Should I wait for a swivel screen camera from Pentax?

[eenymac]

The new X5 bridge camera has a nice looking tilt screen, so maybe Pentax will decide to incorporate this into the DSLR lineup too as it seems to always be popular on the "want" lists I see.

 

[newmikey]

Sigma 17-70 mm
Sigma 50-500 mm and
Tamron 18-250 mm

Let's start off by saying that is quite a nice line-up and it would be a pity to have to divest of Pentax. Glass always before body...

We're nearing the end of 2012 and I feel that I'm missing on a lot of useful innovations.

If there's one thing I learned over the 30-something years I use technology in general and 9 years with digital photography, it is that whatever you do, whichever hoops you jump through, you will ALWAYS miss out on a lot of "useful innovations". It goes with the territory and if you try keeping up, you'll go stark raving mad!

The one thing that I absolutely want on my next camera is a swivel screen (or at least a tiltable one) and live view (pretty standard nowadays).

Live view should be no problem with Pentax as it was somewhat quirky on the K20D but is now fully implemented from the K-5 onward.

I hear you on a jointed screen but the only implementation of it that really makes sense is the sideways swivelling LCD like on the Olympus, Canon or Nikon cameras. The tilting or flip-down versions are worse than having none at all. If you are serious about this being a do-or-die option, you'll end up with something else than Pentax and a hole in your pocket where once your wallet sat. Or buy an angle finder - not the end-all-be-all of gadgets but a useful stop-gap.

I find that in recent years Sony has taken the lead in digital camera innovation and their recent products (Alpha and NEX series) are very tempting. The SLT-A65 is a model offering most of the features that I consider important for replacing my K10D:

I wouldn't want to compare the IQ of the SLT-A65 with a K-5 or K30D any day - in short: you'll lose big time!

GPS can be added with a $50 gadget and the help of an appropriate DAM software, with the advantage of being able to upgrade GPS, software or both if obsolete without ditching a perfectly good camera.

Sweep panorama seems like a gadget to me but this IS your call after all. Finally, HDR, although available on all of the newer Pentax offerings I've never seen a good HDR come out of in-camera processing of any brand, full stop. It's a niche and very dependant on quality software and tons of processing power and memory - not something you'll find in any camera soon!

If nothing of the sort is advertised by Pentax before Christmas time I'll sadly change camp and hopefully look for the replacement of the SLT-65 which at this time could well offer the advance features of the NEX-5R (hybrid autofocus and Wi-Fi).

It's up for grabs and if these things are absolutely crucial for you, definitely make the switch. Just do NOT believe for one measly second you'll ever be able to get on top of development or feel you're no longer "missing out on innovations". Also, take a loooong, hard look at the image quality of regular, non-HDR, non-sweep-panorama, non-movie, non-gadget-driven images - that's what a camera is for after all.

Let's face it: there are no "bad" brands or "bad" cameras anymore and it is the mix of features and IQ that needs to appeal to you, the user. Any brand you end up with would be perfectly fine.

--
http://mike.bing-photography.com
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/newmikey/
Opensource: fresher, tastier and cheaper!

 

[iTrax]

No, you definitely should not.
I used Canon and then Olympus with a swivel screen,

absolut pain in the neck, always in the way, fiddly , dirt and dust always getting stacked behind them, will never use them again.
fixed neat screens on K-7,K-5 ,K30 etc are soo much more useful.

the X-5 has a swivel screen, that's fine, and that feature should stay at that level and never move up into the professional ( semi-professional ) DSLR design.

 

[Shivaess]

The weather sealing and ruggedness is one of the main things that (I think) drew many people to Pentax in the first place. If they can do the articulated screen without losing that then great, but lack of weather sealing would be a camera killer for me.
--
Shiva
http://shivaess.deviantart.com
http://peterkoch.shutterfly.com

 

[tombell1]

--I used to beg Pentax via this forum for an articultatiing screen. So many people said it was pointless but it is SO useflu for a lot of us.

I have bought the K5 but i will invest no more in Pentax until the provduce one ... that is despite having

DA21/35 Macro/77FA/FA50/FA50 macro/Tamron 100macro etc etc ....

As regards Tilting or articulating ...actuallu i PREFER tilting .. I dont want it for every angle i want it for low light and discretion and for this tilting I PREFER !!!

