K-S2 where does it rank?

flektogon wrote:

TomWret wrote:

Over at IR they state its between the K-50 and the K-3. Where is it compared to the K-5ll and the K-5lls? Those new features: tilt and swivel, Wi Fi, auto HDR, etc. would have looked nice on the K-5lls. I guess we'll have to wait and see some images from the sensor. What say you?

From the construction (build) quality point of view, the K-5, K-5II and K-3 stand about the K-30, K-50, K-S1 and K-S2. It's not only the exterior (metal vs. plastic), but more importantly the interior. The K-5/3 series have much better shutter mechanism, which is mechanically separated from the mirror. The life span of such shutter is higher and in the LV mode the mirror stays permanently up while you are taking pictures. As the K-S1/2 are more "modern" cameras, they may have more features, some even useful (like the moving LVF), but basically they are aimed at a lower level of photographers. That's at least my feeling.

Elsewhere in this forum, the suggestion was made "I think k3 will remain in the market at least 2 years to give the time to RICOH to bring the ff. Canon did this trend with 7d"

I can understand that Ricoh may not want to put a lot of innovation resource into a K-3 replacement. (Sob!) But I wonder how easy it would be to bring out a K-3II as a model-upgrade rather than total model-replacement for the K-3? For example, how many of the K-S2 features, that the K-3 doesn't have, could be transferred to a new variant of the K-3 without a massive amount of innovation resource?

(Before retirement I was a software and systems engineer in the computer industry. A lot of what we did was pulling together individual technologies and components to make new products and systems, where the innovation was at the integration level, rather than at the technology level).

How many of the K-S2 features can only exist in such mid-range cameras, and how many are probably readily transferable by the owning company, Ricoh, to a top-end body?

(Just speculating - I don't like the thought of stagnation at the APS-C flagship level).