[monochrome]

Lets address a few points from the post above...


Pentax had SR working on the K-7 and K-5 range of cameras.


Pentax is still using the same video package from 2012, but their processors have improved. I'm sure there's room to squeeze a bit more out of them now.

IIRC, Pentax significantly reengineered the IBIS technology for K-3 (actually, K5lls), making it smaller, faster (ultrasonic) and lighter. I don't believe they simply decided to turn it off - there is a technical impediment to continuing mechanical video stabilization.

[richandfleur]

IIRC, Pentax significantly reengineered the IBIS technology for K-3 (actually, K5lls), making it smaller, faster (ultrasonic) and lighter. I don't believe they simply decided to turn it off - there is a technical impediment to continuing mechanical video stabilization.

Agreed, that may well be the case.


K5iis had mechanical stabilisation during video though, to the best of my knowledge.


K5iis to the K-30/01/3 marked a change in processor, and with that came on processor 'stabilisation'. I think that could have just as easily been a reason to stop mechanical stabilisation, especially if users reported it was noisy. (Which is the whole point of this thread.).


Without any reliable word from Pentax, we don't know why it was stopped.

[monochrome]

Whatever it is, my son just bought Canon instead of a free K-3 to create short YouTube videos for his business. ILIS plus reputation were the primary reasons (plus, if you aren't seen using an A7s it has to be a Canon body and an L lens or you get no sideline respect - and his business is deeply affinity and respect driven).

[surfar]

my son just bought Canon instead of a free K-3

That's probably a little disappointing for you, you should have recommended Nikon!

[monochrome]

That's probably a little disappointing for you, you should have recommended Nikon!

Nah. I save my Dad voice for important stuff (which he appreciates). I did the appropriate ooh's and aahh's.

[surfar]

Ha Ha, good move!....but in reality, nobody can buy a poor camera these days...they all do a pretty good job.As well as the option of moving to something else that comes along with the next(or 2nd next) tech advance.


GH5 release is around the corner(next month) so that's interesting to me.I know the moving pictures will be good but the intriguing bit will to see how their stills do.

[THoog]

Pentax is still using the same video package from 2012, but their processors have improved. I'm sure there's room to squeeze a bit more out of them now.

The processors may have improved, but the video package built into those processors has not. This is easily verified by looking at the datasheets for the Milbeaut - two out of three models currently available are only marginally better than the 2011 model in video specs. It's not a matter of Pentax squeezing out a little more - it's a matter of them going from near-ZERO effort in video, to developing the necessary software and hardware themselves.

It's very similar to the choice we consumers make: we could stick with a camera that can do video "well enough" off-the-shelf, or we could change brands/architectures from what we have used for years and, if necessary, add external audio and video devices and figure out how to make it all work together. Is it worth it?

[richandfleur]

The processors may have improved, but the video package built into those processors has not. This is easily verified by looking at the datasheets for the Milbeaut - two out of three models currently available are only marginally better than the 2011 model in video specs.

Then one assumes things spec wise (bit rate etc) will improve when Pentax move to newer generations of these processors. No need for Pentax to do anything, as they'll gain these improvements as soon as they upgrade to newer processors. Which will happen eventually.

Real mechanical SR seems independent of the processing chip, so this is something Pentax can chose to take a look at themselves, at any time. Given at least 3 other companies are now doing this, and Pentax themselves once did mechanical SR, this is an area they would do well to revisit.

[THoog]

Then one assumes things spec wise (bit rate etc) will improve when Pentax move to newer generations of these processors. No need for Pentax to do anything, as they'll gain these improvements as soon as they upgrade to newer processors. Which will happen eventually.

Real mechanical SR seems independent of the processing chip, so this is something Pentax can chose to take a look at themselves, at any time. Given at least 3 other companies are now doing this, and Pentax themselves once did mechanical SR, this is an area they would do well to revisit.

I don't disagree. I also think clean HDMI-out is something they should be able to do relatively easily. Nikon managed it, although from what I've read, early implementations were clunky (the SD card had to be ejected and the door left open, or some such).

