[Kunzite]

Why not go all the way and use a QR code instead of the typical product names? One could encode all its specs this way

J/K, but I'm afraid coding features into the camera name will only confuse people; remembering each letter or digit meaning is complicated. Also, the names would be longer and harder to remember.
Last but not least, it's not trivial to make such an universal naming system; for example, you said "MF could be #1" - but there are several MF sizes; and at some point all cameras would have WiFi so having that in the name would be redundant, and so on.

Yet all we need is a name to call our cameras with.

[Nicolas06]

Why not go all the way and use a QR code instead of the typical product names? One could encode all its specs this way

J/K, but I'm afraid coding features into the camera name will only confuse people; remembering each letter or digit meaning is complicated. Also, the names would be longer and harder to remember.
Last but not least, it's not trivial to make such an universal naming system; for example, you said "MF could be #1" - but there are several MF sizes; and at some point all cameras would have WiFi so having that in the name would be redundant, and so on.

Yet all we need is a name to call our cameras with.

+1

Personnally I like a lot the versionning still... 5DmarkIV for example is nice. 5D mean mid level FF, the IV mean the revision. You know IV is better than III or II. But you'll not specify all the details of what changed. There spec sheets for that.

Now that Pentax has used K1, K3, K5 and K7 for both FF and APSC bodies and to keep the current naming scheme, it would make more sense to kave K1-II and K1-III and K3-III and K3-IV as anyway we are in corner there. But the problem is in the past the "II" denomination was always minor changes...

For entry level, well at least we can still go K80 or K90 and then maybe K91, K92.. etc I guess.

[Digitalis]

I thought that the 7D was strictly a Canon product and had nothing to do with Minolta.

The Minolta maxxum 7D was the full product name, a continuation of the naming convention set forth by the maxxum film SLR bodies of the late 90s: Completely Un-related to the Canon EOS 7D

[Kunzite]

+1

Personnally I like a lot the versionning still... 5DmarkIV for example is nice. 5D mean mid level FF, the IV mean the revision. You know IV is better than III or II. But you'll not specify all the details of what changed. There spec sheets for that.

Now that Pentax has used K1, K3, K5 and K7 for both FF and APSC bodies and to keep the current naming scheme, it would make more sense to kave K1-II and K1-III and K3-III and K3-IV as anyway we are in corner there. But the problem is in the past the "II" denomination was always minor changes...

For entry level, well at least we can still go K80 or K90 and then maybe K91, K92.. etc I guess.

Yes, a Canon-eque naming scheme adapted to Pentax makes most sense to me.
Higher end cameras can use the "mark" system, as they're not changed that often (though the problem of minor refreshes would have to be solved, somehow).
Lower end cameras - and often updated - can use more digits.

[UncleVanya]

Why not name them like cars? Give them a NAME not a number. *istD, *istDS, *istDL is not worse than K-x, K-r, K-5, K-S2. Quit looking for meaning in your camera's name.

[jpzk]

The Minolta maxxum 7D was the full product name, a continuation of the naming convention set forth by the maxxum film SLR bodies of the late 90s: Completely Un-related to the Canon EOS 7D

Thanks, Digitalis.

[Simen1]

Why not name them like cars?

Pentax Micra 1,2 (cheap compact camera)
Pentax Cooper countryman (stylish small camera)
Pentax Model T (The first mass produced Pentax Asahi with Takumar lens)
Pentax Prius 1,8 VVT-i Hybrid (mirrorless with hybrid rangefinder OVF + EVF)
Pentax E-type 1968 (LX)
Pentax Cherokee 2,0 Limited Premium (Rough WR body designed for use with expensive small lenses)
Pentax Model S (Huge battery, fast startup and autonomous photographing features)
Pentax 67 UP! (Mirror lock up version)
Pentax Aventador (the carbon fibre 100 fps MF camera you dont ask the price for)

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Last edited by Simen1; 10-24-2016 at 02:34 AM.

