Originally posted by Larrymc Just wondering, did you say the same about the K-5, 5II and 5IIs and the K-3 and K-3II? If not why not?
I'm not kooks, but I'd like to point out that the difference between the K-5 and the K-5 II was significant.
The K-5 II introduced a completely new AF system that, at last, was immune to the colour temperature of the subject. The K-5 (and other Pentax DSLRs before it) would systemically produce out of focus images under certain conditions (low light, warm colour temperature). I'd therefore say that the K-5 II was all but an insignificant incremental update.
The K-3 II added GPS which is quite important for some. IIRC, it also offered improved image stabilisation.
It lost the on-board pop-up flash which was a good decision in my view because such a poor flash (that cannot even control other flashes in HSS mode) has no business on a camera in this class (a decision that has been taken by many other manufacturers on their high-end models as well).
While I also found the improvements made to the K-1 II underwhelming, the K-1 II as such is a great camera. In principle I prefer keeping a well-designed body and other aspects instead of changing things around for change's sake. I feel there is nothing wrong with a "tick-tock" model where the "tock" release is just a minor modification to the "tick" release. Of course some review sites feel that they are making a contribution by pointing out the lack of innovation, but that need not concern anyone.
The major issue with the K-1 II was just that it
forced mandatory RAW noise reduction on everyone.
Had they just applied the processing to the JPGs, that would have been fine.
Had they given users the option to opt out of the RAW denoising, that would have been fine.
Unfortunately, however, the mandatory processing meant that they gave DPReview a pistol and said "shoot me".
We can be pretty certain that DPReview would have found other ways to talk down the K-1 II and talk up their beloved EVF darlings, but it is better if they have to go through more contortions to do it. Handing them the ammunition on a silver plate is not a good idea.
P.S.: On the subject of ignoring DPReview, I wish it were that easy. If we were talking about a private blogger with a hundred followers, we could safely ignore them.
DPReview on the other hand, has ~20,000,000 views per month.
What they write matters regarding camera and lens sales.
With their reviews and buying guides, they influence a considerable number of buyers.
I truly wish I could just ignore DPReview but I feel that we should keep revealing the flaws in their reviews and alert others to the sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle bias against Pentax.