[soccerjoe5]

I'm assuming that they put the limit on so people don't use it for timelapse videos, otherwise in a year or two Pentax would have a hell of a lot of broken shutter mechanisms to replace.

Still annoying.

That'd be real strange, as it would be a great feature for timelapse videos. Oh well.

[henrx]

Well, a little late, but I'd like to post my wishlist:

1.> Manual in video mode (or at least Tv or TAv or manual ISO)
2.> 23.98fps mode
3.> 29.97fps mode
4.> 25fps mode (not for me, but I'm sure there are some people in europe who want it)
5.> Useful intervalometer (no more 99 shot limit)
6.> Perhaps a EU and non-EU firmware so we don't get screwed over by Europe's taxes on devices that record more than 30 mins of video
7.> MPEG4 AVC, or some format with better compression. (perhaps not possible with current hardware?)
8.> Tethering, even if they don't provide software to use it and just an SDK or API docs.

Yes, they're almost all related to video, but thats the only thing making me want to upgrade.

I second that.
7. - but only additionally please. I like the MJPEG of the K-7. It is almost like having uncompressed video footage!

[nixcamic]

Well, a little late, but I'd like to post my wishlist:

1.> Manual in video mode (or at least Tv or TAv or manual ISO)
2.> 23.98fps mode
3.> 29.97fps mode
4.> 25fps mode (not for me, but I'm sure there are some people in europe who want it)
5.> Useful intervalometer (no more 99 shot limit)
6.> Perhaps a EU and non-EU firmware so we don't get screwed over by Europe's taxes on devices that record more than 30 mins of video
7.> MPEG4 AVC, or some format with better compression. (perhaps not possible with current hardware?)
8.> Tethering, even if they don't provide software to use it and just an SDK or API docs.

Yes, they're almost all related to video, but thats the only thing making me want to upgrade.

I forgot one, which is ability to remap the RAW button and image effects (or whatever its called) buttons to do useful stuff. Even if you don't want to have the configuration for this in camera, it would be cool to have a utility on the computer to allow you to remap buttons.

Are you old enough to remember those Russian watches from the early 60s that had so much radium in them that the insides of the watches got fused?
I don't know why I thought of that.

As a matter of fact, yes. Because I loved to wear those Russian watches so much that I still glow in the dark bright enough that I have never ever needed a flash in my photography exploits for the last 50 years.

[song_hm]

I can't believe so many of you want the AF button to control something else. I personally disable the auto focus on the shutter and use the AF button exclusively, simply for the purpose of focusing and re-composing without having to hold the shutter halfway down for an extened period of time. I use this both in the studio (when I have fine-tuned my focus) and in everyday shooting.

For the same reason as you have, I am currently experimenting with decoupling AF from the shutter. I don't need this mode always, so I miss the halfway shutter AF half the time.

What I'd like to see is an AE-L equivalent for auto focus. Here is one approach:

While shutter button is depressed halfway, pressing the AF button engages AF-L. Auto focus is disabled until:
1) A picture is taken
2) AF button is pressed again
3) Dial Mode change
4) Power Off

Similar to AE-L, unpressing the shutter button does not disengage AF-L mode.

The LCD, view finder indication for AE-L should be extended to indicate AF-L.

I don't have a K-7, so naturally, I want this on K-20 :-)

[soccerjoe5]

OH! Pentax please please make the K-7 PictBridge compatible! David duChemin and Gavin Gough use this feature for their travel photography, it's fantastic for giving out little prints with a portable printer.

[Arpe]

I'd like the firmware to shift the Af button to a more comfortable place so my thumb is in a more natural position when using it.

[alessandro63]

I can't believe so many of you want the AF button to control something else. I personally disable the auto focus on the shutter and use the AF button exclusively, simply for the purpose of focusing and re-composing without having to hold the shutter halfway down for an extened period of time. I use this both in the studio (when I have fine-tuned my focus) and in everyday shooting.

Then you can't skip to hold the shutter button halfway down, if you're going to make use of SR...

[glanglois]

Via a configurable button.

I think that configurable switches/buttons have to be the right long-term direction. Lots of folks here seem to find that too many physical interfaces spoil their day but we often don't have time to dig in menus and we cannot agree on what should be accessed via a switch/button.

This week I shot about 1,300 images at an aviation event. Oshkosh, if anyone is familiar.

