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Moderate cost features that Pentax should implement

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Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller

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As long as it could control flash ratios on slaves and assign them to groups,etc... Pentax needs a flash update anyway. It seems like a good selling point to me. Pentax really needs to revamp/expand their accessories and flash seems a good place to start, along with some new teleconverters. I cant understand why they are not more aggressive and active in this area, as there is alot of money to be made.
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My PPG

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/home#section=ARTIST&subSection=7472316&subSubSection=0&language=EN
 
I suspect that getting global authorisation for radio-based flash communications systems would be a nightmare. Pentax can't act like Chinese Ebay based manufacturers and ignore these regulations. This is one reason why systems like Pocket Wizards are much more expensive than the ebay stuff.

Frequencies also change between markets- from the Pocket Wizard site FAQs:-

In the United States, the FCC reserves the 344-354 MHz frequency for PocketWizard systems. In Europe, regulations assign 433-434 MHz. A PocketWizard sold in the USA bears the letters “FCC” on the outer shell; a European version will have the letters “CE.”

I am sure other markets will have different frequency bands.

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Steve

http://www.pbase.com/steephill
 
steephill said:
I suspect that getting global authorisation for radio-based flash communications systems would be a nightmare. Pentax can't act like Chinese Ebay based manufacturers and ignore these regulations. This is one reason why systems like Pocket Wizards are much more expensive than the ebay stuff.
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Definitely a challenge to overcome. Perhaps it could use Wifi, if the latency could be made small enough. (That'd have the advantage of being able to use existing low-cost chipsets and radios, and could be used for other nifty things like transferring files.)

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Matthew Miller « http://mattdm.org/ »
 
LKeithR said:
99 per cent of the people who use Pentax would have no use for this...
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I question your initial guess — quite a lot of people are interested in wireless P-TTL, and a somewhat-overlapping set of people complain about its shortcomings.

But even if we accept your number, if Pentax sold a good flash system based on this, I think that 1) some large portion of the "99%" would find that they actually might have a use, and 2) a number of people who weren't in the "people who use Pentax" group previously would find themselves there after all.

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Matthew Miller « http://mattdm.org/ »
 
Some of these are serious and the rest will probably be implemented.
  • Two control dials
  • AA batteries ( no Li-ion, which are the work of The Evil One ! )
  • A cheap bounce and swing flash that was all manual and had a slave mode
  • a P-TTL 'off' option to get us TTL only
  • Clone those Nikon 18-105 VR and 35 f1.8 lenses ( and their prices ) !
  • Focus confirmation lights that show the actual size of the focus sensors
  • A viewfinder with a wider diopter range - some of us wear glasses !
  • Interchangeable focus screens and some split screens, not just matte.
  • Explosive Bolts on the battery compartment for rapid changes of battery ( OK, maybe not ).
  • A section in the manual explaining why you might not be in focus to people who still don't get it
  • Battery grips that take AA's, not proprietary.
  • A small piece of bendable plastic in the shell so Canon users don't feel so bad about their camera bodies. A Canon mode to disable automatic mirror lock-up would also be nice for them.
  • A special "Nikon Entry Level" mode that removes bracketing and disables the internal focus motor so Nikon users can feel at home,
  • A special "Pentax Forum" mode that makes sure every shot is randomly back or front focused. It should automatically detect focus charts and shoot them in focus just to perplex people.
  • A "Real Photographers" mode that turns off all options except manual focus and manual exposure. It should generate a 35-digit random number code to unlock it, as no real photographer would ever need to, and every one else can b*gger off.
  • "Child Mode" that fakes a fault when you're asked to photograph your kids yet again.
  • "Pet Mode" that just tells you to Get Lost.
  • "Customs Mode" that generates a ticking noise just for laughs
  • "Mirror Lock Down". This is for people who are very security concious.
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StephenG

Pentax K100D
Fuji S3 Pro
Fuji S9600
 
The radio and wireless stuff are of quite little interest to the majority of buyers.

A grip that uses AA batteries is a great idea, being low cost and can help balance the camera.

How about a MP3 and video player to keep us entertained while on the road. That would cost $10 I think, since nearly all the parts needed are there already, LCD, battery, storage or SD card slot. At least that is doing something more than colours on the body. Will Pentax be the first to provide this?
 
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