Pentax K-01 Revisited

Here’s my new Pentax K-01 at the bowling alley showing that it has started tagging along with me where ever I go. It’s been a while since I wrote my first blog post on this camera back on December 26, 2012. Normally I would have put my Christmas present through its “paces” long ago and elaborated at great length on its capabilities and performance but this Christmas has been a little different. It started raining Christmas day and rained almost non-stop for three weeks. Here we are almost half way through February and except for a few days here and there it really still hasn’t stopped raining. This will undoubtedly go down as one of the wettest winters we’ve ever had.

Yes, I know. I guess that makes me something of a “fair weather photographer.” So be it! Anyway, in spite of all that I have managed to “play” with my new K-01 a bit since Christmas and am now ready to venture forth with some thoughts on this controversial camera. 

First of all, why all the controversy? After reading all the reviews I could find the controversy seems to stem from just a couple of things. There are those who think the camera is somehow flawed by having been designed by a famous designer rather than engineers. Because it is not a DSLR it is supposed to be compact and it clearly is not, and it doesn’t have a viewer (optional or otherwise) but relies solely on a bright clear 3” LCD Monitor.

When I first heard about the K-01 and read the reviews I was torn. On the one hand it was a really weird looking camera. The whole idea of getting a famous designer like Mark Newsome to design a camera seemed silly to me. A camera is first and foremost a tool. The design of any tool must be based on what works, not what looks fashionable. Form and function have to work together. Given that, the K-01 is a bit odd but certainly not unpleasant to look at and functionally it’s about as good as any other camera I’ve used. I think I could have found a better location for the green button but I have similar complaints about almost every camera I’ve ever used, and they were all designed by engineers as far as I know. At the end of two months of use I think I actually like this camera – and the way it looks!

I have already conceded that the new Pentax K-01 is not a compact camera. With the allowances that had to be made to utilize an APS-C sensor and fit the Pentax K-mount legacy lenses I don’t think it could be much smaller than it is regardless who designed it. Of course size is relative and ultimately depends on what you’re comparing it to but with any lens other than the 40mm pancake lens that it comes with (also specially designed by Mark Newsome) the K-01 is nearly as big as a small DSLR. Other Mirror less Interchangeable Lens Cameras, or MILC’s as they have come to be known, are smaller. Some because they use smaller sensors (the K-01 uses the same size sensor that is used in most DSLRs) and others because they have specially designed compact lenses.

The K-01 body has to be just as deep as a DSLR in order to use the same ASP-C sensor and accommodate the thousands of K-mount lenses produced by Pentax and others for the last 38 years. Therein lies the K-01’s advantage. This camera, like most Pentax DSLR’s can actually use any Pentax lens produced for any of their DSLR’s or 35mm SLR’s since 1975 to take pictures without an adapter – that is true compatibility and a feature that no other MILC and few DSLR’s can claim. More importantly, it’s a feature I like very much and one of the main reasons I bought the camera. As if that weren’t enough, because the K-01 uses Pentax’s latest APS-C sensor (like the ones used in the K-5 and K-30) the quality of the photos it produces is unmatched by all but a few other MILCs.

In my earlier post I pointed out that the fit & finish are excellent and I really like the solid feel of this camera. The rubber protection flaps that others have complained about don’t bother me. I know from first-hand experience that little doors and latches are the first things to break on cameras so I’m not upset this one doesn’t have any. The rubber flaps seem to be well made and fit so well that you would never guess there is anything under them at all. It will require care removing and refitting them in place to make sure the flaps are not damaged over years of use but I don’t consider that much of a handicap. I am generally pretty careful when handling sensitive electronic equipment anyway.

The 40mm f2.8 “pancake lens” was used for the photo above. This lens came with the camera and is delightful to use. With this lens mounted the camera is about as compact as an “old school” rangefinder and can be easily carried on a shoulder strap all day with no discomfort. This lens yields the equivalent 35mm focal length of 60mm. While 50mm to 55mm has generally been considered a “normal lens” for most uses and I did occasionally find myself wishing for a wider angle view, overall the lens is a good match and suitable for most purposes. I have come to really appreciate the fine optical qualities of this little lens.

