Rumor: Pentax K-1 II DSLR gets pixel shift without need for tripod

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The Japanese website Nokishita has shown images of the Pentax K-1 II. The blog reports that the successor to the 2016 Ricoh released K-1 will be released soon and will feature an improved Pixel Shift Resolution function that does not require a tripod.

The Pentax K-1 II full-frame DSLR has not yet been officially announced, but the specifications have already been leaked before. At the time, it was reported that the Pixel Shift Resolution functionality would have been improved for the new model, but it was not yet clear in what area. According to the Japanese Nokishita blog, the new version of pixel shift makes it possible to shoot high-resolution photos by hand.

This could be a significant improvement in the pixel shift functionality, which, as with Olympus and Sony devices so far, only produces sharp images when using a tripod. To enable the handheld use of pixel shift, the technique in which the sensor always shifts one pixel is not used. The camera would detect vibrations from, for example, hand movements, and analyze the combination of the four photos taken based on this vibration information. The stabilization mechanism can compensate for the vibrations, so that a tripod would not be necessary.

The original Pentax K-1 takes four pictures in quick succession with the pixel shift function and with the help of the stabilization mechanism it shifts the sensor one pixel for each shot. The files are combined into a photo that has the color information of four pixels available for each captured pixel. This results in sharper images without color errors and with less noise.

Earlier there were rumors that the Pentax K-1 II will get an accelerator chip, which is also in the Pentax KP and K70. This would improve the noise reduction and increase the iso range to 819,200 iso. The addition of this chip and the new pixel shift functionality seem to be the main innovations compared to the original K-1. The K-1 II’s design and appearance are unchanged from its predecessor in the images.

The Pentax K-1 will be released soon, according to Nokishita and could be ordered from Thursday. Last week it was reported that the price for the Pentax K-1 II body will be $2,000, which is comparable to the current price of the original K-1.

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