[i83N]

Ok, this is just theoretical.
What if next two years K-1, lets call it mk3, hardware update will be just new sensor and if you were k-1mk2 user you could do same 500$ upgrade as with mk1 before. And if you are still K-1mk1 user you pay 1000$.

[MJKoski]

Let's say it is Sony 42MP sensor, most likely then it is game over for the motherboard hardware.

[Kunzite]

Won't happen.
Ricoh Imaging will want to upgrade more than just the sensor. USB 2.0, slow SD write speeds, buffer, processor, autofocus... there are too many things which are identical to the first K-1.

[jatrax]

Have to agree with @Kunzite, a new sensor in 2 plus years is not going to be worth an upgrade without other improvements. Particularly USB, buffer and auto-focus. Along with a number of other things that I would hope would be added or improved on over that length of time.

K-1II adds the co-processor that obviously they planned for from the launch of the K-1. For some reason they could not get that included in the K-1 in time for the launch date so they very cleverly planned a mid-life upgrade to add it. But that is a very long way from an "upgradable" camera where you swap out the sensor every few years.

[DeadJohn]

... hardware update will be just new sensor ...

Since the mark 2 just came out, we're more than a year away from a theoretical mark 3, and by the time that happens technology will advance so the upgrade needs to be be more than just a sensor. I'll play along, though:


Improved dynamic range and low-light performance, even with the same pixel count, could get me to upgrade for low light and astrophotography.




If just more megapixels then no I would not upgrade. A higher pixel count would be useful for wildlife cropping, but IMO that would also have to be accompanied by upgraded AF plus improved shutter mechanism for less shutter shock.

[victormeldrew]

Let's say they release a 100MP Medium Format and offered an upgrade for K-30 owners for half an arm and a bag of grapes...would the tree make a noise?

[Adam]

I agree, at that point an entirely new body would be appropriate.

Adam
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[reh321]

K-1II adds the co-processor that obviously they planned for from the launch of the K-1. For some reason they could not get that included in the K-1 in time for the launch date so they very cleverly planned a mid-life upgrade to add it. But that is a very long way from an "upgradable" camera where you swap out the sensor every few years.

I believe they never intended to include the 'accelerator' in the K-1 - they expected the 'accelerator' to be "old news" by this time, but hardly anyone seemed to pay attention to the KP, so it was barely news of any sort when the K-1ii was introduced, so this was first opportunity for people to whine about it.

[Kunzite]

Yet they said otherwise:

DE: Was the upgrade from K-1 to K-1 Mark II planned for a long time when you were developing the product, or was it something that you realized “Oh, we could do this for existing customers!” and so you made that decision after the K-1 Mark II was more or less finalized?

TA: The idea exists actually from the very, very beginning, yes. The idea being that the K-1 is our flagship, and our product planners wanted the camera to be in the hands of owners for a longer time. But it is also true that later is better in the world of the digital, and actually the high ISO performance of the Pentax KP was better than a K-1.

Source: Ricoh @ CP+: Rewarding K-1 fans with a major upgrade, plus what comes next after the K-3 II?

[reh321]

Yet they said otherwise:

Your quotes show that they planned the upgrade - is that your point??

[jatrax]

I believe they never intended to include the 'accelerator' in the K-1 - they expected the 'accelerator' to be "old news" by this time,

Appreciate your opinion but I disagree. The socket / space for the chip and other wiring / logic was already onboard. They would not have done that unless they had intended to include it. I suspect either the chip itself or some part of the firmware was not ready for the time slot they wanted to launch the K-1. So somebody had a rather (IMHO) brilliant idea to just release the K-1 without the chip and then add it as an upgrade at a later time.

[pres589]

I hope the next FF DSLR from Ricoh does have an updated body. Evolution doesn't need to stop now.

[reh321]

Appreciate your opinion but I disagree. The socket / space for the chip and other wiring / logic was already onboard. They would not have done that unless they had intended to include it. I suspect either the chip itself or some part of the firmware was not ready for the time slot they wanted to launch the K-1. So somebody had a rather (IMHO) brilliant idea to just release the K-1 without the chip and then add it as an upgrade at a later time.

I'm not willing to argue whether the 'accelerator' was "planned" for the K-1. I am willing to argue that "testing" on the K-70/KP made more sense than introducing on the K-1. I'm glad it worked out that way, regardless of what Pentax had planned, and I just wish people had actually paid attention so we would have had the whining last year.

Incidentally, I also feel the 'accelerator' makes more sense for the K-70 and KP, because I'm guessing amongst their users many fewer proportionally value 'raw' and many more proportionally depend on JPEG.

[angerdan]

An 24MP FF sensor with very low noise would be a better upgrade than just more pixels. Like a K-1 IIs. Could gain 0.8 ISO advantage.
Sony A7S vs Sony A7

New and more capable AF processing unit and algorithm as well as USB 3.0 and UHS-I with 104Mbit/s would be great too.

[pres589]

And a bigger LCD on the top deck!