Sorry guys ☹️

We've seen quote a few forum members circling round the brands who seem unable to settle on anything. That must be an expensive course to take.

Stub seems to forget that the K-1 was produced after a lot of pressure from the US forum for a camera on which they could use their EXISTING FF LENSES...... No one asked for a new range of lenses.

This is the funniest thing I've ever seen

A fashion photographer LINK made his name shooting with Pentax for both stills and video. Then he kicked off on about how bad the AF was and moved to Nikon. His wife didn't like the Nikon video so continued with Pentax

Now he takes nearly all his shots..... OUT OF FOCUS (on the link above at least) and whoever does the videos seems to use FUJI and he also has FUJI. He's written to Nikon complaining about the Z's and despite being a top pro he doesn't seem to be on 1st cousin terms with them. LINK

More on Depressing Review...
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4314141

A lot of moaning Pentaxians seem to think that Canikon will beat a path to their door if they have the slightest problem.
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And at that I stopped reading .... What a total arse.

Ben used to post on this forum and was a Pentax Professional.

He said a lot of nasty stuff about Pentax when he left so lets hope he never comes back.

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Whoops, you are quite right, that's poor wording on my part.
Yes to be clear, the stories I'm reading show users who are leaving are quite conflicted, in that they want to stay with Pentax, but Pentax has not been developing in areas that are important to them, hence the change. That's not to say Pentax hasn't been delivering for all Pentax users, as there are still many who are fully happy with their products. There are however some customers who are choosing to move elsewhere, and this is not just a Pentax DSLR thing as it affects the likes of Canikon DSLR companies as well.


Please don't go there, let's keep the discussion civil.
This site is called Pentax User, and I use Pentax cameras too.


I make little travel and family videos like these:
https://youtu.be/Fd-misrx3kM
https://youtu.be/1pbOdTkFrSU

Video wise, the bottom line is my Pentax is excellent for stills (I'm just lacking eye AF and decent tracking for example) but the video offering hasn't really been touched in over 5 years now. I'd like to see the video offering improved, so that I can achieve a high IQ (like we currently can in stills) and use all my same lenses with the ergonomics and rugged/weather sealed benefits of the Pentax system. This isn't a video only conversation, but specifically I'd like to see the offering updated to at least say 2017 levels, with increased bitrate, focus peaking that works during video capture and the return of mechanical sensor stabilisation.


To be fair the video quality on that just didn't live up to the expectation. It felt very much like a token add on looking for a PR angle of 'First MF with video'.
For example, these guys gave it a very fair review, and were ultimately disappointed. https://youtu.be/4oT-fnHHTFs


I'm not interested in Mirrorless for it's reduced size (you're only saving some of the mirrorbox distance) but the technology in that style of camera is developing much faster, and in areas that I'm interested in. Eye AF really appeals to me, as does tracking AF for my kids triathlon like events. Like others, I'd love to see these developments in a Pentax, and I'm not picky about which format it's delivered in (be that DSLR or Mirrorless), just that it is delivered.

I stumbled across the AP review of the Z7 - didn't bother reading it but did look at the bit about the F lens mount adapter. Apparently it can't AF all lenses as it has no screw-drive connector, Nikon's solution gained the high praise by the reviewer stating "I found this gave one of the best manual-focus experiences of any mirrorless camera."

High praise indeed - what is this mysterious process: "In this case the camera will show a digital rangefinder display in the viewfinder, with left and right arrows indicating which way to turn the focus ring."

Umm, sounds fab, but I can't help remembering reading about and using cameras that have already done this... the MEF link and the SFX(n) used the same display.

Trouble with that is, if the image is going directly to a fresnel screen providing for a true viewfinder optical image rather than a video screen, the photographer is expected to be able to time the shot rather than the electronics. The camera's electronics aren't actually able to see the image when the mirror and focussing screen get in the way.
Do you want a camera that takes the photos itself, or do you want to take them? That's the subtle difference.
A real photographer wants complete control over the image and not rely on a hit or miss automatic electronic system that requires delving into a myriad of menus to set it up ready (by which time the intended subject may well have gone away.) I suspect that's why some return to Pentax after not getting the shots they wanted with a totally electronic system.
It can take quite some time to adjust the exposure compensation on many electronic offerings having to hunt for the setting in a menu option (if you can even find it.) Not what you want on a dark, wet , windy evening in a camera without WR.
If anyone's thinking of swapping systems, look long and hard at the method of fully controlling the camera, not just the headline specs!

Thanks Don, I can see why you need great video production and why you shoudn't wait (then again it sounds like you'd need something more specialised).


Excellent work, vibrant and very imaginative use of video & stills - thanks for sharing. I've tried video and realised I'm rubbish at it (at work we leave our video production to the professionals).

Careful, that's a slippery slope to infer some users aren't real photographers...

I'm prepared to hand control of certain aspects over to the camera. I suspect many do already when using semi automatic modes such as Av/TV/TAv etc, whereby I'm letting the camera control the exposure based on it's reading at a specific time.

With regards to eye AF I'm fully prepared to let the camera handle the continuous focusing on the eye for portraits. I've had many narrow depth of field portraits come out with eyebrows in focus and eyes not, because I moved after focus was locked, they moved, focus was on the eyebrow all along, or any other such cause. I don't see this as suddenly I'm not being a real photographer. Sure I can up my game, and install a more reliable setup like a tripod and seat etc to help minimise this, but the technology to assist me does exist now, in some brands.

Eye AF is an aspect I'd like to see on my Pentax cameras. I don't see this as a mirrorless / DSLR debate personally, just a technology feature discussion, unless this type of development is only available on one format and not on another.

I agree there is a time lag when using an EVF, although this is minimal on the newest models. I personally prefer an optical viewfinder, but seeing exactly what the sensor sees has it's benefits also. There are several instances where I already use my Pentax DSLR in 'mirrorless mode' anyway, such as landscapes and night long exposure photos. My preference would be to keep my Pentax gear, and it's optical viewfinder, but have Pentax up their video game to at least 2017 levels please, and hopefully do something to improve the tracking AF capabilities.

I am of the opinion that mirrorless cameras take over the process. I can't see why anyone would prefer them!

Well that is only true to a degree. I use Av and TAv a lot, but don't feel i am handing exposure control over to the camera entirely. When in these modes my first few shots are always viewed with the histogram and any compensation if needed is then dialed in.

How is this different to live view on a DSLR?

As above I use this regularly for landscape and night long exposure work.

With mirrorless there is no optical viewfinder by definition. You can't switch back and use something which isn't present in the camera.
If it's an optical viewfinder you want, then mirrorless simply isn't for you apart from several compacts which have a viewfinder, albeit not TTL. To me that's a backwards step, been there and tried those years ago, hopefully they're not the future. My old ones are languishing on the shelf unloved! I've no wish to add to that collection.