[richandfleur]

Early Pentax models successfully stabilised the sensor during video.
Other companies (Olympus and Sony for instance) do this currently and to a better degree than Pentax ever did.


Does anyone know:


1) of any published / publically announced reason why it was taken away?
- I've heard it's due to audible noise, but does anyone have a reliably source link for this?


2) how to get in touch with Pentax?
- We're an entire global community, but Pentax is a Japanese Manufacturer. How do they hear from us?




The fact that it doesn't work now, and Pentax users aren't happy about it, seems to be a point of conflict.
If you don't use the video mode then this obviously won't be of interest to you, but this post is in the video section.
Fundamentally though, if a feature is going to be included it should work, and there are some fundamental flaws with the 'solution' that has been deployed in Pentax's products here.


The reality is though that 'Movie SR' stabilisation creates significant image warping, that is not correctable in post.
From an outsiders viewpoint, the results appear similar to those induced during post shooting software stabilisation approaches.
It has been suggested that the live view display during video recording is being mechanically stabilised, and in practise the warping distortions are not visible on the rear live view lcd during recording.


Given the age of the K-30 I have, I'm no longer expecting/hoping for a firmware to address this, but this thread is of relevance given the same 'Movie SR' approach is still being rolled out on current (hopefully not future) Pentax/Ricoh models.
I assume Pentax see this a generic sub routine they can add to all devices, with no requirement on physical sensor stabilisation hardware.
It's use though prevents the adoption of Pentax equipment for uses, and in situations, that it would have otherwise been perfectly suited for.


It's sad to see other products now offering more polished solutions where Pentax have traditionally shone.

[Adam]

1) of any published / publically announced reason why it was taken away?

See our photokina interview. They didn't like how noisy it was, and hope to update the system so that it isn't as loud.

[Adam]

- We're an entire global community, but Pentax is a Japanese Manufacturer. How do they hear from us?

They read sites like this one, they read our e-mails, they listen to internal feedback from CS reps, and they look at sales numbers and user complaints, etc.

[richandfleur]

Thanks for the link to the interview, I had forgotten that was a specifically addressed question.
I would have thought it could have been offered as an option in the menu, with one of the usual warning points in the manual that advises that S/R sounds may be audible in the final recording etc.
For me specifically, I record any required audio off camera, using the audio track solely for synchronisation purposes, so small local audible noises at the camera do not deter me at all.


Is there a formal user suggestion/feedback process around their products?

[Adam]

Thanks for the link to the interview, I had forgotten that was a specifically addressed question.
I would have thought it could have been offered as an option in the menu, with one of the usual warning points in the manual that advises that S/R sounds may be audible in the final recording etc.
For me specifically, I record any required audio off camera, using the audio track solely for synchronisation purposes, so small local audible noises at the camera do not deter me at all.


Is there a formal user suggestion/feedback process around their products?

Is there a formal user suggestion/feedback process around their products?

Beyond sending their CS reps or execs a letter/e-mail, I don't believe so. I'm sure that they will address the video stabilization issue in future bodies, but video clearly isn't their priority.

[Steve.Ledger]

....but video clearly isn't their priority.

I imagine Sales are their priority, and as good quality video with excellent mechanical/accelerometer stabilisation will create more demand and sales, video ipso facto is a priority.

[Rondec]

It seems as though it would be as easy as flipping a software switch to make it available to enable. Just have (1) Mechanical SR active in video (Warning -- may add audible noise) and (2) Crappy software SR. (3) SR off. Then people can choose which they prefer.

[Clavius]

I think there may have been other reasons for them to nerf the mechanical sensor stabilisation other then the one in their noise-explanation. I think that because of the stupidity of that fix and the easy alternative fixes as suggested above.

What could have been the real reasons?

[Rondec]

I think there may have been other reasons for them to nerf the mechanical sensor stabilisation other then the one in their noise-explanation. I think that because of the stupidity of that fix and the easy alternative fixes as suggested above.

What could have been the real reasons?

I think they are uninterested in video, on the whole, and really did feel like the mechanical SR wasn't good enough -- added noise or, detracted from the quality of the video footage. They didn't have time/money to invest in making it better for video and so they just purchased a cheap (but not very good) software stabilization package to use instead. I just don't understand why they don't give the option to enable it, even with a warning. It would then be up to the user which they like better.

[Steve.Ledger]

What could have been the real reasons?

SONY said, "Cripple your Video SR or we won't sell you our sensors"

---------- Post added 11-28-14 at 09:11 PM ----------

detracted from the quality of the video footage.

Errr.. No it did not. It worked very well. MovieSR certainly does 'detract'.. Big time.

[Clavius]

SONY said, "Cripple your Video SR or we won't sell you our sensors".

LOL! You're joking about it, and I'm laughing about it. But it would in fact be more plausable then the reason Pentax gave us. There may be terms in contracts that prohibits Sony's customers from using the sensors in certain ways. Maybe Pentax broke one of those rules with the K-5 and got "Now you've gone to far with the video." from their sensor supplier.

[grispie]

Remember that the Sony A55 had a mechanical IS for video. The next generation Alpha's also turned to software based IS for video.
Same as pentax.

I would suspect Sony's issues related to e.g. heat, noise or battery life.
Now they have optimised the system, reverting back to mechanical IS.
Maybe pentax just doesn't want to take any risk with heat issues or other, as they feel the system is not mature for use while recording video and as a quick explanation put the noise issue forward.

[TomGarn]

You Tube

You Tube

Let Pentax video dreams die in peace ...

Sony was always the best in broadcast and semiprofessional video, just Panasonic
had it's feet in the door since S-VHS ... and the GH4 in many respects is what we tried
to find in Pentax but could never afford to come true ...

And I still love this "old" video a lot - Dave is doing a great job in almost every respect:

You Tube

You Tube

---------- Post added 11-30-14 at 07:28 AM ----------

The Pentax Video is dead - Long live the King !

You Tube

You Tube

[Steve.Ledger]

What a funny preview, video of a tablet showing a press release website of a Sony A7II .. Crikey..

[kadajawi]

Remember that the Sony A55 had a mechanical IS for video. The next generation Alpha's also turned to software based IS for video.
Same as pentax.

I would suspect Sony's issues related to e.g. heat, noise or battery life.
Now they have optimised the system, reverting back to mechanical IS.
Maybe pentax just doesn't want to take any risk with heat issues or other, as they feel the system is not mature for use while recording video and as a quick explanation put the noise issue forward.

Maybe, just maybe the noise refers to sensor noise due to heat? I have never bothered to try recording video without SR to see how the sensor heats up then, but maybe that is the noise they were referring to? It'd make more sense. With sensors that don't heat up as much in the first place maybe that's less of an issue now... clearly Sony thinks it is, because they don't have a problem activating it anymore.


Olympus didn't have SR in video at first IIRC, but fixed that through a firmware update. Haven't heard about problems there either.


If it is really the noise the SR system makes, as in audible noise, clearly they should understand that users for whom audio is a concern will record audio externally, while others may use just some music to cut their videos to. If you use the in camera audio, then clearly audio isn't too important, and the bit of noise (which I rarely, if ever, heard) won't be too much of an issue. The improvements in image quality are clearly worth it using SR.