I've owned a K-01 for less than two months, but I think I understand Pentax's proposition regarding the LCD screen.
The rear screen was designed as a framing and focusing device, such as an optical viewfinder. And, with focus peaking, it excels as such. I've been able to obtain precise focus with my FA 43mm wide open, consistently that is, as I've never been able to do with my K10D.
As a framing and focusing device, if the screen were to appear under or overexposed, focus confirmation could be severely impaired if not just impossible. Not to mention that a severely under or overexposed image simulation would almost completely obscure viewing of the scene itself.
Therefore, the lack of a live exposure preview isn't a bug, it's a feature :-) A quite successful feature, IMHO. I wouldn't change anything.
Notwithstanding the lack of a live exposure preview, the K-01 does offer at least three metering aids (the last two are disabled by default):
- An exposure bar, which indicates under and overexposure;
- A live histogram; and
- Live under and overexposure blinking indications.
I've only enabled the live histogram, because I too think the blinking is too distracting and interferes with the simple viewing of the scene.
And I do find the live histogram useful.
As far as I've been able to observe, the live histogram is actually a preview of the image's histogram if a correct exposure is made as indicated by the exposure bar.
Knowing how to read a histogram chart helps in evaluating if and by how much the exposure bar indication should be overridden. And I've been finding out it works great for me.
Cheers,