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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-17-2012, 11:37 AM
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Thanks, mono! Found it.
Here's a Great Blue Heron:
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-29-2012, 12:13 AM
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Inspired by Greta Eagan's Chinatown photo essay posted here a few days ago, I went for a walk in my own city's Chinatown. A gloomy day with intermittent rain, I was dealing with strange color casts being thrown by a mix of neon & fluorescent lights, garish paint jobs and cold daylight pouring through windows. Between the K-01's white balance decisions and a little help from Lightroom, I hope I managed all right. Here's a few randoms:
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-30-2012, 07:47 PM
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Hi Everybody.
I've started a Tumblr blog devoted to my K-01 images: Stanley & The Revolting Contraption
Some of the images you may have seen here already, others will be new. With just enough text for brief explanatory purposes. In the process of bringing it up to date now, but I thought I'd post a link as I continue updating. Once that's done, I'll be adding new photos every few days.
Click the "About This Blog" button for my mission statement and an explanation of the blog's name.
Enjoy!
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-25-2012, 11:45 PM
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I was musing in these pages a while back about what a full-frame K-02 might look like. I mentioned basing it on the Mamiya 7 with a folding screen and a viewfinder in the top corner.
Lo and behold: check it out.
Uncanny. Some very nice touches and details in his renderings.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-24-2012, 10:08 PM
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Wasn't sure I wanted to open the thread after I saw "abusing myself". :-)
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-22-2012, 01:25 PM
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This was my main reply to some of Andy Westlake's arguments:
Andy Westlake wrote:
But here's the point - the K-01, no matter who it's intended for, is still a camera, and it therefore still has to be judged on the primary function of a camera - how good it is for taking photographs. That includes whether the buttons are well-placed or not, and whether the AF turns out to be problematic in real-life use.
My reply:
I've had this camera for a few days now and you can take it from me, it is EXCELLENT for taking photographs.
The concern about button placement is subjective, is it not? That is, the unfamiliar always feels wrong - a new bike, a new car, a new phone - until you learn where the controls are and the best way to use them, there will always be some anxiety. After a couple of sessions, I've come up with a way to shoot that is comfortable and intuitive. Did your review team give itself time to adjust to a different approach?
You remarked above that the NEX-7 has best IQ, bar none (for APSC). Actually, according to dxomark, the K-5 comes in at a point higher than the NEX-7, so it's reasonable to assume that the K-01 has better image quality than the Sony product at a much lower price. Sony also can't offer its NEX users a full line of high-quality prime lenses.
Back to ergonomics and subjectivity, not everyone thinks tiny bodies with largish lenses is a viable design approach. You speak as if making ever-smaller cameras is a worthy goal in and of itself - which then necessitates rejecting what is, in fairness, a medium-sized body, as a mistake. I have the K-01 & 4 prime lenses packed into a shoulder bag that I previously used for a single DSLR with one constant-aperture zoom. The K-01 with the Limited primes is a very compact approach.
I'm not completely enamored with this camera - some of the Famous Designer fooferaw puts me off, the corners are a little too sharp and I wish it had a folding screen, but I chose to look at this camera's strengths first. For me they are: top-grade IQ, ready access to serious primes (w/o adapters), solid construction, a realistic size and, finally, value.
Value. Try putting together a system with 3 or 4 good primes with any of the other latest high-end offerings and see what it costs. The K-01 wins that battle by a wide margin. (Also, many K-01 buyers already own these lenses, making the cost of entry that much lower.) This should be the starting point in any fair assessment of the K-01.
Against that you have middling (but perfectly fine, real-world) AF speed, unusual button placement and a boxy shape. Those weren't deal-breakers for me. And I don't think a highly influential review site should be emphasizing them to the point of steering potential buyers right past what is actually a serious photographic tool. |
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-20-2012, 09:59 PM
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Just speaking for myself, Sunny 16, but I think that was unnecessary and way off the mark.
rjm, although I disagree with a few of your points, your overall assessment seems both astute and sincere. Don't know why your getting all the abuse.
I agree the K-01 isn't the most comfortable thing to hold. (The original Olympus E-1 wins that contest for me - also a fairly large camera, but SO ergonomic.) And without knowing the backstory, I got the sense that the World-Famous Designer had too much of a hand in the final form. Why didn't they just ask me??
I bought this camera because it's pro-level IQ for cheap. Plus K-mount lenses. I'm willing to put up with various foibles to get to that. It's not like it's the last camera I'm going to own. For now I'm getting great results.
