The Pentax K-01 - What's all the complaints about? This is a great camera.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

I received my Pentax K-01 last week and have been using it everyday since. The image quality is excellent, about the same as the K-5 or even better, and the camera is about half the price of the K-5 when it was introduced. The prices will come down eventually, but full price is what you have to pay to get the newest toys, before everyone else does.

For low light shooting, I get better results with the K-01 than with the K-5. The Focus Peaking option is just great. It becomes very easy to use old legacy manual lenses. Speaking of lenses, the Pentax K-01 uses all of the K-mount lenses ever built, and that's more than I can say about all of the other mirror-less cameras on the market. Most mirror-less cameras are using a smaller  sensor, and I don't care how much they boast about the image quality, you just can't get higher quality in a small sensor. Sony is close to the right solution with a large sensor in the NEX-7, but regular lenses won't work without an adapter. I hear that the 24.3 MP sensor is not real good at high ISO. I would guess that there are too many pixels, all packed in the same surface area as any of the APS-C sensors.

Yes, the K-01 is bigger than all the other mirror-less cameras, but what's the deal with the small cameras? You wind up with a 50mm lens that is bigger than the camera. When I want or need small, I use my iPhone.

Now, about all the whining of the lack of EVF or OVF, I halfway agree that it would be nice. Pentax may design some kind of  "flash bracket" mounted optical viewfinder, similar to what range-finder cameras used to have. In fact, I found several companies that made that kind of viewfinders. Pentax even has a 47mm equivalent viewfinder for the Q camera. The built-in flash of the K-01 is in the way, but chances are that when you need the flash, it's dark enough to see the image on the viewfinder. Other than fill-in flash, when it's too bright outside to use the LCD monitor, it's likely too bright to use the built-in flash as well.

There are many used and new  "flash bracket" attached viewfinder on Ebay. You can find them for just about all standard focal length, like, 20mm, 24mm, 50mm, 80mm, 135mm, 200mm and more. There is still the problem  with parallax error when taking close-up pictures, but you can correct for that. Folks, we don't pay for film anymore. You can delete and retake pictures all day long.

One more important thing about the K-01, it is gorgeous. It's like when new cars are announced with a totally new look...everyone complains about how ugly they are, but soon thereafter, we get used to it and we like it. The K-01 is the look of the future. Pentax has always been at the forefront of technology and bold design. You may not know this, but the first SLR with metering was a Pentax. The first 645 format was a Pentax. Theu have a long list of "First". They always innovate while the rest imitate. Remember the first color DSLRs?  Pentax started that but all other  companies now produce color cameras.

Once you stop worrying about what other people think, you will get a Pentax K-01 or another similar camera that will hit the market soon, marketed by copy cats with more money than Pentax.

P.S.

1. Once you have an external OVF, you can etch line to match your particular lens or lenses angle of view.
2. If you are griping because it's hard to put the DA* 300mm on the K-01 and hand hold it, the keyword is "Tripod". And that is the general rule with any cameras.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

If you disagree, don't get mad, I'm having a great time and so should you. :)

Rumors and rumors...will Pentax introduce a mirorless camera?

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

There are plenty of rumours going around the internet about an upcoming Pentax mirrorless digital camera. First of all, why describing a camera with what it doesn't have, "mirrorless camera" because it doesn't use a mirror? Why not describe a new camera "tiresless" because it doesn't have any tires, "Gazless camera" because it doesn't run on gaz! My opinion doesn't have a lot of influence on naming cameras, but I hope the leading manufacturers will find a suitable and universal name for this new kind of cameras.

The rumors goes on to say that the new Pentax camera model will be the K-01. Frankly, it doesn't matter what the model will be, as long as they don't use the "*" for Starist" like the early Pentax DSLRs.

Again, according to the rumors, it will have the following specifications, and if it does, I will be a happy camper... eh! photographer.

  

1. "921,000 dot" 3-inch, VGA LCD screen from the K-5
2. K-5 image processing and sensor (16.3 Mp)
3. 1080p HD video at 30fps
4. 1/4000s-30s shutter speed range
5. Contrast-detect autofocus (81 metering points)
6. Built-in flash
7. 12.1cm wide x 7.9cm high x 5.9 cm deep
8. 560g loaded with battery
9. New DA 40mm kit lens
10. Available in 3 lens kits
11. 3 different colors
12. Electronic viewfinder

Pentax is in the best position in the industry to introduce such cameras because of their line of limited lenses. I once blogged here about what a Pentax camera could look like.  I can just imagine a Pentax "Hybrid" camera, with the K-5 sensor, maybe a 3" LCD screen that rotates and an included or optional EVF equivalent to what the Sony NX7 uses. That would be the perfect camera for me, especially for travelling.

