Originally posted by Cerebum 2) does anyone know why the K30 was superseded by the K50 after just one year? They are ostensibly the same camera. Was it because the reviews were critical of the K30s looks? Was the K30 a beta? Either way, I love mine :0)
I think the real reason was that the K-30 has such a protrusion above the mount that it interfered with some lenses. Similar to how some Sigma lenses need to be modified to work with K-1 without scratching it.
And the looks were the other "problem", as many considered them to be too aggressive and out there. It was advertised as an action camera for young men, and it looks like that demographic did not respond so much, so Pentax moved on and got two birds with one stone. Fixed the problem with lens fitting, and made a camera that appeals to conservative aesthetics (and K-50 has been quite successful I think)