[lithos]

You know what else Pentax should do?

Build a camera that doubles as a barbecue. Really, Pentax is behind in barbecue-camera technology, and this could be a valuable niche to exploit. Barbecues and photography are really taking off. I have no constructive advice to offer on how to do this. My simply saying "Barbecue-camera: make it so," should be all that Pentax needs.

There's been many a time I've been out shooting, and it's such a beautiful day, and I think, hey, I could really go some snags. Some boerwors. Maybe a steak sanger and onions.

I'm pretty certain Pentax should do it. I'll assume that, since they're like a big multinational, so that means they've got unlimited funds and will never post a loss. If necessary, however, I fully expect - nay, hope! - Pentax will cut down on things that take money away from this specific, frivolous aspect of the camera myself and slim minority of others want. Things like image quality, processing speed, AF, and lens design.

I'm well aware that there are other products there that would perfectly suit my needs, and probably do so much more cheaply, but, unfortunately, after years of fighting in the Brand Superiority Hyperbole Wars I'm now so emotionally invested in Pentax I'll look like a hypocrite if I even glance at product not made by Pentax, even if it's something they've never made before. So getting a Weber's out of the question. I'll probably have to commit seppuku.

Anyone who disagrees with me on this idea is a) an immature dick, and b) a paranoid Luddite.

[er1kksen]

C'mon man, build quality is the last leg I have to stand on!

Not much of a leg. The pricier rebels have improved a fair bit in their build quality (still not as solid as a K-x, even, but getting there). The XS-style cheaper rebels still feel awful though.

[Peter Zack]

So it's immature to disagree?

No it's not and actually as I tried to say before, different opinions make the forum format work. Otherwise we'd all be doing something else. Heated discussion makes it fun and interesting.

But using terms like "Jackass" to describe someone you have no background on or don't know is rude and uncalled for. It debases the entire forum and your standing therein. IMHO it completely deflates your point of view making the term apply to you more than the person you aimed it at.

You can refute anyone's comments in a far more constructive manner with facts and not slander.

The OP is has a right to his opinion as do you. Post it in a respectful manner.

now back to the video discussion.

[Peter Zack]

You know what else Pentax should do?

Build a camera that doubles as a barbecue. Really, Pentax is behind in barbecue-camera technology, and this could be a valuable niche to exploit.

Anyone who disagrees with me on this idea is a) an immature dick, and b) a paranoid Luddite.

Forget what I just posted. This cracks me up totally!!!

[RJRock]

You know what else Pentax should do?

Build a camera that doubles as a barbecue. Really, Pentax is behind in barbecue-camera technology, and this could be a valuable niche to exploit. Barbecues and photography are really taking off. I have no constructive advice to offer on how to do this. My simply saying "Barbecue-camera: make it so," should be all that Pentax needs.

There's been many a time I've been out shooting, and it's such a beautiful day, and I think, hey, I could really go some snags. Some boerwors. Maybe a steak sanger and onions.

I'm pretty certain Pentax should do it. I'll assume that, since they're like a big multinational, so that means they've got unlimited funds and will never post a loss. If necessary, however, I fully expect - nay, hope! - Pentax will cut down on things that take money away from this specific, frivolous aspect of the camera myself and slim minority of others want. Things like image quality, processing speed, AF, and lens design.

I'm well aware that there are other products there that would perfectly suit my needs, and probably do so much more cheaply, but, unfortunately, after years of fighting in the Brand Superiority Hyperbole Wars I'm now so emotionally invested in Pentax I'll look like a hypocrite if I even glance at product not made by Pentax, even if it's something they've never made before. So getting a Weber's out of the question. I'll probably have to commit seppuku.

Anyone who disagrees with me on this idea is a) an immature dick, and b) a paranoid Luddite.

It better have a variable speed rotisserie.

[RJRock]

I know many of the things I mentioned would cost serious money for development, but the manual controls should only be a re-write of the firmware. That's all I'm desperate for.

I also have an investment in Pentax. I have several lenses that sit there just waiting for me to get off my duff and buy the K-x.

My only point really is that to stay competetive in the market, they should seriously consider modifying the K-x, or possibly add a model that competes feature for feature. If they did, they may actually sell more product, and raise their perceived market share.

Thing is, everywhere you look, it's Canon, Canon, Canon, Nikon, Panasonic. I happened along the K-x quite by accident, since there wasn't a lot of talk around the web.

I would gladly pay any difference to get a Pentax with these features, but it's not going to sway my original purchase decision.

Ultimately, it's not what we want, it's what Pentax feels they need to do to stay competetive.

[AndrewG NY]

I just stopped thinking about stoopid cameras and started thinking about BBQ sauce.

.....

.....gurgle...

.....

That didn't last as long as I'd hoped. Anyway I'm not getting the excitement about the new Rebel. Honestly the changes seem pretty incremental compared to the 500D/T1i. Looks like they're finally making some steps to provide some semblance of "Auto-ISO technology", something that Canon has apparently been resisting for a long time. These remain priced at the high end of entry-level, where they compete against some pretty good cameras like Nikon D5000, and not all that far shy of D90 pricing at a disadvantage with somewhat lower build-quality and less enthusiast-oriented control layout. This does seems to outspec the D5000 that it appears to compete most directly with pretty well, and I'd guess Nikon may not be ready to refresh that model until 2011. Maybe they'll be able to do a 5000S sooner than that...I hope Pentax can do a K-x Super as well.

