As you can probably tell from my other reviews and photos, I really prefer film over digital. I won’t get into the reasons for that here - perhaps in another post. However, there are times when I just need to shoot digitally. For instance, I did a portrait series of international students with the Pentax K-01 because I needed a quick turn around time for the images, and I knew the students would want to see how the photos came out while shooting. With that said, considering the Pentax K-01 and its kit lens came out in 2012 and was discontinued in 2013, buying it in 2017 was sort of like buying digital-analog – like buying an iPOD in 2020.  So, my analog roots still breathe while using the Pentax K-01.

Anyhow, let me get into how I decided on the Pentax K-01 and talk about about why I really like this camera. 

I decided on this camera due to the price, the design, and usability with other Pentax lenses.  I felt the price point for this camera in 2017 was great; I got this camera off of Amazon for around 250 dollars. I had some Amazon gift cards as well, which lowered the price even more. After comparing the features of this camera with others, it just was just a great deal. I realize the 16 megapixels it offers will be a limiting factor for some, but I have found that to be just fine. The 8X12 inch prints I made for my portrait series were really crisp/sharp, even with some photos being shoot at 800 ISO.  Using good prime lenses really makes all the images very sharp. I have had very few issues with this camera over the past two years. I get into the slight negatives later on in this post.

Believe it or not, this camera was my first “official” digital camera. Sure, I had point-and-shoot digital cameras and a phone camera, but I had not had a digital camera with all the functions and lens options the Pentax K-01 has.  I find the menu for the Pentax K-01 to be very intuitive and basically taught myself how to use this camera. The main thing I did, which really helps, is make the green button on the top of the camera the auto metering function. When I am in manual mode, I can select this button, and the shutter speed will be automatically selected. For portraits, I just zoomed in on the skin, selected this button, and the exposure was generally spot on. There are all the features you would expect from a digital camera. You have aperture, shutter priority, manual, and bulb modes. You can see the histogram, highlights, and other data in the display. There is also a bracketing function and an HDR function, but I would not recommend the HDR function here. You can also do slow shutter sync, but only with modern lenses. 

One of the main reasons I got this camera was because I could use my old Pentax lenses with it. I have a 50mm K mount, a 28mm K mount, and some M42 Takumar lenses. You need a screw mount adapter for the M42 screw mounts. Be sure you get the official Pentax 
adapter … just trust me.  With all these lenses already, I felt I was going to have a pretty good setup if I got the Pentax K-01. Overall, I feel I use the 28mm K mount the most. Since this camera is not a full frame camera, the 28mm lens is close to a 42mm on a full frame camera. The Pentax K-01 has an APS-C sized sensor. I really like the 40-45mm focal length by the way.  My favorite camera is the Olympus RC, which has a 42mm focal length. A 50mm K-mount lens on the Pentax K-01 will have a 75mm focal length, making this a good choice for portraits.  I used a 50mm K-mount lens for my portrait series and got great results. The images were proportioned well and very sharp. 

I want to point out the the Pentax K-01, at least for me, is not good for sports or fast action photography. It does have a shutter speed of 4000, but it does not have the fast shutter spray that other cameras have. Although it is a small and unassuming camera, I am not sure it would be a good choice for street photography either. The auto focus is probably not good enough for street shooting and, zone focusing, for whatever reason, is not as intuitive/responsive on this camera. The Garry Winogrand “F8 and be there” axiom may not work for this camera. I use this camera for slow shooting: portraits and thought-out landscapes and the like. In other words, the Alec Soth and Bryan Schutmaat inside of you will love this camera. This is not to say that with a little practice, it would not be a good street setup. The small size is a plus for street photography. You would just need to practice a bit and see how street shooting goes for you. However, if you are asking people for portraits and not looking for the “decisive moment”, you should be fine.

For me the main drawback of this camera is the lack of a viewfinder. There is a fix for this, which I will explain later.  Focusing, even with focus peaking, can sometimes be difficult with this camera because the screen is only so sharp. Focusing with the kit lens which can function with the auto focus is generally no problem, just so you know. However, focusing with an M42 lens can be hard. If you want an aperture of say F8, focus using F5.6, and then change the aperture back to F8. Doing this will definitely help get your shots in focus with the wider apertures.  To aid in focusing I got a magnifying viewfinder that connects to back and bottom of the camera. (See the orange and black viewfinder in the picture above.) 
When this viewfinder is on the camera, it makes it look a lot like a video camera. Also, a lot of people assume it is “professional” camera when it has the extra viewfinder. Not that that matters, but it certainly gave me some bona fide points when doing my portrait series as the camera looks a bit unusual with the viewfinder and on a tripod. 

Although not having a viewfinder can be a bit of pain sometimes, this does not really hinder the way I take photographs as I am usually pretty slow and think about the photo for a bit. I even use this camera to plan out the film photos I will take. So, if the film photo just does not have the resolution or sharpness I need, I can use the photos I take with the K-01 as a backup if necessary.  You can always add grain and the like in Photoshop to blend in the digital files with the film if you want. 

Ultimately, you will take the best photos with the K-01 using a tripod, the additional viewfinder, and remote shutter release for the camera. If you are looking for a camera to complement your film shooting, this is a great choice. Also, if you are on a budget for a small digital camera, this is also a great choice, especially if you can get some good used K-mount lenses or even get some M42 lenses along with the screw mount adapter.  This camera is often a travel companion when I head out with my Fuji 645.