[Kunzite]

Pentax MP4-12C

[Fogel70]

Who would not want one of these?
Pentax - Magnum Explorer
Pentax - Rampage Tornado
Pentax - Firebird Interceptor
Pentax - Spitfire Javelin

[Ontarian50]

The chaotic model designations have always been an irritant to my sense of order. Here is a suggestion for them: Example, 3D4g
3 - (No 1 is top of line, decreasing)
D - This is the fourth redesign of the model
4 - (Optional) The specialty of the camera (Medical, Astronomy, Landscape, Travel, Sports etc)
g - (Optional) comes with gps (or other non standard feature).

The only problem with the idea that the "No. 1" model is the top of the line is that becomes really crowded real estate very quickly. Take Canon, who brought out their EOS-1 back in the '80s, and have since tacked on so many letters and "mark" designations we can't really recognize it any more (EOS 1Dx mk II ... and counting).

What's Pentax to do if K-1 is going to be their flagship FF body in perpetuity? How long before we're debating the merits of the "K-1nx mkIV GPS"?

You know, I always admired how Contax named their consumer SLR cameras. While everyone else used two letters and a number (AE-1, FE2, XE-7, much of which continues today), Contax used offbeat designations like "139 Quartz" "137MA", and "159". I thought they sounded cool.

[arnold]

The only problem with the idea that the "No. 1" model is the top of the line is that becomes really crowded real estate very quickly. Take Canon, who brought out their EOS-1 back in the '80s, and have since tacked on so many letters and "mark" designations we can't really recognize it any more (EOS 1Dx mk II ... and counting).

What's Pentax to do if K-1 is going to be their flagship FF body in perpetuity? How long before we're debating the merits of the "K-1nx mkIV GPS"?

You know, I always admired how Contax named their consumer SLR cameras. While everyone else used two letters and a number (AE-1, FE2, XE-7, much of which continues today), Contax used offbeat designations like "139 Quartz" "137MA", and "159". I thought they sounded cool.

Not sure why you added "mkIVGPS" when I would have suggested just "g" for GPS. This system is designed to avoid "crowding" by using designated placers for features. Current K1 would be: 1A-g because the third place is optional. When GPS becomes standard, that optional description would fall away since it is no longer an unusual feature.

[clackers]

Pentax Micra 1,2 (cheap compact camera)
Pentax Cooper countryman (stylish small camera)
Pentax Model T (The first mass produced Pentax Asahi with Takumar lens)
Pentax Prius 1,8 VVT-i Hybrid (mirrorless with hybrid rangefinder OVF + EVF)
Pentax E-type 1968 (LX)
Pentax Cherokee 2,0 Limited Premium (Rough WR body designed for use with expensive small lenses)
Pentax Model S (Huge battery, fast startup and autonomous photographing features)
Pentax 67 UP! (Mirror lock up version)
Pentax Aventador (the carbon fibre 100 fps MF camera you dont ask the price for)

Pentax Edsel (for the K-01).

(I'm joking, K-01 owners, it's obviously underrated!)

[reh321]

Yet all we need is a name to call our cameras with.

Yes, my second Pentax camera was the "Super Program".

{first was "ME special edition"}

[Logics]

Dead thread, I know, but,…
was not Pentax the first with 3-axis SR (rotation)? (I may be wrong. I remember being wrong once before).

Also, have to suggest.

Who would not want one of these?
Pentax - Magnum Explorer → entry-level/travel
Pentax - Rampage Tornado → Journalism
Pentax - Firebird Interceptor → Wildlife/nature
Pentax - Spitfire Javelin → sports

��

[normhead]

Dead thread, I know, but,…
was not Pentax the first with 3-axis SR (rotation)? (I may be wrong. I remember being wrong once before).

Also, have to suggest.


��

Were you wrong once as a theoretical exercise, just to prove it was possible?

Or just to keep yourself humble?