One clear advantage would be the number of frames per second, since no mechanical parts have to move, and Auto Focus in all modes, making videography simple. More importantly, all my current lenses would fit and my Limited lenses would be happy.

This is not a real camera. It is what an Hybrid camera from Pentax could look like, based on their old partner "Samsung" model, my imagination and PhotoShop.

 Thanks for reading and may the good lighting be with you,

Yvon Bourque

I hope Pentax and all other Camera Companies copy the design of the Sony NEX-7.



That is a Digital Camera I would love to own.



Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

Yes, I'm probably one of the biggest and most loyal fan of Pentax equipment and that will never change.  However, with the soon-to-be-available Sony NEX-7, I am hoping that Pentax will develop a similar Digital Camera. The availability of the NEX-7 has been delayed because of the flooding in Thailand, but once the shipping resume, I believe it's going to be one of the most sought after Digital Camera.

The camera seems to incorporate everything that photo enthusiasts have been asking for. It includes a APS-C  (23.5mm x 15.6mm) sized 24MP CMOS sensor, the first really usable Electronic View Finder (EVF),  a mirror-less body, a small footprint, interchangeable lenses (any lenses with adapters, including Pentax, Canon, Nikon and more), a 3" 921,600 dots tilting and swiveling  LCD Monitor, 12 fps shooting, 1080p movie @ 60P and 24P just like the Pro Film Makers,  Object Tracking AF, etc, etc,.

You can read a review here by Luminous Landscape.

Sony makes sensors for other brands of camera makers, Pentax included. I believe that the next DSLR or Mirror-Less camera from Pentax will incorporate this 24MP sensor. I just hope that they make a mirror-less camera with this 24MP sensor and make it compatible with all Pentax DA / DA* lenses. An APS-C mirror-less camera from Pentax would complement the K-5 or any future Pentax DSLR.

The most promising Digital Camera on the horizon for 2012.

EVF and articulated LCD is a perfect combination.

One of the best all around layout and size.

The new generation of photographers, iPhone, smart phones and mirror-less cameras.

Cellular phone, Digital camera and video cam, computer, all in one small package.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

The new photographers

You would have to live under a rock not to know how far photography has evolved in just the last few decades. It’s pretty much a given, when you talk to someone about photography, that you are talking about digital photography. Chances are that if you are under twenty years old, you never used a film camera in your life. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. 

Technology has evolved so much, that even an iPhone can capture equal or better pictures than most of the currently available digital point-and-shoot cameras. The new iPhone 4S has a Sony 8-Mega Pixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor and a newly designed f/2.4 lens with an equivalent focal length of 38mm (when compared to a 35mm camera). It can produce good 8” x 10” print and even bigger. However, less and less people care about printed images.

I my  SLRs cameras but I guess technology is about to pass me by if I don't do something soon.

The newer generations of photographers don't make prints, they share their images on the Internet and  email them to each other. There is nothing wrong with that, it's a young people's world after all, and it has always been that way. Did you know that Flickr has more images posted that were taken by iPhone, than any point-and-shoot or DSLRs. It's just so practical. The iPhone (or other smart phones) are with you all of the time. You can take a still image or a good video, and post that on the Internet in minutes.

Big and heavy DSLR, my favorite type of camera, in Pentax, Nikon and Canon.

The size is obviously an advantage. Speaking of sizes, DSLRs have to be somewhat bulky because of the prism and mirror.  Sony has recently announced the NEX-7, a compact digital camera with interchangeable lenses, 24 MP sensor, great Electronic View Finder, tilting LCD screen, and top-notch image quality.

Sony new NEX-7

I love my DSLRs, but soon, I too will probably get a mirror-less camera because it just makes sense and it's so portable. Companies have tried for several years to introduce a good mirror-less camera, but the Sony is the first that makes a lot of sense. It has an APS-C sensor with 24 MP. Now that's the wave of the near future.

I will always keep my DSLRs, as I also kept many of my 35mm SLRs, now gathering dust... but I like to look at them. They will soon have new companions...the DSLRs.

You either go with the flow or you are left behind. The day I stop going with the flow, is the day I will start pushing daisies.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque