Preview based on a pre-production Pentax K-01
The advent of mirrorless has offered camera makers the chance to move beyond the film-era definitions of just how a camera should look. And few have embraced this opportunity to defy convention as enthusiastically as Pentax. For a company that makes admirably no-nonsense DSLRs, its two mirrorless offerings are both interesting expressions of creative design. The Pentax Q is easily the smallest mirrorless camera on the market, with a sensor size to match while, with the K-01, Pentax also claims the crown for the largest mirrorless camera we've yet seen.
While the K-01 may (intentionally) look un-camera-like, its combination of mirrorless design and a sensor inherited from the excellent K-5 means it shouldn't be dismissed. If the K-01 can successfully combine best-in-class image quality with a dedicated live view camera and many of the K-5's photographic features, then it'll really be the worth some attention.
The K-01 is a camera that's likely to polarize opinion at first glance. Its bulky cuboid design is an inevitable consequence of having a full-depth K-mount. Its rather toy-like buttons and switches, however, were voluntary design choices that will put some people off. Aesthetics aside, it's another consequence of using a conventional K-mount that may present the K-01 with its greatest challenge. On the one hand, the K-mount means that the camera can use a vast range of legacy and current Pentax lenses - avoiding the lens drought that early system adopters usually have to endure. On the other hand, the K-01 is a contrast-detect camera in a system designed for phase-detection autofocus, a combination that has rarely resulted in great AF speed.
Also, because the K-01 doesn't have an aperture coupling, it has no way of working out what aperture a pre-1983 (pre-KA) lens is set to. Instead you have to use the green button, which stops down the lens and sets the shutter speed to the metered value for that aperture. This isn't necessary for KA and newer lenses.
With a list price of $749/£629/€823 body-only, it's a much cheaper camera than the K-5 and, with its unconventional styling, manual focusing aids and decent video specifications, there may yet be niches for the K-01 to thrive in. And that's before you start considering how many people would like a body on which to use their existing K lenses.
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| The lens mount on the Pentax K-01 is compatible with all of the company's K-mount lenses, with no adapter needed. |
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| The K-01 is noticeably smaller in height than the Pentax K-5. The flat surfaces of the K-01 contrast sharply with the traditional DSLR styling of gentle contours and sloped edges. |
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| The K-01 offers fewer rear body controls than the K-5, with a clean vertical alignment extending from the thumb dial to the Menu button. The buttons on the 4-way controller are smaller on the K-01. |
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| This top-down view offers perhaps the clearest design distinction between the two cameras. The K-01's button arrangement reflects a purposeful use of negative space in a layout that appears designed for form, if not necessarily function. |
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help
you understand some of the terms used).
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Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
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This article is Copyright 2012 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
Unknown Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera Kit with DA 40mm Lens (Black) | $426.00 |
Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera [Body] (Black) | $349.00 |
Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera with Dual Lens Kit 18-55mm, 50-200mm (Yellow) | $734.89 |
Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera with Dual Lens Kit 18-55mm, 50-200mm (White) | $519.95 |
Pentax Mirrorless Body Design Compatible with Pentax K Mount Lenses K-01 Body Kit (White) | $508.69 |
Pentax K-01 Mirrorless Camera, Yellow (Body only) | $489.50 |
Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera Kit with DA 40mm Lens (Yellow) | $599.95 |
Pentax 15274 16 MP Mirrorless Body Design Camera with DA L 18-55mm and 50-200mm Lenses - Black | $499.99 |
Pentax SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL (White) For Digital Slr Cameras (New in White Box) | $98.89 |
Pentax K-01 16MP APS-C CMOS Compact System Camera Kit with DA 40mm Lens (White) | $689.49 |
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