[surfar]

t enlarge or crop and it becomes blindingly obvious what the limitations are

Most definitely,and thats the thing...phn images arent enlarged or cropped very often.

I've even heard people claim some phones outperform DSLRs

Thats why Optometrists are in buisness!

[reh321]

(For those of you who want to bring up the Q series, I'll just say that if I want a camera with a cell phone sensor, I'll buy a cell phone.)

In 2014 I took my Canon Elph to the Madrigal Dinner provided by the college where my wife works; partway through the dinner, she commented that my pictures "weren't right" - further whispered conversation revealed she was reacting to the fact that the Elph insisted on "fixing" the WB for me .... wiping out the candlelight ambiance the producers had worked so hard to produce as they turned a student lounge into a medieval dining room. I purchased my Q-7 a few weeks later, and she has been happy with the colors ever since. In fact, a couple of years ago, I commented to the lady ahead of me that she would get better pictures if she wouldn't use the flash on her Nikon DSLR, and she responded that she was getting too much "noise" when she took natural light pictures; when she saw the picture I had taken of her daughter's solo, she asked me to email one to her {I'm not claiming the Q-7 is the equal of a current Nikon - but I am getting good pictures}. Recently we went to another dinner theater production at the college, and only after I got there did I learn that they encouraged photography; I used my smart phone, but I would have gotten much better images with the Q-7, because the '06' lens gives me good views when I need some telephoto {it is both 'longer' and wider aperture than what my smart phone provides}


added: and to which cell phone can you add a 70-300mm lens to give a shot of an eagle nest when the park people are keeping us away so the parents aren't spooked?

I have also seen complaints about the awkward styling and the size of the K-01. I just have to say, if you are one of those people who are still insisting that successful mirrorless cameras have to be small, PLEASE go to camerasize.com and compare the size of your APS-C Pentax body to a comparable MFT body, like the EM1 Mark II or the Lumix G9. My Lumix GX85 is almost the same size as a K-01, and the "too-large" K-01 could comfortably hide behind the G9 that is next on my purchase list.

You are basically correct here. I believe the K-01 would have sold much better - I know I would have purchased it instead of the K-30 I did purchase - if it had an EVF .... but Pentax decided not to go that route. Of current cameras, the K-70 seems to have the sensor most suited for MILC .... but their engineering department seems to have their hands full with DSLR development.