[joe.penn]

March can't come soon enough.

Lol, ya, got a white one preordered and as noted in another thread depending on the performance I may get up to 3 additional ones for a project that will be commissioned in November...

[monochrome]

Lol, ya, got a white one preordered and as noted in another thread depending on the performance I may get up to 3 additional ones for a project that will be commissioned in November...

Heh - ya, I have a black one ordered, but what I meant was the speculation will finally be resolved. Hope the project comes out well and the vid is up to your expectations.

[joe.penn]

Hope the project comes out well and the vid is up to your expectations.

Well, I like the fact that it is fairly small and I already have a whole array of pentax glass to use for shooting video - hopefully we will be able to get good video performance at high(er) ISO's...

[fuent104]

you forgot one important aspect about the X100. the X100 wasn't designed or made to compete against dslrs but more of a walkaround fixed lens camera that could work as an alternative rather than bringing a dslr or work as a second body alongside a dslr. the X100 pretty much cover the necessary focal length for most standard use (wide to normal). besides, it has the IQ to boot and the excellent hybrid viewfinder that no other camera manufacturer has to offer yet. it's not a perfect camera and not for your casual P&S shooter, but it surely deserves it's high marks.

I don't think I stated my point clearly. I meant I thought it was crazy that the x100 has been lauded for its merits, while the k-01 has been mostly criticized for its shortcomings.

[Pentaxor]

I don't think I stated my point clearly. I meant I thought it was crazy that the x100 has been lauded for its merits, while the k-01 has been mostly criticized for its shortcomings.

well, probably because you made the wrong camera comparison. the K-5 or any other current dslr would have made more sense comparing. fwiw, the K-01 is certainly better than any of the current APS-C dslrs.

[RonHendriks1966]

BTW: This has already somewhat affected the upcoming release. Almost everyone who is interested in video got a hard-on (I did too) when the first bonehead rushed to get a video up on YouTube about "hey, I am the first one with a video review and here it is" - he mentioned "full manual video control", turns out this is not the case and it seems that the video capabilities are average at best and somewhat falls behind the competition quite a bit.

Well I read we can win something when using a lens with aperture controll. No idea if this helps, but I'm planning on a video project myself. Intending to use FA*85mm and FA31mm for that.

I do wonder how videoquality is compared to K-5 (since I like that a lot). Yes it's spacey on storage, but I just love the output (not doing to difficult things with it and living in a PAL area). K-5 delivers quality to broadcast for local TV wich is good enough for me.

[chrisjoy]

I agree with some of the others, you can get a Nex5n with a good stabilized kit zoom for less than just the K01 body. The 5n will focus faster, has brilliant focus peaking for MF, shoots 1080p with full manual control (undetermined if the K01 has that capability) and weighs half as much as the Pentax. For those looking for an entry level APS-c camera that can get top quality results, the Sony will be far more appealing. The touch screen focusing works really well too.

For the price of the Pentax with the kit zoom, you can get another lens for the 5n or the really amazing viewfinder. I would bet more than 99% of potential buyers cannot tell the difference in a couple points on DXOmark and for those that can the difference can be made up in post processing. For this camera to bring in people not on this board it should be priced lower than the Nex, T3i, D5100 and so on.

[Pentaxor]

I agree with some of the others, you can get a Nex5n with a good stabilized kit zoom for less than just the K01 body. The 5n will focus faster, has brilliant focus peaking for MF, shoots 1080p with full manual control (undetermined if the K01 has that capability) and weighs half as much as the Pentax. For those looking for an entry level APS-c camera that can get top quality results, the Sony will be far more appealing. The touch screen focusing works really well too.

For the price of the Pentax with the kit zoom, you can get another lens for the 5n or the really amazing viewfinder. I would bet more than 99% of potential buyers cannot tell the difference in a couple points on DXOmark and for those that can the difference can be made up in post processing. For this camera to bring in people not on this board it should be priced lower than the Nex, T3i, D5100 and so on.

what are you saying? the K-01 comes with the XS-40, not a kit zoom. touch screen focusing although is a good feature is more of a novelty. as far as the statistics of potential buyers cannot tell the difference or significance of the values, neither would they know or significance of the NEX5n values as well. they would most likely go for the D3100 and D5100 cameras because of the thinking that bigger cameras would enable them to take better photos.

