Pentax is indeed pivoting from good value to premium pricing and - at least with regards to bodies - that's happening very quickly. Disbelief at the new prices (which, by the way, we
still don't know so let's not panic beforehand) is to be expected because the K-1ii spoiled us. Still, if people expected price competitiveness when DSLRs are substantially more expensive to make than MILCs and Pentax is a small player, I'm not sure what they were thinking. Would it be better if Pentax could sell this camera at a price close to the Canon 90D? Yes. But it's a better camera specs-wise, and most importantly the R&D cost cannot be absorbed as easily as with Canon's wider market. It just can't happen
They won't get a lot of new customers with the K-33 because there
aren't a lot of new customers, but if people start dropping their K-5s and K-3s for the K-33 it should probably be enough, and the R&D won't be wasted - better prism in the K-13 and KP2, better AF, better processors.
Regarding the OVF, the Fuji X-Pro series doesn't have a TTL OVF, and the only correct response to the idea of using a 200mm+ lens* on a rangefinder window is "lol". Not like Fuji even has a meaningful selection of those anyway...
And as for EVFs, several of us cannot stand them. I don't care how many frames per second the tiny window has, a 3.69MDot panel is unbearable.
*Which is the prime market for the K-33, after all. Street/portrait APS-C shooters (where Fuji's at its very best IMO) are already very well served with the KP and the DA Limiteds. Just need a couple more fast primes there.
---------- Post added 10-28-20 at 08:08 AM ----------
Originally posted by someasiancameraguy I'd argue that almost everyone that shoots Pentax will swear that the bodies use a "get the tech out the way" ethos. Pentax ergonomics have always been amazing. As to IQ between APS-C and FF I'd agree the gap has closed, but FF has some advantages that are hard to replicate: such as DOF, high ISO, and typically lower CA/distortion ultrawides to name a few.
I do think that the Fuji ecosystem is currently very competitive, but it's too far to say that Pentax doesn't have its own advantages. Even if EVFs reached a retina level of pixel density with indistinguishable delay, not everyone likes to feel a digital layer between what they capture. I know that sounds like a statement lifted off some copy-ad, but its true.
If we did an apples to apples comparison of feature set, Leica wouldn't be the company it is today, nor will film photography be experiencing the resurgence it has for the past decade.
Yeah, the gap is certainly smaller between APS-C and FF, but physics are physics in the end.
Incidentally and speaking about FF, the K-1 is extremely unassuming. Not in terms of physical size, but in layout: it's all muscle memory and I don't remember the last time I had to menu-dive or look at the screen for more than two seconds to adjust something. Heck, the other day I went to shoot some sunsets and I didn't need to take my eyes off the OVF while working through half an hour of photos in different drive modes... If that's not "getting out of the way" I don't know what would qualify!