Originally posted by Fontan I still don't get it as to why they kept the k mount. To me, if you want to go mirrorless, designing a new mount is an absolute necessity. Why completely and utterly ignore the biggest advantage that mirrorless set up can offer?
I think it is clear. Because Pentax wanted to have a ready supply of small, autofocus capable lenses for this camera and they didn't want to spend years designing more, plus try to figure out how to create an adapter with a focus motor in it that would run the DA/FA lenses.
I think it is clear that the K-01 is not targeted at the upper end crowd who want to adapt leica m and Canon FD glass for their cameras. They are interested in soccer moms who want to take photos of Johnny, but don't want a big camera and want/need auto focus lenses to do it with. For this segment of the market, the Fuji and frankly the NEX series of cameras is a major fail!
Create a camera for the people dissatisfied with their cellphone/ point and shoot photos, and you could sell thousands without any problem. I think this could be a great seller if there is just a little marketing involved.
Edit: I would like to say that I am more than OK with this decision. If Pentax had released a non-K mount camera in mirrorless, the odds of new k mount lenses being released in the coming years would drop considerably. With this release, Pentax has much more drive to fill in the gaps in the current lens line up.