[Dartmoor Dave]

Give me a manual thumb wind any day. When the 16 year old me bought my first proper camera -- a K1000 -- back in 1980, the thumb wind seemed like the coolest thing ever invented. I still get a real pleasure in throwing the thumb wind on that same K1000 today, and it still works as well as it ever did.

A film camera without a manual winder is like a car without a manual gearbox. Convenient, but completely without soul and utterly dead inside. A mere appliance.

[reh321]

It's very special and private opinion of one man. Not the right way for progress.
It's not special and unique act, but discomfort.

I see сrowd manipulation in such marketing declaration. They decided to make manual winding and trying to impose your decision on the buyer.
Produce 2 cameras - with and without

I feel “informed” - certainly not “manipulated”.

[OrchidJulie]

A film camera without a manual winder is like a car without a manual gearbox. Convenient, but completely without soul and utterly dead inside. A mere appliance.

+1 to that (I drive a 5-speed)

[Kunzite]

+1 to that (I drive a 5-speed)

Sorry, but it depends: will it be a Miata or a GR86, or a Civic?
(I do think Pentax is perfectly capable of making a Miata/GR86 of a camera).

[Serkevan]

It's very special and private opinion of one man. Not the right way for progress.
It's not special and unique act, but discomfort.

I see сrowd manipulation in such marketing declaration. They decided to make manual winding and trying to impose your decision on the buyer.
Produce 2 cameras - with and without

They are already "imposing" the use of film (!), and probably manual focus (!!) on the buyer. Adding manual winding isn't really sending anything further backwards and I personally agree that it's a core part of the film experience.

The entire idea of this project is to go against the technical progress of blazing-fast digital capture.

[Mistral75]

Remember: "President Noboru Akabane had always habitually said that he wanted PENTAX to become a cute brand that people could look at and say, 'look at them, they’re doing something crazy again, but I guess that’s just what they do.'"

[JoelA]

Just a bit less than a month ago, I had a chance to chat with TKO (summary in the clubhouse thread).

What is astounding and encouraging - is the update in tonality between the current article and the prior conversation.

When we talked he emphasized that this is "not for sure".

The article (based on the translation) sure sounds like the Pentax team has moved forward to "this is how it will be" vs. "not for sure".

And they are clearly staying on point with making this a camera that would allow photographers to enjoy the full film experience.

I continue to be amazed at the support to both the art and the craft of photography that this project is pursuing. And a little bit of kawaii just makes this old guy happy.

[thibs]

It's very special and private opinion of one man. Not the right way for progress.
It's not special and unique act, but discomfort.

I see сrowd manipulation in such marketing declaration. They decided to make manual winding and trying to impose your decision on the buyer.
Produce 2 cameras - with and without

I see a very closeminded guy trying impose HIS views on everybody. Talking about you not about Pentax.
Not the first time either.

[OrchidJulie]

I see a discussion headed for confrontation...not the way we roll, guys. Let's keep this civil; everybody has a point of view whether you agree with it or not.

[redrockcoulee]

As someone who sta rted with a Spotmatic F then onto a SFXn then a few MZ series and now a MX I do hot see the autowibd or manual wind a big issue. Otherthan my first and last Pentax film cameras did not need a battery to function. Feelin of quality is more important ib my view for a new film camera. But maybe I am spoilt by also havibg a Rollerchord a nd a Hasselblad 500 CM but i do also have Holgas and Dianas.

[leekil]

They said the plan was for two compact cameras, and then two SLRs, with one being more basic, and the second high-end. So potentially one could be a manual-wind SLR, and the second more like the MZ-S in terms of features. But they also said that the manual camera features were more of an advanced topic, since they had moved away from that technology.

But this could this also tie into autofocus vs. manual focus; a more manual camera might naturally have both manual focus and winding. Have they had a manual focus camera with auto-winding? Maybe the MZ-M?

But would they want to put out a manual-focus-only camera, since they might want to sell modern lenses to these new camera owners?

[thibs]

MZ-M (ZX-M) and A3000 (A3) AFAICT.

[TwoUptons]

They said the plan was for two compact cameras, and then two SLRs, with one being more basic, and the second high-end. So potentially one could be a manual-wind SLR, and the second more like the MZ-S in terms of features. But they also said that the manual camera features were more of an advanced topic, since they had moved away from that technology.

But this could this also tie into autofocus vs. manual focus; a more manual camera might naturally have both manual focus and winding. Have they had a manual focus camera with auto-winding? Maybe the MZ-M?

But would they want to put out a manual-focus-only camera, since they might want to sell modern lenses to these new camera owners?

They could still do a manual focus camera, but it would need to have the electronic contacts to power the in-lens motors of the newer lenses that require that.

And completely mechanical would be impossible with full functionality on the KAF4 lenses because of the electronic aperture control, as that would need power, too.

But it could still have much of the look and feel of a completely manual camera. An electronic shutter makes most of the same noises, and a damped wheel can be electronic, so they could do all of that and run it off a 6v battery...

-Eric

[reh321]

They could still do a manual focus camera, but it would need to have the electronic contacts to power the in-lens motors of the newer lenses that require that.

And completely mechanical would be impossible with full functionality on the KAF4 lenses because of the electronic aperture control, as that would need power, too.

But it could still have much of the look and feel of a completely manual camera. An electronic shutter makes most of the same noises, and a damped wheel can be electronic, so they could do all of that and run it off a 6v battery...

-Eric

We spent the last few days visiting with our daughter and her newborn daughter before her maternity leave ends. I took both my KP and my “Super Program” on that trip, but used only my “Super Program” during our visit, reacquainting myself with it - it was what I used when my daughter was a newborn.

I see a lot of ‘Canon/Nikon/Sony’ thinking in this thread. Pentax sits on a wealth of old K-mount lenses. The first few film cameras would come with a lens - no use of any added lens - and if they get to K-mount cameras, I don’t see any reason to purchase a new lens. People may continue to think that way; I don’t believe Pentax management will. I still believe that the most important issues to them will be improving the manual experience {including focusing}.

[mbukal]

Pentax has a big hole/gap in the KAF4 FF lenses, since the K1 came out Pentax hasn't made their own DFA*24-70/2.8 just like the DFA 70-300/4.5-5.6 doesn't even have its own DFA* ultrawide zoom... etc... now the SLR is forcing a new camera body on which it will not be possible to put new KAF4 lenses, a new manual lens will have to appear along with the new camera body, which will further slow down the already super-slow release of new KAF4 lenses, I doubt that Pentax is capable, i.e. I am convinced that it cannot (considering that I have been with Pentax for only 13 years) successfully work on multiple parallel fields in the production of its photo equipment , I would most like to focus on the regular production of DSLR APSC and FF photo equipment and for all users who want to use DSLR photo equipment to buy Pentax without thinking and not to look for neglected canikon systems because there is no KAF4 lens in Pentax that is equal or better than the abandoned one Canon L or Nikon...
it's not a competition with anyone or anything, it's realistic that Pentax remains the only manufacturer of DSLR photo equipment and it would be desirable if it now offers all the comfort and enjoyment of using DSLR photography that the user had to look for in canikosoni+pentax systems in the past,
now has the opportunity to show itself as a serious and uncompromising manufacturer of DSLR photo equipment, both for beginners and advanced amateurs, as well as for professionals who want to use this DSLR photo equipment