The Pentax K-r was discontinued recently, but before it goes off into the camera abyss of retired models… It is currently being offered at Walmart.com in a large number of colors they didn’t have in the USA before.
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| Walmart's website |
Right now they have blue, brown, gold, green, dark blue, pink, purple, silver, and yellow.
So what would a guy like with cameras like the black semi-pro K-5 and K-7 care about these cameras for?
Covert-ops of course!
I mentioned in a post about a hockey game I went to where they said on their site that no “professional” cameras were allowed after saying that no lens 3 inches or longer can be used. Putting a limit on lens size is understandable, but saying professional with such ambiguity is really getting out there.
While I’m incapable at the moment, I could see eventually getting a colorful SLR for the purpose of using it in situations where the stigma against cameras strong.
Imaging being confronted about your “pro” camera only to find out it is a bright yellow, pink, green, or gold camera. While I’m sure if they pushed the issue you would have to leave or put the camera away… I’d speculate that having a bright yellow camera would put you off the radar so to speak.
In pretty much any situation where people feel uncomfortable around cameras, one of these colored toy looking cameras would help.
Even better than the ones offered on Walmart were the ones sold in Japan with colored grip material.
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| Green Pentax K-r |
I think that green one in particular has the perfect level of toy with being less noticeable than some of the more outlandish colors. Some colors like the brown and dark blue are too pro looking to have much benefit.
Ideally a successor to the K-r in that green color, but with a green grip material would be a great un-pro looking DSLR for those situations I mentioned. Just slap on one of the pancake lenses like the 40mm f2.8 or 70mm f2.4 and you would be golden…literally (if you buy the gold one).