Originally posted by Rondec Sorry if it is upsetting. The 18-50 was specifically designed as a compact kit lens. I'm not sure about the Sony lens. I assumed an 18-55 variable aperture lens was a kit, but I could be wrong. The KS-1 is one of the smaller Pentax cameras that I'm aware of, but the kx and kr and km were pretty small too. They just aren't on camera size's web site.
My point is only that everyone acts like the reason that SLRs is so big is because of the mirror and yes, if you remove the mirror, you can make them thinner. There is no doubt about that fact. But otherwise they are often similar size and if you want things like IBIS, easy access buttons, good ergonomics, you may need to make your camera a little larger in order to accommodate average human hands.
I see you say may, but if you look at the olympus offerings in comparison to other m43 cameras, the ibis on those cameras do not really add any size to them. Besides why is everyone so caught up on the size of their camera? Yes i know portability and weight... blah, blah. Small bodies and larger bodies both have their advantages. I would think people should be happy with both, and equally happy with mirrorless cameras for one reason, and that is pushing advancements in digital photography equipment in general.
In the grand scheme of things the two, dslrs and milc, is all about preferences. The parts that most of us overlook is, for the average consumer:
They are not going to worry about draining their battery, and a single battery will last a couple outings, and most likely will drain quicker sitting on a shelf then at the different events they use it for.
Most likely will just stick with the kit lens, if not might get a better lens for one reason or another. In the case of dslr a case would be looking for a smaller lens. As far as milc it would be image quality.
Likely will pick a camera based on store prices or word of mouth. One of the reasons why canon are still selling a great number of cameras.
Are happy with their phones and when picking a camera want something equivalent in size, priced decently, and/or feels great with good pictures.
Idk thats my thought anyways, and things ive heard from people as well. Just the other day, i was on a hike and a guy was curious on the camera i was shooting with. As the conversation was done with, he was really considering dropping his canon for a panasonic, olympus, or even sony, the size/weight advantage, and features they had over traditional cameras.
Im not advocating for the mirrorless movement, but it should not be overlooked. At the same time pentax is not a mirrorless company(not yet anyways), they cater to the small dslr packed with features. Really not bad either way.