Imaging resource usually publish the most meaty previews, and they didn't disappoint this time either, going full Jason into the bowels of this whale of a mirrorless camera:

One of the 3 'weird sisters'  the Pentax Q system (the others being the newly announced K-01 and the Ricoh GXR) is not performing as expected 

according to Pentax rep. Jonathan Martin:

Blimey! Just sat to watch some telly and finish my eel and chips meal, when i was hit by this torrent of K-01 hands-ons. So, dear blokes, filtered down to the best:

1. Ephotozine: The Pentax K-01 is a bold new camera from Pentax and is certainly different to anything else made by anyone else - and perhaps that's 

Photographyblog goes Hands-on with the new mirrorless Pentax K-01. The month old rumors about a very ugly contraption very special design, thanks to Australian designer Marc Newson, who among other clients lists Apple and Canon.

Pentax Press Release

An interchangeable-lens digital camera designed in collaboration with designer Marc Newson

PENTAX RICOH IMAGING COMPANY LTD. is delighted to announce the launch of the PENTAX K-01 interchangeable-lens digital camera in conjunction with the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens* - the smc PENTAX-DA 40mm F2.8 XS unifocal. This latest addition to the popular Pentax K series and the new lens were both designed in partnership with world renowned designer, Marc Newson.

I do not believe B & H has made this error many times in the past. (or, it could be PRweb's fault) Anyway, i copied the whole text just in case it gets withdrawn. They also have product pages set-up, both for the K-01 and the new smc 40mm pancake lens.

Pentax, being more leaky than a waterbed on porcupines has very little information to add at tomorrow's official unveiling, than what is already known. Except for the corporate marketing and PR speak. At this point, we have no intention to sum it all up again, after all the official press release is less than 24 hours away. So let's gaze at the pics...

2012-2-2  is there numerology involved within this date? In any case, Pentax is holding a private preview to show of its latest products, designed in collaboration with Marc Newson, who according to his own site is ' is the most acclaimed and influential designer of his generation'

Interestingly, he lists Apple and Canon among his clients.  Maybe he's on designing Canon's mirrorless system too?

Tord S Eriksson is a buss driver from Gothenburg Sweden, the town where Hasselblad has its roots, and the locals nick-named 'little London' due to the constant drunkenness  almost constant fog and rain. He's also an avid photographer:

So, let's see what we've got so far:

Checklist: 20x zoom but not particularly wide (28-560mm), 3" anti-glare screen, 16 mp on a tiny sensor, 2 shutter buttons, sensor shift stabilization, and what seems like a really comfy grip-for the size. If you're wondering why Pentax doesn't boost "a first" with the dual shutter buttons, its because someone else introduced this feature on a point and zoom some time ago: The usual suicidée, KODAK

"Noise levels are pretty good for a camera with a 1/2.3" image sensor. From ISO 125 on up to 1600 look great, with 1600 showing a decent amount of luminous noise, but there's still a lot of fine detail in the image. At ISO 3200, you start to see a lot of noise, and these images will be

"Pentax offers two different species of lenses for the Q system - mainstream and "toy" lenses. The Pentax 03 3.2mm f/5.6 Fisheye is the third mainstream lens if this classification can be applied to a Fisheye lens anyway. That said it shares a couple of aspects with the "toy" Q lens group

"Smartphones kill off Minox digital compacts. 

"Corrected --- When O-GPS1 is mounted on the K-5 and taking a picture of starry sky with long exposure tracing by ASTROTRACER function, a band of light green noise rarely occur on image depending on photographic condition. 

"The new Pentax Q takes that concept in a completely different direction by building a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with no optical viewfinder around a tiny 1/2.3 inch CMOS image sensor (like those found on most P&S digicams) which allows for an even smaller footprint. The Pentax Q is the smallest interchangeable lens camera currently available - noticeably smaller than Micro 4/3 format digital cameras like the

"Don't let its diminutive dimensions fool you into thinking this is a cut-down sharp shooter, though. Shutter speeds run from 1/2,000 second to 30 seconds, with a bulb option for use in low light. In this mode you'll probably want to employ the remote sensor built into the grip to avoid touching it and blurring your results. Burst mode tops out at a respectable 5fps."

Wow, lots of corporate cleavage here. Top pick: Canon confirms introduction of mirrorless line. FTA: 

"Canon Imaging Rong Said Canon will announce its mirrorless and high End Compacts in 2012.
 The Best part of the interview was Canon confirms Mirrorless System is coming in 2012, See more: on October 2011 we have published

FTA:  "When you read the specs for the Pentax Q, you know intellectually that it's small, but it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself. It really is tiny. In fact, it's so dinky you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's a toy… before you hold it in your hand (just the one).

In many ways the Pentax Q  is like a Chihuahua: It is small, smart, expensive, and doesn't pack a lot of stamina. And it  sucks at high isos:

"For a camera with such a small image sensor, image quality is very good. Pentax seem to have done an excellent job in squeezing all they could out of the image. ISO ranges from 125 to 6400, but the higher setting are best avoided unless it's absolutely necessary to use them.

"The Pentax-02 Standard Zoom 5-15mm f/2.8-4.5 is the 2nd kit lens offered for the Pentax Q. Its focal lenght range is equivalent to a 27.5-83mm lens in full format terms. Just like in our previous Pentax Q lens review we need to point out that the max. aperture sounds attractive regarding the

"As of the time of this review the system offers 5 lenses - two "kit" lenses, a fisheye lens and two "toy" lenses. This review will focus on the Pentax-01 Standard Prime 8.5mm f/1.9. The first thing that we'll get used to is the focal length here. APS-C or micro-four-thirds lens specs are

Craptastic & adorable at the same time?  Well, you can't escape the laws of physics, yet:

"Mediocre cameras don't carry $800 price tags, right? They cost $150, or $99, or $39 in the