Thinking the Unthinkable???

I know, I couldn't live with it as my only camera but as a street shooter or for Landscape/still life, macro I reckon it could be a blast, However if the K5n/II/K3 come out with a Fuji type Hybrid Finder , So you could see the peaking, I reckon I'd be miffed...

And look at the equipment you have had and the money spent in those short few months.

This whole forum needs tranquillisers on a daily basis before Photokina

Do you ever read the other forum?

Makes this one look like a doctors waiting room ... they have been on about Photokina, rumoured lenses, K-5 replacements and full frame bodies for months.

If you mean the Yankee one. yes

Bigma 50-500 is my Preciousssssssssssssss but it won't fit in my Pocketsus or in my Bagginsus.

WE, the wife and I, seem to be drifting, slowly, slowly, away from the Pentaxes. We've sold off a few lenses (DA50-135, FA31 & FA43) and one of the K-5s, and invested in a OM-D (that's my wife's new pet - she had quite a few lenses for it already) and a Nikon V1 (Mine, although I bought it for my wife, orginally). I use mine mostly for bird photography, something it does with more than a little flair, and the available lenses are very sharp (with an adapter you can also use normal Nikon lenses, with retained SR/VR, and autofocus! It is also a very good video camera.

The OM-D is excellent for street photography, or in lightning-fast action situations - focusing is about as fast as with the V1, thus pretty outstanding! The anti-shake is far better than the K-5's, so taking impossible shots is pretty easy!

It was mainly kit weight that stopped us using the Pentax cameras as much as we thought we would. With the V1 I get a superb telephoto kit weighing less than just my Sigma 150-500, without any camera. The V1 kit is also much less bulky, which in my book is very important, especially on travels.

As yet the Nikon 1 system doesn't do panoramas, or is the small sensor optimized for landscape photography, so the normal back-up on travels is a NEX-5N with a couple of short primes (say, Sigma 19, Pentax 40, Zeiss 24, or Nikon 35, all f1.8, but the Pentax - the 40 and the 35 need an adapter, of course).

I really wish Pentax would come up with a small, sensible, mirrorless camera, with a nice viewfinder, not another big lump like the K-01.

If they don't, in the foreseeable future, I think my Pentax days are over, but I might well keep a few lenses !

There is no point in owning half a system, If you go almost totally prime thats what you need, besides times were better and I had the Money!
When I shot Nikon Professionally (Motorbike road racing etc) I had a D3/D700/17-35 F2.8/24-70 F2.8/70-200 F2.8 VR/2X 200-400 VR and a 300 F2.8 VR 1.4/1.7 Convertors because that was what I needed, then back surgery... Because that was what I needed!

I have to admit the OMD system interests me it always has, OMD and a PEN could be a winning combination but I'm not prepared just yet to drop another sensor size, I don't think it's quite there yet but you may know different as I've only read reviews and had a quick play with an OMD, I don't miss full frame to be honest but I'd like a mirrorless with a few Ltd's or a really compact DSLR but you can't get em much smaller than the K5 without compromising functionality, focus peaking on a DSLR doesn't really interest me unless you can see it in the viewfinder which would mean going electronic or hybrid (Would prefer hybrid) as the one on the Sony A77 which I loved as a camera but was a noise monster, the finder though very good well just wasn't quite there and still flickers which bugged the hell out of me
I think Pentax would have a winner if they tweaked the K 01 a bit with an optional finder (for those who want to make their mirrorless as big as an SLR!). A swivel screen (For those who don't!).
And a collapsable mount that expands and retracts like a compact when you switch it on and off, which would keep the body thickness down a bit whilst hopefully retaining the SR. That could stop the howls of "Tonka Toy!" "Box Brownie!" and "Photographic Abborration!" that have rang around the web since it came out.
I'd lke one of them and Mikes Limiteds for my lightweight kit

The reactionary response from many writers surprises me. In terms of camera design, has no-one ever seen a Kodak 35, an early Contax rangefinder, a Kodak Brownie Cresta?

The K-01 as a designed item (although all items are designed) is as valid as any other design. I think sometimes we get very stick-in-the-mud as photographers.....

Got to say, I absolutely adore the DA Ltds. Part of this is the sheer joy of using such beautifully engineered, compact lenses. I could wax fetishistic-ally about their tactile appeal, solid construction, cleverly designed hoods etc etc. But lets just say that I find the process of using them a major reward of the hobby, which is probably a good thing given my photographic abilities

I also remember being persuaded of their benefits after reading posts by a certain forum member located in Storbritannia .

There. Hope that helps Jules in his dilemna

I hadn't, until I looked through some Google images. Not sure what your point is though. Those cameras weren't retro in styling at the time whereas arguably the K-01 is now. Commenting on that isn't reactionary (in terms of resistance to change), it's just an observation that the 'design' is not new.

I don't understand this point either.

As a camera, its design can be evaluated in terms of aesthetics and fitness for purpose, and judged more or less valid accordingly.

Ok, so the aesthetics are very subjective, but in terms of features, there are several specifics that will lead people to either like it or not like it. They've all been discussed at length - absence of VF, positioning of buttons, mediocre CDAF speed - they're all things that either will or will not be an issue for different people.

I haven't seen any evidence of people being reactionary. The photographers that post on forums tend to be the ones for whom the design is only any good if it makes the product fit for purpose.

Those that sense that it doesn't are likely to be the ones ridiculing the styling, that's all.

I totally agree with you John!
The design is meant to be "different" Which is one of Pentax's desires and it certainly achieves that!
It looks much nicer in the flesh than on the web too, people have a perception of the way something should look and can't get past it, most of the complainers have probably never seen or touched one anyway!

Like I said I couldn't live with one as my only Camera as I love my DSLR's but I reckon I could find a place for it in my bag...

The truth is: I WANT BOTH!!! (Cue spoilt brat voice!) Can't get used to being broke which I am likely to remain for the forseeable future, and I'm just bitching!

There off my chest!

The Ltd's have a beauty all of their own I have to say and as you say they are a pleasure to use and own...

My respect for you has just seriously elevated.

Best regards