[beachgardener]

That'd be the one to make for the 100 years celebrations, make it as small as possible with modern screen, yep, like that one the MZ-D

[monochrome]

I definitely prefer the clean, uncluttered styling of the original prototype. The K-1 looks like somebody threw a couple of handfuls of random buttons at it. Perhaps a touch of: "My camera is better than yours because it has more buttons than yours?"

For its time the MZ-S was a remarkbly capable and versatile camera. If you can get your hands on one with the BG10 Grip you’ll have a pretty good idea of how the MZ-D would have handled.

On the K-1 my thumbs and index fingers know where each of those buttons and dials is located, what they do, and can reach them comfortably and naturally. One can change virtually any setting on a K-1 without the eye moving away from the viewfinder. That is not quite so true of the MZ-S (or KP)

In the case of K-1 I believe function outweighs form.

[Ash]

In the case of K-1 I believe function outweighs form

Yes. And many here agree. It's sold remarkably well, especially around the time the K-1 was being rolled out, which is testament to its appeal:
In the Japanese BCN sales ranking of June 2016, the Pentax K-1 ranked at #8. No other FF came close to this. The bestselling FF behind it was the Canon 1D-X at #27. Then a Canon 6D kit at #31 and a 5DIII at #37.
The K-1 outsold all mirrorless models without exception in Japan.
Source: ??????????? BCN?????

Under the top 80 selling cameras there was just a single Nikon FF camera, the D750 with lens kit, at #50, just a bit before the Pentax K-S1 at #61.
Even at a similar price point as the K-1 in Japan the Nikon D810 didn't seem to be what the buyers there wanted, falling below #80.
With a Nikon general marketshare of about 10 times the one from Pentax the D500 just sold at a similar rate as the K-1.

[Wasp]

There was a good reason that the MZ-D never made it into the shops. The Philips FTF3020-C sensor inside it was absolutely dreadful, even by the standards of the day. It could have killed Pentax. We should be thankful that it was killed off, even if it meant that Pentax was a little very late in arriving at the digital party.

Contax brought out a camera using this abomination of a light gathering device. The Contax Digital N was so bad that they wouldn't even allow reviewers to get their hands on it. Using anything above ISO 100 and noisy images would be the result. At ISO 25 it was quite nice - bit like digital Kodachrome I suppose.

Contax has since disappeared from the scene. Some say that it was this sensor that did them in.

PS: In a bit of poetic justice, Philips Semiconductors no longer exists under that name either. They now call themselves NXP, but that is a different story. Perhaps they were so ashamed of the FTF3020-C that they just had to create the new brand.

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Last edited by Wasp; 12-31-2018 at 01:42 PM.

[Ash]

Philips Semiconductors no longer exists under that name either. They now call themselves NXP, but that is a different story. Perhaps they were so ashamed of the FTF3020-C that they just had to create the new brand.

Sounds like they re-invented themselves. The product and brand may have disappeared into an oblivion for this reason, but they would just have folded one chapter to open another elsewhere. I'm glad too that Pentax stuck to its guns. My first dSLR, the K100D, had a great 6Mp sensor, aside from one problem. It got sooo dirty after just a year of use, and my efforts to clean the sensor were hopeless. My K10D suffered less of that issue, and from the K20D onwards, I haven't had to think about sensor dust.

[Buffy]

The Site-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named would light up like a NORAD installation @ DEFCON5 if that happened.

.:

DEFCON 5 means peace so ... not light up at all?

[monochrome]

DEFCON 5 means peace so ... not light up at all?

Edited to DEFCON 1