[clackers]

If Pentax thinks there is still room in the middle for a new variation, a K-70 would be interesting to see.

Something like that, yes.

Similarly, the coming full frame shouldn't be seen as a K-3 replacement. That should be another camera again.

[UncleVanya]

Something like that, yes.

Similarly, the coming full frame shouldn't be seen as a K-3 replacement. That should be another camera again.

You got that right. The K3 ii is supposedly real and coming soon. See homepage.

[n-light]

Thank you for all your answers. I finally decided to keep the camera the way it is, and bought a cheap radio controlled flash trigger. It works fine in manual mode.

Besides the flash "Problem" for me there is just one more negative Point about this camera - no jack-socket for an external trigger. Just an IR receiver pointing away from the Photographer. That means more and more batteries to carry and keep an eye on, And a bad trigger angle when you stand behind the camera.

@K3-II Topic - i had to giggle a little when i read it doesn't have a flash at all. No offense, just funny within this discussion ;D

[edri]

Yes, jack-socket missing it is a major disadvantage. But I think it can be replaced with smartphone wi-fi application.

[fredcman]

Really bummed to find this out. Its something I have used a fair bit in the past, and I even bought a second AF360 gun. I've used the 2 flashes with my old K-m and an MZ-6 (k-2000 and ZX-L in the US). I've had some lovely results, and the pictures never looked like I'd been using a flash.

I bought my K-S2 three weeks ago after looking at the K3 and the K3 mark II. When I read that there was no built in flash (on the K3 II), I chose the K-S2 as that seemed to be perfect. There was nothing to indicate that wireless flash mode was missing, and with the swivel screen, wifi remote and the stereo mic jack, I thought this it the best choice (I can live with the lower res, but would have preferred not to).

Up till I heard about this I thought that the camera supported it, I just hadn't gotten around to testing it out. I re-read the flash manual and tried everything, but the only thing that worked (most of the time) was to set the remote flash to "slave mode 2". This seems to ignore the pre-flash from the built-in flash, and fire at the correct time. Trouble is you still get the light from the built-in flash hitting the subject, and to me, that's the whole point of wireless flash, no dazzled expression on the subjects face. Even dropping the built-in flash power down to -2Ev doesn't help. Sure I get nice surround illumination, but I may as well just mount one flash on the hotshoe, and set it to be a control flash.

I would like to think that this is something that can be resurrected in firmware?? Does anyone have any Ricoh contacts that I/we can pester??

Thank you guys. I guess its like you said. First disappointment in the new camera... this does really not make sense to me. Well.. still have the possibility to send it back. Gotta think about that.


@enoeske i am using a 35mm f2.4 .. newer lens.


Good night everyone.

[anu l]

The K-S line are aimed at first DSLR owners - the K-50 is still the low cost body for 'real photographers', whatever they are!


Forum members should buy the K-3 if they want the best APS-C camera the company makes. Prices are real good at the moment, too.

but K-S2, feature wise is so similar and in many cases superior to the K-50. in what other aspects does the K-50 beat the K-S2 ??

[UncleVanya]

but K-S2, feature wise is so similar and in many cases superior to the K-50. in what other aspects does the K-50 beat the K-S2 ??

Off the top of my head I can't recall much but the compare tool on the forum will help. The things that come to mind for me: wireless P-TTL, continuous shooting (k50 is faster on high speed and buffers more pictures, and on low speed it can shoot continuously without the buffer ever filling up until the sd card is full. Also composition adjustment using the shake reduction is offered in the k50 but not the ks2. There are advantages the ks2 has as well, check the compare tool.

[anu l]

Off the top of my head I can't recall much but the compare tool on the forum will help. The things that come to mind for me: wireless P-TTL, continuous shooting (k50 is faster on high speed and buffers more pictures, and on low speed it can shoot continuously without the buffer ever filling up until the sd card is full. Also composition adjustment using the shake reduction is offered in the k50 but not the ks2. There are advantages the ks2 has as well, check the compare tool.

just checked the comparison between the K-3 II - K-S2 - K-50, K-3 II and K-50 do support Composition Adjustment, K-S2 doesnt. (feeling disappointed, they didnt need extra hardware to put in this feature, does Pentax have a history of releasing firmware wherein they enable some disabled feature in future, in that case it might be a possibility with K-S2??)

Another interesting thing that I saw:

Flash Function:
K-3 II : Auto discharge*, On (leading curtain sync)*, Redeye reduction*, Slow-speed sync*, Trailing curtain sync*, High-speed sync*, Manual*, Wireless**, Contrast control**
* Requires an external flash
** Requires two (or more) external flashes

K-S2 : Auto discharge, On (leading curtain sync), Redeye reduction, Slow-speed sync, Trailing curtain sync, High-speed sync*, Manual, Wireless*, Contrast control* * Available when combined with external flash

K-50 : Auto discharge, On (leading curtain sync), Redeye reduction, Slow-speed sync, Trailing curtain sync, High-speed sync*, Manual*, Wireless*, Contrast control* * Available when combined with external flash

How come for K-S2 the Wireless flash feature is shown?? and that too it's not mentioned 2 flashes, same as that of K-50. Is this a typo??

edit:
Another difference between the K-S2 and K-50 is that K-50 has the HyP option in it's mode dial, K-S2 doesnt, (K-3 II also has a HyM mode - Hyper manual) what are the advantages of it?? does the K-S2 compensate for this functionality in some other way??

