Pentax K-S1- Full Color LED and the new DSLR

SLR cameras have a long history and despite being passed to the digital, and having earned dozens of functions, they have maintained their style almost unchanged from time. It is a matter of tradition but also of usability, because once you learn to control a body is very easy to change and get used to the minor differences in the layout of the new model.

Pentax, for some time a brand of Ricoh, has tried to do something new with the Pentax K-S1, but the result is not loved photographers, who evidently prefer the tradition when it comes to cameras.

As evidence of this, you can look at the success they are having in this same period the cameras that reflect a vintage style, more and more widely used and appreciated. The desire to do something new has not gone home and tried again this year with Pentax K-S1.

In this model, baselines are those of a traditional DSLR, but the style is very futuristic and is graced with dozens of LEDs. Some are mostly aesthetic, such as those on the handle, but are also scattered on the keys, making the use much simpler in the dark. Illuminated buttons we’ve seen so far are in the top of the range Nikon D4 and is a feature that we liked very much.

The front Pentax K-S1 stands for the tapered shape and the unusual coloration, being available in 12 colors, including white and black. It looks like a reflex from the future with those lines and the LED, but the technical specifications are not to be taken lightly. Inside we have a 20MP sensor without low-pass filter, image processor Prime MII and a sensitivity of up to ISO 51,200.

The surprises continue on the back, where we find an original layout and an optical viewfinder with 100% coverage, a feature usually the preserve of more expensive models. The classic shooting mode dial has been completely revised, moved from the upper area to the rear, and built around the directional pad with shortcuts, too backlit.

Do you think that the shutter button is green when the camera is turned on but turns red when recording video, the Pentax K-S1 can capture format FullHD at 30, 25 or 24fps. The design is not breaking as was that of K-01, but also in this case the rate of innovation is very high in look and in the layout.

We could not miss Wi-Fi, complete with a remote control system via smartphone particularly effective. Simple and intuitive interface in the 3 ” display, which seems to wink for beginners of photography. Pentax K-S1 is a camera that will surely divide opinions, may seem like a lot or a gamble badly.

The price of this model is $ 799 with the kit lens SMC DA L 18-55 mm f3.5-5.6. Obviously, you pay some of the new design because the Pentax K-50 costs less and has more in the sealing of the body and the lens, things lacking the Pentax K-S1. Yet this is the list price at launch, so we can expect a decline after a few months.

What remains to be seen, and that only the market will tell us, if a model is thus created will meet the aesthetic taste of photographers. As for the specifications we have nothing to complain about, except maybe the lack of a touch screen on a model that voted in the future would have been right to be present.