[joe.penn]

they would most likely go for the D3100 and D5100 cameras because of the thinking that bigger cameras would enable them to take better photos.

What? You mean bigger isn't better? Come on now!!!!!

[chrisjoy]

what are you saying? the K-01 comes with the XS-40, not a kit zoom. touch screen focusing although is a good feature is more of a novelty. as far as the statistics of potential buyers cannot tell the difference or significance of the values, neither would they know or significance of the NEX5n values as well. they would most likely go for the D3100 and D5100 cameras because of the thinking that bigger cameras would enable them to take better photos.

The K01 body, $749 at B&H - more than the 5N with lens, $699, the C3 is $150 less. The 40 just pushes it further away from the Nex, up to $899. And what entry level buyer is looking for a prime with an odd focal length? All for a slower focusing camera that weighs twice as much with a negligible - if any - difference in image quality. The K01 - as the thread title states - may be a low cost entry into great quality, but there are lower cost options for the exact same sensor. And the Nex will still focus faster and offers more video frame rate options. With the K01 you're stuck with 30fps, ugh.

But that's not my point. My point is that at the price point Pentax placed the K01, they are not going to attract new shooters to the brand as there are options that will produce images as good for less $$$. This camera's launch was an epic failure, people are opting for similar priced offerings from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and even Panasonic. The 3+ year old 5d2 is outselling the K01 right now at 3x the price for the body. Pentax should have put the cameras in the hands of reviewers before launch to generate interest, instead of a few silly "leaked" teaser photos of the logo and a corner of the camera before launch.

The Fuji guys had a couple dozen videos posted within a couple days of the launch of the Xpro1, which really helped to fuel the excitement. At twice the cost of the K01 for just the body, the Xpro1 is still outselling the Pentax. The K01 isn't anywhere on the Pentax imaging front page. It doesn't seem like Pentax even cares about the camera since the dud Q, a waterproof P&S and the K5 are what people see first. Again, a marketing failure. Why bury you're newest camera in the hybrid section of your site? Brutal.

[illdefined]

The K01 body, $749 at B&H - more than the 5N with lens, $699, the C3 is $150 less. The 40 just pushes it further away from the Nex, up to $899. And what entry level buyer is looking for a prime with an odd focal length? All for a slower focusing camera that weighs twice as much with a negligible - if any - difference in image quality. The K01 - as the thread title states - may be a low cost entry into great quality, but there are lower cost options for the exact same sensor. And the Nex will still focus faster and offers more video frame rate options. With the K01 you're stuck with 30fps, ugh.

But that's not my point. My point is that at the price point Pentax placed the K01, they are not going to attract new shooters to the brand as there are options that will produce images as good for less $$$. This camera's launch was an epic failure, people are opting for similar priced offerings from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and even Panasonic. The 3+ year old 5d2 is outselling the K01 right now at 3x the price for the body. Pentax should have put the cameras in the hands of reviewers before launch to generate interest, instead of a few silly "leaked" teaser photos of the logo and a corner of the camera before launch.

The Fuji guys had a couple dozen videos posted within a couple days of the launch of the Xpro1, which really helped to fuel the excitement. At twice the cost of the K01 for just the body, the Xpro1 is still outselling the Pentax. The K01 isn't anywhere on the Pentax imaging front page. It doesn't seem like Pentax even cares about the camera since the dud Q, a waterproof P&S and the K5 are what people see first. Again, a marketing failure. Why bury you're newest camera in the hybrid section of your site? Brutal.

ouch. it only hurts because it's true.

$599 (w/ $50 rebate near the holidays) for the K-01. Take what you learned about miniaturizing the K mount, make a GXRII w/K mount Pentax|Ricoh and no more outside designers.

[jogiba]

I put those in the post as an example or reference to problems not that I expect or anyone should expect problems. I think that way too many people are putting out there "this is the greatest thing ever" and/or "Pentax dropped the ball on this one", I mean without actual reviews from reputable reviewers or publications how can anyone pass judgement on it when it hasn't been released yet.

BTW: This has already somewhat affected the upcoming release. Almost everyone who is interested in video got a hard-on (I did too) when the first bonehead rushed to get a video up on YouTube about "hey, I am the first one with a video review and here it is" - he mentioned "full manual video control", turns out this is not the case and it seems that the video capabilities are average at best and somewhat falls behind the competition quite a bit.

