[Wheatfield]

But only if the gain in IQ is big enough to make this jump. I don't know about that. The K-1 wasn't lacking in the IQ area. Holding on to your K-1 as it is......simply the cheaper and maybe smartest thing to do.

The K1II isn't really being marketed to present K1 users, and the upgrade is only going to be attractive to the admittedly small % of users that might think the minor changes are worth spending the coin on. It's nice that they are intending to offer this service, but they are not pricing it in such a way that every K1 owner is going to send his camera in, and I expect this is very deliberate. They don't want their service companies to be so overrun with upgrades that repair services suffer.

[Sandy Hancock]

My questions why they set up upgade only from limited time from May 21, 2018 – September 30, 2018.
What will be after 09/30 . ???? Something new coming or what ????

Don't read too much into it. I imagine upgrading existing K-1's will tie up considerable resources. They won't want to do that forever.

[noelpolar]

My questions why they set up upgade only from limited time from May 21, 2018 – September 30, 2018.
What will be after 09/30 . ???? Something new coming or what ????

In a past life, many lifes ago, when running an Electronic Repair Centre in which we had to modify a largish batch of complex machines from time to time, we would put a standard procedure together, bring in semi skilled workers (...on contract) and have them do the work under supervision.... after some specific training.... whilst most perminant staff attended to their day to day work. Theres a big skill (and $) difference between repair technicians and assembly workers.

[micl161]

Pentax China announce the following in Feb.22 :

「PENTAX K-1」实施升级服务的通知
2018-02-22
为了感谢顾客对我社全画幅数码相机「PENTAX K-1」的厚爱，我们决定提供最新机型「PENTAX K-1 Mark II」的升级服务，特此通知。



【服务概要】

《国行PENTAX K-1用户》

●基本套餐升级服务：3,000元

内容：对用户的PENTAX K-1主板进行更换，从而升级至和PENTAX K-1MarkII同样性能的服务。另外，会将卡口正面左下方的「SR」标识更换为「II」的标识。



《非国行PENTAX K-1用户》

●基本套餐升级服务：6,000元

内容：对用户的PENTAX K-1主板进行更换，从而升级至和PENTAX K-1MarkII同样性能的服务。另外，会将卡口正面左下方的「SR」标识更换为「II」的标识。



【升级服务起始日】

2018年5月21日起



【预约方法及开始日期】

预约方法：通过以下网站进行预约后直接持机或快递至理光宾得官方维修服务店。

预约网址：将于近日发布，请密切留意官网信息

预约开始日期：将于近日发布，请密切留意官网信息

维修服务店地址：上海市复兴中路1199号明园商务中心309A



【升级所需时间】

约5个工作日
【注意事项】

in short - upgrade the K1 buy from the official distributor 3000RMB ~ 475 US$
from the other channel 6000RMB ~ 950US$
Starting 2018 May 21, no ending time mentioned
upgrade time - 5 working day

I'll go for it if the review on the Markll is positive.

[KA5TXL]

I will have mine done when they start, but I wish I could send them my K20D and let them upgrade it too.

[jatrax]

What will be after 09/30 . ???? Something new coming or what ????

Probably end of production run of the K-1II. Pentax doesn't just keep making cameras, they get made and stored for sale. After the production run is complete the amount of circuit boards in stock would be limited and likely reserved for future repair parts.

Of course they could easily extend that deadline if they felt it was in their best interest.

[Bophoto]

This is always the tricky question. Ofcourse the most active members on this forum have a K-1 and are bound to update their camera more then K-1 owners that don't visit any forums.

What would I do? First I don't have a K-1, but I bought a lot of Pentax camera's in the past. So here is my approach to this.
If I bought the K-1 at start for 1899 euro (that was on offer for a period in the beginning) before the quake then my K-1 would be almost 2 years old now (I had K-5 and K-3 at start also).
I could sell my K-1 for 1200 euro very fast I think. It's a good price for people in the secondhand market. I could buy a K-1ii for 1999 (maybe even 1899 since I have some connection). That would mean that I pay 200 to 300 euro extra over the upgrade, but have a brandnew camera! That is the real write-off for two years of use for the K-1. That would be my first choice.

Both would work well for Ricoh-Imaging since it is about sales.

If hardware update was not available, maybe 20-30% would sell K1 and buy K1II in the first year. It means many used K1 on the market, prices are falling. Good if you want to buy, bad if you sell, it will be difficult or cheap.
Now it becomes cheap(?) To update and not so much price reduction if 5-10% choose to sell and buy K1II.
For Ricoh, it might be better with fewer used K1 on the market and higher prices.
New K1 = 2000 € used 1200 € now, maybe 1000 € in May = 1000 € for change. And 500 € for an upgrade.
I hope for extended warranty with 1 year.

