[Rondec]

I had the same on my K-1, but never fell in love. Looks like a wart knob disease is plaguing the camera to me. They keep popping up big and small.


In the early days of the K-1, there were a number of people complaining over the top left knob on the right side of the camera failing prematurely. I never experienced it on my copy and Ricoh apparently repaired them on warranty. But it is just another kludgey item to break.

A simple button hold while rotating the rear dial would work just as fine for rarely adjusted features, and would clean up the top a lot. Less wart kludge.

I haven't heard of knobs failing on the K-1. Was this a common occurrence or something that you read one thread on and generalized to "a number of people?"

As far as number of buttons, I really prefer them to menu diving. I have my front dial set for shutter speed, back dial set for aperture and top dial set for iso and I can control all aspects of my exposure fairly easily. It looks to me as though this camera shifts a few things around from current standard and adds a joystick (probably a necessary thing for a camera with high number of auto focus points). I guess to me, number of buttons is a bit like video. If you don't want to use them, you don't have to use them, but they are nice for those of us who use a lot of different settings and don't want to scroll through menus to figure them out.

(A high number of buttons is correlated with "professional" level camera. Have you seen the back of a D5 or 1Dx?)

[funktionsfrei]

In the side-by-side comparison pictures on page 32 of my browser, the card door looks to be the exact same size as the door on the K-3II.

Actually, that side of the camera looks quite identical to the K-1.


Even the two screws to the right of the card door are positioned the same way, the card door is not only the same size, but the same shape and has the same recessed finger grip thingy. The remote connector has the same rubber plug on it - and there is the one slight difference between the K-1 and this unnamed newcomer: card door and remote plug don't align the same way on the right side as they do on the K-1.

The hand grip on the front and the thumb grip on the back are more than inspired by the ones found on the K-1.

Both cameras differ hugely on the top plate, where the various control wheels are located. Quite obviously, since the LCD, the control knob's layout and all that stuff has changed, not to mention the pentaprism cover. No wonder, being an APS-C camera, the pentaprism hiding under this cover is much smaller than the one found in the full-frame K-1.

I haven't heard of knobs failing on the K-1. Was this a common occurrence or something that you read one thread on and generalized to "a number of people?"

Yes, it was quite common to early copies sold in 2016. Mine had that failure too, stuck in "M" mode. Warranty repair solved that, since then the camera is as perfect as it is (and no, I won't downgrade to the K-1 II).

[Mistral75]

The Man from the Sunrise has spoken.

for the precise eyes....

Have a look under the mirror.

How wide is the light protector of the autofocus unit in comparison to current APS-C Pentax bodies?

Next, take a precise look at the reflected picture of the matte screen and the mark of the autofocus area.

Best regards

Source: The new APS-C Topper: Pentax SLR Talk Forum | Digital Photography Review

[ffking]

The camera will likely be released as displayed. It's an extremely far gone prototype. Just look at it, it has probably come off a production line (not in full swing). I wouldn't expect anything but minute changes to what's visible.

I tend to agree - they originally didn't want to release even a silhouette, apparently, as it might give too much away - now they release high res pics with only a few blanked out buttons and name hiding things - I don't think the form will change fro here - and probably with good reasons.

P.S. - also, if the screen was as shown but did pop out somehow, the glass would go right to the edge of the popped out screen, and that doesn'r seem sensible.

---

Last edited by ffking; 09-22-2019 at 03:13 AM.

[repaap]

I tend to agree - they originally didn't want to release even a silhouette, apparently, as it might give too much away - now they release high res pics with only a few blanked out buttons and name hiding things - I don't think the form will change fro here - and probably with good reasons.

That could be. We will see. Great to see a new camera still!

---------- Post added 09-22-19 at 11:58 ----------

The Man from the Sunrise has spoken.

Source: The new APS-C Topper: Pentax SLR Talk Forum | Digital Photography Review

Here we go!

