One more post on Pentax K-01

I am still scratching my head after the K-01 announcement by Pentax. It is good that Pentax decided to keep K mount in their mirrorless cameras. Many people will love the camera just because of Pentax lenses. The sensor in the camera is one of the best available assuming that Pentax have used the same sensor as in K-5. It seems that Pentax has very powerful battery in K-01 sufficient for over 500 shots per charge. But I was very disappointed by lack of a viewfinder in the camera, especially considering its weight and size. It seems that the K-01 is the biggest camera in it's class (see the table below).

I do not understand what is the target group for the camera. The presence of K mount makes the K-01 very attractive for Pentax DSLR users, but I bet the DSLR users prefer to have a viewfinder on DSLR-like body. People with tripod / landscape shooter probably would not mind to have a camera with K-5 image quality, but the K-5 is weather-sealed camera while K-01 is not. On other hand, the K-5 is ~200 g heavier. For some Pentax DSLR users the K-01 might be a very handy back-up camera, but people who use compact camera probably prefer something more portable for upgrade. There are quite a few cameras to choose from, as can be seen in the table below. Obviously, the lenses are quite different, but I decided to use the available pancake in this table, in order to illustrate the minimal weight for mirrorless cameras. I have not included Nikon J1 (body only ~300 g, with build-in flash  and 10mm pancake at 77 g).

Body	Weight, g	Tilt	Flash	Pancake	Weight, total, g
Pentax K-01	561	No	Yes	40 mm/52 g	~610
Samsung NX200	223	No	No	30 mm/85 g	~310
Olympus E-P3	369	No	Yes	17 mm/71 g	~440
Olympus E-PL3	313	Yes	No	17 mm/71 g	~380
Panasonic DMC-GX1	318	No	Yes	20 mm/100 g	~420
Sony NEX-5N	290	Yes	No	17 mm/74 g	~360

There are other factors, such as a price. Pentax has many pancakes, while other manufacturers offer only one or two. I suspect that without viewfinder many long Pentax lenses will not be very useful.  Moreover, K-01 body weight is very similar to K-r (598 g), and the cameras are similar in size, so I suspect that for some people the K-r might be more attractive because it is cheaper, with fast autofocus (I suspect faster than K-01 at least with some lenses) and a viewfinder.

I hope that the company will continue development of this type of cameras. I mean K-01 type, not Pentax Q.

Pentax K-01

OK, the new Pentax mirrorless camera with K-mount will be announced within hour or even less. I am quite excited about this camera right now, for several reasons. Actually, I was really amused when the rumors about the K-01 appeared. You gonna be kidding: SLR mount on mirrorless camera! It will make the whole thing big. So, what is the point? Now I think it actually do have a certain pluses.

In SLR cameras the flange focal distance is essentially limited by mirror movement, so the rear end of the lens would not go deep into camera body. However, mirrorless camera have no mirror (by definition : ) ) so technically the rear end of the lens can protrude from the lens mount into camera. At least, I don't see any reason why it cannot be accomplished. In this case the lens mount might be in the middle of the lens, as on my  home-made cartoon in which brick-like rectangles represent camera bodies : )) It is a view from the top : )  In this case the whole camera (body + lens) can be very similar in size to other mirrorless cameras.

I can see several benefits of such design. First, from the start, the system will have many lenses available. In meantime Pentax can produce new lenses by shifting position of the lens mount. Considering that the SLR mount (K mount) is quite wide, design of such "in body" lenses will be quite flexible. If part of a lens will be inside a camera, it might be easy to make weather-resistant lens, especially if the moving part will be in a camera. The bigger body can use standard tripod plates, and probably can be more balanced on tripod, especially with medium-sized lens without tripod collar. 

Of cause, it is just my speculations, but I hope that Pentax will show serious commitment to this system.

I am also very curious about new Olympus, E-M5, OM-D, or whatever it will be called. What a great year for mirrorless camera! :-)

UPDATE. So, the camera was announced on time : ) I think it is the first DSLR-looking camera without any viewfinder. The camera weight is > 500 g. Add 50-200 mm lens, at about 300 g, and the total weight is over 800 g. Or add 55-300 mm, and you end up with about 1 kg. Try to shot handheld with the camera in straight hands (no viewfinder). On top of it, the rear screen is fixed. I afraid the company had shot itself in the foot (second time). Of cause, it is possible that I missed the announcement of the viewfinder... I bet the camera with long lens will be quite usable on a tripod. I wish the K-01 had a Minolta A2-like body with tiltable viewfinder and screen.

Saving Hibiscus Harlequin Bug

Hibiscus Harlequin Bug, Tectocoris diophthalmus, was caught in the Golden Orb-weaver spider web, and the spider went to rescue the bug and released it from the trap. Either the bug was big for the spider, or it was too stinky/ uneatable for the predator, or it was act of a female solidarity (both are females). The Harlequin Bugs are quite big, over two centimeters in length, so, it gives the idea about the spider's size. It was happen so quick that I took just one picture. Fuji X10, Aperture priority mode, iso 200, 1/100 sec, F6.4.

Below is the picture of the same Golden Orb-weaver spider, Nephila sp., from Nephilidae family. I think it is a female of Nephila plumipes, or N. ornata (old name for the same species?). Fuji X10, iso 200, 1/170 sec, F5.7. The original image was cropped a little bit in GIMP and resized.

Just in case I posted the 100% crop of the spider's body. Click on image to see a bigger size. All picture were taken in Victoria park, Herston, Brisbane, on January 31, 2012.