Pentax MX1 Expert Compact Digital Camera - Black (12 MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 3 inch Tilt LCD (discontinued by manufacturer)

The camera does everything is supposed to. Personally I like the size and weight of it. It makes me feel like I'm holding a real camera and not some kind of a toy, without the extra weight and size of my canon 7D which draws a lot of attention and muscles to carry around.The lens is sharp and focuses quickly at all lengths. It is a little less sharp than the Leica one on my Panasonic LX7, but the results are fantastic. I have taken some wonderful pictures with it. I still struggle which one to take with me, the LX7 or the Pentax MX-1 but I feel the MX-1 will eventually be the winner due to its flip up or down screen.I have taken out one star, due to its slow refresh rate. After taking a picture it takes a while for the camera to process the information and return back to a shooting status. Not a major delay with jpeg but noticeably slow when processing Raw files. Perhaps, a firmware update will take care of that. I would also like a hot shoe and the aperture control on a ring on the lens, like the LX7. All in all, a wonderful camera which I will always keep.Update:05/01/2014Two things that I came to appreciate about the camera and the company.1. The fact that the camera lets you customize your own WB (white balance) in SCN mode (handheld night snap) where the camera takes a number of pictures in rapid succession, combining them internally into one thus reducing camera shake and noise.And it does that quite good. Usually one has to revert to this mode due to poor lighting conditions and in most cases "weird" one, due to most of the times, to many different kinds of lighting sources . Being able to adjust the WB in circumstances like that, to my opinion, is more than essential to any photographer. Something that cannot be done with my LX7,fujifilm HS50 EXR or any other compact camera I owned before.2. In shutter priority mode, one has the option to slow down the shutter and more importantly to even revert to "Bulb" mode where the shutter stays open for as long as the photographer wishes."Bulb" in a compact bridge camera!!! This is just fantastic!I have yet to see the above two points to any other point&shoot or bridge camera.Well done Pentax !!!Update: 02/FEB/2014I have been using the camera for a while now. It is indeed a pleasure to use and hold. The lens is indeed very sharp at all focal lengths.Unfortunately,though if you are one of those shooters who like shooting panoramic images, don't look here. It's 2 panoramic modes (Digital Panorama & Digital wide ) are a joke. So basic and primitive. Nothing compared to the automation and ease of panoramic modes in other cameras. It will take more effort, skill and lots of luck to be able to successfully create a panoramic image. Better learn the technique and stitch in Photoshop or some other program.Another thing that I didn't like is that in HDR mode it won't even let you change the aperture you want to shoot with.

So everybody is marvelling at the Rx100 (or the II if you will it so).Big sensor and all.BUTThe lens on this one here is a beauty. About the same zoom range like the Sony and SHARP. Whatever Range, whatever distance (it is beautiful for macro although cannot beat my OMD with an old Konica lens and macroextensions).The Handling is really good, and with a WIFI SD Card you can work on your pictures with snapseed (or instagram if you insist) on your mobile / pad.Ok, although I am pretty much sold on this and want to keep it until the brass shows there are a fewCONS:- Lenscap - ..... I mean really? This is especially annoying because the camera wont turn on with the Lenscap on. I mean it is literally pounding on the lenscap in the inside...Thankfully ebay offers some help in form of an automatically opening Lenscap - SOLVED,- Panoramas - while in Theory a good function it broad daylight there is next to no chance to see the overlaying parts on the screen. So forget about it and try doing it with software.- Size. It could be a tiny bit smaller. It is pretty thick AND wide. While I personally find the RX100 too small - I have seen friends (with bad technique) shooting lots of pretty slanted photos, which I can be atributed to it's size as well.- Viewfinder - I got so used to it on my OMD so I had to go back to display framing on this one - and still miss a Viewfinder. The RX100 you can at least attach one.Other than that it has brought me lots of shooting pleasure. It just does things right and the Aperture Range from 1.8 - 2.5 is soo usable. On the RX100 you have to stick to wide when it gets darker. Not on this one.Just try it out and see if it is for you.Me? I am so in the Market for a Pentax MX-2. Integrated Viewfinder like on the Panasonic GX7 or at least in the LF1 and you have me.Last word on image quality. Landscapes is not a strong suit of this one. Sure, it does it. And the lens is a beast. But with this sensor size and 12MP you wont win a prize - probably. But for your run of the mill Holiday shots, street shooting, Quick portraits, buildings, etc. it beats about 90% of the Point and Shoot Cams out there. And while talking about beating stuff: My GF was carrying my old Olympus PEN E-PL2 with a 14-42 kit lens. Needless to say that the Pentax outdid this combo even in resolution because the Oly is just not very sharp - and we should not begin about aperture. Of course outfit the Oly with the compact Pana 20mm F1.7 and things look different. Taking into account that the Pana 20mm costs roughly the amount of the whole Pentax MX-1 that is a bit of a unfair comparison though. That said, the MX-1 still comes awfully close to what you can do with that combo.