[reh321]

Facelifts are not about innovation. Look at cars as an alternative example. Facelifts usualy brings some general incremental improvements and they do fix the bugs from the previous model. Forget about af and video improvements which we know that requires money/investents and I understand why they remain unchanged. But K1 Mark II didn't solved any of the K1 "bugs": USB port, buffer, writing speed on the card...

I don't think Pentax is doomed. I just don't understand their policy at all (at least not when I look at their actions compared to their press statements).

I don't believe the 'accelerator' is a facelift'. We don't understand it yet - apparently KP didn't get as much exposure as it should have - but it definitely is not a facelift!

I don't believe dynamic pixel shift is a facelift. The Mark ii was out for just a few hours, and at another discussion forum an Olympus user was saying how much he hoped the next iteration of Olympus's flagship has dynamic pixel shift also.

[repaap]

I was shooting today with my K-1, and for my skiing trip I took oly 5em II. just because it is so small(I went 34 km, so all weight is too much..). but image quality and feel of camera and buttons takes this oly to toy camera class, where as K-1 is just amazing.

upgrade with same really good interface as K-1 already has and image quality, for that prize there is not really much what one could ask for.

ofcourse, if that interface is not good enough...then again there are some options.

[zapp]

The high ISO comparison movie clips and images on the Pentax pages look very nice so far.
Pentax Germany will offer the fill update service, so we can expect that this service should eb available worldwide after several regiona announcements.

[kenspo]

I thought an ambassador is supposed to be politically correct

I will never be. I come without filter and are seen as a loose canon by Ricoh

[repaap]

With apologies if this has been posted before . . .

Some updates to the K-1 Special Site from Ricoh

Story from the developers
Challengers | PENTAX K-1 Special site | RICOH IMAGING

Impressions from photographer Yoshiaki Kobayashi
Impressions | PENTAX K-1 Special site | RICOH IMAGING

And separately, some kind of hands-on impression from Yaotomi Camera (Google translated).
Google Translate

thanks for links, really interesting to read

---------- Post added 02-22-18 at 21:19 ----------

I will never be. I come without filter and are seen as a loose canon by Ricoh

will be looking for your impressions of this upgrade. I’m now actually pondering of upgrading my K-1 to mark 2.
richer colors especially blue, and those 2 more stops with ISO too, and SR improvements too.

[Gedeon]

With it being a relatively minor upgrade and the option of the upgrade, I doubt that Pentax will be banking on huge addition sales. That and the upgrade requires less development that would a more major one, the developers should have more resources to be working on the K3 replacement. Or on the 645.

...or lenses ?

[JinDesu]

Facelifts are not about innovation. Look at cars as an alternative example. Facelifts usualy brings some general incremental improvements and they do fix the bugs from the previous model. Forget about af and video improvements which we know that requires money/investents and I understand why they remain unchanged. But K1 Mark II didn't solved any of the K1 "bugs": USB port, buffer, writing speed on the card...

I don't think Pentax is doomed. I just don't understand their policy at all (at least not when I look at their actions compared to their press statements).

Sure, but looking at the history with the k-5ii and the k-3ii, they haven't done what you expect. The k-5ii removed the moire filter and the k-3ii swapped the flash with the GPS module. The tweaks aren't significantly different from the original, and just provide a different camera option to the original. With regards to actual firmware correctable features, they do release updates and it applies to all of the applicable cameras. If you are expecting something different from Pentax, then sorry - that's just not what they do.

I'm not a Pentaxian from ages back - I got my k-x in 2012, k-3 in 2015, and probably will stick to the APS-C format for my next camera. Having seen it go from Hoya to Ricoh and seeing the solid number of improvements coming under Ricoh, I'm happy with the progress that Ricoh has dnoe without having to suffer the lack of progress under Hoya.