[ffking]

The Man from the Sunrise has spoken.
Originally posted by asahi man:

for the precise eyes....

Have a look under the mirror

How wide is the light protector of the autofocus unit in comparison to current APS-C Pentax bodies?

Next, take a precise look at the reflected picture of the matte screen and the mark of the autofocus area.

Best regards
Source: The new APS-C Topper: Pentax SLR Talk Forum | Digital Photography Review

I can't actually see what he's seeing - I need somebody with a bit more knowledge to interpret, Pleeeease!

[Rondec]

I will just say that right now we are focused on the cosmetics of this camera. And that's fine because it is all we have.

The real questions have to do with performance. Does this camera bring Pentax's auto focus performance to similar levels of other cameras on the market? Is the video better? Has SR been improved? How about stuff like write speeds and buffer size? How about still image quality -- dynamic range and high iso performance?

These are the things that are the real questions. I think most of us can do with "wart knob disease" or even lack of a flippy screen if the performance is really good. At the same time, a camera with a flip out screen and awesome ergonomics that doesn't break any new ground for Pentax in any of these areas would be a bigger disappointment for me than one that doesn't have a tilt screen (I do use mine on my K-1 when it is on a tripod, but I often forget and just crouch down instead).

[Mistral75]

I can't actually see hat he's seeing - I need somebody ith a bit more knowledge to interpret, Pleeeease!

@asahi man is cryptic as usual. I can't even make my mind as to whether he is giving us pointers or asking genuine questions to those who have attended or will attend the 100 anniversary meetings.

Supposing the former:

- his first sentence implies that the AF points have a larger coverage (e.g. they extend to the very bottom of the sensor) and/or some of them have a higher precision (but need fast lenses to express their capabilities, think f/2 for instance)

- his second sentence implies either (i) there is no grid ('mark of the autofocus area'), therefore the camera has an OVF with an LCD overlay or (i) there is a grid and that grid indicates the AF points number and coverage.

[Rondec]

@asahi man is cryptic as usual. I can't even make my mind as to whether he is giving us pointers or asking genuine questions.

Supposing the former:

- his first sentence implies that the AF points have a larger coverage (e.g. they extend to the very bottom of the sensor) and/or some of them have a higher precision (but need fast lenses to express their capabilities, think f/2 for instance)

- his second sentence implies either (i) there is no grid ('mark of the autofocus area'), therefore the camera has an OVF with an LCD overlay or (i) there is a grid and that grid indicates the AF points number and coverage.

I thought he just was saying in an obtuse way that number and coverage of auto focus points has improved.

[alfa75ts]

I can't actually see what he's seeing

I think he's referring to the vague lines reflected in the mirror and the wider cutout where the AF sensors sit.

[D1N0]

Ricoh surprised with the stilted screen solution on the K-1. Maybe they can surprise with the hidden hinged screen solution on this K-2. Maybe they have managed a larger magnification OVF (1 or maybe even magnifying) given the rise of the pentaprism. A touch capable screen for live view shooting would be great. (another reason for the double sensor under the ovf, turn of touch functionality when noses and cheeks are caressing the screen).

[ffking]

I think he's referring to the vague lines reflected in the mirror and the wider cutout where the AF sensors sit.

thank you! - that helps - they need to take a rocket blower to that

[alfa75ts]

they need to take a rocket blower to that

Begs the question, why wasn't it displayed with a lens or at least body cap?

[ffking]

Begs the question, why wasn't it displayed with a lens or at least body cap?

One has to conclude they want us to see... and speculate...!!!

[GlassJunkie]

Didn't you get the fix?

In all seriousness, I am surprised to hear this. The initial reports of runaway mirror on shutter release came from interval shooting where AF would have been turned off.


Steve

(...my camera has done it once...long after warranty expired...)

Thanks. We were also able to recreate it at will with the AF button hold. Maybe it hit the same CPU code... I'll look into the fix... thx