RiceHigh's Pentax Blog: Rumour: Pentax K-mount FF Comes this Autumn, no Built-in Flash but GPS

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Rumour: Pentax K-mount FF Comes this Autumn, no Built-in Flash but GPS

http://thisistanaka.blog66.fc2.com/entry/945/
(in Japanese)

Btw, the author of the above post is a famous Japanese photographer who is close to the official Ricoh Pentax internal source.

Comments (22)

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ToetSFX · 513 weeks ago

Positive news! Thanks a lot for the information. I hope we can response on a more positive way. So we "help" Ricoh/Pentax to sell this new (legacy) product. I will buy the new FF. I'm less interested in the new K3II (because of K5IIS performance).

3 replies · active 512 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 513 weeks ago

But I hate that the traditional Pentax RTF to be replaced by the GPS module, the built-in flash is surely much useful.

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Chris · 512 weeks ago

NOT. For travelling and shooting mostly landscapes, the opposite is true. I make hardly 1% of my pictures using the builtin flash, however remember many times I forgot my O-GPS1 and regretted doing so.

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Chris · 512 weeks ago

also, improved low-light performance make the builtin flash less a necessity than a convenience.

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Gabriel · 513 weeks ago

Agree with this. Pop-up flash is much usefull than a GPS module. In a desperate case you could buy a GPS module to hang on the camera, but you cannot do same thing for a built in flash. I did not translate the page but I am so nervous with this waiting. Surely, I will buy the Pentax FF. Hope Ricoh is not dissapointing us and will release on time the long waited FF camera

4 replies · active 513 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 513 weeks ago

After 14 years of waiting, should I still buy the Pentax K-mount FF!? ;-p

Btw, I have two Canon FF DSLRs and the Sony A7R FF mirrorless for long already.

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Simon · 513 weeks ago

Pentax is too late with FF, you spend alot of money on Canon and Sony and I spend alot of money on Nikon and Canon. This money is lost for Pentax.

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ToetSFX · 513 weeks ago

I agree they are too late in case of "bad" or "budget" specification's! I hope this is not the case ......

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fullframe is good · 513 weeks ago

They aren't too late.

Everyone on these forums is a business expert. Everyone has MBA from best university and years of industry experience. And they can all predict the future. That's the problem. BTW, this is sarcastic...

I will buy the full frame and many other Pentax users will too. This is not sarcastic...

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Pentaxfools · 513 weeks ago

I plan to pre-order the Pentax FF myself. I have the A7r also and expect Pentax to do better. I'm thinking DS or K5 level from a relative point of view. Still wouldn't be enough for long term viability so this is probably just putting off the inevitable. But aren't we all doing that? Hence that is why I will pre-order. If in fact this is not the biggest Pentax head fake in the history of Pentax head fakes.

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Marek · 513 weeks ago

I hate that they replaced flash with GPS. I always wanted GPS on my DSLR ... but not instead of flash. Plus ... now when you can easily use your smartphone to track where you are and later synchronize GPS data ... it's becoming less urgent to have GPS on the camera.

2 replies · active 513 weeks ago

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RiceHigh 110p · 513 weeks ago

And to add a GPS onto the camera should be easy, and less frequently required than adding a flash.

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ToetSFX · 513 weeks ago

I don't understand why GPS without flash? Is it technically too difficult to assemble both?

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ddamski · 513 weeks ago

when u are serious about photography u use an external flash. You want a pop up flash buy the KS2. Ive seen people buying the D800 and shooting jpg..or worse buying the 645z because they think then can be called pros. People will always complain about something, its in their nature ;-)

3 replies · active 512 weeks ago

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ToetSFX · 513 weeks ago

In "the beginning" I shoot with Practica LTL3 and Pentacon 1.8 50mm on F8 and told people I used a very expensive Nikon, they loved the pictures and believed my story....Later I told the truth ...... First: Photographer ; Second: Lens ; Third : sensor ; Fourth : camera (our toys) ............

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don't need flash · 513 weeks ago

Excatly! If you need a flash, use one of those small portable sunflashes. Or a decent flash.

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Aspa · 512 weeks ago

I agree. I am using two Pentax cameras now, both with built-in flash and using the light just few times a year, mainly as a simple external group controller. For FF body a small lamp like AF-201FG will do the same job very well. And for weather sealed body and lenses the GPS module is perfect choice. We must remember that GPS in Pentax cameras is not just about geotaging but also great astro-tracking ability. If somebody really need flash there is hot shoe and PC sync already available, isn't it?

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joergens.mi · 513 weeks ago

I used the installed flash with 3 cameras roundabout 20 Times in 5 years. And for me the feature with the embedded GPS ist perfect, because I do a lot of photos, where I need a geographic reference.

But I can understand the other position, too

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Pentaxfools · 513 weeks ago

The space may be required for a big bright view finder. It may be a space issue regardless of GPS. A GPS would have a very small footprint and suspect it may be just a feature and not a trade off. So if the trade is between a big bright view finder and a crappy built in flash the choice is easy.

1 reply · active 513 weeks ago

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fullframe is good · 513 weeks ago

Yes!! Huge view finder would make it very easy to purchase right away. And the naysayers and "business" experts at those forums, who are damaging the brand, would be eating dirt.