Monday, February 14, 2011

#1 - Something new is coming and it's right around the corner. Pentax will be the first to get it.


Something new is coming. DSLRs will never be the same...
Pentax K-5/ K-7 will get it first, but  Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus will get it next.

There's a new kid in Town...we are not Pentax, nor are we sponsored by Pentax, we just love Pentax more, hence the releases for Pentax first. We will have more than one surprise.

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you mean? Open the door a bit...

Unknown said...

sergeev555,
I will open up a little everyday, as I don't quite have the goods in-hand yet. It's in the manufacturing process.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Pentaxian KBE said...

500mm F4 Telephoto?

Peter Jonkman said...

I'm fairly sure this has something to do with the limited availability of the Pentax D-BG4 grip. I'm thinking about a new grip with nice additions like WiFi, iPhone or 3G connectivity and GPS support. And since the K-7 and K-5 share the same grip...

Frank Gore said...

Doubtful it has anything to do with a grip. How would that benefit users of other brands?

Maybe someone at Pentax actually took my suggestion seriously about making a 0.7x converter to bring back the full field of view with FF lenses on APS-C sensors. That would sure be awesome. I pitched that idea about a year ago to a Pentax rep who seemed very interested...

Come to think of it, if that's what it is, I deserve a free one! :D

Unknown said...

I know what it is!



Its a surprise!

Unknown said...

What about K-r? are we getting something as well?

HENRY KISOR said...

Yvon, you are driving us nuts! We aren't going to be able to sleep at night! Come on, come on (wheedling tone) . . . a hint? A little hint?

Unknown said...

Hey Yvon,

the buzz is growing, i hope it's a real interesting inovation, and not some leather strap, hand made case, or any stuff like that...

Anonymous said...

It's a price increase...LOL

Admin said...

User upgradeable sensors?

Bob Ell said...

It's gotta be a third party product. Otherwise the others wouldn't be able to jump onboard quickly.

Additionally it didn't come out last week with the other announcements so I really don't think it is a Pentax product, just made to take advantage of existing Pentax technology

krs said...

Wireless flash, build in. Radio or something

Damien said...

I'm waiting for plenoptic sensors :)

Unknown said...

Electronic light-booster of some sort, so you can mantain iso with 3x shutter speed?

Unknown said...

follow focus similar to okii using usb port...

Anonymous said...

Oooooh! I can't wait to see what it is! :D When will you be able to reveal?

Bob Ell said...

Today is the 15th Yvon, time for another clue........

Unknown said...

My guess fuel cell grip.

Nathan Chilton said...

Since he said, "K-5/K-7 will get it first", it would make sense that it would be something related to the grip. He mentioned "manufacturing process", so it isn't just a firmware update. If it were a "0.7x converter", it could be used with other Pentax DSLRs.

If it were a new sensor technology, we wouldn't be able to use it with the K-7/K-5 and would presumably need a new camera.

If it were a new lens technology, why wouldn't it work with older cameras, like the K10D/K20D/K-x/K-r?

So the grip idea makes sense to me. But what could this revolutionary technology be, that would be built into a grip?

Wifi? Eye-Fi cards already provide this capability.

GPS? Nikon already has an accessory that does this.

My wild guess would be either:
- A USB port (and firmware update) for connecting an iPhone/Android?
- Some other way to run "apps" on your phone?

Nathan Chilton said...

or...
What if it's some kind of hi-tech replacement focusing screen that could switch from being totally transparent, to acting as an electronic viewfinder? Now, that would be something revolutionary!

Anonymous said...

I'm really hoping for black silicon CMOS sensors...

GfK said...

what about this
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=AoTdAAAAEBAJ

Nathan Chilton said...

Gfk's link echos what Karsa suggested about a new wireless flash technology.

A built-in RF TTL transmitter would be nice, especially if the receiver was built into the flashes. This would only be revolutionary because it would be the first time that an RF wireless TTL flash was actually built-in -- (which would be quite handy, but not necessarily revolutionary).

I just re-read Yvon's post and realized that this new technology is not actually from Pentax. I had originally assumed that Pentax was licensing some new technology, which would also be licensed to other companies in the future. However, it sounds like this is being done entirely by a third party -- which makes me doubt sensor replacement and software/firmware enhancements.

Alexandre said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alexandre said...

a t-shirt :0

Kym said...

My guess ... a new Flash and Firmware with 1/250th X-sync.

Unknown said...

So, Aletta photographic was the name of Yvon Bourque'es company :
http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00AGpT

Pentaxian KBE said...

http://www.nic.fi/~mikoneka/

Its mikoneka. =)

Joel Gottlieb said...

incorporating smart phone technology -- to compete in the mobile world where every phone is a computer, camera, video

Anonymous said...

At least it's nice to hear that the other brands are going to get it too :)

Anonymous said...

Stain free sensors :)

Anonymous said...

Several people suggested that this “something new” would be another e-book. No, it’s not another e-book although a new e-book is in the works for the Pentax K-r.

Chuck Cunningham said...

wireless smartphone adapter endowing camera with gps, remote trigger, and lcd mirroring?

Jack Simpson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jack Simpson said...

It must the RED K-r ? :o

Unknown said...

If someone in the industry wants to know what people wants, it's all here in this blog's comments and the other blogs linking to it.

Nathan Chilton said...

Indeed.
So... what are you making us, Yvon?
and when can we get our hands on it?
:-)

Unknown said...

I never thought that this would go viral so quick. I will receive the first model on Monday, and if everything is according to the drawings and specs, I will present it next week. If additional final modifications are needed, it shouldn't be more than another week. Afterward it should be available for the Pentax K-5/K-7 and eventually for other brands. But hey...I am a Pentaxian first and I will promote Pentax first.

Falk Lumo said...

Hi Yvon,

I wish you all luck with your product and hope you didn't kill the thing by overhyping it.

Brian said...

I am just gonna take a wild guess and it's a waist-level viewfinder that's somehow attached to the LCD screen of Pentax DSLRS. Pentax does not offer an articulated LCD screen like Canon, Nikon, and Sony do. Yvon has expressed his liking for waist-level viewfinders in one of his posts before, so it seems quite likely. Then again, who knows.

Unknown said...

BRIAN KIM,
How observant you are, I still think a waist-level finder is a great idea, and perhaps I need to develop one eventually. I'm writing it down for my future endeavors. This is not what we have developed at this time. I can hardly wait to tell the world but I need the final product in my hands first. Some will like it and some won't. You know, some people are disappointed when any new camera is announced if it's not a game changer, and there cannot be game changers every time.

Nathan Chilton said...

There's no need to change the game... but the players, are always excited new things that will give us an edge over the game's obstacles. :-)

rikkoamachi said...

a micro singularity reactor ! ability to create black hole everytime sdm failure occurs!

Unknown said...

@Yvon Bourque:
Will it allso be available to users of the K10D/K20D? Or is it something which simply can't work on a K10D/K20D?

Unknown said...

Remco,

Yes, I will eventually have it availble for the K10D/K20D. I will also have it available for the most popular DSLRs made by Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus. Every unit will be custom made for the particular camera.

BlueRaven said...

Gotta be flexible optics, optics with electronically varying focus length.

Cameron Hood said...

So....it's Monday...still nothing.....