Pentax K-01

The 16MP Pentax 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. For exisiting Pentax users the trump card of the K-01 may very well lie in its from-the-ground-up live view implementation. With its mirrorless design and MF peaking capability, the K-01 has the potential to offer significantly better shooting experience with legacy manual focus lenses than the K-5.

It's very good still image quality is definitely this camera's main selling point, but slow AF, clunky handling and relatively poor video image quality count against it, and make the K-01 one of the least finessed of the current crop of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. If you've got a collection of K-mount lenses and want a full-featured camera for still lifes and landscapes, then the K-01 is well worth looking at. If you're taking photos of your kids or pets or want something a little less chunky, then we would recommend looking elsewhere.