Originally posted by Tony Belding R stands for reflex, i.e. reflective, which means it has to have a mirror. A mirrorless camera, by definition, does not.
I think I'm getting myself a bit mixed up here. I don't think a K-01 claims to be a DSLR does it?
It was while I was looking for a body-only Pentax camera so that I could use the Pentax lenses that I had that I came across the K-01. I had never heard the term "mirrorless" and so it didn't mean anything to me. Don't have time or the patience to go through a big research programme when I want a new camera. Or to read photography magazines.
My istDL camera had stopped working in Auto Focus mode, although it can do occasionally, and so I decided the time had come to replace it. A quick on-line search found the K-01 and I decided that was it. I only found the lack of viewfinder after I had started to use it. So thanks to all those on Pentax Forum who supplied the information about the loupe and other devices that overcome the problem.
By the way, does the lack of battery power affect the MF/AF use? I use rechargeable batteries and the battery status indicator rarely shows more than half full (one of the two segments is back) even when fresh out of the charger. Maybe that should be "used rechargeable batteries" and I should switch to non-rechargeable.
That is one plus point about the K-01 for me - D-LI90 lithium-ion battery which has much more power than four AA batteries.