if it isn't multiburst flash (most likely is) it may be a longer duration burst to make sure that the flash is putting out even color and intensity for the duration of the shutter travel…
it sounds counterintuitive, but.. all flash pulses are not created equal, such a longer flash burst would actually allow for it's own motion blur under some circumstances….
but some flash units have faster bursts than others and some get color shifts at the beginning and and of the burst which shouldn't show up under normal shutter speeds…
my studio strobes cannot freeze acton as well as my portable strobes on low power settings. Longer burst duration….

the irony here being the whole "strobist" movement was based on the notion that you could do more with less, and that you could light a scene with cheap slaved portable strobes, rather than paying big bucks for studio lighting with all the accessories….

they were all for hacks, and work arounds, until sponsors convinced people you need a "gary fong" rather than a paper cup… etc.

but..
as a guy who shoots BOTH studio style AND strobist style lights, I assure you
I never "hit the ceiling" on the issue of top sync speed. EVER. it's a non issue, unless you're talking to a sales clerk that has ten rows of Canikon gear on the shelf to unload…

well currently the only option to get faster shutter speed is to switch brands. so if the jump from 1/180 to 1/250 really matters, do the math and switch brands.
but you'd have to be pretty bad at math to think it makes sense to switch.

I wondered about that too. But I know from motorcycling that when it comes to high performance machines and mechanical bits…. you take any motorcycle and start modding it for speed and weight savings (both of which you do for a faster shutter) the first fifteen pounds and thirty horse power are actually quite affordable… usually an exhaust pipe (as low as $400.00), air filter and airbox mod (as low as $35.00) to attain that much… but..after that…

every additional oz of weight savings and every single gain in horsepower can cost thousands...


so the jump to a faster shutter could very well mean a shorter shutter life OR making the shutter out of much more expensive material.
Remember the old cloth shutters when 1/60 sec was blazingly fast and 1/500 sec was tops? plastics and aluminum made the leap to 1/180 and 1/4000…

so it's possible to get faster sync but maybe cost vs benefits is the issue..
or maybe it's something else… might be the flash tubes can't be matched to the faster speeds…. and having to force customers to upgrade all thier flash units to take advantage of a faster shutter would garner some complaints from customers?

maybe with the new flash units out, a faster shutter is coming down the pipes from pentax in the near future?

and I still have no clue why this matters so much to some? just to keep up with the joneses? as John said it's a negligible difference in actual use. and easily worked around.

maybe they traded off shutter life for shutter speed?
link

my guess is there will be a pentax direct competitor to this camera ..
most likely based on aps-c with k-30 internals and a LX styled body..
Nikon df video
and it will be affordable!

I'd settle for a couple leaf shutter lenses.

Shot in a small space, there is surprisingly little photoshop used here.
materials included seamless white, cheap cellophane wrap in translucent blue one softbox, one silver umbrella, one gridded reflector, 3 monoblocks.

the key to this effect was to have the model on the floor looking up. she was laying on the cellophane, we tussled her hair, did the lighting and shot from a scaffold type ladder from directly above.

then we added a layer in photoshop, adding the blue photo filter, some scratches and used frost brushes to brush in the frost on the top layer.

a little dodging and burning was all that was done to the image layer with the model.
the sense of depth comes from the lighting on the model, and the frosted top layer, and the make-up.

well I see someone post lots of intelligent comments on various subjects, I cliky linky and see some nice nature, landscape and macro shots, I like.
give you a hint. there is actually a little bit of photoshop in this image.

thanx!