Originally posted by joe.penn You have tested one already?
It is quality?
The construction is sound?
The housing is secured pretty tight and within normal tolerances?
We don't have another stain issue?
AF is working great (or at least as it is suppose too)?
No freeze-ups?
Buttons are not falling off?
The majority of them do not need fine tuning for accurate AF?
The IQ is as good or better than the K5 (same sensor but different processing routines so IQ will differ)?
I am sure that Pentax appreciates the excitement, but before anyone jumps to conclusions I think everyone needs to wait for at least someone (of a legitimate reputation) to get one and do a somewhat thorough review - everyone posting "how great it is" is doing nothing but driving the expectations of this thing through the roof - it will absolutely suck for Pentax if there is a single problem/issue with this thing as it will be amplified 50-fold because of the false preconceived superiority some people are pushing.
I think a number of your questions are irrelevant (focusing on CDAF doesn't suffer BF/FF issues from what i understand (try it in live view on the K 5 with a know problem lens)
Stain issues were resolved over a year ago. not to say it can't happen again but it's highly unlikely.
I can't think of a Pentax that didn't have sound construction. and though Aluminum isn't as solid as Mag alloy it's a pretty solid construction idea
given it's 12 bit versus 14 bit and iso limited at either end a little i think the performance will be close but not quite as good (though this depends n other things as well). IQ should still crush the kr though for instance and i don't hear a lot of entry level users bitching about kr performance
I think waiting for the tests is a wise caution though. and then comparing it to other cameras in it's market segment. I fully expect the xpro1 to test better (it bloody well better at more than twice the price) I expect the OMD to test worse though on sensor performance but kill it in many other areas - still a different market though
i think the real measurement is how it preforms using native lenses versus the Nex5n and Nex3 and the samsung NX. these are the real measures of how it's iq is (functionality is somewhat subjective since all these cameras suffer some crippling design to some degree) I think iq wise it will be hard for it not to outperform any m4/3
I think the performance model MILC will not be this one but it will be very good based on specs released regardless. I don't expect it to beat a k5 though (except on video where it is almost a given based on the specs)