[LesDMess]

Has there ever been a DSLR upgrade provided before for any camera brand/model? I don't recall of any. Clearly the labor to conduct the upgrade must be relatively simple because such a low upgrade cost could eat into profits. Clearly this is above and beyond so kudos to Ricoh/Pentax for absolutely catering to their customers.

[dadipentak]

Has there ever been a DSLR upgrade provided before for any camera brand/model? I don't recall of any. Clearly the labor to conduct the upgrade must be relatively simple because such a low upgrade cost could eat into profits. Clearly this is above and beyond so kudos to Ricoh/Pentax for absolutely catering to their customers.

Ok, yeah, but the cost ain't exactly chump change. But then of course you get a new logo (whoopee!)

[beholder3]

Quite tellingly even the usually hate-ridden comments on Amazon rev are overwhelmingly positive and many Non Pentaxians express their kudos. Somebody did something very right here.

[Erictator]

I'll be doing the update to mine!

In my mind, just sending my K-1 for CLA and new weather seals etc. would cost nearly half that or more... with this update, I'm sure they will have to do a PM of sorts while the have it open, and we are getting a new board & FW update that I'd miss out on with my old hardware.

No brainer if you ask me.

Just do it!
(where have I heard that one before?)

[LesDMess]

Ok, yeah, but the cost ain't exactly chump change. But then of course you get a new logo (whoopee!)

I understand cost is a relative matter and there maybe people who cannot appreciate how significant this is as I do. I have been in manufacturing and have gone through a lot of equipment upgrades and I can tell you that cost - percentage wise, is unbelievable. And mind you the upgrades I am talking about were significantly less. Really it is a big whoopee!

A good example here is the recent Apple fiasco regarding their battery life. Instead of just changing the batteries, they just slowed down the phones by sending out a software update! You would think changing a battery could not be more insignificant but it still involves labor cost and such.

[Wheatfield]

Ok, yeah, but the cost ain't exactly chump change. But then of course you get a new logo (whoopee!)

Look at what is going into this upgrade. First, it's a parts purchase, which is more expensive, then there is the labour involved in disassembly, part replacement and reassembly, and then I expect every unit that has this work done will need to be fully QC insected to make sure everything works.
Obviously, Ricoh and the companies doing the mods aren't working for free.
While the logo might seem like a frivolity, it makes sense that a K1-II will have a higher resale value than a K1, so it makes sense to rename the camera if, fo no other reason, that when it comes time to sell, you don't have to convince the buyer that it has been upgraded.

If one doesn't want to have their camera upgraded, I have strong doubts that anyone will force it on them.

[gaweidert]

This announcement could be a game changer in the DSLR field. I doubt it, but it may be. Lets face it. How much better do these cameras have to get image wise? Ricoh has improved some of the functions of their cameras. So they have released an upgraded version of their current model. Not only that, but they also offer a path so that current K1 owners can get the camera upgrades for about 1/4 the cost of a new one. Any other major camera manufacturer offering this? I tend to think that there may be a lot of head scratching going on at Nikon, Canon possibly others right now. This may get some good press.

The upgrade thing is pretty awesome from an environmental point of view. Is Pentax the first "Green" camera? It's called re-engineering and it is not a bad thing.

For my personal photography, I am trying to decide whether to get the new model or not. The pre-release deal is pretty intriguing. If the next APSc model does not offer significant improvements in operational speed and autofocus performance, then I will probably abandon the APSc format and stick with full frame. Right now I use my K3 as a complement to my K1 for those few situations where it can still outperform it. If the autofocus of the K1 is as improved as the release claims, then the K3 really doesn't offer any advantages over the K1 for me. Focal length equivalents don't mean much when you can simply crop the K1 images and still get great results.

[Sandy Hancock]

What's that lens he's got mounted in the profile pic?

Well spotted!

---------- Post added 23-02-18 at 08:03 AM ----------

I'm abandoning ship.

Would you care to enlighten us as the the reasons behind this momentous decision?

Personally, I have never felt happier with my choice to stay with Pentax.