Picture-Perfect Palm Springs: Pentax K-01 Test at The Saguaro

The reinvisioned Pentax K-01 debuted at Los Angeles design emporium A+R. While checked into the new Palm Springs hotel The Saguaro, the shop's co-owner Rose Apodaca put it to the test to give us a sneak peek of what the camera can do. 

PALM SPRINGS – To get my beauty sleep for my book signing at the Palm Desert International Fragrance & Flower Festival, the organizers checked me into the new Saguaro Palm Springs.

I love the otherworldly nature of Palm Springs, from the natural features to the white windmills lined up for miles.

It's just a few hours from where I live in Silver Lake, but the city is such an extreme contrast to the life willed by the folks who set up home and shop here.

I came equipped with my new K-01, the DSLR designed by rock star industrial designer Marc Newson for Pentax. This is Marc's first foray into cameras and Pentax's first into the design world. It's as powerful as a DSLR but has a compact shape with bright accent colors and the world's slimmest interchangeable lens. It shoots 1080p HD video and is incredibly light sensitive.

To launch the K-01, the 90-year-old camera company is turning to non-camera stores. It rolled out at Colette in Paris during Fashion Week, and the first place it will be available outside Paris is A+R, the modern design store I own with my husband Andy.

Saguaro was a great place to take it for a test drive: The hotel is cacophony of color. (The umbrellas around the large swimming pool are the same shade of canary yellow as the signature color of Fred Hayman of Giorgio Beverly Hills, the subject of my book, The Extraordinary Difference: The Story of Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Style and the Man Who Sold It All.) 

The former Holiday Inn reopened late last year after a makeover by the Sydell Group, the folks behind the Ace Hotel across the street. When I checked into room 107, I was treated to a delicious Spanish spread of fresh figs, Manchego, salted Marcona almonds, and a pitcher of sangria from the in-house restaurant, Tinto, which is under the direction of celeb chef Jose Garces. I'm a gal who grew up visiting my family in Spain plenty and I make gallons of gazpacho during tomato season. I was all over Jose's version, served with smoked cod, chives, and bacon.

But back to the camera, which I think handled the vivid colors brilliantly. For its debut Saturday, March 17, we're hosting an event out our Abbot Kinney store from noon to 6 p.m. We'll have 20 K-01s available for customers to check out like a library book so they can try the camera for themselves. See you there!

FIND IT  

The Saguaro 
1800 East Palm Canyon 
Palm Springs, California 92264
+1-760-323-1711

A+R
1121 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, California 90291
+1-310-392-9128