Cheers.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-15-2012, 12:30 PM
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I was thinking, now THERE'S an early adopter.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-14-2012, 11:48 PM
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Go to this website and compare the K-01 with, for example, the Canon G1X, the Sony NEX-7, the Olympus E-M5, the Fuji X10 (which is a small-sensor P&S). You'll see that it's in the same general range size-wise. So not really a large camera. Heavier in this category, yes, but lighter than the DSLRs of similar IQ
Cheers.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-13-2012, 07:36 PM
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Wheatfield, you're itching for battle? Fair enough.
1. The 'strawman' you referred to is our OP, so, in fact, NOT a strawman.
2. You consider a CDAF autofocus system that's on par with other CDAF autofocus systems a 'fault'. I don't. (The perceived slowness may be due to the inherent design of this particular camera - see Adam's post above yours. That would be a result of physics, not manufacturer error.)
3. You say the camera doesn't have a viewfinder. I say it does.
4. You call it 'apologizing for deficiencies in the product'. I call it emphasizing a product's strengths.
5. You claim I'm denying such 'deficiencies' exist. I'll explain (again) that I addressed the two main points of contention so far (AF speed & LCD visibility) with my own, admittedly long-winded, take on the problems. No 'denying' there.
6. I never said Pentax wouldn't let 'a single fault' out the door. I stated (perhaps with some hyperbole) that they would certainly test to make sure the autofocus worked according to the system it chose within the parameters of the body design prior to release. Do you have evidence that they didn't do this?
I'll finish by mentioning a phenomenon I've noticed over the years of reading online camera forums. With any new release there are invariably frantic early adopters who find 'flaws' in their new purchase who then, experiencing buyer's remorse, post their concerns online. Often these worriments take on a life of their own as non-purchasers join the discussion and offer up pixel-loads of analysis. Then the naysayers and trolls come crashing in and the new product gets tarred as a 'failure' or 'flawed concept', or, more colorfully, as an 'ugly duckling' or 'revolting contraption'. Then it all dies down and the product eventually finds its contingent of buyers who are generally happy with their new camera and go about taking pictures unbothered by the supposed faults. (Okay, that 'contingent of buyers' may be made of straw, but I think you know what I mean.)
I'm just trying to speed up the dying-down process. What's your motive for posting to a thread about a product you don't like and don't plan to buy?
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-13-2012, 07:11 AM
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Well, there you go, Frank! Great shot! See? Pentax was thinking of you when they offered focus-peaking.
Pingflood: Fanboy is a pretty ugly term. Would appreciate you not applying it to someone who's only trying to offer positive general advice; that is: go out and shoot; enjoy your camera the way it's meant to be enjoyed, don't stress it out with meaningless tests. ibkc's advice would apply to any camera brand. Doesn't make him a fanboy. He didn't 'shout' anyone down. He was engaging in a discussion. Which is the whole point of this forum, is it not?
Also, he wasn't the one who was 'bitching', so you kind of contradicted yourself there.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-08-2012, 09:47 AM
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And with a tripod, a hood and the right brackets, triggers, remote release, etc. this camera can be used with long lenses AND in the studio like any DSLR. Differently, granted, but not necessarily worse. With any new gear that requires a new way of working there is always a period of ergonomic adaptivity. Can be annoying at first.
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Forum: Pentax K-01
03-07-2012, 01:31 AM
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And hopefully they end up stepping up to a full DSLR at some point to get the additional quality and features.
Hi. New guy here. Just curious about the above. If the K-01 sensor is as good as or even better (newer iteration, after all) than the K-5's, why would anyone need to step up? The K-01 is going to be in the top ten of all cameras (dxomark ratings), yet so many here are labeling it a beginner's camera. Kind of patronizing really. I'm a long-time photog (enthusiast division), have owned film SLRs, DSLRs, med. format, rangefinders - definitely not a newbie - and I'm only seeing a lot of positives for this camera.
I use a Lumix LX5 for my job. To me framing via display is a perfectly valid way to shoot. I'm glad there's no EVF on the K-01. Any EVF I've checked out (including the NEX7's) is seriously deficient in giving a true representation of a scene. Plus I wear glasses.
Final point - incredible bargain. What other brand makes it possible to have a top-ten IQ camera and 4 high quality primes for about $2100.00 (New 21mm, Used 28mm, New 40mm, New 70mm). Certainly not the latest offerings from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony or Olympus. So chill out, everyone. The K-01's a winner. Plus, don't let anyone tell you it's ugly.
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