[troika]

My ideas are mostly stupid and this one may be as well, but I was shooting with one of my MXs this weekend and started thinking...

What if Pentax or someone ... And by "someone" I mean Pentax... made a dSLR that was as simple as a good quality SLR.

A great sensor...Maybe full frame...Wheels for shutter speed, Aperture and ISO, a good meter and maybe a very few semi-auto modes: Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Tav. Maybe stabilization on the sensor...Maybe not depending on cost and size impacts. Either remote trigger or timed delay.

Auto WB,because you can do that in post. Hot shoe, but no flash. No GPS, No HDR. No deep menus.

Cut no corners on image quality or build quality/ergonomics, bit strip it to bare bones. Could be a dSLR or could be a rangefinder, but prioritize image quality and form factor.

How small and how cheap could it be? ... And how soon could I pre-order one?

It seems like a way to distinguish from smart phones as well.

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Last edited by troika; 04-17-2017 at 02:44 PM.

[beachgardener]

this is it, exactly what I would buy as well, a no nonsense 35mm full frame DSLR, none of the rubbish, no gps, no wifi, no video, no meter, no screen, pure manual ISO, aperture, shutter controls and dual sd card.

[troika]

Yes! I'm not alone!

Though, I'm not sure what your issue with a meter is. I'd like something simple like you have an MX or K1000. Just a needle or some lights that tell me if I'm over, under, or exposed just right.

[Adam]

I think the whole retro/simple/mechanical dials ship has sailed. It's definitely a cool idea and I'm sure some would appreciate it, but kind of pointless since all other cameras have loads of features and those features don't really carry much of a premium (anything that's a software feature already exists and thus doesn't cost Pentax anything to add). Something like the K-S1 (or K-70 if you want ergonomics) is the modern incarnation of your idea, I'd say. You can then choose to use as many of as few of the features as you'd like.

Adam
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[troika]

I'm just wondering, could it be smaller and cheaper and simpler. I'm not chasing "retro-vibe" as much as - give me something with a great form factor that will take amazing photos as long as you know what you're doing.

[boriscleto]

Are you willing to pay a premium for this camera? Because Leica has already done it. And they charge more for it than a fully featured camera...

Leica M-D // Leica M // Photography - Leica Camera AG

[beachgardener]

'm not sure what your issue with a meter is.

no issue, meter or no meter is fine with me

Are you willing to pay a premium for this camera?

just a little out of my bracket there

I think the whole retro/simple/mechanical dials ship has sailed.

we need a fast ship to catch up, so some of us can get on board

[troika]

Eh, that's rather a lot of money and doesn't speak to me exactly.

Autofocus is useful and I don't object to a screen, though I don't need it to tilt and swivel.

[bschriver11]

The next generation won't be able to function without an auto setting.

[troika]

I could put the proposal another way:

How much of what goes into a modern dSLR is bloat and what could a great camera cost and look like without it?

[beachgardener]

and I don't object to a screen

yeah screen or no screen is ok too
I think as simple as possible

[troika]

I could go either way on a screen. All things equal, it's good to be able to check my shot, maybe make an adjustment and repeat. To reduce cost and size weight it might be worth doing without it....Unlike the $7k Leica

[robgski]

One of the reasons I waited so long to get into DSLR was that finding a DSLR that was fully manual was pretty expensive. I think that unlike a mechanical Analog DSLR, it may actually be less expensive to add in manual features, more moving parts, more programming, etc. Also, with several manufacturers competing for a shrinking DSLR market, Pentax wanted to offer all the functions a "P" mode shooter wants, but still give the "M" mode photographer the necessary functions.

[troika]

@robgski, no one asked you to come in here and be all sensible. What part of "my ideas are usually stupid" didn't you understand?
:-)

[jatrax]

How much of what goes into a modern dSLR is bloat and what could a great camera cost and look like without it?

The 'simple DSLR' idea has numerous threads and has been beaten to death numerous times. If there was any price advantage I might be interested, I certainly do not use a majority of the features on my K-1. But it is unlikely that there would be any significant price advantage, in fact it would most likely be more Leica-like with metal build and so on, so even more expensive and even more niche.

And though some people do seem to think there would be a market for this, the largest complaint about the K-1 is not that it has too many features but that it lacks features like better video, touch screen and on and on.

It is still an interesting concept but I really do not think it will ever happen.