The only competition for the K-01 in video mode with K-mounts lenses is the K-5 and it's a no contest, the K-01 beats it with h.264 vs M-JPEG, 1080p30,25,24 720p60 vs 1080p25 720p30 and better processor. The price at B&H is $749 for the K-01 and $1,199.95 for the K-5. My Panasonic TM700 3MOS 1080p60 camcorder beats my GH2 is resolution and the GH2 beats any camera in video mode.

[Pentaxor]

The K01 body, $749 at B&H - more than the 5N with lens, $699, the C3 is $150 less. The 40 just pushes it further away from the Nex, up to $899. And what entry level buyer is looking for a prime with an odd focal length? All for a slower focusing camera that weighs twice as much with a negligible - if any - difference in image quality. The K01 - as the thread title states - may be a low cost entry into great quality, but there are lower cost options for the exact same sensor. And the Nex will still focus faster and offers more video frame rate options. With the K01 you're stuck with 30fps, ugh.

But that's not my point. My point is that at the price point Pentax placed the K01, they are not going to attract new shooters to the brand as there are options that will produce images as good for less $$$. This camera's launch was an epic failure, people are opting for similar priced offerings from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and even Panasonic. The 3+ year old 5d2 is outselling the K01 right now at 3x the price for the body. Pentax should have put the cameras in the hands of reviewers before launch to generate interest, instead of a few silly "leaked" teaser photos of the logo and a corner of the camera before launch.

The Fuji guys had a couple dozen videos posted within a couple days of the launch of the Xpro1, which really helped to fuel the excitement. At twice the cost of the K01 for just the body, the Xpro1 is still outselling the Pentax. The K01 isn't anywhere on the Pentax imaging front page. It doesn't seem like Pentax even cares about the camera since the dud Q, a waterproof P&S and the K5 are what people see first. Again, a marketing failure. Why bury you're newest camera in the hybrid section of your site? Brutal.

I see your statement has more of personal opinion rather than fact and somehow got lost somewhere in limbo. may I ask how the the Xpro-1 which is not even in the market outsells the K-01 which is also not even available in the market? how could you base conclusion about comparative sales of a camera like the 5d2 which has been in the market for 3 years against something that is not even out yet? that is plain silly. until we see the figures, only by then we could form a conclusion if such a camera is a failure or not. all what you said is purely speculation and has no bearing whatsoever.

I can understand why you have such an opinion since you are practically new here. what you don't realize is that people in this forum are mostly driven by Pentax lenses. bodies are only secondary which are tools that could make the best out of the Pentax lenses. you may complain about the AF system, but that is exactly the point. you can't AF Pentax lenses on a NEX or any other body. the K-01 wasn't made to compete against smaller camera alternatives. it is made exactly what it is for it's purpose. inorder for you to understand this, try attaching a DA50-135 on a NEX5n and tell me how nice it would look and how nice the handling would be. this aside from the fact that how fast the AF of that lens would be on the NEX5n. oh I forgot, it doesn't support Pentax AF lenses.

[chrisjoy]

I see your statement has more of personal opinion rather than fact and somehow got lost somewhere in limbo. may I ask how the the Xpro-1 which is not even in the market outsells the K-01 which is also not even available in the market? how could you base conclusion about comparative sales of a camera like the 5d2 which has been in the market for 3 years against something that is not even out yet? that is plain silly. until we see the figures, only by then we could form a conclusion if such a camera is a failure or not. all what you said is purely speculation and has no bearing whatsoever.

Look at the sales rankings on Amazon, the K01 is buried under a mountain of other cameras. In the "must have the latest and greatest gadget" economy, most electronics sell the biggest numbers right at launch. After production can catch up to sales most cameras sell at a relatively steady pace, outside of the holidays. Rebates are offered when sales slow a bit or when its about to be replaced - that or a company just unloads excess stock on a warehouse chain like Costco or Sam's Club.

Initial pre-order sales figures are a strong indicator of overall sales and long term success. I spent some time as a marketing manager for a major electronics distributor and experience tells me that the K01 will be a dud in the U.S., just like the Q. Amazon rankings are pretty telling since its one of the worlds largest seller of electronics. The Pentax marketing strategy is a mystery since its nowhere to be found in Wal-Mart and Best Buy in the U.S. and its getting no love on Amazon - for a camera company to be ignored by the three largest electronics retailers on the planet is not a good sign.

