[LeRolls]

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Yeah, I was playing with the Samsung NX1000 today at work (Best Buy) and I was not at all impressed with the design or overall build quality. Very cheap plastic and hollow feeling. It was going for $550 which is $100 more than I paid for the K-01. Performance wise it did seem fairly capable and the menus were nice but it just made me want my white K-01 to arrive even sooner!

Definitely want to get some hands on with the EOS M when it comes out here in the US just to feel the heft and build quality. I think the 22mm f/2 kit lens for the EOS M looks much better than the 18-55 and I'm actually a little jealous. Do you guys like the looks of the 40mm pancake lens for K-01? Or do you prefer to slap on some of your old lenses?

From an aesthetic point of view I happen to dislike all of the Nikon mirror-less offerings but the V2 is by far the ugliest of the bunch!

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Last edited by LeRolls; 10-28-2012 at 02:00 PM.

[Blue]

Yeah, I was playing with the Samsung NX1000 today at work (Best Buy) and I was not at all impressed with the design or overall build quality. Very cheap plastic and hollow feeling. It was going for $550 which is $100 more than I paid for the K-01. Performance wise it did seem fairly capable and the menus were nice but it just made me want my white K-01 to arrive even sooner!

Definitely want to get some hands on with the EOS M when it comes out here in the US just to feel the heft and build quality. I think the 22mm f/2 kit lens for the EOS M looks much better than the 18-55 and I'm actually a little jealous. Do you guys like the looks of the 40mm pancake lens for K-01? Or do you prefer to slap on some of your old lenses?

From an aesthetic point of view I happen to dislike all of the Nikon mirror-less offerings but the V2 is by far the ugliest of the bunch!

I would prefer the DA 40 LTD or FA 43 Ltd over the XS.

[LeRolls]

I would prefer the DA 40 LTD or FA 43 Ltd over the XS.

I just looked up the FA 43 and that lens would definitely look pretty snazzy on the K-01. Unfortunately, at a price range between $500-$1000 I would have to save up for quite awhile indeed. Starting out do you guys find the 40mm XS to be a solid performer? I happen to be particularly partial to diminutively sized primes especially at lower price points.

[Na Horuk]

Do you guys like the looks of the 40mm pancake lens for K-01? Or do you prefer to slap on some of your old lenses?

The pancake was literally made for that camera Though I find it looks great with my DA 35mm f2.4 or even the M 50mm f1.7. I think someone posted a link to their gallery of the Pentax K-01 with all sorts of lenses mounted, from modern ones to old Russian m42 ones. It looked pretty great with most of them.
The 40mm XS is very quick when it comes to AF. Its sharp, but its main strength is its size. You can always carry it around with you. Just don't lose the lens cap!

[Blue]

I just looked up the FA 43 and that lens would definitely look pretty snazzy on the K-01. Unfortunately, at a price range between $500-$1000 I would have to save up for quite awhile indeed. Starting out do you guys find the 40mm XS to be a solid performer? I happen to be particularly partial to diminutively sized primes especially at lower price points.

Optically, the DA 40 XS is supposed to be the same as the DA 40 Ltd. Outside of sample variations, any differences in the 2 would likely be from situations where the hood matters.

[THoog]

I think someone posted a link to their gallery of the Pentax K-01 with all sorts of lenses mounted, from modern ones to old Russian m42 ones. It looked pretty great with most of them.

That would be me:
Learning the K-01 - a set on Flickr

I've since added a shot of the K-01 "dressed up" with a ~1915 Kodak / B&L Rapid Rectilinear, but I don't think it will become a popular lens choice.

Personally, the DA 40 Limited looks more "camera like" than the XS, but the XS will always have a place in my travel bag - since it can replace a body cap with almost no change in weight or volume.

-Todd

[LeRolls]

Good to hear about the 40 XS as I plan on using it a lot. Those Zebra lenses look great on the K-01! Might have to eventually look into tracking one of those down. I just won this Sigma 16mm lens on eBay: Sigma 16mm F 2 8 Fisheye Filtermatic A Mount Lens Pentax Ka K7 PKA K5 27075001565 | eBay

It lists K mounts as being compatible so I'm assuming I'm good but I thought I'd double check with you guys. I was looking for a decent older (aka cheaper) wide angle lens that would work well with the K-01 and be OK for semi low-light situations. Any of you guys have any experience with this lens? Did I get a good price (guy originally wanted $300)? Sorry if I come across as an uber newb but you all seem like a helpful lot. I already read the forum reviews (very useful by the way) but I just figured I'd also ask.

[THoog]

The Carl Zeiss Jena zebras are classy and great lenses (I'm biased, I admit), but once you go zebra, in no time, you'll find yourself wandering the streets, muttering words like "Flektogon" and "Biometar", looking for change to feed your Lens Buying Addiction.

