[djc737]

Well it has been down to these three bodies for a while now to replace my GF1 as my go to mirrorless body. If the K-01 had an EVF, then it would be no contest. I used the GF1 in Europe on my first outing sans EVF and it was a nightmare. Later I purchased the EVF for it which was one of the lousiest EVF out there and it still made using the camera a lot easier. As you can see, an built in EVF is a must for the non-Pentax bodies along with the latest sensor. So here is my thinking on each of these bodies.

K-01
Pros
AF and aperture work for all my beautiful Pentax primes.
Lighter and smaller than my K-5 so easier to tote in a belly pack with a couple of primes.
Does not look threatening or profession at all which makes it a nice street cam.
Focus peaking and nice HDR function
Both dust prevention and IBIS which work well
All lenses profiled in LR by Pentax
Cons
As mentioned above, no EVF
Poor body shape and button layout

EM5
Pros
EVF contained in body
Already have 7-14mm, 14-140mm and 20mm lenses.
Already have Novaflex PK-mFT adapter purchased used for a good price.
Seems to be a well thought out body with nice options like the flash capable of continuous light for movies.
Both dust prevention and IBIS which work well
Cons
All my beautiful Pentax primes become MF and manual aperture with no feedback.
Possible lower DR and more noise than Sony APC chip not sure of this yet
creates possible LBA for more expensive primes.
Doubles the FL of all my lenses making some strange FLs, 30, 42, 62, 100, 154, 200, 270mm
No lenses profiled by either Panasonic or Olympus in LR

NEX-7
Pros
EVF contained in body
24 Mpixels
Already have Rainbow imaging PK-NEX adapter
Also seems to be a well thought out body with many nice features
Cons
All my beautiful Pentax primes become MF and manual aperture with no feedback.
creates possible LBA for more expensive primes.
Neither in body dust prevention nor IBIS
Few lenses profiled by Sony and while the Pentax lens profiles can still be used, one must then remember which lens was on the camera for each shot. Not always doable or convenient.

So each has it's pros and cons. I fear the K-01 will be a problem in bright light. The EM5 may lose a touch of DR and add a little noise. The Sony may well be a dust magnet. In all my time with Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax, I have never seen a dust speck in any image ever taken. I am not sure I want to start doing that 100% image search routine that other brands require. Both the EM5 and the NEX-7 would have to be back ordered as they unlike the K-01 are very hot sellers which says a lot about the route Pentax took with it's first entry into the ILCM world. Well any thought appreciated.

[luftfluss]

Both the EM5 and the NEX-7 would have to be back ordered as they unlike the K-01 are very hot sellers which says a lot about the route Pentax took with it's first entry into the ILCM world.

Actually, the Olympus OMD EM5 would have to be pre-orderd, because it has not yet been released, so it does not say "a lot about the route Pentax took with it's first entry into the ILCM world."

[lmd91343]

Why do you want to go mirrorless? Won't a K5 work as it has a TTL viewfinder? Why is EVF better that OVF? All your lenses will work fine with a K5. Is the weight savings for mirrorless over SLR that great that it matters so much?

What would you gain going mirrorless for APSc sized sensors?

[pinholecam]

My thoughts from a m4/3 (G3), K5 user and having tried the K-01 on a couple of occasions.

EM-5 - If you go for this, its the best m4/3 camera that there is atm.
IBIS, Oly JPEG o/p and the current best Panasonic 16mp sensor.
I'd give up on the Pentax lenses are concentrate on the native lenses are perhaps add a 45/1.8.
In fact the lenses you have is already very good.
I never got to using my Pentax lenses on m4/3 much.
They are heavy and chunky with an adapter and the 2x crop makes them too long.
Neither are most of the lenses as sharp in the center compared to the m4/3 primes (though distortion and end sharpness the m4/3 lenses are typically quite weak)
The noise still going to be at least 1-1.5 stops behind the K5 (so about the same compare to K-01)
Overall, a much smaller package IF you use the native lenses.


K-01 - Viable option and perhaps the best one for Pentax lenses.
Right sized and button placements are ok. Its pretty close to standard Pentax layout with the emphasis on most/all controls on the right.
You benefit from a wide open aperture (which means a LCD that does not need to boost gain as much and therefore less LCD noise ) when stopped down.
You'd get Av, AF and full lens functionality as well as focus peaking for MF.
For the lack of EVF, you can use a LCD-loupe when the need arises.
I use one every now and then on my K5 LCD and MF hit rate goes up into the 90's even w/o focus peaking.
I think John Flores has a good user report on his blog (do check it out)
What Blog is this?



