Originally posted by monochrome Video is important to a small subset of high-end users, and overvalued by our obsession with feature-based researching and ranking consumer goods in our decision-making process. For most buyers this creates a false economy. Consumers pay for more quality than they have the skill to appreciate, just because they are oversold that utility.
Yes, But...
I agree of course that most people that buy the Sony A7 series cameras, Nikon D750/810, Panasonic GH4s, Samsung NX1s, and so on are not actually going on to become famous by using them. I guess it is hard to know though how many use it enough for whatever it is they use it for to be a significant "value-added" feature. Sales/marketing has always been about getting people to see themselves in the product... sure they won't become famous film makers but everyone likes to imagine that having that "one" product will transform them into it. That said, I really do get what you are saying about the never ending feature pushing.
I guess at the end of the day this is how I see it: If Pentax is going to use a sensor from Sony (which will -or has- already been used in other cameras with a fuller video feature set) than it would seem like Pentax is maybe missing the boat more than just ignoring it. Maybe the processors in Pentax cameras would be the limiting factor (this specific hardware I know least about so don't feel able to speak to how one brand compares to others.) But video codecs seem to be somewhat a choice of what any company wants to implement. Again, I mentioned the Nikon D750 before because it apparently has surprisingly good quality given its on-paper lowly codec which makes me, as someone who really likes Pentax, wonder “hey, why can’t they do something like that?”
Again, is it just selling features for the sake of features? Or, if video is something they could improve for only a bit more technology, than wouldn’t they be silly to lose potential buyers who will not buy a camera in 2016 that doesn’t do decent video?
We hear that Pentax is apparently aiming for the pro shooters first with this camera and more and more professions (wedding to journalism) are expecting their stills shooters to also shoot video... so it just seems like a missed opportunity if they don't go in that direction. I guess we will know soon.
Thanks for the discussion (and maybe putting up with my lengthy response.) I enjoy everyone’s thoughts.