[Rondec]

IIRC, Pentax significantly reengineered the IBIS technology for K-3 (actually, K5lls), making it smaller, faster (ultrasonic) and lighter. I don't believe they simply decided to turn it off - there is a technical impediment to continuing mechanical video stabilization.

People are guessing about all this. But you can have SR on when you use live view for extended periods of time and I haven't seen any issues with the sensor over heating. Not saying it couldn't happen, I just haven't seen it.

Anyway, I do think Pentax should just enable mechanical SR and just put a lot of warnings with it for why it might be a bad idea (audible noises, sensor overheating or whatever) and then folks can choose to use it or not as they choose.

[PiDicus Rex]

Would you accept a SR system that causes the sensor to overheat after <10min of use? Until Ricoh figures out how to solve that problem, the mechanical SR during video is not coming back.

Please cite the source of that information, it's not something I've seen or heard of, and there are times when I swap the modeo of SR in still to 'always on', and have personally never seen the system overheat.

The ONLY time I've seen my K-01 display it's temp warning, was after several hours filming a webseries in 38degC weather, when I had to move the camera to be in direct sunlight for 20min. MovieSR was off for that.

The only comments I've seen regarding the reason to disable SR in video, was the occasional noise the system makes being picked up on internal microphones.
The simple fact is, the people that can make the most use of Sensor Shift in Video, are those most likely to already be using an external sound recorder.

---------- Post added 15-02-17 at 03:08 PM ----------

IIRC, Pentax significantly reengineered the IBIS technology for K-3 (actually, K5lls), making it smaller, faster (ultrasonic) and lighter. I don't believe they simply decided to turn it off - there is a technical impediment to continuing mechanical video stabilization.

The K-5 models have Sensor Shift in video.
It was with the launch of the K-01 and K-30 that the function was replaced with the awful MovieSR,.. Which is most annoying in the Mirrorless form factor, and is highly likely to be one of the major contributors to the negative press and limited sales popularity of the K-01.

[Steve.Ledger]

Not sure of the relevance of mentioning the K-01, since it has no movie modes with mechanical stabilization.

No, he didn't imply that it did. He mentioned the K-01 with respect to it only having MovieSR (digital SR) as being a possible reason for lack of sales and poor reviews.

"It was with the launch of the K-01 and K-30 that the function was replaced with the awful MovieSR"

[PiDicus Rex]

The K-01 can have the Sensor Shift left 'always on' in stills mode.

So the sensor is working, the LCD is working, and the Sensor Shift is working, and whichever chip runs the sensor shift is working, but the SD card only gets a workout when you hit the shutter button.

And it doesn't overheat.

ASAIK, the Sensor shift used in the K-5 bodies and the K-01 body is mechanically identical.

Even if it can be made to over heat, swapping to the 'on when shutter pressed' setting would give the system time to cool when used on the average advert, short film, music video, or behind scenes shoot.

Hrm,.. Has idea for test to push K-01 and see if I can make the temp warning come on....

[Steve.Ledger]

The K-01 can have the Sensor Shift left 'always on' in stills mode.

And to add to that, the mechanism is always on when it's off because it's being held in place.. So technically it's still on when using video, just not active as shake reduction.

I'd suggest any over heating in earlier models might be due to the processor having to continuously process 24 frames a second and write them to an SD card. I know the cards get quite hot, the MX-1 card got so hot in video mode you could feel it through the body while shooting video. Never got any warning though.

[madbrain]

Ha Ha, good move!....but in reality, nobody can buy a poor camera these days...they all do a pretty good job

When it comes to video, some do a much better job than others. I don't think any of the Pentax bodies really do a good job for video.

---------- Post added 02-16-17 at 08:53 PM ----------

Indeed, those types of situations would be far more suited to a tripod mounted handicam.

The handicams usually have much smaller sensors than a DSLR, and do worse in lowlight.

Of course, you would disable the SR for tripod use, so any overheating related to SR in long takes wouldn't be an issue in this case.
The 30 min recording limit would be an issue, however.