[Rondec]

I posted in a different thread, but applies here too, that even though high iso is getting better with regard to noise, it still loses a fair amount with regard to dynamic range. I find that SR lets me shoot static images a couple of stops lower iso than I would have had to use otherwise. In addition, when I want to be able to hand hold a specific effect (slow shutter speed for water movement), I can do it without any problem. If Pentax offered to versions of a full frame camera, one with SR and one without, even if the one without was a little smaller and a hundred dollars less expensive, I would guarantee they would sell more with the SR. It is just handy to have.

[deus ursus]

I pulled apart a K10D once - the neodymium magnets were used in pairs: they were about 15mm wide and about 5mm thick, the magnets were placed in front of and behind the sensor - so yes the SR mechanism does take up quite a bit of space.Remember the shutter mechanism has to fit in the camera as well - and that takes up quite a bit of room too. especially if we want a shutter with a 1/8000 shutter speed.

IF we left out the SR mechanism, I think it would be rather easy to come out with a DSLR with a svelte form factor like the LX - but I don't see that happening.

Hm, okay so unless Pentax somehow have sophisticated the mechanism so that the magnets on later models are smaller than those on the K10D, I guess they would have a hard time squeezing a full frame sensor and an SR mechanism into a body the size of an LX or a K-5. To deal with a bigger sensor, the SR mechanism may need to bigger as well?

[areidjr]

If Pentax offered two versions of a full frame camera, one with SR and one without, even if the one without was a little smaller and a hundred dollars less expensive, I would guarantee they would sell more with the SR. It is just handy to have.

Sure, but what if the reason that we can't get a FF camera is that they can't overcome the technical difficulties related to making it work with a FF sensor. (I'm not sure this is the case as Sony did it) I'd rather have a FF camera w/o SR now than not having one at all or waiting 2 or more years to get one.

[gazonk]

Sure, but what if the reason that we can't get a FF camera is that they can't overcome the technical difficulties related to making it work with a FF sensor. (I'm not sure this is the case as Sony did it) I'd rather have a FF camera w/o SR now than not having one at all or waiting 2 or more years to get one.

Al, that was my point, too. But it's purely hypothetical, I actually very much doubt that SR is an issue.

[Digitalis]

or instance it is very fickle when you try "panning" i found nikons sr much much better in this regard (like day and night)

I turn off SR with my pentax cameras - I do the same with optically stabilised lenses too, when I'm panning IS just gets in the way.

To deal with a bigger sensor, the SR mechanism may need to bigger as well?

Precisely, basic physics really - the greater the mass a moving object has, an equal (preferably greater) amount of force is required to stop it.

[Rondec]

Sure, but what if the reason that we can't get a FF camera is that they can't overcome the technical difficulties related to making it work with a FF sensor. (I'm not sure this is the case as Sony did it) I'd rather have a FF camera w/o SR now than not having one at all or waiting 2 or more years to get one.

Sony has done it already, surely it is feasible that Pentax could do it as well. I probably would look seriously at a Pentax full frame, even without in body stabilization, but if they can't do this, then there is much less reason why someone would purchase a K1 over a D600 or D800. It seems like they need some feature to stand out from Canon/Nikon in order to get a wider appeal.

[deus ursus]

And here's a picture of the same camera internals with a measure added. As you can see, the available space above and below the "sensor window" is about 1 cm, so if digitalis' dimensions still are to be considered, we'd need another cm on the height of the camera body to make room for an SR mechanism. The camera wouldn't be that compact then.

Attached Images

 

[Digitalis]

Also take into account that the Pentax K10D was one of the first Pentax DSLRs to feature In body Stabilisation - they may have refined and revised the mounting hardware and structure in order to keep the size of the mechanism down while maintaining its efficiency: Just take a look at the size of the platform the sensor is mounted to:


Sensor platform from a Pentax K10D

It would be possible to reduce the mass of the platform by the use of High strength paramagnetic and deformation resistant materials*. But the magnets could not be reduced in size because that would reduce the effectiveness of the stabilisation. By mass the IS mechanism is by far the biggest component in a DSLR.

*Titanium springs to mind, as does Glucydur.

[Kunzite]

It looks pretty much the same, in the K-5 II:
K-5II / K-5IIs?PENTAX RICOH IMAGING
For the K-30 it's a different, smaller platform.

[Uluru]

It looks pretty much the same, in the K-5 II:
K-5II / K-5IIs?PENTAX RICOH IMAGING
For the K-30 it's a different, smaller platform.

If I understood it correctly, MX-1 has a new (upgraded?) type of SR, novel to Pentax.

[Digitalis]

new (upgraded?) type of SR, novel to Pentax.

I think they refer to it as new because it has been downscaled to suit the smaller sensor used in the MX-1.

[Kunzite]

They are combining two stabilization technologies in the MX-1, the mechanical SR and the electronic Pixel Tracking; both were used before by Pentax (PT only in compacts). As a novelty, it appears they now can work together (but I'm not sure of that).

[digitalCG]

you can anticipate when you need SR to be off and switch it off yourself with just a few quick keystrokes.

Biggest pet hate of the K7/5 body style changes = loss of SR switch. Thanks to this I tend to run my K5 with it off by default. If a FF ever arrives then I'd hope this direct control reappears.

[macTak]

Biggest pet hate of the K7/5 body style changes = loss of SR switch. Thanks to this I tend to run my K5 with it off by default. If a FF ever arrives then I'd hope this direct control reappears.

I had suggested that Pentax add SR on/off to the options for the fx button, and this went into the list of K-5 firmware suggestions that were submitted to Pentax (Japan) by PF a long while back. Hoya probably just shredded the list....

[miles]

I had suggested that Pentax add SR on/off to the options for the fx button, and this went into the list of K-5 firmware suggestions that were submitted to Pentax (Japan) by PF a long while back. Hoya probably just shredded the list....

That would have been very nice!