Originally posted by mee That is a scary statement to me.
It might not be true, it is just my opinion.
Let us look at some verifiable facts about this though:
Leica M10 $6,595 24MP FF sensor, 5 fps, Wifi, 1 million dot LCD, ISO 100 - 50,000, 2.4MP EVF available for seperate purchase, rangefinder, live view, no video
Pentax K1 $1,819 36MP FF sensor, 4.4fps Wifi, GPS, 1M dot LCD flexible, ISO 100 - 204,800, no EVF, Pentaprism OVF, live view, 1080P video
Pentax KP, $1,099, 24MP APS-C sensor, 7fps, Wifi, 0.9M dot LCD tilts, ISO 100 - 819,200, no EVF, Pentaprism OVF, live view, 1080P video
Objectively, will you get better image quality from the Leica M10 when compared with the Pentax K1 or KP? If I put my Zeiss 28mm on the K1 or KP (a world class lens) or the Pentax 28mm Hollywood, compared with the Leica 28mm (also a word class lens) then the answer would most likely be - they would be different rendering, but you would really be splitting hairs on the IQ. No doubt you could argue forever on this, but really it would be very hard to tell.
So, if the purchase decision isn't about image quality then it will be about the total system, and what appeals to you - how it makes you feel, what you want, and what you like using.
The issue of purchasing Leica instead of Pentax (K1 or KP) certainly isn't going to be about cost because Pentax wins that all year long, and in hard reality it isn't about image quality.
Some would argue it is about the Leica 'look' but then I could buy the Leica Summicon R APO 90mm f2 (arguably the worlds best SLR portrait lens $3,700 on Ebay), a Leitax adaptor, and a K1, still have change over the cost of the M10 body, and achieve the very best of that Leica 'look' if that is important. The same would go for any number of other Leica R lenses.
So, coming back to why people buy Leica over Pentax - total system, high FF IQ, light street camera, and apparently being able to capture that decisive moment like Henri Cartier-Bresson
Could I do all that with a Pentax K1 or KP - theoretically, of course. Except I am no where near the quality of photographer of Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams for that matter. So, practically no - not with a Leica, and not with a Pentax or any other photographic equipment for that matter. But that is to do with my skill level and artistic flair, and has nothing to do with the equipment.
Camera companies such as Leica are not in reality selling practicalities - they are selling a myth and a dream. If it makes you feel good, why not, it is a free society.
What I have found amusing in the last few weeks is the Leica reviewers highly praising the new M10 (cost is irrelevant) while here we have had people grizzling about the KP and its high cost. The Pentax KP is arguably a better camera technically than the Leica M10, which costs 6 times as much.
Such is life