[ThorSanchez]

Yes, there are good arguments for a flippy screen - such as a low or a high view. My KP handles those just fine. This is a camera with a special viewfinder. Within a few days, we may discover other special features it has that my KP also cannot match. I don't believe I need any of those capabilities, but time will tell. Instead of complaining what it does not have, we should be celebrating what it can do.

They announced that the K-new was coming a year ago. In that time they've released a handful of new details, but a lot of the camera is hypothetical. It's hard to celebrate new capabilities that they haven't told us about yet.


Pentax is doing this to create some buzz, generate some alternate advertising and discussion. I'm sure they're quite happy that their most devoted customers have spent hundreds of pages talking about flippy screens and frame rates. They're probably thrilled that we're talking about Pentax. This is a company that's sold cameras for a long time, they're not at all surprised or dismayed that there are divergent opinions about their products. They'd have to have a combination of naivete and blinders to expect universal praise.

[jswilson64]

No beer bottle opener either. I have been asking for one since the K10D.

Coming in 2021: Pentax + Sapporo Special Edition APSC Flagship.

Of course, then we'd have complaints it won't hold a half-pint of single-malt Japanese whisky...

[texandrews]

I have swiss army knife. I'm artist who needs arious tools in my work. I use my swiss army knife for opening a beer bottle. I use other tools which are better for carving, opening screws, sawing...to do it, because with swiss army knife can do many things, but none of them properly. Fun fact.

Another fun fact: I have a dear friend who went elk hunting (Montana) some years ago with some guys he hadn't hunted with before, and he was skeptical because he wasn't in a position to go get all his gear. So, he asked them if they were bringing a proper knife for field dressing. They said yes.

Well, my friend got an elk, and asked after the knife. They produced a dull, unacceptable POC. So, my buddy was left with his SAK. A 2 blade model. Thing was he had neglected to put a keen edge on the big blade (which got the most use out in the field in his work at the time). So, that left the small blade.

So, now you know: you can field dress an elk with the small blade of a SAK.

And to keep this on Topic, I'm really curious about the video capabilities of this new camera, and if it's the kind of camera I think it might be, understand and am fine with it not having an articulating screen. But, we'll see.

[reh321]

They announced that the K-new was coming a year ago. In that time they've released a handful of new details, but a lot of the camera is hypothetical. It's hard to celebrate new capabilities that they haven't told us about yet.

Pentax is doing this to create some buzz, generate some alternate advertising and discussion. I'm sure they're quite happy that their most devoted customers have spent hundreds of pages talking about flippy screens and frame rates. They're probably thrilled that we're talking about Pentax. This is a company that's sold cameras for a long time, they're not at all surprised or dismayed that there are divergent opinions about their products. They'd have to have a combination of naivete and blinders to expect universal praise.

But we know that the viewfinder is vastly improved.

We can guess - based on the KP - that focusing and high ISO performance is much better than what the K-3ii provided.

We have so much to look forward to.
Actually, thinking about it, just having something in the "APS-C flagship" category again is something to look forward to, even if that 'something' were merely a KP with a deeper buffer
{I notice that speculation about improved sensor and processor have died down, even though nothing officially has been said about them}.

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Last edited by reh321; 09-10-2020 at 09:54 AM.

[Belnan]

Pentax is doing this to create some buzz, generate some alternate advertising and discussion. I'm sure they're quite happy that their most devoted customers have spent hundreds of pages talking about flippy screens and frame rates. They're probably thrilled that we're talking about Pentax. This is a company that's sold cameras for a long time, they're not at all surprised or dismayed that there are divergent opinions about their products.

Maybe you are on to something and they Ricoh left off the flippy screen just to create more conversation, even if its polarizing.

[Flubber]

Coming in 2021: Pentax + Sapporo Special Edition APSC Flagship.

Of course, then we'd have complaints it won't hold a half-pint of single-malt Japanese whisky...

Please don't forget the cigarette and cigar lighter. Can't have whisky without smoking a Cuban.

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 10:05 AM ----------

And we better hope the camera has an IBIS good enough to cope with severe user intoxication.

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 10:23 AM ----------

I hope my prediction comes true that there's a new product story or that the camera is officially announced/launched tomorrow. I see cameras being announced to the left and to the right at the moment.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

This thread has gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic. Hahaha!

With smartphones digging into camera sales & just about every mainstream camera maker releasing an "inexpensive" full frame mirrorless body to lure potential buyers, it does make me wonder how well this camera will do once it's released. A good chunk of the Pentax user base that has been waiting for it will buy it, but how many other Pentax users will be discontent with it & leave? How many other Pentax users will be happy with what they already have & simply skip this release? Will it attract a few Canon & Nikon DSLR users? Will it even attract a few Sony A-mount DSLT users? Unfortunately or fortunately, a big factor to whether this camera does well or not with the general public that doesn't use Pentax cameras will be what many camera review sites say about the camera. Like it or not, sites like DPreview, Imaging-Resource, reviewers like the Northrups, Fro, & others do impact how some consumers make a decision about a camera. I guess we'll see once it's released. Hmmmm.....


But yeah. I do look forward to it.

