Pentax K-01 - A Designer Camera

Designer Cam

While digital cameras have advanced in terms of specifications and hardware, it seems camera design has taken a backseat. Compact cameras all possess the same slim chassis, while DSLRs look even more similar across the board. Most of the time, the common route vendors take to differentiate their product is to probably sell it in a different coat of color.

Bucking this trend of homogeneous exteriors, Pentax has boldly engaged renowned designer, Marc Newson, to design a mirrorless system camera. The result is the Pentax K-01, which is aimed at those who want a camera that stands out from the crowd. Possessing a 16-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, the K-01 is compatible with all of Pentax’s K-mount lenses and features a uniquely-designed aluminum body. But looks aside, is the K-01 a competent camera or is it just all looks and no substance? We spend some time to give you our take of this interesting camera.

It's All in the Design

As with all products featuring an avant-garde design, the K-01 will either mesmerize or put users off with its chunky design. We received a yellow set for our review, and the retro design coupled with the ribbed rubber exterior makes the K-01 look like a toy. However, the machined aluminum frame makes the K-01's build feel pretty solid, unlike some entry-level DSLR models which feel like they're constructed from plastic. But the K-01 is heavier than a smaller mirrorless system camera; the K-01 weighs in at 575g while a Canon 600D body weighs in at 600g. So why the weight and bulk?

The K-01 has a thick side profile compared to other mirrorless cameras because it accepts Pentax's K-mount DSLR lenses. This may be a worthy trade-off as it means there's already an established set of lenses which work with the K-01, as compared to the limited number of lenses offered by some other mirrorless camera systems. The K-01's bigger size requires one to use both hands to handle the camera when shooting with anything other than the pancake lens, with one hand on the camera and the other holding the lens barrel.

The dials are large and easy to use; the mode dial on the top of the K-01 rotates quickly due to its large size. A 3-inch LCD screen and some controls occupy the back of the camera, but the buttons are neatly arranged so the overall layout of buttons doesn’t feel messy or slipshod. However, there's no markings on the control dial located beside the green customizable button except the magnify and zoom icons, so one might think it serves no purpose other than to zoom in and out of a picture when in playback mode. In reality, the dial actually serves to  adjust the aperture or shutter speed values, depending on the mode the user is currently shooting in.

Another point to note is that the button placement of the two customizable green and red buttons leave more to be desired as they're hard to press them when your hands are in the shooting position. By default the red button starts video recording while the green button will automatically set the aperture and shutter speed values for optimum exposure in any manual exposure. It's useful for those who need to snap a photograph in a hurry but are unsure of what values to set for aperture and shutter speed. While these two buttons offer useful shortcuts, getting to them while shooting is a different matter due to their awkward placement.

The menus within the K-01 are easy to navigate, with the usual tabbed format layout. There's a helpful Info button that brings up quite a few commonly-used settings such as the aspect ratio of the photographs, photograph quality and metering modes; this helps as you will not need to scroll through tabs to get to the setting that you want. Pressing the Info button twice will allow you to toggle between displaying or hiding the information display on the screen.

Image Performance

Shooting all day with Auto mode might be convenient, but that's not what you want to do with a camera that offers manual controls. The smaller number of control buttons on the K-01 as compared to a DSLR, coupled with the easy-to-navigate menus and large dials, makes the learning curve more forgiving if you're upgrading from a digital compact.

The K-01 comes with the new 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens, which was also designed by Marc Newson. The widest aperture offered by the lens is f/2.8, so the lens should to able to take some good low-light pictures. Focusing is fast, but still does not manage to beat the fastest mirrorless system cameras currently in the market. Also, the camera does encounter instances in low light where the auto-focus slows down, a situation which has traditionally been a challenge for mirrorless system cameras.

Armed with the pancake lens, the K-01 managed to score 2200 LPH for both horizontal and vertical on our image detail resolution test chart, which is a respectable score for an APS-C sensor equipped camera. The K-01 can shoot up to ISO3200, with noise creeping in at ISO400. Images are usable up to ISO1600, after which you will have to determine how badly you want the shot and compromise with the noise and graininess that comes with anything above ISO1600. If you would like to get a feel of the camera's ISO performance, the below are sample photo shots from our ISO testing segment. This time round, we present you field shots instead of our in-house ISO test shots.

Sample Photos

These are sample photographs shot with Pentax K-01. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click for the full-resolution images.

Conclusion

The Pentax K-01 delivers good image quality due to its 16-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, and offers great value if one considers the fact that it's the only mirrorless system camera on the market that can support an existing DSLR lens lineup without the need for adapters. The build quality is good and feels premium in one's hands, and the AF system is generally quick and accurate though there were random occurrences where the AF would take a little longer than expected. The large dials make it easy to operate the camera, while the menu system is simple to use, thus if you're upgrading from a simple compact camera, the process will be less intimidating with the K-01.

However, the weight and heft of the K-01 may turn off those who are looking for a backup camera to their DSLR as the K-01 weighs almost as much as an entry-level DSLR. It's heft might come in handy, however, when an equally big DSLR lens is mounted on the body. While the design of the K-01 is unqiue, it may not appeal to everyone.

With a retail price of $S1,099, the K-01 costs more than an entry level DSLR body from competitors. With that in mind, it doesn't really make much sense to pay for a mirrorless system camera that not only costs more than an entry-level DSLR, but is as bulky and weighs almost the same. For example, the Pentax K-01 tips the scales at 479.1g while a Canon 550D entry-level DSLR body weighs 475g. In fact, the K-5 DSLR model from Pentax weighs 544.3g, which isn't substantially heavier than the K-01.

In the end, the K-01 feels like a camera out of place. Users who like the idea of being able to mount K-mount lenses are probably more advanced users, and they may find the manual settings and controls lacking on the K-01. Those who wish to upgrade from a digital compact may find the added bulk a drawback, when compared to the slimmer offerings from other mirrorless system cameras. As much as we understand why the physical aspects are such for the K-01, it is also its undoing. So while the K-01 is a pretty good camera when it comes to performance and hardware, we can't really seem to figure out just who the camera is for.

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