First
of all the new Pentax K-01 is not a compact in any sense of the word. With a
machined aluminum housing covered in a ribbed rubberized skin it is the
heaviest camera I own. It’s also chunky. Not quite as big as my SLR’s or even
DSLR’s it still manages to be a handful which is not all bad. My favorite
compact, the Nikon P-300 suffers from being a bit to diminutive. As a result I
am frequently fumbling around trying to get a decent grip on it without inadvertently pushing buttons. I put up with that deficiency because it slips so
easily into my pocket and thus can be carried anywhere I go.
There’s
not much chance of any of that with the K-01. It fills the hand nicely however,
and the controls seem generally spaced in a manner to make everything pretty
easy to operate. The fit & finish are excellent and I like the solid feel. The
rubber protection flaps that I have read others’ complain about don’t bother me
in the least. They seem to be well made and fit so well that unless you know
what they are you would never guess there is anything under them. In fact, I
had to look in the manual to find out where it was before I could insert the
data card which lies beneath it.
I
only had a couple hours Christmas day before the nasty weather moved in but I
did get out and snap a few shots and once I was back inside I managed a few
experiments. The one above taken on full auto with the 40mm, f2.8 lens set by
the camera at f4.5, 1/160, and ISO 100, shows excellent resolution and color
accuracy. The K-01’s 16MP APS-C sensor is almost identical to the one used in
the K-5, Pentax’s semi-pro level DSLR that reviewers have been raving about for
a couple years now.
There
wasn’t much color outside on this gray Christmas day in South Louisiana but the
above shot reveals a little splash of Christmas color. Again on full auto with
the 40mm lens the camera selected f3.5, 1/160, and ISO 100, for this shot and it
shows a very accurate color rendering with no post processing at all.
The
Pentax K-01 also proved itself capable of quickly and easily working through
and with the 28mm to 80mm (FA) zoom lens I use on the 35mm ZX-30 as well as the
all manual 50mm, f1.8, “normal” lens I use on my manual 35mm SLR’s. The zoom is
an AF lens with an “A” setting and the K-01 operates it just as if it was
designed for it. The only “fly in the ointment” being the 1.5 crop factor that
comes into play due to the smaller size of the digital sensor.
That
same crop factor turns the 50mm “normal” lens into a short telephoto on the
K-01 but otherwise works well. Of course to use this manual lens you must
enable the “use aperture ring” setting in the custom menus and set camera to
manual focus. With that done the camera can be used in manual mode or if set on
auto it functions in aperture priority mode. I also activated the “Focus
Peaking” feature and quickly came to really appreciate it. Although I generally
had no trouble focusing with the large 3” LCD viewer, having the edges of
everything light up when in focus definitely makes it easier, especially in dim
light situations.
So
far I have only one disappointment and one concern with this camera. I was
disappointed that my excellent Promaster automatic (TTL) flash doesn’t seem to
work with it. Of course it doesn’t seem to work with anything else either,
except the Pentax *istDL it was originally bought for. My one concern (which I
will have to investigate at another time when the sun is shining) is that
without a respectable alternative viewer available the LCD screen may not allow
for proper photo composition and camera control in bright sunlight. This is a problem with the Nikon P-300 and any
other camera that relies totally on the LCD screen for operation.
Overall
however, I have to say that round one of my tests (more like playing around
really) with my new Pentax K-01 went really well and I am very happy with the
newest addition to my toy chest!
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