In the end the K01 offers nothing over Nex other than the lenses - which are slower focusing on the K01 than the K5, or over M43 which is much faster focusing, lighter and offers some spectacular lenses. Since most cameras are bought by casual shooters and aren't printing huge photos, the K01 is going to lose out because Pentax simply priced itself out of the entry market. This board is not enough to broaden the reach of Pentax, to attract new people to the brand it should have priced the K01 lower than Nex, M43 and the entry DSLR's from Canon and Nikon.

I really wanted a K5 to mate with my Zeiss lenses, but Pentax refusing to impliment manual controls on the video kept me away. I was hoping the K01 would be the answer, but I live in Florida and the lack of any kind of viewfinder or articulating LCD is appalling since the LCD is invisible in the sun, and its always sunny here. I'm getting a GH2 to pair with my 5d2 for video instead.

[Pentaxor]

Look at the sales rankings on Amazon, the K01 is buried under a mountain of other cameras. In the "must have the latest and greatest gadget" economy, most electronics sell the biggest numbers right at launch. After production can catch up to sales most cameras sell at a relatively steady pace, outside of the holidays. Rebates are offered when sales slow a bit or when its about to be replaced - that or a company just unloads excess stock on a warehouse chain like Costco or Sam's Club.

Initial pre-order sales figures are a strong indicator of overall sales and long term success. I spent some time as a marketing manager for a major electronics distributor and experience tells me that the K01 will be a dud in the U.S., just like the Q. Amazon rankings are pretty telling since its one of the worlds largest seller of electronics. The Pentax marketing strategy is a mystery since its nowhere to be found in Wal-Mart and Best Buy in the U.S. and its getting no love on Amazon - for a camera company to be ignored by the three largest electronics retailers on the planet is not a good sign.

In the end the K01 offers nothing over Nex other than the lenses - which are slower focusing on the K01 than the K5, or over M43 which is much faster focusing, lighter and offers some spectacular lenses. Since most cameras are bought by casual shooters and aren't printing huge photos, the K01 is going to lose out because Pentax simply priced itself out of the entry market. This board is not enough to broaden the reach of Pentax, to attract new people to the brand it should have priced the K01 lower than Nex, M43 and the entry DSLR's from Canon and Nikon.

I really wanted a K5 to mate with my Zeiss lenses, but Pentax refusing to impliment manual controls on the video kept me away. I was hoping the K01 would be the answer, but I live in Florida and the lack of any kind of viewfinder or articulating LCD is appalling since the LCD is invisible in the sun, and its always sunny here. I'm getting a GH2 to pair with my 5d2 for video instead.

I don't want to undermine your position as a marketing manager, but so far it is not a real measure of having any real knowledge about the camera industry. consumer electronics sales in general can be easily be misunderstood. specific electronic niche markets gives different sales figures, same with market distribution centers or sellers as you might say. also consumer electronics goods follow a certain price category that vary in every department. not everything is the same nor priced the same.
you might not be aware of this but the K-5 and the 645D are the best camera products that came out of Pentax. best in the sense that it made a significant impact on the camera market. so you have been looking at the wrong stores to base your conclusion. point is, not everyone buys their camera at Walmart, BustBuy and Amazon. people buy directly at camera stores, and online camera stores/sellers. because if we are going to follow that, does that mean that medium format cameras are failure because Walmart or BUstBuy refuse to carry them?

sales figures for the K-01 is a wait and see til March where the numbers are really there. camera pre-orders are mostly cancelled along the way and you should know this. so those aren't of real value. again, avoid basing your conclusion at Walmart.

with regards to the K-01 pricing, it is just priced right along where it should be (entry level dslr), except that it is not dslr since it doesn't have a mirror for OVF. but the intention here is clear that the mirrorless concept is an introduction for big cameras that in the future would no longer need OVF. again, as I said, the K-01 has nothing to do with compact systems. it was never built to compete in that category but against entry level dslrs. it's an introductory concept in that market.

also, the GH2 cost around $1,200 when it was launched and some of the m4/3 cost around $900. so there is no compelling reason why the K-01's price should be anything lower than the NEX5n (the NEX-7 is expensive at $1,400). the NEX-5n is not a barometer for camera prices. it never was.