Originally posted by pschlute No. Produce one camera, and a power winder accessory, just like the old days.
I think these days that's a bad plan...
When power winders were new and novel, batteries were terrible and the bits to do the work were large and heavy.
Look at the original winders for cameras like the Nikon F, Pentax KX, or the Spotmatic Motor... big, heavy, and not particularly fast...
That hasn't been the case in decades (look at the *ist, tiny with a motor), so there is no mechanical advantage really to having the user wind their own film.
If it is just a matter of getting the film wound, a fully motorized solution is easier to design and build.
A manual winding solution is more complicated, and one that combines the two even more so.
What was the last camera Pentax introduced that would take a separate motor drive? P5/P50 in 1986?
I also think the main goal of the early motor drives, getting high fps for professionals who needed it, will not be part of this project.
If you want high fps, buy a K3iii...
So the only reason to do manual winding is either to do a really cheap compact with a super-simple film transport or to, as the article suggest, let the new film shooters feel what it is like to move your own film. There is a tactile difference there, and one that seems completely in line with Pentax' approach to photography lately.
-Eric