The Pentax K-01 also proved itself capable of quickly and easily working with the 28mm to 80mm (FA) zoom lens I use on my 35mm Pentax ZX-30, the 18mm to 55mm (DA) zoom that usually lives on the Pentax K-10, and the 18mm to 200mm (DA) Tamron zoom that lives on the Pentax *ist DL. I haven’t yet tried the 70mm to 300mm (FA) zoom but have no doubts that it will work just as well as all the others. The zooms are all AF lenses with an “A” setting and the K-01 operates them all just as if they were designed for it. The only “fly in the ointment” being the 1.5 crop factor that comes into play on the (FA) zooms due to the smaller size of the digital sensor. This means the 28mm to 80mm (FA) zoom acts like a 42mm to 120mm zoom lens (35mm eq) and the 70mm to 300mm would be 105mm to 450mm zoom.

The photo above was taken with the 18mm to 200mm Tamron zoom nearly all the way out. Without going into a lot of detail I can tell you that the picture quality with all these lenses is great. It’s just as good as it was on the cameras they were originally bought for. In fact, given that the K-01 has a better sensor than the K-10 or the *ist DL the picture quality is actually better.

I also spent some time using the all manual 50mm, f1.7, “normal” lens I use on my manual 35mm SLR’s. Below is a shot taken with it set wide open to highlight one of the many advantages of using such a lens.

That same crop factor mentioned above turns the 50mm “normal” lens into a short telephoto (75mm eq) on the K-01 but otherwise works well.  I have also used the Pentax 28mm f2.8 prime lens and the 135mm f2.8 prime lens. The 28mm acts like a 42mm (35mm eq) which makes a really nice lens and its superior optical qualities shine on the K-01. The 135mm becomes a really fast 202mm telephoto lens.

Of course to use any manual lens (without an “A” setting) you must first enable the “use aperture ring” setting in the custom menus and set the camera to manual focus. If you want to utilize the camera‘s built in light meter you must also set the green button function in the “Button Customization” menu,  “Action in M/TAv Mode” to “TvSHIFT”.  Once these things are set properly the camera can be used effectively with these lenses (only) in manual mode.

I generally set the aperture I want on the lens ring and focus the lens. With that done, pressing the green button will activate the stop down function, allow the camera to meter the composition and select the appropriate shutter speed. All of this shows up on the monitor for your review so if you don’t like the settings you can easily change them, before tripping the shutter. If you need to adjust the +/-EV  just turn the silver wheel to adjust the shutter speed up or down or you can adjust the aperture up or down using the ring on the lens.

I originally thought that if the camera was set on auto or Av it would function in aperture priority mode allowing you to just set the aperture on the lens ring and the camera would do everything else. What actually happens is that your aperture setting is ignored, the lens stays wide open (maximum aperture) and the camera does its best to pick a shutter speed and ISO to take a picture anyway.

Another great feature on this camera is “Focus Peaking.” I activated the “Focus Peaking” feature on the menu to see how it worked and immediately became a fan. Although I generally had no trouble focusing with the large 3” LCD viewer, having the edges of things “light up” when they come into focus definitely makes it easier, especially in dim light situations. This feature even seems to work in very dim light when the AF won’t.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the K-01 also has a built in pop up flash that sits high above the camera and does a nice job when needed. My only disappointment so far with the K-01 is that my big Promaster automatic (TTL) flash doesn’t work with it. Of course it doesn’t seem to work with anything else either, except the Pentax *istDL it was originally bought for (it also works fine with all my manual 35mm bodies).

So summing up my thoughts on the Pentax K-01, I can’t find much wrong with it and there is a lot right about it. The Mark Newsome design is fine. He did the best he could within the constraints of sensor size, focal length etc. It’s not as compact as other MILCs but then most of them don’t have an APS-C sensor and none of them have the necessary focal length to accommodate every K-mount lens ever made.

The comments about the lack of a viewer, optional or otherwise are valid. I haven’t had any serious problems yet with using the Monitor yet but on a bright sunny day I would expect some difficulties. Back on December 19^th, 2012, I posted a link and a few words about a viewing loupe designed specifically to be attached to LCD monitors up to 3 inches. Check it out. For less than $100 if this little gizmo works it solves the problem nicely for any camera that doesn’t have a viewer.

That pretty much takes care of all the negative issues.

On the positive side, for less than half the price of most DSLR’s I have a great mirror less camera (why do we need a mirror again?) with an APS-C sensor comparable to or better than those used in most DSLRs. It takes great pictures with any Pentax or K-mount lens made in the last 38 years, and I have a bag full of them I can use. It has advanced features that allow it to quickly and easily switch back and forth between a state of the art point & shoot or semi-pro/enthusiast camera.

News Flash – I just got a notice that the Pentax K-01 bodies are now selling for $299 at B&H!