Is bigger better? Pentax K-01 reviewed!

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posted Monday, June 25, 2012 at 10:28 PM EDT

Pentax's K-01 compact system camera. Photo provided by Pentax. Click to read our Pentax K-01 review!Pentax may have taken a while to hop onto the mirrorless camera bandwagon, but when it finally did, it wasn't half-hearted. Shortly after it debuted the tiny Pentax Q, it followed up with a compact system camera that was almost its polar opposite: the Pentax K-01.

Beneath its unique Marc Newson-designed styling is a compact system camera that keeps the mirror box--it just discards the mirror. That makes the Pentax K-01 unique in being able to mount pretty-much every Pentax K-mount lens on the market, without an adapter. Competing systems all rely on a small stock of brand-new glass, and an array of mount adapters that often bring limitations. Pentax's decision also means that the K-01 is uncommonly large for a mirrorless model, however. In fact, it's not a lot smaller than the company's least bulky DSLR models.

Is that tradeoff in size worthwhile for the broad lens compatibility? Read our Pentax K-01 review, and find out!