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Thursday, March 08, 2012

K-01 1st look by Steve Huff (Video Review)



@ http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/03/07/a-quick-1st-look-video-the-pentax-k-01/

So, here are what I've observed:-

1. The camera hanged and locked up starting from 4'10" after only some play and it was required to remove the battery in order to reset the camera.

2. The AF speed can be seen, which is not fast and the responsiveness/sensitivity is low with the 40mm XS pancake lens.

3. As Steve has mentioned, there is no viewfinder with the K-01 and we should notice that the hard reflection from the LCD of the K-01 throughout the whole video as it has no anti-reflective coating to minimise glare, despite that it is the only viewfinding device that is available in the camera. In contrast to other mirrorless like all the NEX bodies, the K-01 monitor lacks not only the anti-reflection coating, but also it doesn't have an articulated mon.

4. Near the end of the review video, the flimsy door cover for all the I/O port including the SD card slot can be seen once again. I just wonder when the thin and weak joint of it would be broken eventually sooner! :-o

Oh well, after the excitement of the initial product announcement, I now just tell myself: I should NOT buy this POJ and waste my money! :-x (Although I always want to buy new stuff from Pentax! :-()

Update on Reactions (3-9):-

Some Pentax fanboys are pissed off. They put much anger towards Steve for his this quick review for the hard facts shown and the simple statements made:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-01-forum/178144-steve-huff-quick-1st-look-pentax-k-01-video.html

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&message=40841165

At the end of the day, a reviewer like Steve is subject to his own opinions, isn't he? Yes, the K-01 unit is loaned to him by Pentax, very possibly. Some fanboys then suggested that Pentax should not "deal" with this guy anymore in the future because of what he has shown and commented and it was necessary to "punish" him! :-o

But I'm afraid that until recently even now the Pentax Forums, being a close business partner of the PRAC (Pentax Ricoh America Co.), has started to report more faithfully about the shortcomings of new Pentax products. So, this should be what the true role of a reviewer should take, i.e., to let the public know and decide and to help the manufacturer to improve! By doing so, the review site will earn more creditability and at the same time, I don't think this will hurt much for their income (in case if they are profit-making). If it really was, DPR had already run out of business long time ago!

I think if the PR guys at Pentax really have similar mentality like those boys are having, that would be the end of the brand! Very Frankly! >:-[ After all, they should treasure every of such "negative" findings and see what they could do to debug and improve - but not to put pressure or anger towards those who faithfully report their findings and to be honest enough!

Comments (18)

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phoenix15's avatar

phoenix15 · 682 weeks ago

I am sure you will buy K-01, as you wrote about yourself : "Nevertheless, I still have Most Investments in Pentax and Pentax is yet the Brand I Love and concern most. lol" :)

For your information, my friend who is studying art and design psychology think that K-01 is beautiful. So do I, the yellow one looks super sexy !
2 replies · active 682 weeks ago
I must admit that I like the outlook appearance of the Yellow K-01 body and you should know that I love those colourful and stylish stuff. But the K-01 actually had no practical meaning by itself as a K-mount camera nor a brand new mirrorless. So, if I am to be rational enough, I should forget about it and wait for the next.
After all the struggles with Pentax AF over the years, the practical value from this camera is full-time contrast-detect AF with my K-mount lenses - no micro adjust needed or tungsten problems, blah blah. I don't need super fast AF, like most people I just take travel, portraits and artistic photos. If you need to shoot the Olympics you should not be considering this camera.

The lack of VF is not ideal but not impossible, either. You seem to use your WG-1 with no problem, why not this? I still shoot with compacts and my phone all the time with no VF, just shade the screen with your hand, change the angle a bit or just guess. Hardly ever a problem. Being too rational you can talk yourself out of something good.
"Oh well, after the excitement of the initial product announcement, I now just tell myself: I should NOT buy this POJ and waste my money! :-x (Although I always want to buy new stuff from Pentax! :-()"

You were never excited about this product. Now you pretend you are but- oh what's that? You are disappointed. We know. It's always bad with Pentax, like this, for you.