I'm not familiar with that particular Sigma, but since it's a PK-A type, it should work fine with the K-01. Just leave the aperture ring in the 'A' position, and all of the camera modes will work. If it weren't an A, then you'd be limited to manual mode. Because of the crop factor, the lens will effectively be a 24mm, and while there will be some fisheye distortion, it won't be very 'fishy'.

[LeRolls]

The Carl Zeiss Jena zebras are classy and great lenses (I'm biased, I admit), but once you go zebra, in no time, you'll find yourself wandering the streets, muttering words like "Flektogon" and "Biometar", looking for change to feed your Lens Buying Addiction.

I'm not familiar with that particular Sigma, but since it's a PK-A type, it should work fine with the K-01. Just leave the aperture ring in the 'A' position, and all of the camera modes will work. If it weren't an A, then you'd be limited to manual mode. Because of the crop factor, the lens will effectively be a 24mm, and while there will be some fisheye distortion, it won't be very 'fishy'.

Thanks! Yeah I was just looking for a solid prime lens to accommodate smaller spaces and didn't really need to go overboard with the fisheye effect (my brother and I go to a lot of conventions and often you're very limited in the space you can work in).

"Flektogon" and "Biometar" sound like Transformer names which is certainly all kinds of retro cool.

[JinDesu]

Yeah, I was playing with the Samsung NX1000 today at work (Best Buy) and I was not at all impressed with the design or overall build quality. Very cheap plastic and hollow feeling. It was going for $550 which is $100 more than I paid for the K-01. Performance wise it did seem fairly capable and the menus were nice but it just made me want my white K-01 to arrive even sooner!

Definitely want to get some hands on with the EOS M when it comes out here in the US just to feel the heft and build quality. I think the 22mm f/2 kit lens for the EOS M looks much better than the 18-55 and I'm actually a little jealous. Do you guys like the looks of the 40mm pancake lens for K-01? Or do you prefer to slap on some of your old lenses?

From an aesthetic point of view I happen to dislike all of the Nikon mirror-less offerings but the V2 is by far the ugliest of the bunch!

Just a heads up - EOS-M reviews seem to be coming out soon, and the AF is being derided, even with the 22mm F2.

[LeRolls]

I just watched the DigitalRev hands on the EOS M and watching Kai run around desperately trying to get the auto-focus to work was pretty disheartening. In the end he seemed noticeably disappointed with the camera. It's unfortunate because I did have high hopes Canon's first foray into the mirror-less world.

[THoog]

I just watched the DigitalRev hands on the EOS M and watching Kai run around desperately trying to get the auto-focus to work was pretty disheartening. In the end he seemed noticeably disappointed with the camera. It's unfortunate because I did have high hopes Canon's first foray into the mirror-less world.

I'm not one to gloat, but I do feel a certain grim satisfaction after all the criticism of the AF performance on the Q and K-01 (initial firmwares, at least). If Canon has trouble with it as well, with the vast resources at their disposal, it must not be that easy. It looked like the EOS M has its strengths, but is not suited for Kai's style of street shooting. It may take phase-detect on the sensor for mirrorless cameras to really work.

Side note: L Lens on a black bar of soap: yech. Even the kit lens looked chunky. I much prefer a K-01 with a petite M28/2.8.

[RonHendriks1966]

Do you guys like the looks of the 40mm pancake lens for K-01? Or do you prefer to slap on some of your old lenses?

I sold my 40mm xs pancake. I already own the 40mm Ltd and that is a better lens. I almost never use the 40mm on my K-01 since I feel it is a little small all together and I like to have some lens to hold on to. My most used lens on K-01 is FA31mm, and then FA*85mm with DA*55mm coming in third.

[LeRolls]

I sold my 40mm xs pancake. I already own the 40mm Ltd and that is a better lens. I almost never use the 40mm on my K-01 since I feel it is a little small all together and I like to have some lens to hold on to. My most used lens on K-01 is FA31mm, and then FA*85mm with DA*55mm coming in third.

I won't know how I'll truly feel till my K-01 arrives and I've had time to play with it but I usually tend to prefer smaller compact lenses. I would love to snag the FA31mm but it'll probably be a little while before that happens. I do have a sigma 16mm on the way so hopefully I can have a little fun with that one in the mean time.

[wanderography]

Just like I always say, the K-01 is a stunning looking camera in person. I fell in love with the white version but the fools at pentax sent me a yellow one, which I ended up liking even more than the white (mainly because I noticed it matched a lot of my clothes) and refused to send it back to exchange it for a white one haha. I had the 40xs and sold it at a premium as soon as I heard that thing yell at me to AF, I was like um no, I'll stick to my manual focus lenses lol. Here's the two pancakes that never leave my K-01s side, the CVs look really classy on the K-01, I feel like they are the only two lenses I'll ever need, just need an ikodot to compliment them for my zone focusing.