Pentax K70

I do like the look of it, but part of my reason for buying the K30 was not only the weather sealing, but its ability to use AA batteries. I do spend a bit of time in places where using a charger is not possible, so being able to use AAs is a godsend. Unfortunately, the K70 doesn't look to have that feature, so I doubt I'll be buying one.

Sounds like a jolly good reason to buy some spare Pentax batteries to take along with you instead.

Pentax doesn't offer it yet, but I do like the charging via usb option that some companies are starting to offer. This opens the way to solar chargers etc, that might be in line with the weather sealed rugged sales pitch of Pentax cameras.

But it does mean you can't use the camera for the time it takes to charge via USB, which is usually much longer than charging a battery via AC charger. Charging via solar would be awfully slow and only possible by day which is likely when you need the camera for photography. Good sales pitch, but I can't see it as a very practical feature.

It's early days, with not a lot of companies offering it. I mention it only as a discussion point at this stage, especially given Pentax haven't offered it themselves yet, and this is a Pentax forum.

Ideally cameras could be used whilst charging. For the likes of timelapses etc this is important.

Yes USB is likely slower to charge, but given the likes of iPads etc are usb charge only devices, I expect it's a case of how it's implemented and to what UBS power standard.

Solar wise, yes, it's the solar powered torch joke, but usb powerbanks are common these days, so a combo device could charge at your camp location during the day, and charge your camera overnight. I think the concept could fit with the Pentax marketing/product placement, being weather proof and rugged etc. Along with better AF so you can take in focus pictures of fast moving wildlife/birds when you get out there also.

You could be right, Richard, yet USB charging isn't anything new. It's been around a long time with various compacts/PnS cameras but has all but hasn't been overly popular as it was often regarded as quite a negative to not be supplied with a charger. I personally don't regard USB charging for DSLRs as anything more than a marketing point, not a serious feature to consider. They have very large batteries, much larger than any phone or tablet.

Once again it's going to be in how it's implemented. Potentially it could be an add on to the current system, allowing the same battery to be charged another way.

Point is, AA battery support from Pentax has now stopped and they haven't provided any alternative. The AA option didn't work if you couldn't get your hands on any AA batteries anyway, so it wasn't perfect.

I personally purchased the K-30 AA adaptor early on, but I've never needed to use it. I simply take two charged batteries with me, but I recognise camping time situations where this wouldn't work and another charging option would be nice.

Don't people take generators on their camping trips these days?

'Glamping'

Ricoh had a camera called the XR-S with solar panels on the pentaprism to recharge the batteries. Digital SLR's require a bit more power. USB charging might tempt the designers to make the batteries non interchangeable.

Cheers Pierre

Yes, it was a film camera. The solar cell was there only to top up a small battery for the metering circuit only and give extra life to the battery.
Solar charging would never work with today's power hungry DSLRs. I can't think of one advantage of USB charging.

I'll wait until they harness dark energy and we'll never need batteries again.

Pentaxforums (US) has now reviewed this camera.

http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-k-70-review/versus-other-bodies.html

'In other words, the K-70 is for anyone who wants a high-quality APS-C DSLR, with two caveats. First, if you’re into sports and action photography, you’re probably going to want to look for a camera with a more modern AF system and a more robust family of fast telephoto lenses.'


So when is Pentax going to address this seemingly perpetual issue?

Read more at: http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-k-70-review/conclusion.html#ixzz4O7jxaeZR

My view to that is focussing is best done by the photographer, not the camera. What's the use of a photo of a pin sharp branch when the bird you want to photograph is sitting on a different one?! Any AF system is a compromise whatever the camera brand and requires the photographer to make critical focus decisions.
So if that was the only issue reported, the K-70 has to be a great camera and shouldn't be put down for a failing inherent in all AF systems. The grass is always greener.....

I think that's a slippery slope towards why have AF at all? AF has it's place, and others do do it better than Pentax does.

It's a valid point that Pentax could and should improve in this area.

Reviews excluding Pentax from sport and video starts to cut down the available customer pile somewhat.