[Ron Boggs]

To those nervous about Precision doing the upgrade...note that Precision's usual warranty won't have anything to do with this. Bet a dollar to the donut it's a Ricoh upgrade with Ricoh warranty. Precision is simply the subcontractor who got the bid for the work. Also, this is a "solder-and-play" repair that requires no troubleshooting or assessment whatsoever...melt out the old contacts and solder in the new...done! (technicians love the way I minimize their work, but as noted by another post, this isn't technician work, it's assembly work.)

I would expect absolutely no problems and would trust Best Buy's crew or Batteries Plus crew to do the work...no big deal. OK, gone too far, local Batteries Plus "techs" took 6 weeks and 3 different tries to replace a set of batteries in a portable drill driver. But you get what I'm saying...

[Wheatfield]

I just curious how many total K-1 camera we have across US . more as 1000 or more How much they expected go to upgrade . For mouths with repair another product Sony,Nikon its crease task

My questions why they set up upgade only from limited time from May 21, 2018 – September 30, 2018.
What will be after 09/30 . ???? Something new coming or what ????

I expect they only want to do this for a short period of time to not tie up resources indefinitely. It's also quite possible that they have a K1 replacement in the works, and don't want to be upgrading what would then be, in effect, a two generation old camera that has lost significant value in the marketplace.

[jatrax]

It's also quite possible that they have a K1 replacement in the works,

I would be quite surprised if there is not another FF camera in the pipeline. But I suspect at this point in time it is little more than sketches and part lists.

[Wheatfield]

I would be quite surprised if there is not another FF camera in the pipeline. But I suspect at this point in time it is little more than sketches and part lists.

Perhaps. Is there another sensor available to them at the moment that is bigger than 36mp? We certainly won't see a new full frame camera until that happens, and really, for it to be a significant model upgrade, it would need to be in the range of 50mp. Going from 36MP to 42MP for example would be rather a big yawn.

[jatrax]

Going from 36MP to 42MP for example would be rather a big yawn.

Agree on 36 to 42 if it is the same sensor generation. But a new sensor (maybe BSI) would be of interest and that might be 42mp. I don't care about the megapixels that much, 36 is just fine for me.
But even if the sensor is not available yet I would think they have a new FF body already slotted in the pipe to hold it's spot so to speak. Lots of engineering and thinking that needs done even before the sensor is determined. Though I believe they would be provided with specs and possibly engineering samples of sensors years before actual production.

[Wheatfield]

Agree on 36 to 42 if it is the same sensor generation. But a new sensor (maybe BSI) would be of interest and that might be 42mp. I don't care about the megapixels that much, 36 is just fine for me.
But even if the sensor is not available yet I would think they have a new FF body already slotted in the pipe to hold it's spot so to speak. Lots of engineering and thinking that needs done even before the sensor is determined. Though I believe they would be provided with specs and possibly engineering samples of sensors years before actual production.

Is a BSI sensor going to be significantly less noisy than a conventional one, especially one that has this newfangled accelerator chip hung on the back of it? I'm also pretty content at 36MP, Whether we like it or not, that is the easy metric for people to get their heads around, and traditionally, we have seen Pentax make pretty big jumps once they were able to get away from the 6mp sensor.

[biz-engineer]

Good if you want to buy, bad if you sell, it will be difficult or cheap.

The good deal will be to buy a K1 because the difference of performance that can be appreciated between K1 and K1 II will be negligible.

---------- Post added 26-02-18 at 22:02 ----------

Going from 36MP to 42MP for example would be rather a big yawn.

There is no much difference between 36Mp and 42 or 45 or even 50, simply because of the falloff the glass MTF at the edges. 36Mp is about as good as it gets for 24x36. Then to get a significant step up in IQ it is more effective to use a larger format. The axis of improvement of a system around a 36Mp sensor should be autofocus and good glass.

---------- Post added 26-02-18 at 22:05 ----------

Is a BSI sensor going to be significantly less noisy than a conventional one, especially one that has this newfangled accelerator chip hung on the back of it?

BSI brings more sensitivity (an increase of base ISO) but noise is about the same as conventional for the same actual ISO. That means BSI has the edge for low light photography or sport photography but no advantage for landscape.

[ultraviolet]

What will be after 09/30 . ????

Pentax will sell DIY kit which will include the logo, the board and a smart screwdriver.