[repaap]

Another fun fact: I have a dear friend who went elk hunting (Montana) some years ago with some guys he hadn't hunted with before, and he was skeptical because he wasn't in a position to go get all his gear. So, he asked them if they were bringing a proper knife for field dressing. They said yes.

Well, my friend got an elk, and asked after the knife. They produced a dull, unacceptable POC. So, my buddy was left with his SAK. A 2 blade model. Thing was he had neglected to put a keen edge on the big blade (which got the most use out in the field in his work at the time). So, that left the small blade.

So, now you know: you can field dress an elk with the small blade of a SAK.

And to keep this on Topic, I'm really curious about the video capabilities of this new camera, and if it's the kind of camera I think it might be, understand and am fine with it not having an articulating screen. But, we'll see.

Goood to know!

Aboutthat video. I also am looking forward to see what the video will be like...and other performance. Not waiting for 4K 60, but a decent 4K 24/30 FPS would be neat and getting rid of that 29:59 limit. Also...they did say at some point(couple of yrs a go) that they will have a look if they could get that SR (mechanical) working in video mode. They have not come back at it possibly because they ran in trouble/have been working hard for their AF. But that would be interesting to see too. Only thing reasonably to look for would be that 4K/30 fps. Rest of that list would be quite pretty good.

[ThorSanchez]

I agree the Ariel Atom is very specialized, but it was intended to be. Who's to say the case isn't the same with this camera?

I suppose that's possible. But Ariel sells about 900 Atoms a year. And they cost as much or more than a good luxury sedan or SUV. I don't know Pentax' business case, but they need to take care that they can make money on a niche of a niche of a specialty.

[Flubber]

The tweet that was talked about a while back did say that the camera was more expensive than people would expect, but who knows how believable that is - it could just be someone stirring the rumor mill.

[Serkevan]

Coming in 2021: Pentax + Sapporo Special Edition APSC Flagship.

Of course, then we'd have complaints it won't hold a half-pint of single-malt Japanese whisky...

Why suffer through whisky when you can enjoy some good gin, though... Sapporo is good though, I like it best from the Japanese beers I can get here

[Wheatfield]

The question is not so much whether cameras have been used to copy slides before. The criticism is that the camera is not particularly suited for it because it doesn't have a flippyscreen, and that's an entirely different thought altogether. You can use a camera for scanning, but should you expect it to be tailored for it? That's what we are arguing against here. You can use a sword to cut butter, but it wasn't (and shouldn't be expected to be) designed for it.

The question really should be why not just use a smart phone as a view screen when copying slides, or anything else? In this task, portability is no longer an issue, its a fixed and non portable set up.
This does assume that this new flagship camera has built in wifi, the lack of which would be a pretty big omission.

[Flubber]

If I remember correctly, WIFI and Bluetooth were included in the patent application.

[house]

Every DSLR can be used for macro, slide copying, sports, architecture, travel, portrait, landscape, street, documentary, product, snapshots etc.

Pretending that you have to carry several cameras to switch use is nonsense and you all know it.

The best camera for sports cannot also be the best camera for landscape. If you want your camera to be good at all things you are not a good enough photographer to need great gear. No photographer good enough to squeeze the performance out of excelled gear is good at all types of photography. Hence the user of a high end do it all camera doesn't exist.

[Serkevan]

Then leave it, you won't get it. If you don't understand something simple, I doubt you would understand if I wrote something complicated

You do realize that the cost of a crop-645 Fuji 50R body is the same as a K-1 with two f/2.8 zooms right? And that's not even getting to the 1K+ that any lens costs. They haven't brought medium format anywhere it already wasn't, Hassy stuff isn't that different

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 12:55 PM ----------

Every DSLR can be used for macro, slide copying, sports, architecture, travel, portrait, landscape, street, documentary, product, snapshots etc.

Pretending that you have to carry several cameras to switch use is nonsense and you all know it.

The best camera for sports cannot also be the best camera for landscape. If you want your camera to be good at all things you are not a good enough photographer to need great gear. No photographer good enough to squeeze the performance out of excelled gear is good at all types of photography. Hence the user of a high end do it all camera doesn't exist.

It's not about being able to use something. It's about how much it makes you want to chuck the thing into a lake out of frustration. It's about how much the camera gets out of the way, you know, in line with Pentax' principles of photography. And, if we talk about results, any entry level DSLR is better than - I'd wager - 90% of the forumites, myself included. Heck, even a smartphone can be used for all those things you listed. The argument sounds disingenuous.


I don't know, if I'm stuck wedged between two rocks while swearing at several gods in three different languages because the K-7 didn't have a flipping flippy screen and there's no other way to get the shot unless I start shooting randomly1, you bet I'm not enjoying photography, and for me it's a hobby. I want to enjoy it, I don't want a Pulitzer. I want to be able to have a good "do everything" camera that is a joy to use, not the very best (or I'd be carrying around a 645 with a Phase One 150MP back plus a Canon C300 plus an E-M1X).

If this were to be a seriously tough compromise to make people would shrug. Not adding a feature that makes several types of photography much easier in favor of what is being seen by many here as meager gains is far more of a headscratcher. Ultimately it's what it is, of course. Hopefully the next camera will take other compromises.


1: This actually happened enough times that "it has to have a movable screen" became a sine-qua-non condition for any future camera .