[surfar]

the Panasonic GX-7

Its the first of the Panasonics with IBIS,the earlier Olys had it but a lot were only 12mp.

[Qman]

If you want stabilized and focus peaking then take a look at the K-70. No, it isn't mirrorless, but it's not too expensive, has good focus peaking, works well with M42 lenses, and is reasonably compact for a dslr.
If you want more compact then the Sony A6500 would work, but it's not exactly inexpensive.

[conradj]

i just got a K-P, a 77mm Limited and the K-1 kit lens, the D FA 28-105mm WR; it's rather dried up my resources for the time being even tho only the K-P is new. So, no A7, A6500 or liveview K-1 for me.

Currently i'm using an old G1X with CHDK firmware as my P&Shooter. It can take rather nice snaps, but find it a pain to work with and doesn't turn my crank. Too damned slow and ungainly. Every time i pick it up find i'm itching to have a real lens on the front of the thing where i can work the focus ring myself, make my own guesstimates abt f stops, and still have a LCD which i can take glances down at for framing. That's the whole point for me, have a cam which i don't have to jam into my eye to work it.

i dunno which lenses i'd use on it. Got a few M42 Takumars i liked. A 105mm, a 35mm, 28mm. A bunch of lenses between 50-58mm. Think i'll leave out anything longer than the 105.

[btnapa]

You know, something with a liveview screen that has focus peaking.

Take a look at the Fuji and Sony offerings. If you have the budget go for the X-H1 (APS-C and stablized) or the Sony A7III (full frame and stablized). If cost is an issue take a look at a used Sony A6500 (APS-C and stablized) or the Fuji X-T20 (APS-C but non-stablized).

I am currently testing a bunch of my old M42 lenses with a Fuji X-T2 (APS-C, non-stablized), The results easily match my K1 and my Limited and other modern Pentax lenses.

[D1N0]

The Sony A6500 is stabilized. You could get the Sony A7 II for about the same price. Much easier en cheaper is to use a Pentax body. you can find a K-50 for less than $300 I guess.

[lytrytyr]

i've got a bunch of old M42 lenses, as i'm sure many of you do as well, and they don't get much attention. Was wondering if there are relatively cheap, stabilized (i'm pretty shaky), mirrorless bodies for which i could get M42 adapters and put these dusty hunks of glass to goord use.

I use a K-01 with an original Pentax M 42 adapter.
The big battery has the horsepower to run the liveview,
and the body is beefy enough to absorb the heat that's generated.

[marcusBMG]

A potential value option is a samsung: I paid approx a hundred (£) for my NX20 20MPx apsc s/h. EVF is good, fully artic lcd, instant magnification of the evf with one button press for very accurate focus with MF. But I am not impressed with the noise as soon as asa is bumped. My impression is: probably not as good as the equivalent sony but at the price I am not complaining.
Cheap simple adapters for M42, Pk etc readily available.

It will be hard to beat a K-01 for your criteria:

About $250 for an excellent condition used body, most of the other cameras mentioned here with IBIS are double or triple the price.

IBIS, live view, focus peaking (you can program it to turn on and off with the red button), simple layout, reliable and rugged (except for the mode dial that may need to be reglued), an excellent sensor, a built-in flash. It also has the Pentax menu system which is considered very intuitive and can be set up to optimize your manual shooting preferences. Lytrytyr's comment about the big battery should be taken into consideration as well. Your 28mm will give an equivalent field-of-view of a FF 42mm which many consider to optimum for a "normal" lens, and you will be using the center of the field so your edge to edge sharpness will be excellent. You can use a longer lens shade as well to minimize flare. As far as a true manual wide-angle goes, Samyang makes several excellent ones for under $400.

I find that I use my K-01 much more than I use my K-30.

[JohnBee]

"relatively cheap".???

I've seen a6500's go for around 900USD on eBay - might make a relatively low cost MF body

[surfar]

I've seen a6500's go for around 900USD on eBay - might make a relatively low cost MF body

Not really low cost to replace a point and shoot.

[BigMackCam]

I'm going to mention the Sony NEX series one last time. Aside from lacking in-camera stabilisation (which no APS-C mirrorless is going to offer if low cost is a priority), it ticks all the OP's boxes... Small (to replace a compact camera), no viewfinder, focus peaking (may require firmware update) and examples of the NEX 3 and 5 can be found for very little money. Image quality is nice too, both from the RAW files and Sony's rather good in-camera JPEG engine

[UncleVanya]

If the Olympus bodies don't appeal then the Panasonic GX-1 is my backup m43 - it doesn't have any IBIS so that doesn't match your criteria but it is without a EVF and very very small while still offering all the bells and whistles and a 16mp sensor.

[conradj]

Goodness, but you guys have given me a lot to mull over. i thank you for all your time and advice.

i hadn't really considered a K-01. As you say tho, it has most of the features i'm looking for. i'd always dismissed it as just a K-5 without the mirror box and thot of it as a big brick. i see now that it's a bit smaller than the K-P. And i might just have enough left over to go hunting for that 8 element M42 50mm f/1.4 Tak. So add that to the list.

Hm. Add a Panny. i know there's a Nex 7 body available near where i live. Add that. The Fuji X-H1 is out of my price range unfortch. The A6500 also by a little bit, tho i played with one a couple years ago at the local Best Buy, and quite liked it. i can get hold a used A6500 body for around $1250CAD; say $980USD.

i coulda bought a pretty decent used VW for what i'm laying out for camera gear this spring. So far i'm very happy with the K-P and 77mm. Exactly what i needed. Feel spoiled by its IQ and the SR, which last works much better for me than the K-5.

The only downside has been that the Tammy 17-50mm doesn't seem to like the K-P. Both AF and MF are a pain with that combo, or i haven't figured it out yet.

edit: the set of my AF lenses i like to use with the K-P is quite short. The F 35-70mm, FA 50 f/1.4, the 77mm Limited; haven't decided with the F 70-210, the F 35-105, or the F 35-135, tho they all resolve better than expected. My MF primes that i like with the K-P are even fewer; just the SMC-K 50mm f/1.4 and the Kiron 28mm F2.

Makes me want to go looking for Voigtlander glass.

[JohnBee]

Not really low cost to replace a point and shoot.

As much as a hate to admit it, the camera industry appears to have become rather expensive over the course of the years. I remember buying my very first Pentax camera for less than 1100.00 with two lenses. Whereas my latest mirrorless camera's set me back nearly 4000CAD.

With that said, I think the OP will have a tough time finding a mirrorless with IS for much less. Could be wrong, though I'm thinking 900USD will likely be about as low as it could go without compromising on some feature or another.

With that said, I think the OP will have a tough time finding a mirrorless with IS for much less. Could be wrong, though I'm thinking 900USD will likely be about as low as it could go without compromising on some feature or another.

You are wrong. K-01 is 650 USD less!