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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-03-2018, 08:42 PM
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Yeah, I slipped into old habits a bit. I will try to choose more diplomatic words in future.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-03-2018, 09:21 AM
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I did specify a viewfinder.....
The registration depth controls the thickness of the camera. In order to make the camera thinner, one has to shorten that depth and then put a turret (extension tube) on the lens mount to put a lens onto.
 Quote:
Compare Sony's A7 series, fitted with LA-EA4 AF adapter, versus the Sony A99 or A99 MkII. These are full frame cameras, of course, but the comparison is still a valid one. And all but the earliest A7 "Mk I" have in-body five axis image stabilisation. In fact, these full frame cameras with articulating screens are significantly smaller than the APS-C K-3 / K-3II. The APS-C A6x00 series cameras are smaller still.
Smaller size, however, doesn't always equate to great handling. Personally, I'm happy using my bigger A-mount lenses (Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 USD, Tamron 150-600 G1) on the A7II + adapter, but it feels very different to using a larger camera, with almost all of the work being done with the lens arm, rather than a combination of both left and right. That works well for me, as my right arm is problematic with rheumatoid arthritis, and I'm right-handed - so I may be a little biased :p But the combo is less well balanced in my view, compared to a bigger, heavier DSLR plus lens.
Of course, when you start using (some, but not all) native mount lenses, or adapted lenses for systems with smaller flange focal distances, the combo size advantage can be more compelling still.
The biggest disadvantage, assuming you can live with an EVF (personally, I can - and actually like them), is - as you've rightly pointed out - battery life, which is dire by comparison. Small batteries and constant "live view" isn't a great combination... think "Pentax KP" running in Live View all the time :o The accessory battery grip is more-or-less permanently attached to my A7II... making it not such a small camera after all (though rather nice to handle).
You are, of course, not talking about a K-Mount camera, but something else with an adapter.
---------- Post added 02-03-18 at 10:29 AM ----------
Nikon does have better AF for sure.
I expect EVFs will need a few generations to catch up to OVFs. The problem with them in this regard right now is that the mirrorless fanbois are insistent that the present level of EVF technology is superior to OVF (it isn't by a long shot), which puts very little pressure on mirrorless manufacturers to actually overcome the problems with their viewfinders.
One thing I just noticed the other day with my X-T1 is that the viewfinder rolls under LED lighting. LED lighting is becoming the standard method of indoor illumination.
Woops.
That gives the manufacturers one more thing to fix, and one more thing for the fanbois to conveniently ignore with their proselytizing.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-02-2018, 08:15 AM
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A mirrorless APS-C camera with K-Mount and a viewfinder will not be significantly smaller than a K3. Much of the size of the camera is dictated by the registration distance the large battery and in body image stabilization.
The compromises Fuji made to get the X-T cameras as small as they are (and they are quite svelte) would be unacceptable to many photographers. The battery life alone would be enough to chase a lot of people away. If you tend to spend a lot of time with the camera to your eye, you can expect as little as 50 pictures to a battery. The most I can squeeze out of my X-T1 is about 250, and that is by being very aware of how I am doing things to ensure i am conserving battery power as much as possible.
One can say, yes, but one can carry spare batteries, and this is quite true. I have to carry 4 -6 batteries, to give me the same shooting life as one Pentax battery. This does cut into the weight advantage, and now one has to keep track of more strew in a camera bag. Batteries also seem to die at the least convenient moments.
There are advantages to a heavier camera as well. It is much easier to handhold a camera steadily if it weighs more.
It is also easier to handhold a camera steadily if it is close to the body (like pressed against your face looking through a viewfinder) than if it is held at arm's length looking at a rear screen.
With my X-T1, for example, using the viewscreen rather than the viewfinder costs me about 2 stops of low speed shutter duration because the camera is now less stable. I discovered this because the EVF does tend to give me a headache (one of the things that EVFs need to catch up on compared to OVFs) and I was trying to figure out if arm's length hand holding was a viable approach (it isn't, at least not for me).
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-01-2018, 04:01 PM
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The reason a K3II successor won't be mirrorless is because electronic viewfinders still lag quite far behind optical ones. Nothing is inevitable, no matter what the cheerleaders of any particular technology would care to believe.
If/when EVFs catch up to OVFs, I would expect we will start to see them showing up on the lower end cameras at first.
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