Flagman? Shouldn't that be Flagship?
However DPReview, says it's the new APS-C flagship. I think they're
still considered a reputable journalistic site, what ever that means in
the current age, so I'm assuming that they got that from Ricoh, and
didn't get it wrong.
The biggest take away from all this is that the KP is being flogged as a
compact DSLR, but it's obviously not. It only looks compact due to the
fact that what used to be protected by the body shell, the front control
wheel is now outside the body itself, and the hand grip that used to
hold a generous battery has been shaved away and that battery has been
replaced with a much smaller one.
But really if you go to camera size, there is no significant difference
in size between the KP, K5 and K3 of which the latter two were always
considered mid sized DSLRs. So smaller is pretty much marketing hype.
I guess Ricoh marketing looked at people buying mirrorless cameras and
came to the conclusion that if it looks smaller you can compromise
battery life, (they claim about 390 exposures, which is about what an
OM-D is supposed to get per charge), but those cameras are actually
significantly smaller.
Cosmetically the camera does have a "pentaprism" housing. (actually the
top of the pop up flash), that harkens back to, but can't replicate the
shape of that feature on most pre-autofocus Pentax SLRS that had a
pentaprism, just as the K-7/K-5 was made to look a bit like an LX with a
hot shoe finder, from certain angles, or even closer the Super
Program/Super A with a battery grip.
Personally I liked the styling of the K-7/K-5 found the slightly changed
styling of the K-3 to be not bad, and the K-3II just a tad less,
likable, (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for). The K-1
makes me think of an original 6x7, which also makes me think it's
hulking brute of a camera.
The KP design doesn't make me think retro, doesn't make me think small,
and doesn't make me think I want one.
Having a third control wheel that can be dedicated to ISO or exposure
compensation seems pretty cool, but it just isn't worth it to lose the
top information screen. That might be different if the wheels were
actual dials with markings on them, so I could tell the camera state at
a glance, but they're not. They're soft dials which make perfect sense
on a digital device, but they convey no actual information based on
their position.
Except for the high ISO, and based on my experience, I'll believe that
when I actually see some images, and the electronic shutter which should
be totally sllent I see nothing to recommend this camera over a K-5II or
K-3, and a lot to make me prefer a K-3 for almost every reason.
On 1/26/2017 8:26 AM, Igor PDML-StR wrote:
I usually do not go into speculations about Pentax plans, but here,
the situation seems to be rather logical. (But who said that Pentax is
always logical?!)
It is very logical if KP is _not_ the flagman of the APS-C lineup.
Based on the specs and trends, it sounds like it would be a
continuation of the "intermediate" line in Pentax APS-C family.
Clearly, its features (and somewhere specs, I believe, e.g. fps) are
overall below those of K-3/K-3ii.
It would make sense from the marketing/sales point of view, and Pentax
has done this before: First a lower model with some more advanced
features, then the higher(-est) model with all those feature plus some.
It also gives them a chance to test and correct something in the
flagman model based on the market response to this one.
Hence, I am putting my big furry hat [*] on and making this prediction
(or rather a proclamation): Pentax/Ricoh must release yet another
APS-C DSLR
in the near future to be the successor of K3ii.
The hat has spoken!
[*] That is unrelated to Cotty's seasoned hat. It is a reference to
the LSSC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRMnJDgStTw
Igor
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