My thought is to buy a small system for when I really need this ... so I may well go with a Canon G2X ( wait for itr!) as I dont want to buy loads of lenses ... or even a Panasonic G3 with a compact 14-42x lens as a sm,all back up articulting carry around
Tom Bell
Dartmoor
Devon

http://flickr.com/photos/tombell1

 

[Bananasplit]

1- I am not aware of a good weather sealed camera with a tilt or rotating or whatever such kind of lcd screen. I have used such screen on canon and sony. It helps me very much in three cases: movies, auto-portrait and macro (especially for small thing on the ground). Still, I can live without it.

2- I agree with an earlier post: never seen a great HDR pic coming out of a camera. The pics I got from sony are too bad for me.

3- The K5 MJPEG is better quality video than some AVCHD, but very heavy files. I think that Pentax will do as others in the future.

My friends who bought Pentax sometime ago was for a great Quality/price deal. But, as the Pentax lenses are no more cheaper than Canikon, IMHO, there is no need to go for Pentax else than the two reasons: good weather sealing and stabilized camera body. I hope they do not want to sacrifice this for an LCD you can tilt.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I used Canon and then Olympus with a swivel screen,
absolut pain in the neck, always in the way, fiddly...

Why didn't you just leave the screen face out except when you needed to view it from some other angle?

 

[zackiedawg]

1- I am not aware of a good weather sealed camera with a tilt or rotating or whatever such kind of lcd screen.

The Sony A77 and the Olympus OM-D both have tilting/maneuverable LCD screens and are weather sealed. So good news: it can be done adding tilting LCD and still keeping weather sealing.

--
Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

 

[Bananasplit]

As the A77 Instruction Manual says: This camera is designed to be dust and moisture-resistant but not to be waterproof and splash-proof. When using the camera in the rain, be careful not to get the camera and lens wet ... I read somewhere that that was because the continuous stress on the screen makes the associated seals weak. It might be just for warranty reasons. that Sony is better sealed than Pentax.

 

[ernieF]

Bot the Olympus E3 and E5 have splash proof/weather proof and articulating LCDs-- and they are very effective. I used to take my E3 in the shower after a day of shooting in the surf-- to get the salt water off. The new OM-D is also weather sealed..

Cheers. Ernie

 

[Bananasplit]

Bot the Olympus E3 and E5 have splash proof/weather proof and articulating LCDs-- and they are very effective. I used to take my E3 in the shower after a day of shooting in the surf-- to get the salt water off. The new OM-D is also weather sealed..

That's impressive. How do you compare build quality with Pentax? Can you do that with a K5?

Why Canikon and Pentax don't do it then?

 

[ernieF]

The E3, E5 are built like tanks-- and the Pentax K5 is just as good, though smaller and lighter. I've washed my K5s w/ 16-50 off under running water, but no flippy LCD of course.

Canikon can do it if they want. The 60D is partially weather sealed and has a good articulating screen, but Canons EF-S lenses are not weather sealed at all. I wouldn't put it under running water though. I don't think the Nikon 5100D is weather sealed, but Nikon could also do it if they chose.

I just hope these Pentax rumors pan out and a "K5n" has an articulating LCD.

Cheers. Ernie

 

[Zvonimir Tosic]

All to be sold in exclusive photo gear shops with swivel doors.

--
Zvonimir Tosic

"I want to be the tripod, the light meter, the motor drive."
— Eve Arnold

 

[iTrax]

I used Canon and then Olympus with a swivel screen,
absolut pain in the neck, always in the way, fiddly...

Why didn't you just leave the screen face out except when you needed to view it from some other angle?

I did, but dust and rubbish was always managing to get behind it, anyway it is all history now.....I love the Q , K-5 and K-30.
happy photographing guys!

P.S: might consider X-5 if it proves to be capable of producing as good as the Q images so I could keep the Q to just myself, gosh it sounds selfish....

 

[ogl]

Here is my question : Will Pentax ever see the light in a foreseeable future and deliver a DSLR with a swivel screen?

YES. SOON.

 

[il_alexk]

Oly OM-D - the sealing seems to be good enough:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhO9YDI8cHk&feature=youtu.be

--
Cheers,
Alex