Another GFM report: Playing with the Pentax K-01
Our "insider" from Pentax brought a Pentax K-01 to Grandfather Mountain last weekend and a few of us got to play with it for a while. My impressions fall into two categories: 1 - I'm now certain that I have no interest at all in a camera without a viewfinder 2 - For those who don't mind (or prefer) the lack of viewfinder the K-01 is one seriously impressive piece of kit It's bigger than other mirrorless cameras, but has a nice, big (for mirrorless) APS-C sensor. And it's smaller than the K5, which is one of the smallest DSLR's on the market. But what really impresses is the solidity, heft and "feel" of its build. It *feels* more professional-grade than any other Pentax camera I've ever held, except possibly the 67. Now the "feel" of quality and actual durability/reliability are not the same thing, but the impression of quality construction is undeniable. Controls are very nicely laid out and simple to use. It's a bit different for someone accustomed to SLR's but probably easier to understand for someone just moving up from a point-and-shoot or smartphone, the major demographic this camera is aimed at. In short, the lack of viewfinder is a deal-killer for me (as I expected) but for those to whom this isn't the case it's a lot of camera for the money. -- Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia www.robertstech.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Another GFM report: Playing with the Pentax K-01
From: Mark Roberts Our "insider" from Pentax brought a Pentax K-01 to Grandfather Mountain last weekend and a few of us got to play with it for a while. My impressions fall into two categories: 1 - I'm now certain that I have no interest at all in a camera without a viewfinder 2 - For those who don't mind (or prefer) the lack of viewfinder the K-01 is one seriously impressive piece of kit It's bigger than other mirrorless cameras, but has a nice, big (for mirrorless) APS-C sensor. And it's smaller than the K5, which is one of the smallest DSLR's on the market. But what really impresses is the solidity, heft and "feel" of its build. It *feels* more professional-grade than any other Pentax camera I've ever held, except possibly the 67. Now the "feel" of quality and actual durability/reliability are not the same thing, but the impression of quality construction is undeniable. Controls are very nicely laid out and simple to use. It's a bit different for someone accustomed to SLR's but probably easier to understand for someone just moving up from a point-and-shoot or smartphone, the major demographic this camera is aimed at. In short, the lack of viewfinder is a deal-killer for me (as I expected) but for those to whom this isn't the case it's a lot of camera for the money. It appears to be pretty much what I thought the evolution of "dslr" video is/was leading towards. It is a sturdy feeling camera, but I am just physically unable to get a decent shot holding it out at arm's length, which I have to do to be able to see the little TV screen even with my bifocals on. I liked it a lot. I hope Pentax sells millions of them, but with my physical limitations, it's not a camera for me. I still don't understand why Pentax can't design a small auxiliary eye-level (EVF) viewfinder to slip into the hot-shoe mount. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Another GFM report: Playing with the Pentax K-01
On Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 12:20 PM, John Sessoms wrote: > > From: Mark Roberts > >> Our "insider" from Pentax brought a Pentax K-01 to Grandfather >> Mountain last weekend and a few of us got to play with it for a while. [...] > > It is a sturdy feeling camera, but I am just physically unable to get a > decent shot holding it out at arm's length, which I have to do to be able to > see the little TV screen even with my bifocals on. I cannot imagine *anyone* getting a decent shot like that unless they have arms of steel. Add a long, heavy lens and forget it. Was this device created for the very small demographic of people able to focus within an inch or two of their eyes? Very puzzling. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Another GFM report: Playing with the Pentax K-01
On Jun 7, 2012, at 9:20 AM, John Sessoms wrote: >> >> In short, the lack of viewfinder is a deal-killer for me (as I >> expected) but for those to whom this isn't the case it's a lot of >> camera for the money. > > It appears to be pretty much what I thought the evolution of "dslr" video > is/was leading towards. > > It is a sturdy feeling camera, but I am just physically unable to get a > decent shot holding it out at arm's length, which I have to do to be able to > see the little TV screen even with my bifocals on. > > I liked it a lot. I hope Pentax sells millions of them, but with my physical > limitations, it's not a camera for me. I still don't understand why Pentax > can't design a small auxiliary eye-level (EVF) viewfinder to slip into the > hot-shoe mount. Just wait until the high end version of the camera comes out. Small, sturdy, EVF and 24x36 sensor. I think that I could enjoy a 20mm f/1.4 non-retrofocus lens on a 24x36 sensor. I could pretend that it's a Leica or something. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
