[ThorSanchez]

Take a K-1 and a K-5, both with similar angle of view lenses. Look through both of them at once - one camera to each eye.
That's more telling than looking at numbers.

OTOH, I already solved the viewfinder issue by switching to FF (should I go back to APS-C now?).
Autofocus (and performance in general) is the current issue to solve.

I would do that if I had a K-1 handy. I rented one a couple years ago and while I remember some differences in viewfinder I don't recall thinking anything in particular about the advantages of it. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to it.

[nicolpa47]

I would much prefer proper buttons rather than a touch screen - too many downsides to a touch screen - for me anyway. On a camera button presses need to be precise and accurate. Not the greatest virtue of touch screens. I avoid them for any serious financial purpose for that reason, although I'm happy to use them in some circumstances.

[Larrymc]

. . . . And?

[EDIT] I’ll bet you a PayPal Dollar the K-new AF system is significantly faster, significantly more accurate, has significantly more AF points spread over a significantly wider portion of the Frame and has significantly better continuous AF tracking than any current Pentax camera (KP, K-1ll or K-70).

That would be a significant improvement!!

[Larrymc]

I don't think I have any great need or utility for a bigger viewfinder. But maybe I don't understand what the benefits are. The K-3 and K-3ii have a 0.95 magnification viewfinder, the K-new a 1.05. To me that means the magnification is 10% better. Is that going to make manual focusing easier? Framing and viewing your subject 10% better?


Better autofocus along the lines of other systems would (hopefully) make a significant impact on my keeper rate. I don't know that the viewfinder does. Personally, unless I'm missing something, the viewfinder is just a nice incremental improvement. While autofocus and the associated processing and frame rate improvements could make a clear impact on quality of my photography.

Don't sell the viewfinder magnification short, it helps stay on target more easily when tracking a target. I use the O-ME53 viewfinder magnifier on my K-3 and there is a significant improvement using tracking AFC SEL8 and my ability to stay on target with my long lenses.

[Kunzite]

I would much prefer proper buttons rather than a touch screen - too many downsides to a touch screen - for me anyway. On a camera button presses need to be precise and accurate. Not the greatest virtue of touch screens. I avoid them for any serious financial purpose for that reason, although I'm happy to use them in some circumstances.

"Rather than"? This isn't the case; as you can see, you have all the expected, proper buttons and dials on the K-new.
Even with the GR III - a compact camera - you could disable the touchscreen and perfectly operate it. Some operations are more convenient with the touchscreen - this will be true with the K-new as well - but you're not forced at all to use it.

So there really isn't any downside.

[ffking]

"Rather than"? This isn't the case; as you can see, you have all the expected, proper buttons and dials on the K-new.
Even with the GR III - a compact camera - you could disable the touchscreen and perfectly operate it. Some operations are more convenient with the touchscreen - this will be true with the K-new as well - but you're not forced at all to use it.

So there really isn't any downside.

While I agree - and was about to say something similar - I'm still a little concerned at the apparent loss of functions on the right hand top control dial - but that might be something they haven't finalised yet

[normhead]

I would do that if I had a K-1 handy. I rented one a couple years ago and while I remember some differences in viewfinder I don't recall thinking anything in particular about the advantages of it. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to it.

This really isn't an issue for many of us. Look in viewfinder, take picture.
I was shocked when I found out my *ist D wasn't 35 mm. How is one to know?

If you were trained on 8x10 and 4x5 film, any of these teeny little viewfinders is a joke.

But, that being said, I don't use the viewfinder to focus. Without a split screen what's the point?
In that tiny little viewfinder you aren't seeing your DoF.

So what I do is work from experience. Learn where to put your focus point to get what you want in focus. Use live view to place your depth of field in the frame.

All the viewfinder does for me is show me what the lens is pointed at. No one trained on view cameras is going to trust an AF system by itself to do everything for you. It's faster to know what you're doing than to mess around with focussing screens and trying to do MF focus through a viewfinder. All I care about is where that little red focus confirmation is in regards to the aperture and where that means the DoF is in the frame.

But it does explain that thing where I'm shooting with other shooters and I'm firing away while they futz with stuff. I guess they're being slowed down by all those conveniences.

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Last edited by normhead; 05-20-2020 at 06:26 AM.

[Biro]

. . . . And?

[EDIT] I’ll bet you a PayPal Dollar the K-new AF system is significantly faster, significantly more accurate, has significantly more AF points spread over a significantly wider portion of the Frame and has significantly better continuous AF tracking than any current Pentax camera (KP, K-1ll or K-70).

