There is a saying "time will tell". There is also another "the proof of the pudding is in the eating (of it)".
I'm not hating on the K-01. Actually I like it, the design anyway.
I'm also not listening to the haters. Haters, one must remember, hate on everything, most memorably the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. And those ended up fairly successful, right?
Finally, I'm not hating on Pentax. I think they had to do this, and it was right for them to do this. It was, in fact,
the only thing they could do.
What I am wondering is: will it work?
I admit, I did not imagine the NEX would be as successful as it turned out to be. I thought no one would buy just a badly proportioned camera. I also thought the Nikon 1 would be better received than it was - though part of that was being hugely overpriced at launch. So my track record is fairly poor.
Central to the K-01 is the answer to the following question: is it reasonably enjoyable to use such a large camera (and, typically, large lenses) like a point-and-shoot, holding the camera out in front of you and framing on the rear LCD?
If the answer is basically "yes", then I can see people typically picking this up over the K-r type cameras, as it has the fundamental simplicity of a single mode of operation: live view, all time. It's that little bit more compact, and a lot more stylish, and the same price class essentially.
If the answer is basically "no" (and already people are posting of their frustrations in this respect) there is a problem because outside of style the K-01 has nothing else to offer in terms of features. Any improvements (better video, etc) are just generational, a new K-r model (K-s lets call it) would be expected to have all these things and a couple more. Crucially, it loses out significantly against other competing mirrorless systems in terms of compactness.
I'm going to guess the answer is "no". The K-01 is a cool design, but not a camera many people will actually buy.
Fortunately for Pentax, I've been wrong before.
P.S. Yes, with the XS lens the K-01 is about the right size and proportion to use "point and shoot" style. But that is just one lens and, crucially, it's the wrong focal length. The general-purpose use pancake lens people look for is 28mm, 35mm or perhaps 40-45mm. 60mm? No. You can make the case for the DA15, DA21. Fine, but a) those are expensive relative to the cost of a K-01 and b) it still leaves the 3x kit zoom, which makes the K-01 absolutely huge even by NEX standards.
Last edited by rjm; 03-14-2012 at 05:35 PM.