Pentax K-01 Initial Impressions - With Photos

Pheo · 01-03-2013, 05:29 AM

So, this past weekend I was shooting a dance event near London Heathrow. I picked up a K-01 from SRS Microsystems in the UK on the proceeding Friday, as a backup body, which was an ex-display model from Pentax UK.

First Impressions:

It looks quite large - but fits in my camera bags with lenses much easier than my K-30, therefore leading me to conclude that my analysis of the size via snapsort was correct (approx 30% smaller)
I keep forgetting it doesn't have a viewfinder and raising it to my eye
The colours coming out of it in JPG seem "different" than from my K-30 - with more "punch", despite them being set to the same settings. I'm confused by this
It worked properly with my Metz 58 AF1, unlike my K-30 (I'd not realised it wasn't until I put it on the K-01 and the pictures suddenly started looking good!)
LiveView is good for action photography, in that it allows me to be aware of my surroundings - this is particularly important in the middle of a busy dance floor, where I might well wonder into the path of an oncoming dancer!
Battery life is excellent, better than my K-30 IMO
CDAF worked well, much beyond my expectations. I found the face tracking mode to generally be OK, and the camera to be reasonably intelligent about it. It also felt more accurate than my K30 in PDAF, but I have no empircal evidence for this
Tamron 17-50mm performed well and focused quickly with CDAF, again, I was expecting problems with this and didn't experience any
Easier to determine whether it had focused correctly in LiveView mode, vs Viewfinder, due to peaking.

Negatives:

Locks up more than the K30 when shooting in burst, this did occasionally get a bit annoying, although better timing skills on my part would negate this to a large extent - I didn't need to use the buffer too often as is.
Took me ages to work out how to change between aperture and shutter in TAv mode!
Can't take stills during video
Was a bit uncomfortable holding it for long periods, and I occasionally pressed some of the rear controls, especially when holding it in portrait (I think a tripod mount hand grip would solve/help with this

Now if anyone can tell me how to get the same "punch" out of my K-30 JPG engine, I'll be a happy bunny (I'll be even happier if they can fix my metz 58 AF1 on it as well!)

Medium FormatPro · 01-03-2013, 06:04 AM

To address the last part of the posting in this first posting... You might want to try the jpeg+raw on both cameras. Sure t takes up more room on a memory card, but it also "leaves room" for much more creative type of work; even for colors, shades, textures, etc... The options are near endless for raw.

JinDesu · 01-03-2013, 06:35 AM

Nice review, and cool shots

Pheo · 01-03-2013, 06:52 AM

Originally posted by Medium FormatPro

To address the last part of the posting in this first posting... You might want to try the jpeg+raw on both cameras. Sure t takes up more room on a memory card, but it also "leaves room" for much more creative type of work; even for colors, shades, textures, etc... The options are near endless for raw.

I was using JPG Plus RAW on the K30, due to this issue. Although the K-30 shots are OK, I prefer the look of the ones from the K-01. It may be due to the Metz not working well on the K30, and the AF360FGZ not being powerful enough (the ballroom had a relatively high ceiling). Will have to do some more experimentatiojn.

Avoiding JPG+RAW on the K-01 due to the buffering not being as good as the K-30 - plus I was happy with the JPG Engine output, and it really does seem to slow aperture down using RAWs natively.

01-03-2013, 05:29 AM	#1
Pheo Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brighton, United Kingdom Photos: Gallery Posts: 311	Pentax K-01 Initial Impressions - With Photos So, this past weekend I was shooting a dance event near London Heathrow. I picked up a K-01 from SRS Microsystems in the UK on the proceeding Friday, as a backup body, which was an ex-display model from Pentax UK. First Impressions: It looks quite large - but fits in my camera bags with lenses much easier than my K-30, therefore leading me to conclude that my analysis of the size via snapsort was correct (approx 30% smaller) I keep forgetting it doesn't have a viewfinder and raising it to my eye The colours coming out of it in JPG seem "different" than from my K-30 - with more "punch", despite them being set to the same settings. I'm confused by this It worked properly with my Metz 58 AF1, unlike my K-30 (I'd not realised it wasn't until I put it on the K-01 and the pictures suddenly started looking good!) LiveView is good for action photography, in that it allows me to be aware of my surroundings - this is particularly important in the middle of a busy dance floor, where I might well wonder into the path of an oncoming dancer! Battery life is excellent, better than my K-30 IMO CDAF worked well, much beyond my expectations. I found the face tracking mode to generally be OK, and the camera to be reasonably intelligent about it. It also felt more accurate than my K30 in PDAF, but I have no empircal evidence for this Tamron 17-50mm performed well and focused quickly with CDAF, again, I was expecting problems with this and didn't experience any Easier to determine whether it had focused correctly in LiveView mode, vs Viewfinder, due to peaking. Negatives: Locks up more than the K30 when shooting in burst, this did occasionally get a bit annoying, although better timing skills on my part would negate this to a large extent - I didn't need to use the buffer too often as is. Took me ages to work out how to change between aperture and shutter in TAv mode! Can't take stills during video Was a bit uncomfortable holding it for long periods, and I occasionally pressed some of the rear controls, especially when holding it in portrait (I think a tripod mount hand grip would solve/help with this Now if anyone can tell me how to get the same "punch" out of my K-30 JPG engine, I'll be a happy bunny (I'll be even happier if they can fix my metz 58 AF1 on it as well!)

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01-03-2013, 06:04 AM	#2
Medium FormatPro Banned Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Charleston & Pittsburgh Photos: Albums Posts: 1,668	To address the last part of the posting in this first posting... You might want to try the jpeg+raw on both cameras. Sure t takes up more room on a memory card, but it also "leaves room" for much more creative type of work; even for colors, shades, textures, etc... The options are near endless for raw.

01-03-2013, 06:35 AM	#3
JinDesu Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: New York City Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,638	Nice review, and cool shots

01-03-2013, 06:52 AM	#4
Pheo Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brighton, United Kingdom Photos: Gallery Posts: 311 Original Poster	Originally posted by Medium FormatPro To address the last part of the posting in this first posting... You might want to try the jpeg+raw on both cameras. Sure t takes up more room on a memory card, but it also "leaves room" for much more creative type of work; even for colors, shades, textures, etc... The options are near endless for raw. I was using JPG Plus RAW on the K30, due to this issue. Although the K-30 shots are OK, I prefer the look of the ones from the K-01. It may be due to the Metz not working well on the K30, and the AF360FGZ not being powerful enough (the ballroom had a relatively high ceiling). Will have to do some more experimentatiojn. Avoiding JPG+RAW on the K-01 due to the buffering not being as good as the K-30 - plus I was happy with the JPG Engine output, and it really does seem to slow aperture down using RAWs natively.