Pentax FF camera -- real world sighting

[ahsanford]

Tally ho -- the new Pentax FF camera is in the flesh at Photoplus:

http://www.adorama.com/alc/8328/article/photo-plus-2015-first-glimpse-pentax-full-frame-dslr?sterm=2YcXP9Xd60QF3XN1rmTVU0erUkXW6QyENzzLTY0&kbid=63773

That LCD tilting mechanism looks insane -- that's clearly off-axis movement, implying it's not your garden variety tilty-swively linkage. So many knobs as well...

This is rumored to work with their 645 lenses off an adapter similar to EF glass on EOS-M. If true, it's a clever head start while they develop the new glass expressly for that mount.

- A

 

[Sporgon]

But does it have a pop-up flash!?!?!?

That's irrelevant because as we all now know, it has the Exmor sensor, and that is all that matters.

Seriously though, I don't like the look of that screen mechanism; it looks fragile and unneccessarily complicated to me.

Pentax have a lot of experience with the crop version of this sensor in the various K-5 cameras: I think they will do a very good job with this FF.

Naming ? My guess it will be K-1. They already have the K-5 and 3, and the K2 was a rather fine top of the range film camera (with a quirky ASA dial around the lens mount).

Good news for all dslr FF fans, it'll keep Canon and Nikon on their toes in terms of specs.

 

[ahsanford]

It seems shockingly compact left-to-right, like crop compact. It could just be the perspective of the cell phone camera that took this, but there is very little space between the grip and the barrel of that 24-70 lens. Bigger-handed people may run out of right handed finger space.

If there is a pop-up flash, it must be gargantuan given how far down anything looking like a parting line on the body/pentaprism area is in that first photo I linked. I'm not seeing seams anywhere else.

So many knobs! I count three top knobs and two skinny wheels -- one by the shutter and one on the back.

The grip almost looks smooth -- perhaps this isn't a final model?

- A

 

[ahsanford]

New pic from the same tradeshow.

The compound angle tilty-flippiness is confirmed. That's got to be a nutty mechanical linkage to do that securely.

Also, knowing that's a 82mm diameter 24-70 f/2.8 lens (which is a real item available at B&H), that is indeed a very compact camera L to R. Using that camera size webpage + another 82mm lens (the 24-70 f/2.8L II) and lining it up with the front filter ring of that Pentax, that body only looks Rebel wide.

Pic below is a T4i + 24-70 II profile -- that was the closest fit I could get. I could certainly be off with that approximation, but not terribly so. This is a really compact FF body.

- A

 

[Sporgon]

New pic from the same tradeshow.

The compound angle tilty-flippiness is confirmed. That's got to be a nutty mechanical linkage to do that securely.

Also, knowing that's a 82mm diameter 24-70 f/2.8 lens (which is a real item available at B&H), that is indeed a very compact camera L to R. Using that camera size webpage + another 82mm lens (the 24-70 f/2.8L II) and lining it up with the front filter ring of that Pentax, that body only looks Rebel wide.

Pic below is a T4i + 24-70 II profile -- that was the closest fit I could get.

- A

You aught to try matching it up to the K3 with that lens.

Incidentally this advanced mock up was put on display due to a communication error - it was removed shortly after these pictures were taken !

 

[ahsanford]

New pic from the same tradeshow.

The compound angle tilty-flippiness is confirmed. That's got to be a nutty mechanical linkage to do that securely.

Also, knowing that's a 82mm diameter 24-70 f/2.8 lens (which is a real item available at B&H), that is indeed a very compact camera L to R. Using that camera size webpage + another 82mm lens (the 24-70 f/2.8L II) and lining it up with the front filter ring of that Pentax, that body only looks Rebel wide.

Pic below is a T4i + 24-70 II profile -- that was the closest fit I could get.

- A

You aught to try matching it up to the K3 with that lens.

Incidentally this advanced mock up was put on display due to a communication error - it was removed shortly after these pictures were taken !

Ha! Kind of shocked the biggest thing they've done strategically in a very very long time was sitting in a case by its lonesome at a trade show. Now we know why.

- A

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Really looking forward to reading the evaluations of this camera.

 

[MrFotoFool]

The mode dial options certainly go against the grain of everything out there. On the manual and semi manual side, in addition to the usual Aperture Value and Shutter Value there is one for Aperture Shutter Value. Also another one labelled SV which I have no idea what it does. On the other side where there is usually the common scene modes, they instead have five custom user modes.

 

[StudentOfLight]

Looks to have 5 User defined custom modes!

 

[Tanispyre]

I have a large collection of old Pentax manual focus lenses, if this thing has interchangeable focus screens so I can put a decent focus screen in for manual focusing, you might as well take my money now.