Best of luck with your Pentax gear Ralph, I'm sure you will enjoy it, I know I did.
Just keep the 16-50 at f/5.6 or above for optimum sharpness across the frame and you should be OK

Hi Ralph,
You may have noticed my post over on the 'other' forum, having owned both systems there truly is a paradox if your favoured route is the zoom lens. Firstly there is no doubt that Pentax currently offer a superior D-SLR body, I was very fond of both my K20D and K7 bodies and I'm sure the K5 Mk2 is equally excellent from a handling point of view which much improved sensor performance.
However my experience with zooms from both systems is the reverse, Olympus are well known for the excellent zooms and in particular the 12-60 is a stunning optic. Whilst the build of the DA* zooms is compatible sadly the optical performance, particularly with the 16-50 just doesn't match Oly's wonderful 12-60.
To be brutally honest my optimum D-SLR system would be Pentax bodies with Oly 4/3rds HG and SHG glass, a pipe dream I know

Never-the-less given your system requirements, and the fact that travelling is a major ingredient, 'the' weather and dust sealed mirror-less option that I have mentioned elsewhere is my firm recommendation.

Let me just say first that I generally like and respect Pentax gear.

This latest effort unfortunately falls far short of Pentax's high standards. Firstly lets just say that the styling will put the vast majority with any smattering of interest off and then there is the size. I've seen pictures of 'it' sat next to the K-5 and well there's very little difference. Coupled with size there is no EVF so you have large and ugly brick to hold at arms length and struggle in bright sunlight.
So it seems the designer(s) have managed to pretty much wipe out all the advantages of a compact mirrorless camera, and give it a style by pass in the process, a shame because it should have been so much better.

To wind up, the spec may be OKish but who is going to feel liberated enough to shoot with it in public?
Just my humble personal opinion.

I don't doubt your experience and I have to say that is quite disappointing to hear. Still my kit never missed a beat, maybe I was lucky.

I never had any issues at all using my K-7, DA* 16-50 or DA* 60-250 in very wet conditions. Sure zooms act as an air pump but they should be vented correctly through the body and I would be very surprised if Pentax hadn't thought of this.
I know my current gear (also weather and dust proof to a high standard) is vented in such a manner.

Likewise Mike,
Things in Oly land are just tickety-boo thanks...
Actually from the scandalous recent events it sounds like better news on the horizon, we'll see.

I keep a reasonably regular eye out for developments with Pentax, still have a soft spot for the gear

My experience with the DA*60-250 and a converter (Tamron x1.4) was sadly less than stellar, if you are considering the the converter route I would stick to the 300mm prime.

I have to say Pentax should be applauded for trying something different in the compact interchangeable lens camera market. It really does look a lovely little camera.

On the other side of the coin I wonder really who they are aiming at with the combination of price and likely LX3-5/XZ-1 level of image quality. Maybe it will start a new niche between compacts and EVILs but at the moment it's more expensive than many larger sensor EVIL offerings.

I hope the Pentax market research department are on the ball with this one like they've been with the K-5 / K-7

Sure is a cute little camera though....

Agreed with regard lightness of the scene in low light but this is borne out in the captured image too (not what your eye sees but what the sensor is capturing).
So to my mind this is another advantage of the EVF. In bight conditions my EVF very accurately reflects the scene brightness and is not dull at all.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree

I'll just add it's not my intention to knock OVFs as in many situations it is superior (my main camera body has one and I like it). It's just that the EVF does bring other real tangible benefits to the table and as technology advances it will get better and better.

I'm surprised at your comment John, my experience has been that judging exposure simply by looking at the image presented to you is certainly an EVF's strong point.

Image definition of course is not there yet but it is much much improved over older generation point and shot EVFs.
Other advantages are of course being able to overlay shooting information more comprehensively than an OVF, being able to bring the camera menu up to quickly change settings without removing your eye from the viewfinder. Being able to digitally zoom in to check focus.