Pentax’ new flagship DSLR – first pictures and analysis

Ricoh has presented what Pentax fans have been awaited for years – a prototype of its next APS-C flagship DSLR, previously dubbed the K-3 III. Press representatives were allowed to take photos of a switched-off camera under a look-don’t-touch directive, leaving much room to speculation.

Pentaxforums.com has provided images from this event, which I shall dissect below.

The prototype looks well-used, suggesting it might be functional rather than just a mock-up. The mount-plate is clearly the old type, not the watch-steel one seen in the Pentax KP J Limited.

Fold-out rear display?

Initially, there was speculation that there was a half centimeter gap between the display and the rear plate, running along the entire right edge of the display, and that there was a notch at the bottom of that edge that may be sufficient for pushing a fingernail in and pulling out a fold-out display.

“Gap” on the right and “notch” visible on bottom

“Notch” on bottom right and large bezel with extra bezel space on left

This speculation no doubt receives fuel from the fact that, as can be seen in my Pentax body comparison, all recent models have had some sort of fold-out or articulated display. Additionally, the prototype has a prominent bezel around the display, especially on the left hand side, where the hinge for a fold-out display would be. However, the “gap” turns out to be a visual illusion created by the fact, strange as it may be, that the control area on the back of the camera containing the joystick, four-way controller etc., protrudes further from the camera, and the casing correspondingly “curves out”.

An eyewitness confirmed that there is no fold-out display on the current prototype presented at the event.

Joystick

The camera has gained a joystick or “nipple” to the right and top of the display, where the photo/video switch sat on the K-3 and K-3 II. The photo/video switch has become a dial and been moved to the top of the camera.

 

With the photo/LiveView/video dial, Ricoh may be first to correctly identify and make usable the distinction and mutual exclusiveness of those three functions. This is confusing to the long-term observer as Ricoh has previously, for instance, removed the AF-C/AF-S settings on the autofocus dial between the K-5 and K-3 lines, as well as removing the AF area dial on the rear of the camera.

Eye sensor

The viewfinder has gained an eye sensor for switching off the display when the face is brought to the OVF:

The eye sensor might hint at a touchscreen being included, but could also be an energy-saving measure.

Socket locations

A visible screw plate on the left hand side of the camera is gone, leaving behind just a seam. This allows for a more natural positioning of the mic (especially) and headphone sockets:

Handling

The appearance of the thumbrest and grip are a little more hawkish than on previous iterations, slightly more reminicent of special edition grips of the past. Whether this makes the grip more or less deep is unclear as a perfect overhead photo was apparently not possible.

Redesigned prism housing

Since there is no discernible pop-up flash, it appears likely that this camera will, again, feature the AstroTracer/GPS unit. The prism housing has undergone a most dramatic reduction in size, such that the is now hardly any overhang over the mount plate, meaning there should not be any further conflict with the shape of certain third party lenses. However, it has also gained a bulge whose function is as yet unclear. It may be as little as compensating space for the overall shortening of the prism, or it may be a whole lot more – additional HUD overlay features and even a hybrid OVF/EVF have been speculated at various times.

User modes

The number of user modes continues to increase, from one on the K-5 via three on the K-3 to now five on the K-1, KP and this new camera. More button customisation might also be great.

Multifunction dial, gone and other UI stories

The most puzzling aspect of this camera is that the multifunction dial of the K-1 and KP is absent, apparently sacrificed to the perception that a flagship level camera must have a top LCD. This is understandable given many Pentax community members’ vocal complaint that a flagship camera must have such a display, but I’m personally wondering whether this loud complaint isn’t a bit backwards and shot-in-the-foot.

As it is, the size of the display has shrunk to the more diminutive size it has on the K-1, about 50-60% of what it was on previous K-5 and K-3 models. The K-1 is the model for which Ricoh abandoned the idea of displaying the majority of camera settings on the top LCD, a philosophy that Pentax/Ricoh like other manufacturers had followed up to that point. I have not once heard a complaint that the top LCD of the K-1 isn’t sufficient, and most people seem to get their information from the rear display, which is nearly always on and hasn’t been a major battery drainer for a long time now as long as LiveView is not activated.

The new model’s top display is about 50-60% the size found on previous models.

Meanwhile, the function and space of the multifunction dial seem to now be taken by a button labelled “S.Fn”, presumably for “select function”, referring to the dial behind it. It’s unclear whether the button would need to be pressed repeatedly or held down while turning the dial, or both. Whether this will easily transfer to muscle memory and allow for seamless operation of the camera remains to be seen. Usability presumably will also depend on how prominently the currently selected mode for the dial is fed back to the user. I’m highly sceptical – double button presses are easy to do, and

Under the Ricoh leadership, there is a consistent pattern of replacing dials with buttons. This has now happened to the metering area dial, which I assume is what we are looking at, in button form, below:

It seems I am destined to continue to mourn the loss of the AF area selection dial that was so useful on the K-5.

It’s almost as though there is a sort of dogma at Ricoh that there must be a natural progression whereby a feature is introduced as a dial and then converted to a button. Along with other interface experts, I strongly disagree with that. I would add that one should not be afraid to have a large number of dials on a camera simply because competitors are choosing buttons. The buttoning is not making the DSLR platform more approachable for newcomers. This new camera, again, has two different buttons with essentially the same label – “AF” and “AF mode”.

Mystery button

So we have the mystery unlabelled button left to discuss:

Traditionally, configurable Pentax buttons have nonetheless had labels, such as “Fx”. Therefore, I assume that the function of this button is already planned but Ricoh are keeping it secret for now. In another scenario, it may be that the inclusion of this button has not finally been decided and it is being left unlabelled to avoid fall-out. I consider the scenario where Ricoh have not decided what this button will do, least likely. Its inclusion should be a near-certainty given that there was a button in this place in all previous iterations of the camera body – it used to be the “Play” button that initiates image review, but this has been moved to the right hand side of the camera, a position similar to where it has been on lower tier bodies that have only one button to the left of the viewfinder. If this were to lead to greater consistency in control layout between lower and higher tier bodies, this should be applauded, as this has occasionally been a weak point for Pentax.

Curving back

Another matter left for further consideration is why the back of the camera curves in the unusual way it does – is it because the joystick assembly requires this sort of extra space? Or just extra internal space for the steel chassis, possibly related to the more seamless construction shown on the ports side of the camera?

Conclusion

Overall, the prototype thus far is very likeable. It will not return Pentax to K-5 glory, which had a fantastic haptic user interface – possibly the best in any camera so far created. The K-5 was the camera that put all the most relevant controls literally at one’s fingertips. At the time, Nikon’s D7000 had the same sensor, and many Nikon veterans likewise revere that camera over its more recent successors. So there was also definitely something special about that sensor generation, which continued in the K-5 II, K-5 IIs, K-30 and K-50, and the fact that cameras did not quite yet have to do double duty as video workhorses. The K-5, sure enough, had video, but it was more of a nicety rather than a purpose in itself.

Returning to what I may continue to refer to as the K-3 III although it clearly has a majorly revised body, I hope with some trepidation that the button-heavy philosophy can prove itself for newcomers to the Pentax platform, and that Pentax after its excursion to an Emmental sensor with the KP (whose effect on image quality admittedly is difficult to estimate) can return to a proper sensor to maximise photo image quality.

And while we’re on wishlists, it would be good to have uncooked RAW, aperture bracketing and “extract edge” brought to all new Pentax cameras.

Related coverage: Pentax reveals more details of new flagship camera (July 2020)