NEX7 - To me, its only attractive with you play with M, LTM lenses and other exotics. Personally, I'd just get a 5n or GXR for it.
Then again, they got that wide angle edge color fringe problem which needs to be corrected with software.
The 3 scrolls wheels is an illusion of usability if you use MF lenses.
The aperture control is already on the lens. You only need one wheel for shutter speed in M mode, or again only one wheel for EV compensation in Av mode.
So in practical terms, 5n will do just fine.
No native lenses that are really worth it short of maybe the 24/1.8; 30/3.5 and 50/1.8.
Rather pointless to get a not too cheap camera just to complicate life with an adapter and manual everything for the nice Pentax lenses.


My few cents.

[parsons]

Wait a while for the k-02? That will surely have a view finder. Then all your troubles will be gone!

[Rondec]

Wait a while for the k-02? That will surely have a view finder. Then all your troubles will be gone!

That would be my idea. Certainly next generation will have an EVF, faster frame rate. If you need mirrorless now, I suppose go with Olympus and just get micro four thirds specific primes.

[Medium FormatPro]

I've run over one hundred pics through my friends nex7; and was not all that impressed. It was difficult to notice much of a difference without either a major crop or rather large print. The results were actually better a majority of the time with the K-01.

Plus one has to wonder exactly what audience (consumer) the nex7 is being aimed at. There is an unusually small amount of lens' available; and what about the lack of a hotshoe? The same issue also effect the Olympus with lens, while there is a better availability of lens' the lens cost factor will turn off a majority of consumers and even professionals

Will try to post some side by side comparison pics soon.

[JPT]

Another possibility is the GXR with the M mount unit. It has great handling and there is an EVF available, albeit not as good as the Sony ones. There's also the chance that Ricoh might come out with a K-mount adapter in future.

Actually, I agree with pinholecam that the NEX 5n is a good option. It's quite a bit cheaper than the NEX 7 and you can get the same viewfinder as an attachment.

I have the K-01 and like it. The screen goes pretty bright, but I can imagine you might end up with the same complaint you had with the GF1. If it had an EVF, it would be the size and weight of a K-7, which is why I don't think they'll do that unless it's the future direction of all their DSLRs.

[chrisjoy]

I've run over one hundred pics through my friends nex7; and was not all that impressed. It was difficult to notice much of a difference without either a major crop or rather large print. The results were actually better a majority of the time with the K-01.

Plus one has to wonder exactly what audience (consumer) the nex7 is being aimed at. There is an unusually small amount of lens' available; and what about the lack of a hotshoe? The same issue also effect the Olympus with lens, while there is a better availability of lens' the lens cost factor will turn off a majority of consumers and even professionals

Will try to post some side by side comparison pics soon.

Actually the Nex7 has a Sony mount hotshoe right on top of the camera, it uses any Sony flash, supports TTL metering, and with an adapter you can use other standard hotshoe flashes. I have used my 430exII and a Youngno 560 on the Nex7, both mounted and with wireless triggers as I don't own a Sony flash - works perfectly.

[chrisjoy]

To the OP, I was considering the K01, but after spending some time with the Nex7 I really liked the tri-nav controls and how it mates with my Rokkor lenses. I picked up the 24 and the 50 along with the 18-55 for fast AF glass and a MD adapter for my MF glass. Being able to assign all needed camera functions to controls and not have to mess with menus is awesome, I can control ISO, Shutter, EV, focus magnification and shooting modes without taking my eye away from the viewfinder. The controls along with the EVF sold me on the 7. I don't have any Pentax glass, so I was buying into a new kit either way.

[mervis]

It's worth mentioning that the K-01 lists for $450 less than the other two cameras. Plus adapter cost.

Or do you have money to burn?

It sounds like you are one of the must-have-EVF crowd (not that there's anything wrong with that). If that's the case, why even consider the K-01? It's too bad because the K-01 makes marvelous images and would be a perfect fit for the lenses you already own & without the adapter kludge.

Happy purchasing.

[chrisjoy]

It's worth mentioning that the K-01 lists for $450 less than the other two cameras. Plus adapter cost.

Or do you have money to burn?

