Originally posted by Kunzite K-mount MILC? They did that, we know how it went.
K-01 was hardly a "definitive" test. MILC seems to have a split identity. It can mean:
- Small! Cute! But still serious enough that you can change the lenses! Let's market this to women! Artsy women! But who still want to put the camera in their purse!
- Serious MILC for the gadget head. Our customer will love adapting old lenses, will love pretending to have a Leica, will appreciate the technical prowess involved in making our cameras. Our (manly) customer is an iconoclast who will try to prove this camera does everything the Canon 5D MK IX can do!
(Please note: the sexist tone above is SARCASM, though I fear it's real inside of many camera companies.)
I believe Pentax went all-in with the first approach. The Q was the "twee-est" MILC they could make. The K-01 was an attempt to do "fashion forward" within the constraints of an existing mount.
If Pentax gets around to trying to make a MILC for the second market, I think they will do quite well. This is the market where Fuji's top-of-the-line ) and most "traditional") cameras are playing. This is the market where the Sony A7/A9 series is playing. This is where the Olympus EM1 is playing. None of these are "twee" cameras. They are big, they are serious, and -realistically- they could get away with a bigger legacy mount. These customers aren't going to run away from a cool new camera because it adds a few millimetres to the lens throat. They are already putting f/2.8 zooms on, and battery grips. Pentax could easily make a high-end, traditional-feeling MILC with K-Mount that be accepted by these users.
And to answer those who will say "but why bother? It won't be smaller!" I refer you back to my market analysis above. There are good reasons to like mirrorless. I experienced these on the K-01. They include:
- EXTREMELY accurate focus, because you are focusing on the sensor. All AF alignment issues go away.
- Easy preview of DOF, filters, processing. I loved shooting on my K-01 with a square crop, black & white mode with red filter.
- Video. Enough has already been said.
Could a K-2 with HYBRID EVF+OVF do the same? Yes. But I suggest this would be MORE expensive and much riskier R&D than doing a K-02 with an EVF stuffed into the empty reflex hump of a KP or K-1.
Last edited by filmamigo; 05-09-2017 at 11:55 AM.