[lithos]

Forget what I just posted. This cracks me up totally!!!

Laugh all you want. BBQDSLR. Wave of the future.

Wave. Of. The. Future.

It better have a variable speed rotisserie.

It will. Then, it won't, after the SDM craps out on you.

I just stopped thinking about stoopid cameras and started thinking about BBQ sauce.

.....

.....gurgle...

.....

Well, my work here is done.

*slings jacket casually over one shoulder, walks slowly away into the sunsteps, footsteps echoing, whistling a sweet, slow, melancholy tune*

[Peter Zack]

Here's my take on the Canon T2i

Plus the canon forums have a lot of new 7D owners talking of selling their cameras. 18MP what a bunch of baloney (which should be fried on the Pentax BBQDSLR K-8)

[deejjjaaaa]

Narrow DOF video pornography seems interesting.

so many people now have ADD so it makes sense to do it one hole at a time

[Nass]

Here's my take on the Canon T2i

Plus the canon forums have a lot of new 7D owners talking of selling their cameras. 18MP what a bunch of baloney (which should be fried on the Pentax BBQDSLR K-8)

Such a good point too by Stephen on your blog "The average user is shooting indoors and complaining about motion blur – they are not complaining their files are too small for a 20×30."

[str8talk83]

Just a few things to consider from a Canon owner and also someone who frequents Canon's POTN forum.

1.) I agree with the posters who say that they would choose many cameras over the T2i. I would personally choose even a 20D over the T2i due to it's better ergonomics, build quality, and the second control wheel in the back. I shoot only in manual and find this to be a must. If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Pentax offer entry level bodies with the second control wheel?

2.) Regarding posts that say Canon owners are ditching their 7d's due to MP increases. I don't think that this is necessarily true. While some have gone away from the 7d and back to other bodies, this has been mostly due to some AF QC problems. I have heard a few people post about noise at low ISO's, but generally speaking the 7D seems to be very good in this department. I know that it has been rated as better than the D300s which would make it better than the 40D and 50D.

I do agree that 18MP may have been pushing things a bit. I would have preferred that Canon improve the 15MP sensor and have even better High ISO performance. I don't print very large, so the extra MP's don't mean much to me. I really like my 40D files because they are easy to process and I don't need a top end computer to do so efficlently.

[str8talk83]

On another note, the reason that Canon constantly comes out with new "Rebel" cameras with lots of cool sounding bells and whistles is because Canon sells more of this series of camera than any other. I'm just guessing here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Rebel has more sales than all the other Canon cameras combined. It's annoying, but it's all about marketing IMO....

[pingflood]

Here's my take on the Canon T2i

Plus the canon forums have a lot of new 7D owners talking of selling their cameras. 18MP what a bunch of baloney (which should be fried on the Pentax BBQDSLR K-8)

With all due respect (and I do have respect for you and your work), I have to comment on this a bit.

First off, 18MP files aren't going to be *that* bad to process. I am shooting a 50D (14 bit 15MP files) and on my rather modest 2.4Ghz dual core machine with 4 gigs of ram (cost $39 by the way) I have zero issues editing files in photoshop, lightroom, or anything else. I can't imagine 18MP will be much different.

Second, hard drive space is so cheap these days that it's really a non-issue. I can go out and get 1.5TB for under $100 locally.

Third, people aren't going to be trying to use 1 or 2 gig cards from an old point and shoot (not that most use CF anyway) on a brand new DSLR. You could make the same argument that people would be hampered by their old 128 meg cards when buying a 10MP DSLR. And if you're doing vacation snapshots, you can just shoot JPEG. I wish Canon had given people the mRAW/sRAW option on this though, but I guess they had to keep some things unique to the higher end gear.

As for the 1Ds Mark III, it was released in 2007 when the APS-C cameras from Canon had 10MP. The same pixel density would be around 25MP on FF so it wasn't far off. Also, the more pixels = more noise has been shown not to really hold water, since with every new sensor from Canon we've gotten more pixels and LESS noise (if you measure noise by output size, not on a pixel level which really doesn't make sense).

Anyway, there's my take on your comments... I like having both the ability to make a massive 20x30 print full of detail at lower ISO, and being able to print smaller with less noise than earlier cameras at higher ISO still.

[er1kksen]

Personally, I find the ISO 3200 and 6400 jpeg samples from dpreview's preproduction T2i to be rather exciting. There's only so much jpeg NR can do if it doesn't have a quality RAW file behind it, and it really does look like that sensor is providing where it counts.

I may not be the typical user. I find myself more and more leaning towards arranged shots with intentional lighting and heavy postprocessing, but still often requiring the use of high ISOs. The K-x sensor is the only one I've found satisfying (in an affordable camera) thus far. The Canon 7D sensor has shown its potential to be just as satisfying (to me), with even more resolution (always a good thing in my eyes). Combine this with the extreme adaptability of the EOS mount, and I find this an incredibly appealing camera. I don't understand all the hatin'.