It sounds like you are one of the must-have-EVF crowd (not that there's anything wrong with that). If that's the case, why even consider the K-01? It's too bad because the K-01 makes marvelous images and would be a perfect fit for the lenses you already own & without the adapter kludge.

Happy purchasing.

Adapters are $20, that's not much of a factor in my buying decision and its a wash because I have them for every camera I own and right now Rokkors ar the only MF glass I own, though I'm thinking about the Contax G. I'm not an EVF guy, but I do need to be able to see what I'm shooting without relying on the rear LCD, so I need some sort of VF or the ability to monitor externally.

I looked at the K01 because I wanted something smaller than my 5d2's and I was hoping to get a camera with IBIS to make my handheld video a little smoother. I want an APS-c camera that shoots great stills and offers full manual control in video - I wanted something to replace my 5d2's because I'm tired of lugging all that gear and APS-c IMHO has basically matched the 5d2's IQ. I cut GH2 and Nex5n footage with my 5d2's all the time and everyone that writes the checks has been happy. So I'm selling off all my Canon and Zeiss lenses to get a little more compact. Since the K01 and the 5n share the same sensor I know what I can do.

The video is bunk on the Xpro1 so that was crossed of my list almost immediately. The EM-5 seems limited in that department too, until Olympus offers more framerate options it will not replace my GH2, but I really like the IBIS. The 5n is great, but I want to be able to make adjustments a little faster and I shoot with flashes and external mics - so the 5n is nothing more than a spare or a "B" cam for me. The K01 ticks most of the boxes and obviously has great DR, but it still came up short for me. I could live without the EVF on the K01 if I could run a small external monitor for video. I have the SmallHD DP4 and I live in Florida - its always sunny here so I don't shoot off the LCD very often outside, too much squinting.

I also wanted something faster than the 5d2, 10 FPS on the Nex has been awesome, I've never been much of an action shooter because the 5d2's burst is a little lacking - not so with the Nex. I'm keeping an eye on the K01 in case Pentax unlocks the ability to get a live image through the HDMI while shooting and allows for focus peaking to work when recording - its marvelously useful on the Nex7 when using manual glass. Though the SmallHD has peaking so that's not as big of a priority as being able to monitor while recording. There's also talk on the GH2 hack forum that the K01 is in their sights - so if more capability is opened up I'll buy one.

[mervis]

Thanks, Chris. Actually I was addressing the OP. Should have been more clear.

[djc737]

It's worth mentioning that the K-01 lists for $450 less than the other two cameras. Plus adapter cost.

Or do you have money to burn?

It sounds like you are one of the must-have-EVF crowd (not that there's anything wrong with that). If that's the case, why even consider the K-01? It's too bad because the K-01 makes marvelous images and would be a perfect fit for the lenses you already own & without the adapter kludge.


Happy purchasing.

Yes it is cheaper but I do already own adapters for both Oly and Sony.

No money to burn. I invested all I had from my Olympus gear into Pentax primes and the K-5. I love using them. Just sometimes, I want something even smaller and lighter than the K-5 to carry. I have this nice LowePro belly pack that carries my lenses just fine but the K-5 just tips the scale for a belly pack. I would like to put together a nature travel setup in it consisting of an MILC plus my DA 21, and DFA 50 and 100. This would be easy to carry and not dent my back after a while.

I do have a fear of getting the K-01 and really not being able to use it as I would like. My GF1 and twin lens kit is now in the possession of my daughter so she would stop sending me crappy cell phone images of the grand kids so I need a new MILC for my lighter work. The adapter kludge is really just that. When added they do make the size difference between the K-01 and the other brands insignificant.

I also see that my impulse for LBA rise up when I look at another brand. The Oly EM5 would then need the grip, flash, 12mm, 25 f.95 and 45mm so it easily jumps into the thousands of dollars. The NEX-7 would just have to have the Zeiss 24mm and Sony 50mm. Also a big price tag. Then you get all the duplication of FL and then which body with which lenses confusion. The K-01 is the real answer. Maybe I will make the journey to the holy place of photography and take a trip to NYC to visit, B&H. That is where I first picked up the K-5 and new it was the future for my DSLR needs.

An EVF would have made this so much easier.

[jmg257]

If I had a real use for it, I would buy the E-M5 et. al. Sexy looking MILC, and there is nothing wrong with having more then 1 system...especially when they can both be justified!

Life is short - why settle?