[clickclick]

Subject isolation. Sometimes you just can't get the composition right, so you have to rely on a large aperture...300/2.8 @ f/2.8

Nice shot. The 150-450 does do well though. Have you used it?

[ffking]

So - a good smart phone app works just as well as, if not better than a flippy screen hen the camera is on a tripod, and most macro, sport and landscape is done with the eye to the viewfinder. Other uses can be covered by the KP, K-70 or K-1. We don't actually need a flippy screen on the new camera. Never thought I'd hear myself say that, but I actually believe I'm coming round to the idea

[csa]

I was really hoping for a fully articulated or tilt touch screen on the next Pentax as it would be pretty useful to have. That was before I got the K1, Nikon D500 and Canon M5 and realised I don't actually use the screens on them at all apart from viewing.

Same here. I thought a tilting screen would be a necessary thing; but like you; I rarely use the back LCD screen; instead I use the top LCD on my K3 99% of the time.

[SoonerCaniac]

I've been patiently waiting for a K-3 replacement with GPS and an articulated screen for my survey/field work as I take many handheld panoramas and a tripod is rarely practical. I love my K-3, but in many handheld applications (video, low/high angles, panoramas) an articulated screen would be incredibly helpful. With a tripod I could see how a detachable screen with remote shutter or equivalent smartphone app would be a cool advancement, but how so in handheld applications?

Based on the photos so far, one has to assume the screen is either fixed or detachable. I don't understand how something that has been on several Pentax models now would have to be sacrificed for other features, especially on a "flagship" model, but I admit I am not an engineer. In any case, we don't have the final product yet, so I have time to weigh my options. For now it's a personal disappointment, but I understand I am just one user.

[clickclick]

Certainly use situations where the flippy screen would be nice. Fun part of this is we don't know, and have something to look forward to.

[luftfluss]

Nice shot.

Thank you!

The 150-450 does do well though. Have you used it?

No, but I'd like to. IQ seems excellent, AF, WR are good things and I don't have that with my current lens lineup.

I'm fortunate enough to own the Tamron Adaptall 300/2.8 & 400/4, and the Pentax A 400/5.6 and K 500/4.5. Nice glass, gives me some variety and allows me to select a specific lens for a specific purpose. And, I enjoy the manual focus process and using old glass that many folks have written off. But there is always this nagging temptation to sell it all off and buy the DFA 150-450, because I'm so impressed with that lens.


Evening fox, K 500/4.5 wide open...



I'm just a hobbyist, and my hobby is using old lenses as well as making photos. Nothing fancy, no National Geographic-level stuff, just me and my Pentax and my local critters.

[BigMackCam]

Based on the photos so far, one has to assume the screen is either fixed or detachable. I don't understand how something that has been on several Pentax models now would have to be sacrificed for other features, especially on a "flagship" model, but I admit I am not an engineer. In any case, we don't have the final product yet, so I have time to weigh my options. For now it's a personal disappointment, but I understand I am just one user.

I wouldn't allow the screen, or any other aspect of this prototype, to disappoint you at this stage. We don't know how finished it is, and nothing has been finalised, so far as we're aware. Best to wait and see what the final production model offers...

[mee]

So - a good smart phone app works just as well as, if not better than a flippy screen hen the camera is on a tripod, and most macro, sport and landscape is done with the eye to the viewfinder. Other uses can be covered by the KP, K-70 or K-1. We don't actually need a flippy screen on the new camera. Never thought I'd hear myself say that, but I actually believe I'm coming round to the idea

Except now one is forced to buy and carry around a smart phone and ensure the battery is charged enough to use (live video streaming is a battery sucker -- video + network streaming) this app.

I'd rather it just be baked into the camera than offloading it to the customer to carry around another gadget.

If they want to incorporate those streaming features into an app as well, great. Just don't make it the mandatory singular choice.

The other issue is what happens to the app in 5 to 10 years? Will it even run on smartphones of that era? Do you end up losing that feature of the camera as a result? No, put it in the camera instead if it is a binary decision.

[luftfluss]

I've been patiently waiting for a K-3 replacement with GPS and an articulated screen for my survey/field work as I take many handheld panoramas and a tripod is rarely practical. I love my K-3, but in many handheld applications (video, low/high angles, panoramas) an articulated screen would be incredibly helpful. With a tripod I could see how a detachable screen with remote shutter or equivalent smartphone app would be a cool advancement, but how so in handheld applications?

