[parinya-ekparinya]

Holding the Pentax KP in a portrait orientation with battery grip attached, it is difficult to reach D-pad with the right thumb in order to select a focus point. Allowing the front and back E-dials to be used for focus point selection could be a solution to this issue. This feature is available in the past model, but it is no longer available on Pentax KP. I believe it is not available on Pentax K-3 as well.

On Pentax K-50 for example, a photographer may use front and back E-dials to select a focus point when the RAW/Fx button operation is set to 'AF Active Area' (on p. 167 in K-50 manual). The front E-dial is used to move the focus point vertically and the back E-dial for moving the point horizontally. On Pentax KP currently, the 'Change AF Area' for the Fx buttons behaves like the 'Change AF Area' button on Pentax K-3, which is switching the function of D-pad between AF area selection and direct key operation mode.

With a firmware update, is there any chance to bring back to Pentax KP the 'AF Active Area' operation similar to the one in K-50? It could be a new option for Fx buttons, so people have choices to choose for the desired behaviour. Also, I believe that enabling focus selection using the front and back E-dials in LiveView mode will also allow faster focus point selection in many cases.