[BobL]

I honestly for the life of me cannot understand why Pentax would want to incorporate video into the New K7, or any camera for that matter.
If I wanted video I'd buy a video camera, it's a total waste of space.
Can't they just focus on producing a pro level, full frame stills camera?

By way of a warning, I have a good friend traveling to china next week & she warned me that were I looking to travel there to make sure that I didn't take a camera with Video included as it was likely to be confiscated. Tourists are apparently not allowed to take video cameras into China.

[RawheaD]

I honestly for the life of me can't figure out why people can't accept the fact that even if they don't want something, other people might. I mean seriously, WTF. You don't want it, fine. I happen to like having video on my K-7.



In fact, it came in really handy the other day when I was in Wuhan, China, trying to observe the total solar eclipse (and photograph it). Turns out it was overcast the entire time, with the sun coming in and out of the clouds, making exposure calculations nearly impossible to do on-the-fly during totality.

So, I just flipped the mode to video and took a video of the entire thing. You can see the first part of it here:


[Video] Total Solar Eclipse, 2009 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



Thankfully, the K-7 takes decent 720p HD video, so by extracting 32 frames from the moment of second contact (first diamong ring moment), and stacking them, I was able to produce a decent still of the moment as well:










Oh, yeah, and, uh, as far as I know, Wuhan (and Shanghai, where I entered the country) is in China, and they had absolutely no problem with me, or anybody entering the country with video capable cameras. So, uh, what you heard from your friend is total BS.

[richtrav]

Well nobody is forcing you to use it :-) But hey why not try it? who knows you may like it.

I'm just playing with you a little, but really it's not a hard choice for Pentax, they need to keep up with the rest of the pack to stay competitive and video is becoming at least as important as megapixels. I might also add the K-7's video mode arguably has the most pleasing output of any video-DSLR, especially in 720 mode in good light. It plays back beautifully on an HDTV

And now that I've had a taste of video I'm hooked, I can't imagine buying another camera without it. It adds a totally new dimension to photo taking, and is a nice 2-for-1 solution, especially for those of us that like to take short videos clips, which is where I think the primary niche will be for future DSLRs

[imtheguy]

By way of a warning, I have a good friend traveling to china next week & she warned me that were I looking to travel there to make sure that I didn't take a camera with Video included as it was likely to be confiscated. Tourists are apparently not allowed to take video cameras into China.

Not sure where your friend got their info but my daughter and boy friend just got back from 2 weeks in china traveling around 2,000 miles by train to many towns from the big cities and many check points. They brought back many videos from their camera's built in video so at least 2 tourists did not know they are not allowed. I don't know any more than that.

[creampuff]

I honestly for the life of me cannot understand why Pentax would want to incorporate video into the New K7, or any camera for that matter.
If I wanted video I'd buy a video camera, it's a total waste of space.
Can't they just focus on producing a pro level, full frame stills camera?

By way of a warning, I have a good friend traveling to china next week & she warned me that were I looking to travel there to make sure that I didn't take a camera with Video included as it was likely to be confiscated. Tourists are apparently not allowed to take video cameras into China.

What rubbish! First off, there is absolutely no restriction to bring or use video cameras in China... if not how in the world did visitors to the Olympics shoot with their video cameras?

Discard your old prejudices and narrow thinking about what a camera ought to be... the convergence of still and moving images is already happening with point and shoot cameras for quite some time and it is natural that video will be a key feature in current and future DSLRs. Look at the work done by our forum member soccerjoe with the K-7... simply brilliant.

[DonDouglas]

I haven't been interested in moving pictures since I sold my Bolex 16mm in 1969, never owned a video camera, and really have only been interested in still photography.
That said, there are reasons to rethink the question. One is Web publishing and the incorporation of footage into windows that would otherwise have static JPEGs. Another is the possibility of working with stock footage agencies; a clip of even just a few seconds on a network program could amortize a whole bag of gear. Google "stock footage" and check out purveyors such as thoughtequity.com for examples.

