-How would you rate the look overall?
Some of the design is clean and quite classy. It is reminiscent of the style of the former German company Braun. This is where the K-01 design rocks.
Unfortunately, it falls flat overall. How on earth could the goal to instil "quality" and "semi-professional" lead to a camera that looks that much like a toy? Way too much of a "
my first SONY" appeal. The back looks good; I think what tips the balance over in the wrong direction are the snorkel (aka chimney) at the front, the bright coloured buttons, and a bit of the mount design (looks like a baby sling).
The hub makes the omission of a VF even more glaring than it already is. The snorkel design may appeal to the curiosity of customers in a shop but ultimately it is just pointless and visually unappealing. I like the visual appearance of the on-off knob, but the previous solution on Pentax DSLR appears to be more functional.
Worse are the ergonomic failures. The exposure compensation button is ill-placed; it cannot be comfortably operated in combination with the rear dial.
The four-button quick access arrangement should be placed more to the left. Probably wouldn't look as stylish but I bet it could be reached more naturally then.
Have a look at the
backside comparison between K-5 and K-01. The K-5 shows where controls should be based on usability considerations, the K-01 is a style statement. As someone interested in tools as opposed to fashion, the K-5 appeals way more to me. Could it look a little less utilitarian? Yes, but style that compromises function is an absolute no no.
A camera of the size of the K-01 should have more controls (dials, buttons).
In summary, the K-01 design seems to aim at a place in a museum (in particular gimmicks like the snorkel design). I reckon that is where that design belongs right away because it won't work very well for delivering its true job, i.e., facilitate photography.
-Does the 40mm fit the camera well?
In a bad sense, yes. The new 40mm makes the camera look like a water fun toy. Press the green button and bubbles come out of the lens hole. Press the red button and water starts squirting out.
That lens is just a inexcusable abomination. Terrible. The K-01 with a classy lens (e.g., FA Ltd 77/1.8) looks OK from some angles. With the new 40mm it is just way too much of a toy appeal.
-Are you planning on buying one ...?
Definitely not.
-In buying a camera, how important is the look compared to the features?
Very important.
As a photographer I'm sensitive to visual aesthetics.
Camera design should serve function first. A few tweaks and choices then can be made to create a sense of quality, understatement, class.
-How do you think people who've never heard of Pentax would react to this camera?
They will disregard Pentax as a company that need not be taken seriously. It pushes Pentax further into the "style over functions" corner they manoeuvred themselves into when they came out with colour options for the K-x instead of new technology.
What is the point of a DSLR without a viewfinder when you don't gain size advantages or new functionality (e.g., histogram overlays in the viewfinder, focus peaking in an eye-level viewfinder, etc.)?
P.S.: For those who do not know what I'm appealing to with "my first SONY". Have a look at these "my first SONY" walkie talkies: