Originally posted by Winder I agree that the OM-D will have the most noise at high ISO and the least DR of the three. I looks like Fuji will have the best IQ, and for the price it should. Pentax will find a happy medium and give the best IQ for the money. But the difference between the three will be probably will not be overly relevant. There really are not any "bad" cameras on the market right now. Actually, the OM-D will probably outsell both Pentax and Fuji even with the smaller sensor.
The Fuji will probably be my first mirror-less camera. The pricing is no different than the K-5 when it came out and the Fuji lenses are in line with the prices of comparable Pentax lenses. I make it point not to be a first adapter, so I will wait and see what happens. My other cameras are still taking excellent pictures.
I can see where the OM-D fits into the market and I can see what makes it appealing to a broad group of photographers.
I can see where the Fuji fits into the market and what appeals to large niche of experienced enthusiasts.
I don't see that with the K-01. I see a camera that has all of the things I don't like about mirror-less and all of the weaknesses of the traditional DSLR all rolled into one. If it had a tilt-up LCD I might could overlook the lack of EVF/OVF. I might even overlook the design of the body if it has really fast and accurate AF. If it was a FF with fast accurate AF I would just wrap its ugly butt in duct tape and not worry about it.
I agree with some of your critiques of the K-01. It seems to reflect a lot of the market tone deafness of Pentax/Hoya over the past few years especially. In fact, the lack of a EVF is to me more of a flaw because that's what a segment of consumers clearly want from these cameras, then the fact that I want one. I could buy an EVF for my GXR but I haven't, yet, because even if it would make it more useable in some situations I can live without it if I can spend $200 on something else.
Not even offering an optional EVF, though, seems to me to be an intentional act to cripple the K-01 to reserve viewfinders for its higher models. If that is the case, I see it as a mistake on Pentax's part. Not a fatal one, maybe, but one that will hurt the success of an otherwise promising camera. We'll have to see how it all plans out within the context of their larger camera releases.
The K-01 does make sense to me as a fun, quirky device that might draw in a few new people while also not simultaneously alienating Pentax users. It won't likely be a smash hit, but with low costs it could be a modest success for the company, and for a brand trying to find its way with a new owner, a solid success isn't a bad thing.
If they had done everything the same and released it slightly smaller with a new mount, I would have no interest in it, and would likely instead be looking into the upcoming Samsung NX-20. The fact that I am considering the K-01 for video purposes and as a back up camera to my K-5 means that at least a portion of their logic behind the camera makes sense.