Pentax K-3 II vs. Pentax K-S2 vs. Pentax K-50 - Pentax Camera Comparison - PentaxForums.com

[UncleVanya]

I think the flash info is a typo. Several members confirmed the lack of wireless PTTL on the ks2.

HyperManual seems to go by several names. On the k50 you can use manual with auto ISO which is essentially the same. It is confusing however since on the k3 if I recall correctly manual doesn't offer auto ISO and you use a different mode to accomplish this.

[anu l]

I think the flash info is a typo. Several members confirmed the lack of wireless PTTL on the ks2.

HyperManual seems to go by several names. On the k50 you can use manual with auto ISO which is essentially the same. It is confusing however since on the k3 if I recall correctly manual doesn't offer auto ISO and you use a different mode to accomplish this.

I'm not that unhappy with lack of optical wireless flash control as I am with dropping of composition adjustment, because one can overcome this shortcoming pretty cheaply, but for perspective control, this feature was a real asset, the lens itself costs 3 times the whole double lens K-S2 kit - just because of a firmware code block being disabled, very difficult to overcome, & software correction makes image very soft.

[n17man]

I have the K-S2 and I can confirm that it does not have optical wireless flash mode capability. I purchased a pair of Yongnuo 603N flash triggers. I also have the Yongnuo YN-585 EX flash. Works fine in P-TTL mode on camera. However, off camera is another story. Using the Yongnuo triggers the K-S2 will trigger the Yongnuo flash only if Yongnuo is in manual mode and the K-S2 setting is AV priority. Images are well exposed, however, the inability to use TV shutter priority means that I get blurry images since AV priority means very slow shutter speeds. The Yongnuo triggers do not work on any other setting. Any others have experience of this setup?

[UncleVanya]

I have the K-S2 and I can confirm that it does not have optical wireless flash mode capability. I purchased a pair of Yongnuo 603N flash triggers. I also have the Yongnuo YN-585 EX flash. Works fine in P-TTL mode on camera. However, off camera is another story. Using the Yongnuo triggers the K-S2 will trigger the Yongnuo flash only if Yongnuo is in manual mode and the K-S2 setting is AV priority. Images are well exposed, however, the inability to use TV shutter priority means that I get blurry images since AV priority means very slow shutter speeds. The Yongnuo triggers do not work on any other setting. Any others have experience of this setup?

Wow, I have a set of those triggers, but I don't have the ks2. I don't remember that limitation, but I can try on my k-3 later. I would expect X mode and M mode to work (shutter speed must be low enough to be at or below sync speed)

[clackers]

I purchased a pair of Yongnuo 603N flash triggers. I also have the Yongnuo YN-585 EX flash. Works fine in P-TTL mode on camera. However, off camera is another story. Using the Yongnuo triggers the K-S2 will trigger the Yongnuo flash only if Yongnuo is in manual mode and the K-S2 setting is AV priority. Images are well exposed, however, the inability to use TV shutter priority means that I get blurry images since AV priority means very slow shutter speeds. The Yongnuo triggers do not work on any other setting. Any others have experience of this setup?

I use a K-S2 with a Pentax 540 flash off camera successfully with both P-TTL and HSS with Acon and Cactus triggers.

I can put a Yongnuo 602 TX on the hotshoe and it happily triggers any number of manual Yongnuo 560s.

[n17man]

I have figured out a few things in the meantime. I can trigger the Yongnuo 585EX when in slave mode by using the flash on the K-S2 with the camera set to manual. This allows me to keep the shutter speed at 200 and ASA at, say, 400, and using the power setting on the Yongnuo to adjust exposure. This works fine but it does rather make the electronic triggers redundant. However, I have also realised that the trigger on the camera needs to be connected by cable to the camera. The K-S2 has no provision for such a cable so that means, unless I am missing something, here that the Yongnuo 603n triggers are not going to work.

[schleif]

i have a question for the more experienced folks out there, as I am not one of them. I have a pentax ks2, can I use a Pentax AF360FGZ on my camera rather than my pop up. I am a very amateur photographer and I was able to pick up an AF360GZ in mint condition very reasonable. I did not do too much investigation whether it will work on my camera as there is not that much info out there. Plus is it as simple as attaching it to the hot show and turning it on to work automatically. I am not looking to be super photographer, just want a better picture than with pop up flash.