[Asahiflex]

And let's not forget a new lens roadmap is to be expected too. Soon we'll know what happened to the DA* 30 and the elusive TC.

[krypticide]

+/- 5EV metering would be pretty sweet for me...

[Mirek]

I did as well. But top LCD show ±2

Not really sure about the +/-5 based on the firmware revision. I am more interested in this info screen as it appears completely new and quite different to K10/20/200D.

More like the k-m apparently, but as the K-7 has more direct controls, I would say it resembles more the info screen of Sony cameras...

[melander]

Would +-5 mean a higher DR on the sensor?

[Acliffalay]

+/- 5EV metering would be pretty sweet for me...

I'm at a loss of what I would do with +/- 5ev...

[Torphoto]

Would +-5 mean a higher DR on the sensor?

Not really, and if it had higher dr I would guess 1/2 to 1 stop more at best

I'm at a loss of what I would do with +/- 5ev...

Think of the bracketing possibilities!! add to that the flash compensation tricks and MULTI EXPOSURE FUN!!!!!!!!!

[Yohan Pamudji]

Think of the bracketing possibilities!! add to that the flash compensation tricks and MULTI EXPOSURE FUN!!!!!!!!!

I'm thinking +/-2 EV for exposure compensation and +/-3 for bracketing. Perhaps that's where the +/- 5 comes from. You can't use all 10 stops of range for bracketing all at once. More like any 6 stops at a time from -5 to +1, up to -1 to +5.

[ryan s]

I have a promaster 7000m that does it as well, problem is, the AF assist beam isn't centered. Yeah, funny stuff. Even then what if I have my trigger on the shoe?

Wait a second. If it uses the on board flash as the AF assist lamp, then what the hell is so new about it? Even my k100d has that. What's the big deal about it if nothing is new on that front?
Earlier in the thread someone said the AF assist beam is GREEN. Would that tell you the on board flash isn't used as the AF assist?

Green? (I wonder if that has something to do with our eye's sensitivity to that color, or how red is sensitive to us but more "offensive"...)

From the newest pics linked in the "50-200mm WR Lens" thread, it appears that the sensor/lamp next to the shutter could be clear and not translucent-to-almost-opaque. Then it would be an AF lamp if the former were true. I guess we'll see in a few hours....

[GoldenWreckedAngle]

Ok, I'm thinking of the bracketing possibilities...

I'm trying to imagine a picture that I can't get correctly exposed within +/- 2 EV on the first shot. If I'm in a situation where +/- 5 EV is really going to be a benifit I'm probably shooting on a tripod with the ability to hold the shutter open in bulb mode until the batteries run out all the way up to 1/4000. I know I'm probably missing something but I can't see the need for +/- 5 EV. Still, if it will do it, more is better than the same or less right?

[Torphoto]

Guys remember the new built in HDR mode, think of a scene with a bridge and dark shadows under it in bright sunlight, the area under the bridge is 4 stops less than the area just before it in tree shade and the sky is 3 stops over exposed.

Now I'm just guessing here obviously but where the opertunity presents itself we will find a way to use it if it is there now won't we!

[glanglois]

RH pointed out that AF assist was NOT done via the on-board flash but via a "torch", Commonwealth English for an American flashlight.

If the LED is white, it may also act as supplemental lighting for video. There's another camera floating around someplace that has a clear LED for just that purpose. It may also explain the higher power requirement.

And you could use it to find your car keys after you've dropped them returning to your car from a night shoot. Or signal for help when your boat is disabled at sea. That's the boat you use for seascape photography owing to the extreme weather resistance of the camera and lenses.

I must go back to work now .....

[janneman]

Or signal for help when your boat is disabled at sea. That's the boat you use for seascape photography owing to the extreme weather resistance of the camera and lenses.

The K-7 lacks an emergency flotation device!

[robjmitchell]

Two theories on the Green led.
1. Someone looked to close at a white LED that appears green due to the phosphorescent coating. Its white when its on.
2. It is green because humans are more sensitive to red and less sensitive to green.
Of course we could just wait a few hours to find out but thats no fun!

[glanglois]

Ok, I gave a simplistic description (which is only correct for periodic shake) to say something about the "loose the brakes" idea for SR ...

A more appropriate description would have been to compare the situation to that of noise cancellation where the phase is actually inverted (note that noise is irregular, too). Works only above a given frequency. Below this frequency (i.e., for frequencies of shake where only a few or less than one oscillation occur) you would counter-move in real time w/o waiting.

But this is no problem because at those low frequencies, the latency of the entire SR system can be ignored. The tricky part is how to compensate for those higher frequencies of shake ... There is a chance that Pentax doesn't treat those higher frequencies at all (Human tremor is at frequencies between 4 Hz and 15 Hz). If so, then you are perfectly right and the system doesn't "anticipate" anything (no noise cancellation at all). Then however, the system would perform poorly for short shutter time at long focal lengths. Maybe, it does...

Pentax never published their exact algorithm but it was noted that it works best for exposure times of 1/15s. They don't use the IDG-300; but two similiar (smaller) chips, one per axis.

I have to mull upon this but I think you've helped me here. But I'm not sure that human tremors fall entirely, or mostly, in that range. If you've some exposure to Parkinson's and similar unsettling conditions, you've seen a series of apparently random tremors, a bunch of comparatively large single events in addition to some underlying muscle oscillation. Perhaps I'm thinking of older photographers (me!) and generalizing.

In any event, thanks for taking the time for a reply and a hand to my education!

[sveinmb]

I've now lost track of all the different threads and posts here. But I found this official photo on flickr, its available in large 2xxx*2xxx size. Don't know if it has been posted here yet:




I think it's the DA* 55 there, or they've made the DA* 30 look very similar. Anyway it looks really good on that body.



Oh, and btw.. doesn't anybody wonder why the only photo of the K-7 with the flash popped up is cropped so the top part of the flash isn't visible? And why does someone say it has a green focus assist light? And why did the obviously fake photoshopped image of a K-m flash have green leds on top?

EDIT: Just realized this is probably the same photo used in the photoshopped futurama image.