No matter what you think of it’s different styling, the Pentax K-01 is a difficult camera to forget. I remember seeing it only a few years ago at release and, like most people, feeling extremely puzzled. The choice for Pentax to higher a professional designer to design a totally unique camera felt like an experiment.
Despite the somewhat negative first impressions I wanted one. I finally justified the purchase this week by combining it with another want of mine: That is, getting a dedicated infrared camera. More into the infrared later, let me just share my first impressions of the Pentax K-01.
Pentax K-01’s Unique Styling
My very first impression of the Pentax K-01 when I took it out of the eBay box was it’s size. It’s small and… chunky. It’s shorter in width than I had imagined. About 3/4″ shorter than my Pentax K-3, which I regard as a fairly compact DSLR. Although that doesn’t seem like much it does make the camera feel quite a bit smaller in the hands.
The depth of the camera is the same as my other APS-C Pentax DSLRs. That makes sense because while the Pentax K-01 is mirrorless, it retains the same K mount and flange distance as-if it had a mirror. It does appear chunkier, however, because the top of the camera is completely flat. Other Pentax DSLRs taper the body from the top down which gives them a slimmer appearance.
The grip will take some getting used to, and I’m not convinced I’ll ever love it. It feels better than a film body that is completely gripless, but not much more. I am using substantial force on my thumb in the back to balance between my grip in the front. I took it out for a short trip yesterday and it never frustrated me, but also never felt totally comfortable.
The other chunky buttons and dials fit the aesthetic. It’s a mix between toy camera and futuristic. It certainly looks like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The silver and black color scheme isn’t my favorite, but at least it’s more stealthy than the bright yellow variant. Though part of me says if you’re using a camera that looks this ridiculous, bright yellow would be the way to go.
Using the Pentax K-01 and Image Quality
The actual use of the camera is intuitive if you have experience with Pentax controls and menus. The only “gotchas” so far have been the renamed playback button (“Play”, instead of the blue triangle symbol) and the lack of viewfinder. Seriously, the last one is trippy. I use mirrorless cameras, some with or without viewfinders, so I am not a complete stranger to the idea. I think because the Pentax K-01 has most of what you would expect from a Pentax DSLR camera that I also expect the viewfinder to be there. Even the live view “click” sound and humming of the image stabilization remains the same as contemporary Pentax DSLRs. After all, despite the dramatic looks, the guts of the camera are typical Pentax tech.
Because you need to rely on the live view screen it is worth mentioning that in daylight it is difficult to use. I wouldn’t say crippling, but certainly more difficult to use than a viewfinder. I have seen people attach large viewfinder devices on the viewfinder to solve this very problem. While I am sure that is effective, I am not sure I would want to lug that around on the camera. To each their own though.
As I teased at the beginning, this Pentax K-01 has been modified for full spectrum photography. I can’t speak universally about image quality, but I will let the images I took the other day speak for themselves. I am sure a non-modified camera would impress equally. The raw files I have edited are as capable as other Pentax DSLRs I have used made around the same time.
I will be playing with this camera for the next few months, but expect a more in-depth look and video of it soon! Until then, happy snappin’
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These images are really unique! I first began looking into this topic when I saw your “Infrared Camera Hack” video. Didn’t have much understanding of what was happening until I started to research. That’s when I discovered that I also have a camera that might be able to do something similar. I own a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k for my video work which allows infrared to the sensor (time to buy an IR filter 😅) Looking forward to seeing more from you on this topic!
Very cool! I didn’t know that the blackmagic pocket cinema camera could do that too! I would definitely try it out. It’s a cheap little experiment to run to get some cool shots. The nice Hoya 720nm filters are a little pricey, but I have been getting away with the Neewer ones just fine. Probably not technically as good, but I don’t know any better 🙂
I had one and liked it for the image quality and look. It was also fun and quirky. It needed a better grip though and the green button was awkwardly located, but the real problems were the lcd getting washed out in bright light and most frustratingly the poor autofocus in low light.