Pentax K-01 body only

Conclusion Check out the Pentax K-01

Pentax K-01

Sony NEX-5N

Sony NEX-5R

85%

87%

FeaturesView Details

29%

59%

67%

Community RankingView Details

72%

63%

PerformanceView Details

73%

84%

85%

ReviewsView Details

65

SortableScore

First reviewed February, 2012

Features Key features of the Pentax K-01

16.1 MP

APS-C

On the plus side it’s undoubtedly a well featured and easy-to-use camera that’s capable of very good image quality.

Rated 70% by by TrustedReviews (Jun, 2012)

megapixels

0 MP

PEN E-P312.2 MP

Q12 MP

K-0116.1 MP

20 MP

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 16 megapixel Best JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6.5Mb.

K-01 by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

The 16 megapixel JPEG images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.

K-01 by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

sensor size

Pentax K-01

APS-C sensor

K-01 APS-C sensor

Pentax Q

1/2.5" sensor

Q 1/2.5" sensor

Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100

Nikon CX sensor

Cybershot DSC-RX100 Nikon CX sensor

I can't think of any dSLR at any price that can be fitted with a 24-840mm lens (equivalent) at any price - and the higher digital noise of a small sensor camera isn't an issue when the image size is only "HD" and moving at 24 or 30 fps.

K-01 by Kentucky-Colonel (Mar, 2013)

The K-01 doesn't rely on an adapter to fit the K-mount lenses, unlike Sony's NEX range and the A-mount lenses or the Olympus PEN and the full-size Micro Four Thirds lenses, which in turn means that the body has to be larger and deeper to accommodate the physically bigger mount and maintain the backfocus distance.

K-01 by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

body size

K-01122 x 79 x 58 mm

D5100127 x 97 x 79 mm

Q98 x 57 x 31 mm

If you're looking for a small and lightweight camera, the K-01 isn't it - indeed, this is one of the biggest and heaviest mirrorless camera bodies released to date.

K-01 by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

It holds its own with the best in the market as far as image quality and functionality are concerned, but is untouchable where price holds significant weight.

K-01 by marc-campbell (Mar, 2013)

focus points

0

NX100015

D510011

K-0181

90

Also, more solid-mass subjects seem to work better as focus points.

K-01 by J.-Conner--qm2-703 (Feb, 2013)

Luckily, manual focusing is a cinch and the 'focus peaking' option makes it easy to tell when you've got it right.

K-01 by Brianna-Sheldon (Apr, 2013)

Performance Real world tests of Pentax K-01

DxOMark image quality

Pentax K-01

79.0

K-01 79.0

Pentax Q

47.0

Q 47.0

Olympus PEN E-P3

51.0

PEN E-P3 51.0

dxomark.com

Pictures are crisp, and with very natural colors.

K-01 by benjamin-a-tayag-jr

* With included 40mm lens, you can take impressive portraits and low light photos.

K-01 by Jayesh-Patel--ProfitFromPrices

DxOMark low light performance

Pentax K-01

1,135 ISO

K-01 1,135 ISO

Pentax Q

189 ISO

Q 189 ISO

Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100

390 ISO

Cybershot DSC-RX100 390 ISO

dxomark.com

The clarity and brightness in low light were a pleasant surprise.

K-01 by Amicus-Curia--pinbalwyz (Aug, 2012)

Really nice image quality and low light is so much improved over my older Pentax.

K-01 by Carguy100

continuous shooting

K-016 fps

NEX-5N10 fps

NEX-5R10 fps

At this setting there is no upper limit on the number of consecutive shots you can take.

K-01 by TrustedReviews (Jun, 2012)

Also, the rate of continuous shooting is low, which limits wild life genre for ex.

K-01 by Seva (Dec, 2012)

battery life

0 photos500 photos

K-01 500 photos

Q 230 photos

FinePix X100 300 photos

Sure enough, the Pentax K-01 has the best battery life in the group, beating the second place Sony NEX-5N by about 16.

K-01 by DPReview (May, 2012)

The battery life was dismal, it is more a function of how long the camera is on rather than the specified number of shots you can take.

