[boriscleto]

How about Eye-AF where the camera tracks my eye to select the focus point.

Worked so well for Canon...

[pschlute]

I just though of another good use for the eyepiece sensor. How about it activate an eyepiece blind for on-tripod shooting?



Steve

How about this ... camera in LV mode via the small knob on top.... the scene is displayed on the screen.... put eye to OVF and the sensor activates the EVF !

---------- Post added 09-22-19 at 11:46 PM ----------

It's not just about improving AF. The error also occurs with fixed focal length lenses. Focus indication slightly before or slightly behind the actual optimal focus plane, depending on the lighting

You deal with this in the AF/FA menu. Existing feature on Pentax cameras.

[MarkJerling]

I'll say one more time that what was exhibited is a working prototype, with a one-off body shell and control layout, built to test components and functions that may never see the light of day in a production model. In a normal situation, Ricoh would be presenting mockups with either exotic teasers (like wooden grips and biker gear) to test market features or something very close to the final form factor minus functional clues for new features, to keep their powder dry for an actual product launch or in case the specifications are changed later. If this camera was ready for production, we would have a definite release date to coordinate the product launch against, along with a trademarked model name.

What's really important about this working Pentax prototype is the name on it (no point in putting Pentax on a prototype unless you want to send a message) and that we are shown enough of the mirror box, prism housing and viewfinder to know that these components are very different from the K-3ii it will replace. Giving hints to asahiman to look at the mirror is part of the strategy to get us looking in the right places. The people behind this prototype are doing their darndest to get approval from their paymasters to turn this prototype into a production model, but that decision has not been made yet.

I'm willing to bet you could not be more wrong if you tried.

Have a look at the photos:







This is no "one off body shell". It's very clearly very nearly production ready. Mock-up shells don't show that level of detail. Note too that it already has a model name, which is simply taped shut with a bit of black masking tape. If it was a mock-up, that level of detail would be highly unlikely to be present.

The thing I'm most surprised about is how few functions are on the top control wheel, compared with the K-1II.



K-1 for comparison purposes:



As someone who never uses the screen articulation of the K-1II, I would not view the lack of rear screen articulation as a design fault. I wonder if they decided to go in favour of weather protection over flippy screen?

The people behind this prototype are doing their darndest to get approval from their paymasters to turn this prototype into a production model, but that decision has not been made yet.

There's no way this camera is not very nearly production ready. No design department produces such a production ready prototype simply to convince their bosses to produce the product.

It's much too slick for a one-off prototype.



Photos copied from: https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/pentax-news/close-up-photos-new-pentax...-flagship.html

[alfa75ts]

à la Canon?

Worked so well for Canon...

Technology does advance.

It's much too slick for a one-off prototype.

I fully agree. The fact that the labels are printed on the top and body suggest a complex jig has been made. You don't do that for a mock-up or early prototype. The K1 mock-up had no lettering when first shown.

The thing I'm most surprised about is how few functions are on the top control wheel

Wait for the MK.II

[clickclick]

The thing I'm most surprised about is how few functions are on the top control wheel, compared with the K-1II.

Wondering if there is functionality they don't want to reveal yet? Hoping that several more options will appear when released. You'd think they'd come up with something else to put up there versus leaving all that real estate blank.

[PJ1]

I would not view the lack of rear screen articulation as a design fault.

All the indicators are there, Mark. The screen will be movable in some way. It is a no brainer that they would not release a flagship model without some kind of flip/articulate/remove or whatever screen. As you say, this body is very close to release. The shadow lines indicate that the rear of the camera goes in under the screen. The little notch would not be there on an ''almost there" prototype without a reason (and not just to collect grunge!! And look at the LCD. The framing margin is much wider on the left than on the right. Why? That could house a connecting mechanism or battery/wifi for a removable OLED screen. As you say, it is too slick for a one-off prototype, so these details all point to something - and they point one way.

[Paul the Sunman]

The thing I'm most surprised about is how few functions are on the top control wheel, compared with the K-1II.

But the top screen is much larger (taller) than that on the K1. It suggests more information on that screen, which is possibly even touch-sensitive, with a menu tailored to one of Camera, LV, and Video as prescribed by the dial.

[D1N0]

As someone who uses the K-1's rear lcd all the time I would view it as a deal breaker. Of course aps-c is also a deal breaker for me. Since Ricoh has a number of camera's (k-s2 k-70 KP, K-1 645z) with movable screen and weather sealing. How is weather sealing an issue here?

[Class A]

- his first sentence implies that the AF points have a larger coverage

I think that is very likely.

In the image posted by alfa75ts it looks like one can see very unusually wide markers that might denote the outer AF areas.

To the best of my knowledge this would mean that this feature -- very large frame coverage with AF areas -- wouldn't come to an FF camera, it would be unique to the APS-C flagship.