I'm sure what you say is true - because most of the technology is available off the shelf these days. Almost every new Pentax camera is "the best Pentax camera" and an improvement on its predecessors. The question is, how will it measure up to the competition?

[Kunzite]

While I agree - and was about to say something similar - I'm still a little concerned at the apparent loss of functions on the right hand top control dial - but that might be something they haven't finalised yet

What loss of functions?

If you're talking about the Smart Function controls, it seems they've made it more flexible.
I guess you're seeing the dial with only 3 settings (OVF stills/LV/video) in the place of a dial with 9 settings on the K-1. But, the "only 3 settings" dial on the K-new actually replaced the lever beneath the "9 settings" K-1's dial. In other words, a lever with 2 settings (stills/video) was transformed into a dial with 3 (OVF stills/LV/video).
In place of the "9 settings" dial they've put the S.Fn button.

[Serkevan]

What loss of functions?

If you're talking about the Smart Function controls, it seems they've made it more flexible.

Probably similar to the KP in that you can select what you want the third e-dial to do (whereas the K-1 is "locked" to what the selector does). It probably means you'll lose some speed, though, the dial is super quick and I suppose that for the K-new you'll have to activate the S F.n control, then choose the function instead of just turning the knob.

[ThorSanchez]

This really isn't an issue for many of us. Look in viewfinder, take picture.
I was shocked when I found out my *ist D wasn't 35 mm. How is one to know?

If you were trained on 8x10 and 4x5 film, any of these teeny little viewfinders is a joke.

But, that being said, I don't use the viewfinder to focus. Without a split screen what's the point?
In that tiny little viewfinder you aren't seeing your DoF.

So what I do is work from experience. Learn where to put your focus point to get what you want in focus. Use live view to place your depth of field in the frame.

All the viewfinder does for me is show me what the lens is pointed at. No one trained on view cameras is going to trust an AF system by itself to do everything for you. It's faster to know what you're doing than to mess around with focussing screens and trying to do MF focus through a viewfinder. All I care about is where that little red focus confirmation is in regards to the aperture and where that means the DoF is in the frame.

But it does explain that thing where I'm shooting with other shooters and I'm firing away while they futz with stuff. I guess they're being slowed down by all those conveniences.

If you were trained on Canon ELPHs and the K-30 the K-3 series' viewfinder is... great? fine? Like you said, you look through the viewfinder and take a photo. I use manual focus lenses maybe 10% of the time, and I focus through the viewfinder and it works. Well enough, I guess. And when it doesn't I'll occasionally use LiveView. Or I'm using the Lomo Daguerreotype Achromat lens and you don't really focus so much as minimize the blurriness.

In any case, a 1.05 vs 0.95 viewfinder is a nice thing but not a feature I'd go looking for, and certainly not a deal maker/breaker for a buying decision.

[Kunzite]

Probably similar to the KP in that you can select what you want the third e-dial to do (whereas the K-1 is "locked" to what the selector does). It probably means you'll lose some speed, though, the dial is super quick and I suppose that for the K-new you'll have to activate the S F.n control, then choose the function instead of just turning the knob.

Right, the KP introduces 3 custom positions - but the K-new gets rid completely of the wheel - and I hope the list of functions is fully customizable.

[ThorSanchez]

What loss of functions?

If you're talking about the Smart Function controls, it seems they've made it more flexible.
I guess you're seeing the dial with only 3 settings (OVF stills/LV/video) in the place of a dial with 9 settings on the K-1. But, the "only 3 settings" dial on the K-new actually replaced the lever beneath the "9 settings" K-1's dial. In other words, a lever with 2 settings (stills/video) was transformed into a dial with 3 (OVF stills/LV/video).
In place of the "9 settings" dial they've put the S.Fn button.

Probably similar to the KP in that you can select what you want the third e-dial to do (whereas the K-1 is "locked" to what the selector does). It probably means you'll lose some speed, though, the dial is super quick and I suppose that for the K-new you'll have to activate the S F.n control, then choose the function instead of just turning the knob.

The K-3 series has one control knob, so the folks taking that upgrade path see only added functionality.

[Serkevan]

The K-3 series has one control knob, so the folks taking that upgrade path see only added functionality.

Yep, when I went from the K-7 to the K-1 the sheer amount of extra control (not that the K-7 was bad, far from it) was a big part of the wow factor. I think that the control layout of flagship bodies has me so spoiled that I shudder at the thought of using an entry-level body now . I handled the D5300 of a friend for a bit and it was... an experience.

[bertwert]

I beg to differ, there's still room for more screen nonsense. For example, it's obvious to me... Pentax are pulling a sneaky and the screen actually flips out... K-1 style but only when you push and release the entire screen does it pop out!

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