Good article. Many of the things the author wrote about, why he likes the K1...resonate...to use a current buzz word...with me. I'm a long time Pentax owner. I've got other makes...Canon, Leica (old that I could afford
), Mamiya medium format Yashica, Ricoh etc...but the standby has always been Pentax over the past 50 years.
I find the AF speed, the focus, the resolution....you name it works very well for me...it seems to be fast enough, etc. Maybe my standards are not as high as the Canikon brigade.
The most difficult test I put my K1 through...with my fast 50's, 100 Macro F 2.8 or even ,my 28-105...is taking pix of my very young, very fast moving grandson indoors, in available light. The K1 does a wonderful job...focus on his eye, move the camera to his moves, make sure I have my ISO up high...3200-6400...lens @ F 2 to F 3.2....aperture priority ...hit the shutter.
Works well.
Repeat.
My methodology is not new...just stuff I've 'discovered' over many years of trial and mostly error. When I reflect back on photography, I'm of the opinion that any skills I may have are due to shoot, shoot, shoot, try something different and see if the pix get better..over a long period. The Pentax gear itself works well...it's the photographer (me) that has improved.
As a result I agree with the author when he talks about believing marketing / advertising too much...about how the newest and latest can improve our photography, It's happened to me. So now I just try to practice and hone whatever skills I've developed through mucho practice..
I don't use a tripod as much as I used to, mostly hand held and I generally take my time with my shots unless it's a fast moving animal like a deer or pronghorn (do a lot of photography in Alberta/Saskatchewan) and my K5 and Sigma 150-500 seem to nail good shots consistently, not all the time, but pretty good most of the time.
I did look seriously at the Fuji line, tried out a few, like them...but in the end bought a Ricoh GR ll. I prefer my K1, K5 but I like the little GR for it's small carry every day ability and I'm learning on a daily basis on how to use the GR...to the best of my ability. The GR is very good, but different...and for me that's a learning process.