If a future FF model would increase the megapixel count so that it reaches the APS-C equivalent (like the K-1 does with respect to the K-5) then, functionally, one would get the same (just like the K-1 has an unusually large AF area coverage with respect to an APS-C frame). There would still be the difference that the AF areas would not cover all of the viewfinder, though (in an optical viewfinder).

and/or some of them have a higher precision

Seems less likely to me. Otherwise, I believe, we would have seen this offered by others before. Potentially, others have always opted to have more AF areas rather than higher-precision ones? If that's the reason for why we haven't seen better than f/2.8-base PDAF accuracy then Ricoh could prioritise accuracy over quantity.

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

Yes, an LCD overlay seems much more likely than a hybrid viewfinder.

Not that the two options exclude each other, but Ricoh has implemented an LCD overlay before so it seems plausible that they would use that technology again whereas a hybrid viewfinder would be very revolutionary (for a DSLR).

I wish one day Ricoh will launch a camera with a hybrid viewfinder but I don't think this upcoming model has one. I would encourage everyone to have fun with speculations but just to enjoy seeing where our imagination can take us, as opposed to setting up expectations that cannot realistically be met by the very small Pentax division that apparently isn't prioritised highly by Ricoh. If Ricoh were 100% serious with Pentax, why would it take so long to see the 85/1.4mm? Or a very fast wide-angle prime? Or why wasn't the APS-C flagship ready for the 100th-anniversary celebration?

Lots of unknowns and I could be wrong, but it does not seem warranted to expect technology (a hybrid viewfinder) that would have the potential to be disruptive. After all, such a camera would be the best of both worlds. One could have a great OVF experience but would also be able to turn one's DSLR into a MILC on the press of a button. Such a camera would provide the best of both worlds.

Very few advantages would be left to a MILC. MILCs still would have smaller registration distances which

1. help with camera compactness, and
2. allow the adaptation of a wider range of lenses.

Having said that, w.r.t. 1., what is the point of having a smaller body if the space of the mirror box just moves into the lens? Sigma has a number of lens models where the optics are the same for both DSLR and MILC versions, except that the MILC versions have an extra "tunnel" added to replace the mirror box. Overall, that reduces compactness of a system because now one has many "mirror boxes" compared to before when there was only one.

I also believe that with current sensor technology -- despite micro-lenses there is still a challenge with rays hitting the sensor at opaque angles -- some lenses will need optics to achieve or approach telecentricity. I'm no expert, but I think the number of lens designs that can currently truly exploit a smaller registration distance is very low.

W.r.t. 2, adapters are a pain in the neck in several ways. They complicate handling, they often reduce the feature set available (including eliminating eye-AF), and they need to be manufactured to extremely high tolerances in order to avoid unnecessary alignment issues.

So, again, I hope we are all just having fun speculating what could essentially happen if there were no real world constraints, but are all acutely aware that the recent development speed on behalf of Ricoh does not warrant expectations of an industry-disrupting camera. I don't want to be a party-pooper, it just always bugs me when the curtains are finally lifted and everyone is highly disappointed because their hypothetical feature did not materialise, when the overall outcome actually deserves a lot of enthusiasm.

[MrNPhoto]

There's no way this camera is not very nearly production ready. No design department produces such a production ready prototype simply to convince their bosses to produce the product.

It's much too slick for a one-off prototype.

This is similar to the appearance of the K-1 prototype in October 2015 at Photo Plus. The camera looked complete, but with some masking tape over the name. A month later at Salon de la Photo we got a (rumored) name. Then announcement was three months later at CP+ in 2016, with first shipments 2-3 months after that.

It would be logical if this camera is following the same pattern - it looks physically complete, but no specs or name. Expect official announcement at CP+, with shipments in the April-May 2020 timeframe. We'll likely hear additional specs or leaks about new features before CP+.

[D1N0]

Mystery button touch screen on/off?

[pschlute]

The thing I'm most surprised about is how few functions are on the top control wheel, compared with the K-1II.

Yes it looks a bit odd, but has a logic. You place the dial in the position you like to use the camera in. It is a video camera or a LV camera or a OVF/SLR.

With all the speculation of what is going on under the hood, could it possible be that in LV mode with your eye to the eyepiece, the sensor below it switches on a EVF ?

[stevebrot]

All the indicators are there,

Much as I would like there to be other than a fixed screen, all indicators are that the screen on this late prototype is likely to be other than that. It may be that a thin panel fold out similar to that on current A7-series might be fitted for production, but there is no evidence other than our shared desire that such will be the case.



As noted on a previous comment at least 40 pages back, the screen on the prototype has a strong resemblance to the fixed screen on the GRIII, only L-R reversed and may not be the actual screen for production. We will have to wait and see what actually is there next year when it is released.


Steve

[boriscleto]

Expect official announcement at CP+, with shipments in the April-May 2020 timeframe. We'll likely hear additional specs or leaks about new features before CP+.

Which would he perfect for me because bird migration would at its peak in the NE US

[cgchang]

On the hopeful side, remember this is what the K-1 looked like when first teased at CP+ 2015. No extra dials on top and a "maybe/maybe not" articulating screen of some kind. It was a 3D print mockup rather than a polished material prototype though.