I often had to quickly get my camera up and panning to catch an unexpected aircraft overhead. With my K10D, I can quickly get to SR=off and AF=AF-C and mode=Tv with the external controls. No way I can do ANY of that via menu and still get the shot. The same situation can arise shooting some sports, equine/canine events, etc. We cannot always plan each shot in advance.

I'll add my vote to allow user assignment of at least two buttons/modes/switches/sliders/dials/levers/etc.

The existing software shows that the capability is there. Now Pentax have to create a larger menu of options from which to choose.

Note that this isn't asking for new functions, simply a different way to turn the functions on/off.

Or does the K-7 offer a quick way to assign a custom group of settings to a quickly-accessed trigger? If so, I'll retract some of the above and wait not-so-patiently for my K-7.

[filmamigo]

My number one firmware upgrade that would make me buy a K7?

Video at 23.98 or 24 fps.

[Ishpuini]

Note: perhaps this has been posted already? I didn't read through the entire thread. Perhaps someone with some time on their hands should close the thread, and sum up the current list in a new thread so that double posts are avoided?

Anyway, here I go:

One thing I was hoping for was that they would have changed the behaviour of the exposure lock in Manual mode.

Now you set a shutter speed / aperture combination and after pressing the AE-L button and changing either shutter speed or aperture, the other parameter is adapted accordingly thus making sure the same amount of light would enter the camera with the adjusted setting. This is great, but it would be so nice if sensitivity could be included in this (optionally, i.e. enabled by a custom function).

This would be useful in metering long time exposures. For instance, I want to shoot a night scene that's too dark for the meter to meter properly. I take a few test shots in Manual using different shutter speeds and my preferred aperture at ISO6400 to determine the correct exposure settings (relatively short exposures thus enabling correct exposure relatively fast). I then press AE-L and adjust the ISO. While doing this the camera adjusts the shutter speed keeping the aperture constant (because I set the green button to behalve like this as well in Manual mode). When at ISO100 I take the shot.

Now I use high ISO for test shots as well, but I'm always having to recalculate the shutter speed for the actual shot at lower ISO. Ok, this is relatively easy, but still I have miscounted in the past and it would be so much easier of the camera could do the job for me.

Pentax has recognised Sensitivity as a third equal parameter next to shutter speed and aperture when they introduced the TAv and Sv modes, so why not expand the Manual mode as well?

Wim

[dopeytree]

I just left this comment on ned blog

here's the link for reference to the images I'm talking about: NED BUNNELL: 60min + 1gb + K-7 + 77mm

Personaly I love the reflection in the first image, you see two people one with there arms crossed and another with their hands behind there backs it draws youin what's going on here etc. Also the last image with the mans facial expression I love that.

Anyway Ned I really hope you can pass this idea on as I'm struggling to understand why pentax left out audio comments on images?

For instance I'm on holiday in thailand visiting new places each day and traveling 200+ miles a day. Taking hundreads of photos and then backing up on a photo storage device. I cannot remember the names of all the places and it's not feasable to write down hundreds/thousands of notes but if I could press the green dot while viewing images on my k-7 and record a not to go with the image all I would have to do when back home is play the audio file and add some notes to the photo etc

Its all there the built in mic, the green button being unalocated, the ability to record pcm sound... all it needs is a firmware update.

Another niggle is even if pentax won't give us full manual controls in video mode can we not at least get some iso control? even if its just the ability to select an iso range for auto iso? or even just display what the auto iso and shutter speeds are so we are awear of them.

[dopeytree]

Also the way the green light works on the top panel lcd really annoys me...what was wrong with it just lighting up when I pressed the ev button?

Now I either have it turn itself on after it measure the exposure in any dark situation (which means the light comes on even while I'm looking through the viewfinder! which looks rather stupid especially at gigs!

and yes i know I can turn th elight off but that's not the point I want to be able to operate the light on demand.

[Class A]

what was wrong with it just lighting up when I pressed the ev button?

Nothing. This "improvement" went into the wrong direction. One hopes that someone at Pentax is listening to all the voices complaining and this gets fixed in a firmware update (e.g., by offering the options "off", "automatic", and "manual"). It really puzzles me how they could not anticipate the trouble the new "auto" mode would cause.

One hopes that the upgrade which fixed the AF selection mode was not a one-off godsend.

[Arpe]

I too prefer the K20D way of lighting the top LCD. Always on (whenever you touch shutter button) or always off is not good.