K-01 by terry--terry

Our analysis How does it stack up against its top 10 competitors

pros

Shoots video

HD video
Higher overall image quality

79.0
Has a flash hot shoe

Generic
Many more contrast-detection focus points

81
High light sensitivity

25,600 ISO
Image stabilization

Sensor shift
Many more photos per charge

500
High resolution screen

921 k dots
Good color depth

23.7 bits
Less noise at high ISO

1,135 ISO
Larger dynamic range

12.9 ev
Has an external mic jack

3.5mm
Shoots video in 24p

For that film look
Supports HDR

Combines multiple photos together to capture both bright and dark areas
Has a built-in flash

Built in flash

cons

Can't capture 3D scenes

No automatic 3D
Not rated highly at all

73.04%
Lacks a flip out screen

The screen is fixed in place
Doesn't have a touch screen

Use buttons to access features and menus
Doesn't support panorama

No automatic stitching
No phase-detection focus points

0
Very heavy

561 g
Really thick

58 mm
Big

122 x 79 x 58 mm

full specs

Reviews Word on the street

	Rated 69% Read the review (May, 2012) Read the review (Mar, 2012) The K-01 supports full manual control over exposure while you're taking a movie.

	Rated 70% Read the review (Apr, 2012) We didn't like the price quite so much - £679.99 / $899.95 with a lens is quite a lot to pay for a compact system camera, and comparable to the excellent Pentax K-5 with the same kit zoom lens.

	Rated 74% Read the review (Apr, 2012) If you've got a stable of Pentax lenses - especially good ones that can properly resolve to the sensor - and feel like doing some creative shooting, especially with manual focus, then the K-01 is a great choice.

	Rated 70% Read the review (Jun, 2012) ISO performance is another area where the K-01’s CMOS sensor performs very well.

	Rated 90% by 90 users at amazon.com Using manual lenses on this camera is a breeze, much easier than the dSLRs for me. Rated 80% by by R.-Fortson Even with an old non-auto 70-210mm lens I was soon taking great looking shots. Rated 80% by by E-Deets--Reviews-by-Deets (Mar, 2012) The prime lens is basically a lens cap and adds virtually no extra bulk to it. Rated 100% by by Daniel-W (Nov, 2012)

Lens

Image stabilisation via the camera body is a great feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 70% by by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

40 mm lens it came with happens to be the lens we love most!

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by Rachel-Looslie

The other two lenses are standard Pentax kit lenses, neither of which will win any awards.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 69% by by DPReview (May, 2012)

Focus

The tiny 40mm lens that came with it is fantastic but I also like using a 35 year old A28/2.8 manual focus lens, as well as several others.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by joethebassplayer (Apr, 2012)

The AF is fast and picture quality is excellent.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by Mason.ken52 (Jan, 2013)

Naturally, I have an assortment of excellent KA-mount lenses, both manual and AF, legacy and modern.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by Amicus-Curia--pinbalwyz (Nov, 2012)

Sensor

Very good high ISO shooting abilities, It is clean beyond ISO 3200.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by joethebassplayer (Apr, 2012)

The D-Range options help make the most out of both the shadows and highlights in a high-contrast scene (and it works for both JPEG and RAW files), while the HDR mode greatly expands the dynamic range of a JPEG by combining three differently exposed images in-camera.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 70% by by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

By spending 30 seconds in Photoshop, your ISO 12800 photos can now be printed even larger, and ISO 25600 suddenly becomes a lot more useful.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 69% by by DPReview (May, 2012)

Image quality

The photo quality is excellent and the Custom Image menu and the various programmable filters make it fun to shoot and to play around with the photo output.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by bisjack

I love this camera... MUCH better image quality than my Olympus XZ-1, which itself is a fine little camera.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by John-Johnson--Jon404 (Mar, 2013)

I would recommend this camera to anyone who's main goal in photography is to come up with the finest quality photos- in this regard (and many others)the K-01 delivers the goods.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 100% by by Steve-Wildermuth (Apr, 2012)

Video

It is today's best buy for those who value the combination of top quality stills and very high quality video above handling performance.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 80% by by J.-Conner--qm2-703 (Feb, 2013)

The K-01 also offers the best video mode of any Pentax mirrorless or DSLR camera to date, with the inclusion of Full 1080p HD recording at a variety of frame rates, handy one-touch recording button, auto and manual focusing, the ability to change the aperture or shutter speed during recording, a socket for an external mic and an HDMI port for easy connection to your HDTV.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 70% by by Photography Blog (Apr, 2012)

The rolling shutter effect seems to be exacerbated, unfortunately, by the K-01's shake reduction function, which if you remember, works by shifting the sensor in response to camera movement to counteract camera shake.

Pentax K-01 body only | Rated 69% by by DPReview (May, 2012)