K-01 - New 'Compact' (ish)

[GeoffWessex]

Any thoughts? It's getting some flak for its looks and compared unfavourably with the Sony NEX for having less Mp. A couple of things missing that you'd quite expect nowadays, like decent EV compensation (+ or - 1 stop?) and a flexible LCD (it has no viewfinder). It takes the full range of Pentax lenses - but who's going to put a long zoom on it and then hold it at arms' length to compose a shot?

The things I like the idea of are the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens (which makes the camera pocketable and a good walkabout, travels etc), the potential of the HDR mode, a very competitive price, Raw (DNG only) ...... and the fact that it says PENTAX on the front!

[donoreo]

They have obviously made some compromises. I think this is mostly to test the waters. Being able to take all the Pentax lenses is great, but you are right, no one is going to....oh, wait, yes they are. I see people with DSLRs and 70-300 lenses on them using live view and holding them at arms length. I think that will be more awkward to do with this one however.

I think supporting DNG is great, no need for people to update their software.

For a current Pentax user, this would be a great second camera. As you say, you can put it in a pocket easily but you still have the option to use your other lenses.

[GeoffWessex]

I first learned about 'proper' photography in evening classes in the 80s..... "Lesson One: how to hold your camera"..... all made sense to me - keep the elbows in, keep knees flexible, support lens in one hand, other hand (finger) on the shutter...... etc".

Several years later I got intrigued by digital cameras just as the first DSLRs were emerging..... walked into a well-known photographic shop in the UK (begins with a J) and the 'manager' tries to demonstrate how to hold the (compact) camera at arms' length - I thought he was kidding! I still don't understand how anybody can do it successfully except with a fast shutter speed, allowing a lower (and less noisy) ISO..... but at the time any digital image above ISO100 was absolutely useless - they were just starting to get 5Mp models on the shelves, while the first DSLRs were ludicrous prices.

The K-01 is a good price, a bit chunky, has an excellent sensor....... I'm sure it will be badly criticised by the photo press until a few of them give them a real test and we see some of the results. Pentax have catered for the DNG format since the K10d, just over five years ago, but this might be the first that is DNG only, without the PEF Raw.

[thefonz78]

dog ugly and the only thing making it any smaller than an entry level dslr like the d3100 is that the viewfinder is missing. What's the point! If i'm going to sacrifice a viewfinder its got to be a lot smaller than this. NEX all the way until you hit the x-pro1

[GeoffWessex]

Optical viewfinders (seen on some similar 'interchangeable-lens' cameras) are pointless - you wouldn't be able to see what the sensor is seeing! The lack of an optical viewfinder (as much as I would hate not having one) is irrelevant in many ways - it's a mirrorless camera, so it would have to be an electronic viewfinder. If it had one, I'd be seriously looking to buy it..... as a 'walkaroiund' camera.

And it's not quite the only thing making it smaller than a DSLR..... That 40mm-f/2.8 pancake lens (angle of view of a 60mm) is so 'thin' that you hardly notice you've got one - and the camera with that lens is still only about 2.5 inches 'thick' (a tad over 6cm).... about 1/4th of an inch more than with no lens. It's a chunky camera, no doubt about it - jacket pocket rather than my jeans...... but it has some very nice specs. More stuff here.

I hated the thing when I first saw it - but I'm warming to it. It has good qualities - price, sensor (pretty much identical to the K5), top of the range video capabilities, HDR and more. And it certainly looks different! The NEX5 has lower resolution similarly priced and is truly trying to be a compact - but as soon as you put any lens on it it's less compact than the K01. So the choice is - chunky camera, thin lens (K01)........ or elegant and lightweight compact - which ceases to be that as soon as a lens goes on it (NEX).

[thefonz78]

Yes its well spec'ed camera at a good price and i have to say the styling has grown on me too. Unusually it looks better in every colour but the black, but the space saved from not having a viewfinder optical or electronic is small and if this had one you could not call it a CSC. A CSC should surely be as pocket sized as you can get it. This is the point of them after all. As for the NEX you are way off the mark. The nex with its pancake is 60cm thick, the same thickness as the k-01 without a lens on, granted the pentax 40mm pancake is a hell of a lot more useful than sony's 16mm, but as soon as you put a 18-55mm on the 2 the k-01 will be as wide as any entry level slr on the market.

The NEX has a unfounded bad reputation for having larger lenses than any other CSC it does not. Its just the cameras are so much smaller than most other CSC's. It also has a 5mm protruding lens mount which adds to the problem of it's perception of having large lenses. It's bad design on Sony's part the proportions look wrong. But the fact of the matter its kit lens is the second smallest only beaten by the Olympus in it's collapsed position. Since this image Panasonic have released a collapsible lens too which i'm sure will be smaller also, but this is something Sony can do too, and i'm sure it will.

Left to right. Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Panasonic and Samsung

[GeoffWessex]

Good points..... in truth, even though the K-01 is growing on me, I'm more likely to just upgrade my current lenses - or, at best, get the K5 - the next time I've got some spare cash. But using a camera that's 'different' is all part of the fun and games of being a 'Pentaxian'. Here in Canada it's about 95% Canon or Nikon - even people in my photo club seem a bit puzzled by any other name on a camera!

[thefonz78]

I had a play with the k-5 the other day i loved it! If i was just starting out now without any lenses i would defiantly go with the k-5.

[GeoffWessex]

Yes, I saw a K-5 in action a couple of weeks back - I say 'saw' because I couldn't hear anything! Totally silent shutter and focusing with a new SDM lens. Can a camera be "too quiet" though?

I was reading a UK magazine this morning with a full review of the 645D - beyond my wildest dreams but, hey, we can all dream!