Based on the photos so far, one has to assume the screen is either fixed or detachable. I don't understand how something that has been on several Pentax models now would have to be sacrificed for other features, especially on a "flagship" model, but I admit I am not an engineer. In any case, we don't have the final product yet, so I have time to weigh my options. For now it's a personal disappointment, but I understand I am just one user.

I wouldn't allow the screen, or any other aspect of this prototype, to disappoint you at this stage. We don't know how finished it is, and nothing has been finalised, so far as we're aware. Best to wait and see what the final production model offers...

I'm thinking there were design parameters/goals that Pentax simply couldn't meet with a touch flippy screen. It's not that Pentax didn't want there to be such a screen, but somewhere in the size/price/toughness/aesthetic soup they couldn't make the screen they wanted work to their satisfaction, so they dialed it back a notch.

[pres589]

If you want a tilty screen there's the KP, K-70 and K-1 on sale today. I'm thinking not every feature needs to be in every camera from Pentax at the same time. A phone app sounds nice in theory but it needs to be well maintained by Ricoh or else it's a liability.


I like that the top deck LCD seems a bit larger than on some of the recent cameras. I was kind of hoping for an on-purpose dial on the top for shutter speed like so many cameras offer lately.


Really interested on getting more Real Information from Ricoh on this. Cautiously optimistic enough that maybe it's time for an upgrade to this unit, eventually.

[Not a Number]

Lack of a movable screen is not a deal breaker for me as it may be for others. My K10D doesn't even have live view. I do a lot of macro work and even with a refconverter using the OVF can be a pain. More so with my aging eyes. I don't have a smartphone and don't plan on getting one. An articulated screen would be nice but I can live without it.

[BigMackCam]

I'm thinking there were design parameters/goals that Pentax simply couldn't meet with a touch flippy screen. It's not that Pentax didn't want there to be such a screen, but somewhere in the size/price/toughness/aesthetic soup they couldn't make the screen they wanted work to their satisfaction, so they dialed it back a notch.

Perhaps... but again, we just don't know what the final version will offer. Maybe the screen will be touch controlled, maybe it'll be articulated, maybe it'll pop out as a separate unit, or maybe it'll be a combination of those... or possibly none of them.

[boriscleto]

D FA★ 200mm f/2?
D FA★ 300mm f/2.8?
D FA★ 400mm f/2.8?
D FA★ 500mm f/4?
D FA★ 600mm f/4?
D FA★ 800mm f/5.6?

D FA★ 120-300mm f/2.8?
D FA★ 180-400mm f/4 with integrated 1.4x TC?

1.4x, 1.7x and 2.0x teleconverters?

Because those are what the competition currently offers.

And if you need them buy from the competition. Pros need those lenses, enthusiasts do not.

[ffking]

Perhaps... but again, we just don't know what the final version will offer. Maybe the screen will be touch controlled, maybe it'll be articulated, maybe it'll pop out as a separate unit, or maybe it'll be a combination of those... or possibly neither.

I'm at least as liely to be wrong as anyone else here, but I'd put my money on the camera we see here being what we get (with a little more paint in places) - so I'd say fixed tuch screen is by far the most likely. (the edges of the glass would be too vulnerable to chipping for a pop out or flippy/articulated.)

[house]

There are some people desperately looking for reasons to upgrade above. Based on available tech the IQ of the new model won't be much better than the K-70/KP. If you do landscapes macro or everyday photography you don't need a faster camera than the ones currently available. Those cameras have flippy screens.

It's only Sooner Caniac with his surveying gps enabled requirements that aren't met today. His needs, and mine, would be better met by a KP with gps but the improvements over the K-3II are rather slim.

So you either need:
1. Nothing new, you're set camera body wise
2. A camera for macro, landscape or travel --> Buy KP/K-70
3. A fast deep buffer camera for sports/wildlife --> Wait for this new model and buy it.
4. You want a camera that excels at sports and macro --> Therapy is the only solution. Or photography courses so you can figure out your interests.

*all of the above are good generalist everyday cameras. If you dont have any special needs just get the cheapest available one.