Originally posted by Marktax The K-50's customizable color-ordering system for 220 color combinations was an experiment that unfortunately was needlessly criticized, because the idea of using color in camera bodies actually has seen some traction with other makers. The sheer abundance of colors for the K-50 might have been a little over the top, but it was a good idea nonetheless. The fact that the K-50 has turned out, in my view, to be a very optimal Pentax body makes the initial reaction to the color thing unfortunate. It's a great camera. The K-S 2 has wi-fi using image sync now, but you could transfer images to your smart device with the K-50, too. It couldn't be remote operated like K-3 with FLU or K-S2 with Image Sync, but I think just getting the images out for social sharing is the more important of the two features. (I'll be trying K-S2 near a bird feeder, though, and see how that works out.) Surprisingly, K-S2 doesn't offer wireless flash support. K-50 does. The K-S2's sleeper feature, I think, is the wi-fi button becoming a shutter button when you want to turn the camera on yourself. And the 20mp sensor is starting to look good to me. But yes, the K-S2 color offerings are limited and curated and no longer customizable. Maybe the K-50's 220 colors might have been a bridge too far, but I regret that I didn't get one. I had a blue K-30 already, which is also pretty hip.
You have some good points. At least in Japan, the 100+ color thing has been going on since the K-x, so at this point in time some odd the novelty has worn off. I think the colors were clever marketing OK n Japan for a few reasons.
- In the large Japanese stores, Ricoh had been giving them ALL color combinations to display as non-functional models. This makes for a very eye-catching display in the stores.
- The stores then kept these display models and used them as demonstrations on tripods and straps. I still see K-R and K30 models being used like this.
- They have done several tie ups with other unrelated brands by giving away cameras matched to the product's own colors. I can think of an example with green tea flavoured sweet maker which gave away green/white Q7s and another one where blue/yellow K-50s were given away for a T-point card promotion. The clothing brand Uniqlo also uses Pentax DSLRs coordinated with their clothes in displays at one of their stores.
What you'll notice about these is that they have nothing to do with people actually buying those cameras in those color. It's all about getting brand recognition outside the normal camera buying demographic. But like all marketing tricks, it only works for a certain amount of time before it loses it's impact. That's why I think we may see them get a bit more sensible with the color options in future.