Originally posted by Laurentiu Cristofor What are you disagreeing on exactly? I mentioned their optics (lenses) as a strength already.
This thread is long enough that I'm starting to lose track of who said what. If I've quoted the wrong person I apologize. Somewhere back a ways someone essentially said that this camera wouldn't appeal to people who already had Pentax equipment. Later on the opinion was raised that the k mount was the big weakness for Pentax. Apparently you do agree that the lenses are where the action is for Pentax, so it's a compelling reason why someone might want the k-01, right?
Quote: I am not surprised that people that have a collection of K mount lenses find this camera useful. But that is irrelevant for the point I argue, which is that I don't expect this camera to bring many new customers to Pentax - I would find that very surprising indeed. My perspective is simply different than yours - I don't criticize (or like) the camera based on my needs, but based on objective criteria. I think as a new customer wanting to get a camera. Or simply put, the question for me is: "Can I recommend Pentax to a close friend?" Note that the question is different from "Can I sell Pentax to a mom that walks into my store?"
See, that's the thing, the k-01 is bringing me back to Pentax. If it did for me, why wouldn't it for other people? I would recommend the camera in a heartbeat if I thought it was right for them. I sold camera gear from 1997 till 2006 at Penn camera in the DC area. We had a really good selection of all sorts of stuff relating to photography. One thing I learned there was that every item we sold, no matter how nasty or unappealing it was to me, was right for someone. I guess I'm comfortable knowing that there are a lot of cameras and a lot of people out there, I'm not the only one that would like the k-01. I have at least one friend that might find it appealing. She is currently using an Olympus MILC but wishes she could use her Pentax lenses (from her LX system) without it being so fiddly. She's not currently a Pentax shooter, but it could bring her back.
It's true that I've been called odd a few times in my life, but I don't think I'm all that different. Or at least I don't think I have tastes and camera requirements that would be so out of the mainstream. This is why I'm struck by all of the FUD about this camera, I think it's amazing. The very first time I saw it I was thunderstruck. I'll admit it wasn't necessarily in a good way at first, but the design grew on me as I studied it more. This is going to be the first interchangeable lens digital camera I've ever owned. Technically, I guess that makes me an upgrader from a point and shoot. I have shot for a lot of years with film equipment, mostly larger formats or super basic (but nice) 35mm cameras. In all cases I was using killer lenses, sometimes from Pentax. The LX was the last small SLR I ever used, and I hope will be the last one I ever use. After shooting with screens and rangefinders, I have no patience for the keyhole perspective of SLRs.
In short, I'm excited about this camera, it is bringing me to Pentax. I consider myself a new Pentax user because I haven't touched a Pentax camera of any kind in... 12 years? The last Pentax product I used was a Digital spot meter. I joined this forum to share my excitement and to learn about the k-01, but instead I am faced with people saying that this camera is an inferior product, that it won't appeal to non Pentax users, it will never sell well, and that they shouldn't have made it. So who am I? Am I really that weird? Luckily, there are other people excited about it on this forum too, but the doom and gloomers have to get their 2 cents in. I'm new here, but do people go into the other forums and actively denigrate cameras that they don't own? I understand getting excited about a camera, I don't understand the need to explain why you'd never get one or why others wouldn't either.
That's a really long winded way of saying that my opinion doesn't agree with yours. I've realized that I'm not really defending the camera, I'm defending myself and my decision making. IMO (and that's all we have here) the K-01 is the first (affordable) MILC worth owning. I'd like to think that the K-01 forum would be more about using and seeing examples from the K-01. I'm going to take a step back and take my own advice, it is just another camera, some people will like it and some people won't. Just please don't paint the ones that do as foolish (not aimed at you Laurentiu but for others reading this thread). And let's also wait and see what kind of response the camera has before trying to analyze it's failure.