Originally posted by gazonk because current mirrorless cameras with viewfinders have a rather boring design and look like DSLRS
"...boring design..." This is debatable, some like it others don't. But of course there are people who will buy by looks or what they perceive to be "good looks". Anyone who buys the K-01
only because it looks good or for the "look at me" syndrome, in my estimation, will most likely be one who would not miss a VF.
There is a whole generation of people who entered the digital photo revolution when they acquired their first camera and it was a Point & Shoot. Surprisingly most of the early P&Ss did have a VF. (But this is all forgotten now.) However the camera makers quickly realised these newcomers did not bother much with Viewfinders because they were "taken in" by the pretty, albeit low res, pictures they saw on those LCDs. This
new section of the market did not then, and most likely now, know nothing or very little about photography. I bet there are some even today who don't fully understand viewfinders or how to work with one, they know nothing about lenses, don't know how to change one or why.
And now the die is cast. Camera makers must think we have all been re-progammed. A Viefinder is now considered at best an optional interface between ones eyes and a motive and at worse totally unnecessary. (What?) Certainly modern rear LCDs are high res now and therefore more suitable as a pseudo Viewfinder but it will never replace the real thing.
And what's more, a cam with a reasonably functional VF does not have to look like a DSLR. If it is only just a rudimentary VF that can be used for the purpose of framing a shot in bright sunlight it certainly does not have to be one that makes a cam look ugly. May I remind people that when the first Point & Shoot's came onto the market almost all of them had a VF. Look up the history files. I still have two, the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P7 and the Olympus SP-350. And don't try to convince me the modern cams are so cramped full of gear there is no room for one. Because of less advances in miniaturization then, the old or first P&Ss were as cramped as the new ones are now.
I think to put a cam on the market sans Viewfinder can only be a cost saving exercise.
I would love to buy the K-01, I really would, but without a Viewfinder - NO DEAL
Greetings