*Supportive group hug*.
5 replies · active 682 weeks ago
I am not the only Pentaxian who thinks that the K-01 is a just POS or POJ. Just open your eyes to look at the reply comments here (and at the other forums as well)! And, we were all once excited for Pentax to launch a new product and create a "new" line. But then we realised the facts later on and some people opted to be rational, whilst some are not. The fact is the K-01 is a product has no real meaning, it is just a heavy DSLR that had the top part cut!

Don't talk to me about the "improved video function", other cameras from other makers had the video formats and support long time ago! And, other ILDCs have continuous and silent AF and aperture control in real time. Can the K-01 do so? (No, it can't!)
My eyes are quite open and you are sidestepping the point. There are many also who seem to like it. But that's not even the issue.

The issue is that you were never really excited about this product- judging by virtually everything you have written about it, but not you seem to be oh- "so disappointed." What a surprise coming from you :-) In other words- to be really disappointed you must have had some positive expectation of it to some level- but nothing you have written about it seems to indicate that.

As for excited for a Pentax product, I have yet to see any such writing coming from you. Maybe more than 2-4 years ago and I admit, I haven't read those much older posts. Maybe you were like super excited back then!
You're really a person who likes to put words on others' mouths and like arguing almost everything. I am not going to argue with you on my own feelings and once again you look really silly and childish plus rude.
You say that yet, almost every single post you do on Pentax seems to have a sensationalistic negative spin. It's too bad the very evidence to counter what you just said is right here in this very website.

I remember the post when the LImited Edition silver Q was announced. All you could do was comment on the "too bad the picture quality isn't blah blah". I followed up posting good pictures to which you countered they were not full size- which I even agreed with you, then proceeded to post full size pics. No further replies after that.

That's just another example of many. I am not putting anything in your mouth. When where you excited about the K-01?
I am not putting anything in your mouth. Where where you excited about the K 01? As for childish, almost every single post you make always has a pessimistic sensationalistic take on the Pentax product. The very evidence for this claim is right here, in this post and your website.

This is fairly known.
It has sunk in for me too that this camera is lame. Obviously they wanted a cheap and easy way to say they are "mirrorless" to somehow stay relevant. They tried to make it more exciting by having a famous designer give it a cool new look. For some it looks cool, others it is still ugly as heck, but wherever you fall once cool factor wears off you are left with a DSLR without a mirror or EVF. As you put it "they lobbed off the top part". The only positive thing that it provides over the standard Pentax DSLR is better video capabilities, but you can do that and have either a mirror or evf. In continuous mode the screen blanks out so you cannot see your subject during the entire process. It is a bit hard to take a picture or track a subject if you cannot actually see the subject at all. And as you point out if the LCD is the only way to view things then you would think that they would have improved that a bunch with tilt, low glare and touch screen. They want to make unique cameras, different from other makes, niche products. Well they have certainly done that with the K-01. I feel like wearing a bag over my head while I carry my Pentax. Oh the shame.
Nevertheless despite all negativism i'm sure this camera will sell pretty well on Asian market , especially if Pentax lower the price a bit.
Terrible review. Coughing, hesitating, mostly negative and cynical comments, making fun of the camera, camera out of view. Big deal, it locked up with the first version of firmware. I have had to pull a battery out of a Nikon D5100 as well as a Canon 10D and Ricoh GXR, this can happen. If it happens all the time, Pentax will fix it immediately. Very immature reviewer, Pentax should not deal with him.
3 replies · active 682 weeks ago
Try to find good photos from Steve Huff =) It's not so easy!
I think he is a famous reviewer on the Leica system and at least Pentax found him to review the K-7 and the Q before.
Yes, his services are Leica reviewer/adept and Seal's friend
Have to agree it is a lame camera. Maybe the review isn't great (fair enough) the "not responding part" was kinda funny though (ooops)
Never mind Raist3d he was telling us how great Olympus and 4/3 was for years before he moved to Pentax, now he'll defend them at all costs it's in his nature. He can't spot a lemon and this sucks bad dudes!
1 reply · active 682 weeks ago
Yeah, that's exactly what I have been saying about Pentax. That they are only but immaculate perfection! Little people like you like to make things up about what I really say. But go ahead :-)
Wish I could see K-01 review by Erwin Olaf or Benjamin Kanarek =) Not Steve Huff...

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