[jptreen]

Big yes to video from me. It's an extra feature and as long as it doesn't hamper the camera's ability to take still photos then what can be so bad about it?

The days of basic top level cameras are over.

Anyway, I for one am going to enjoy the video feature...

[DonDouglas]

"as long as it doesn't hamper the camera's ability to take still photos"

Unfortunately, in the case of the K-7 it might have done just that. The review on IR indicates that the DR performance in still photos may be the result of accommodations they made for video capability. Its dynamic range is almost a full stop (0.83) less than the K20D.

[Jasvox]

The biggest reason why Pentax (and all others now) are incorporating video into their mid level and above DSLRs is simple. Marketing. These companies rely on appealing to the widest audience possible to sell their merchandise. Simple consumer perception nowadays is, does it have video and is it HD and at least 24FPS.
While this feature wouldn't or doesn't necessarily appeal to purists is not the focus of the manufacturers these days. Professional photographers make up a smaller percentage of buyers than your average Joe Consumer, which is what keeps these companies above water (barely) and keeps them in the race to push out more bells and whistles, not to mention trying to improve on core characteristics of the cameras (sensor quality, exposure characteristics, focus improvements, etc.).

That being said, I think it would be cool to see a "purists" model out there, which is likely what we will see if/when the 645d is released.

just my .02.

Jason

[TaoMaas]

The biggest reason why Pentax (and all others now) are incorporating video into their mid level and above DSLRs is simple. Marketing.

Yep. Two of my friends just bought digital cameras. They plan to use these cameras the same way that 90% of the public uses cameras...to record the important times in their lives. For both of them, video was a deal-breaker. No video...no sale.

[melander]

The bigger question is "Why not?"
Its only software. The shutter dont move, the mirror dont clap. You get it for free.

[richtrav]

"as long as it doesn't hamper the camera's ability to take still photos"

Unfortunately, in the case of the K-7 it might have done just that. The review on IR indicates that the DR performance in still photos may be the result of accommodations they made for video capability. Its dynamic range is almost a full stop (0.83) less than the K20D.

I really doubt any perceived loss of DR was due to video, since the k20d basically had the same feature in its high-speed burst mode. Did they give any technical reason for this or were they just completely guessing? Ask Falk, he would know if anyone would. I heard they swapped out the sensor on the K-7 at the last moment, a different sensor would make a lot more sense to me for any DR differences. And I'd wait for dpreview to look at the camera, they do a good job of sniffing that sort of stuff out

[DonDouglas]

Not being a technician, I would not venture an opinion.

Here's what Dave Etchells said in the review at the Imaging Resource site:

"The net result was that the Pentax K-7's JPEGs scored a bit below average in Imatest's dynamic range analysis when compared against other current APS-C sensor models. Pentax K-7 RAW files converted with ACR did better, but results were still below average for its class, and below the K20D's scores."

Here's what he later said in a forum discussion on the K-7:
"Actually, they're likely quite different sensors. Both CMOS and same pixel dimensions, but our understanding is that the K-7's sensor was a new design from the ground up, likely to permit video readout. Pentax didn't have any detailed engineering information on the sensor for us, but did note that it was an all-new design."

He also said that the K-7's less aggressive noise reduction leaves more noise in the shadows but also preserves more shadow detail, which he personally prefers. It affects the quantifiable dynamic range, however.

[PNTXFTW12]

think of the video feature as just a way to make the camera to do 30 shots a second, at 1532x1024, with the mirror up...HAPPY NOW?

you're making it sound like Pentax included something COMPLETELY unnecessary in the K-7...and i have NO idea what you're talking about wasted space.

The sensor's readout speed, and PRIME II processor would still have to be super-fast to get the 5.2fps, not only for video.

and i don't think the K-7 would have been designed any better as a still camera if they didn't incorprate the video feature :\

[Jasvox]

I think the OP is entitled to his opinion and the right to post. There is no need to take a negative tone nor the need to be unnecessarily harsh.

Jason