It was just yesterday that leaked shots of the Pentax K-01 turned up, and now here’s the full monty. It’s not what you might call a head-turner, but it’s a pretty impressive addition to mirrorless cameras.
The K-01′s guts include a 16.28MP APS-C sensor — the same spec as the much-respected Sony NEX-5N — a 920,000-dot 3-inch LCD, 1080p h.264 video at 30fps and 720p at 60fps, 6fps burst mode and ISO from 100-25600. Based on how APS-C sensors in Sony’s NEX line perform, the K-01 should provide really good low light performance. It’s also got Pentax’s shake and dust reduction system, and the K-lens mount is compatible with any Pentax lens.
Our old friend Kat Hannaford at Gizmodo UK got a chance to go hands on at the launch event today (click through for more shots and her thoughts). She wasn’t too taken with fellow Aussie Marc Newson’s design of the aluminium-bodied camera, but came away plenty impressed with the performance, especially the new DA 40mm XS lens, which Pentax claims is the thinnest interchangeable lens ever.
It’ll be out in March for $US750 body only, or $US900 kitted with the DA 40mm XS lens. The lens itself will be $US250. [Pentax]
Timmahh
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 9:30 AMLooks like an tribute to Kodak to me!
TSH
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 11:20 AM“the K-lens mount is compatible with any Pentax lens”
This is key for me. Sony, Samsung, Panasonic … they all invented new lens mounts for their mirrorless systems (to be fair, AFAIK Pana and Sammy don’t really do SLRs). Good on Pentax for backwards compatibility – you have glass that you like, now you can use it without having to bring along your chunky SLR!
Pat
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 2:01 PMYour key is actually the biggest problem to me. The reason why they invented new lens mounts is to take advantage of the much lower flange distance between the mount and the sensor. AFAIK, the closer the flange distance, the smaller the lenses will be. Don’t believe me? Compare the m4/3 lenses against their 4/3 counterparts.
Isn’t size the whole point of a mirrorless? Look, I know Pentax has lots of quality K-mount pancake lenses, but honestly, what advantage does this mirrorless have against normal Pentax DSLRs? Go check dpreview, they have a size comparison between this and the K-5, and honestly it’s pretty much identical in size. On top of that, you lose a lot of external controls and the optical viewfinder (!!!!).
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me Pentax is just making this for the sake of being ‘mirrorless’.
The Bludger
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 2:03 PMI agree with Timmahh – a Kodak moment.
In regards to the K lens mount debate, I fully agree with TSH, I have had Pentax cameras for 30 years. I started on the Original Pentax ME and am still using the original lenses on my new DSLR. That is a huge cost saving to me.
However I do see Pat’s point that a different mount would allow for a more compact lens and therefore overall reduced size. I certainly have been looking with envy at smaller body/lens combinations. Great for travel when photography is not the aim. The answer seems to be if you do not mind paying for anew camera body and set of lenses then look beyond Pentax.