[mashy]

Congrats on the bonus during these very challenging times. I'm back on this thread to say that the flip screen is amazing. I was perfectly content with my K200D for years. I thought the flip screen in the K-S2 was a silly gimmick. Nope. It allows me to get shots I would not get otherwise. It allows me to put the camera in funny places, to put myself in the shot, or even flip the screen into the camera to protect it when I'm about to stumble down a hiking trail.

How have you found the 'live view'? It's one thing that I wished worked better on my current camera, it's very noisy and doesnt always focus.

[UncleVanya]

How have you found the 'live view'? It's one thing that I wished worked better on my current camera, it's very noisy and doesnt always focus.

On the k 3 I've had good luck with live view, but it's still a bit noisy.

[mashy]

Happy K-S2 owner for 4 years, though it recently started developing the black picture problem / aperture block failure, though just intermittently so far. I can confirm what the others have said about the wifi feature and its usefulness. File transfers are slow and fiddly. But I'll add that it can be very nice to use a phone or tablet as a second screen away from the camera on which you can see what the camera sees and change settings and trigger the shutter. The movable screen has proven its worth on several occasions.

A peculiar thing about Instagram is that they want people to use the app. I don't know if it has been possible before to upload pictures through the website without an additional program or app, but for me and now it is not. Unless I use tricks, like change my user agent string in the browser to that of a phone or other mobile device, the button to upload pictures won't show. I have tried using this method for a while, but couldn't find my pictures in the search results of the hashtags I used. Upon looking for what the issue may be I found many reports of other people experiencing the same problem. Some said it can happen at certain hours or when using too many hashtags on a post, but that wasn't the case for my pictures and the problem was gone in an instant when I uploaded pictures through the app on the phone.

That's good to know. I'm reading various things about the aperture issue. The ks-2 I'm looking at is second hand but from a reputable camera shop and comes with a 6 month warranty, so if I do get it and it turns out to have that problem I can return it. I've asked for more details like shutter count as although it says it's in excellent condition that'll give me a better idea of how much it's been used.

[PocketPixels]

How have you found the 'live view'? It's one thing that I wished worked better on my current camera, it's very noisy and doesnt always focus.

I have, and I like using it for careful, posed shots where focus matters and when I have time. Importantly, I've learned I ccan press "OK" during Live View to get a zoomed in (2x, 4x, or 8x) crop of my focus point. Careful manual focus this way, with focus peaking, all but guarantees a pinpoint result. (The only thing that can spoil it is the motion of the subject.)

The "press 'OK' to get a zoomed in focus" option gets one breezy, offhand mention in the K-S2 user manual. Downright foolish of Pentax not to make a bigger deal of this helpful feature. I was jealous of my friend's Nikon camera for offering this feature, and didn't realize until now that my Pentax has it, too.

[arkansawyer]

I have, and I like using it for careful, posed shots where focus matters and when I have time. Importantly, I've learned I ccan press "OK" during Live View to get a zoomed in (2x, 4x, or 8x) crop of my focus point. Careful manual focus this way, with focus peaking, all but guarantees a pinpoint result. (The only thing that can spoil it is the motion of the subject.)

The "press 'OK' to get a zoomed in focus" option gets one breezy, offhand mention in the K-S2 user manual. Downright foolish of Pentax not to make a bigger deal of this helpful feature. I was jealous of my friend's Nikon camera for offering this feature, and didn't realize until now that my Pentax has it, too.

I'll second those thoughts. I've often used it with tripod to get really close photo fine tuning (used on a moon shot earlier). I have an older Canon, one of the first models with live view, and in comparison, it downright stinks. I am sure Canon has upped their game in the meantime, but this screen and features are well worth the time to learn on these newer pentax bodies.

[mikesbike]

Cannot comment on wifi use as i never employ it. I had and used the K-r for a number of years, then gave it away to friends upon obtaining a new K-S2 for a great bargain closeout price after the appearance of the K-70. It replaced the K-r as my secondary smaller, lightweight alternative when I need that aspect. So in both cases only for occasional use and backup. So far after more than 3 years, no problems with it at all, and hoping this will continue!

The advancements offered by the K-S2 over the K-r are numerous enough for the change. What I found important for me are- 1. better image quality; 2. even better low-light/higher ISO performance; 3. better construction also featuring WR; 4. articulating rear screen for shooting from various positions; 5. better live view; 6. better set of controls with 2-dial operation providing the full Pentax Hyper Program availability to allow instant on-the-fly adjustments to be made in "P" mode; 7. a much better VF- brighter pro-style glass pentaprism providing 100% view in the frame so what you see is what you will get instead of material appearing in your frame you thought you had omitted, a type of VF never seen on entry-level models in other brands; 8. all this in a body about the same small size or a bit less and at light weight as the K-r! A remarkable accomplishment and value.

Price should be quite low for a used one, even one with low use in perfect shape. Nice to have a 6 month warranty too!

---------- Post added 08-24-20 at 06:56 PM ----------

I also like the idea of the flippy screen as I need to take photos of myself and that would be very practical.

This feature works well too, and is very unique- the wifi button doubles as a secondary shutter release when the rear screen is in reversed position to point the camera towards yourself. You can even include a friend in the selfie by using a wide angle lens (with some perspective distortion of course due to being so close which might be correctable in post). Which lenses do you have?