[elliott]

perhaps it is only me but how can you shoot whithout an external flash? or you expect me to use the bulky gfz-smthing ones with it?

Why settle for hotshoe mounted flash? Put a little radio trigger up there and shoot off camera.

[climit]

Why settle for hotshoe mounted flash? Put a little radio trigger up there and shoot off camera.

+1 elliott

(though radio triggers don't support ttl?)

[Medium FormatPro]

But the people who are looking at this camera couldn't care much about that stuff

The Pentax label is general isn't exactly associated with sports and/or action photography. But it helps to have the 1.5 lens factor. Yet also condier that most all of the Sony cameras exceed Pentax's best or fastest cameras. Add to that Nikon, Canon, and (darn) over ten other names that have faster cameras than anything Pentax offers.

[ScreamingIdiot]

I'll likely buy a K-01. I'm a photography student who originally meant to roll with a K-30 but I couldn't afford it. I ended up with a K-20D and the damned motion compensation jammed after a few uses. It was used anyway but for the same darned price as that K-20 a few months ago, I could have gotten a K-01 NOW. Reality is you can't beat the price or the performance.

[kaiserz]

To be honest I don't think the k01 would be a good photography "learning" tool. It's more of a capable point and shoot that delivers awesome IQ and user control. To me the best "cheap" learning tool would be the k7 with some M or A lenses (They go for $370 - $400 now a-days). That's how I learned photography, and with that I was able to push myself to be a decent hobbyist. Applying what I learned from the K7 to the k01 I usually yield awesome results. But that's just my opinion (: (But my all time favorite body to learn on is still the ME and the ProgPlus)

Cheers,

[D0n]

Does anyone really think 12 bit is a big issue? The quality of the images from this camera are stunning.
I agree the power consumption is an issue, but a spare battery is no great imposition.
I don't understand your third point at all.

On the up side, the brick-like shape is actually very convenient for access in and out of a small camera case, and it is a wonderful mount for the limited pancakes.

Marketing fail maybe, but it's a pretty good camera, and exceptional value at the current price.

depends on which 12 bits really...
after all most final output is eight bits and as long as you keep the right eight bits the image will be fine...

this is the same argument as saying you need 24 megapixels at capture when final use winds up being flicker and facebook... lol! two megapixels will do the job, everything else gets tossed...

I think the k-01 will make a lovely studio camera, and when pressed into video camera duty, a bracket, external mic and hoods over both the lcd and lens this camera will suffice for many a cinematic shot for my indie film making..
I still have my d-slrs for other shooting situations and my camcorders for other video situations... the k-01 is just another tool for the right jobs and a damn fine value too.

[cyclone3d]

The Pentax label is general isn't exactly associated with sports and/or action photography. But it helps to have the 1.5 lens factor. Yet also condier that most all of the Sony cameras exceed Pentax's best or fastest cameras. Add to that Nikon, Canon, and (darn) over ten other names that have faster cameras than anything Pentax offers.

Your are talking continuous shooting mode correct?

I wouldn't be too sure about saying that iother mfgs have way faster cameras then Pentax does.

When I first got my K10d, I could, in rapid sucession, take about 6 pics in RAW mode before the camera would slow down to copy the buffer to the SD-CARD. The newest card I got was a much faster card (20MB/s write), and the K10d can now pretty much keep up with my finger hitting the shutter button as fast I can. Mind you, this is in single shot mode, I am not sure how it would performs in continuous mode as I have actually never even used it.

As for a K-01 that is on the way to me, I will have to wait and see if a faster SD card helps as much as it did on the K10d.

[Fontan]

I just bought a yellow one for $350, and I don't give a lick if it is a failure at that price, really. Hell, for that matter, I don't even care if it doesn't take pictures at all; our house is a mid-century modern classic, and K-01 works pretty well as a an object just sitting around.

I got rid of my K-7 on ebay, and replaced it with K-01. With wide angle lenses like FA 31 ltd, I barely use a viewfinder anyway, shooting more often just from the hips. So, from my prospective, I swapped out a sensor for $350, and lost a viewfinder (I must admit, it was rather a nice one at that when I did use it) in the process.

Now, I do agree that if and when I am shooting at a longer focal lengths, which I hardly ever do, I imagine this can be an issue outdoor. The LCD is blind as a bad in the strong sunlight. It is quite lame, actually.

[RonHendriks1966]

As for a K-01 that is on the way to me, I will have to wait and see if a faster SD card helps as much as it did on the K10d.

You won't miss out on much with your 20MB/s card if that is really the writespeed, since the K-01 tops out on less then 25 MB/s when shooting.

[creampuff]

Unless one actually uses the K-01, most who have never used it will not be able to shed off any pre-conceived notions of the camera's capabilities (or shortcomings). 12 bit vs 14 bit means very little in practice and irrelevant if one shoots jpegs straight out of the camera. Yes it can be tricky to use it with long lenses and in bright conditions but it really boils down to the photographer's skill or ability to adapt to the camera. The K-01 isn't perfect, what camera is? The only limitation isn't the lack of a viewfinder but the person behind it.

Here's a shot outdoors in bright sun with the K-01 and DA* 300mm handheld... it can be done

[Fontan]

Unless one actually uses the K-01, most who have never used it will not be able to shed off any pre-conceived notions of the camera's capabilities (or shortcomings). 12 bit vs 14 bit means very little in practice and irrelevant if one shoots jpegs straight out of the camera. Yes it can be tricky to use it with long lenses and in bright conditions but it really boils down to the photographer's skill or ability to adapt to the camera. The K-01 isn't perfect, what camera is? The only limitation isn't the lack of a viewfinder but the person behind it.

Here's a shot outdoors in bright sun with the K-01 and DA* 300mm handheld... it can be done

Well, I will admit, it is a very very sharp picture.

But for a picture such as this, it tells me more about the sensor's capability and focusing accuracy of DA*300 and K-01 while it tells me nothing about one's skill as a photographer. There is plenty of sunlight too, where one can shoot something like this with rather high shutter speed and wide open aperture. Unfortunately, it tells me nothing about how difficult (or easy) it is to frame a pic with no viewfinder, (or with LCD alone), in that you can sit there and say this was exactly how you wanted to frame it, to the last millimeter, in that the very tip of the fox tail is ever so slightly clipped on purpose just the way you wanted it, and I have absolutely no way of disputing it, because you are the only one that knows.

On the other hand, if you showed me a picture of a flying bird in not so favorable conditions in terms of lighting . . .

[kaiserz]

I believe that knowing the camera's strength and weaknesses are characteristics of a good photographer. Why would once push to achieve something that the camera cannot do really well? Like my mentor always tells me, "As a pro I know that sometimes I'm not going to be able to take "that" shot, it's not because I can't, it's because I know what my tools are capable of.".

Cheers,

[Fontan]

I believe that knowing the camera's strength and weaknesses are characteristics of a good photographer. Why would once push to achieve something that the camera cannot do really well? Like my mentor always tells me, "As a pro I know that sometimes I'm not going to be able to take "that" shot, it's not because I can't, it's because I know what my tools are capable of.".

Cheers,

Well, then there should be a sports photography competition with K-01.

[czadpoom]

I reckoned.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well, then there should be a sports photography competition with K-01.

You have to keep up




Some even think that this is a sportsimage