DFA* 70-200/2.8 (about only $100 difference).

[JPT]

What did people expect? The K-1 is not that old really. It looks like a typical “II” update to me. This is all that the original Nokishita rumor indicated anyway. All the other parts about new sensors and so on were embellishments from commentators.

The K-5 IIs was a similar kind of minor update, and I remember it was met with similarly dismissive comments. But it turned out to be a very good camera - the K-5 with the little issues ironed out. I really like my K-5 IIs, even though I was a late adopter. I imagine that people who have been holding off on the K-1 will find the K-1 II a great camera. Also nice to see a lens kit option. That makes it easier to get on board Pentax full frame. The K-1 will have to get cheaper too.

Of course, if what you want is “newness” then this is not the announcement you’re waiting for. It will be interesting to see what else appears at CP+. I guess the pricing and availability of the DFA 50 will be leaked soon.

[kiwi_jono]

Well the higher ISO capability is always welcome. Other changes I noted from comparing specifications:
* SR option on / off option for pixel shift. Maybe pixel shift can be used handheld?
* It appears that battery life could be a bit shorter (760 shots down to 670 shots). Possibly due to extra hardware?

I'm happy with AF on my K-1 (fine for the shooting I do) but improvements would have been nice to make some of the reviewers happier!
More importantly for me I would have liked to see something further done to improve shutter shock (beyond ECS in LV) so I could use OVF (along with my light FA primes) with impunity. As it is I use LV with ECS enabled a lot more than use to.

In any case sounds like improvements may be useful in real life although perhaps a small decrease in battery life is not so welcome.

[Mistral75]

(...)
* It appears that battery life could be a bit shorter (760 shots down to 670 shots). Possibly due to extra hardware?

(...).

Most certainly.

[ffking]

What don't understand is why the camera, if these specs are real, is worth holding up progress on the older K-3ii for, f that is what has happened. The only upgrades seem to be in areas where the camera was already strong, so the effect will be minor, and all complaints people have (regarding AF, video, shutter shock, fps usb-2 etc) have not been addressed as far as I can see. As I say, it might be worth doing in its own right, but not if it means holding up other more urgent projects.