The Pentax Q - a real World user review
Pentax Q with Fisheye (Toy) lens
In Jun2011, Pentax launched a small Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) called the Q.
At that time it had a launch price of ~S$1000 with standard prime lens.
A prohibitive price indeed for a small sensor camera.
The camera is the first to use the company's Q mount and features a compact-camera-sized 1/2.3" image stabilized CMOS sensor.
This is wrapped in a magnesium alloy body no more than 98 x 57.5 x 31 mm.
Being its first foray into the MILC market and without foresight of future MILC products to come, many pundits assumed it was Pentaxs only answer to the growing mirrorless market and compared it unfavorably to existing larger sensor offerings as well as DSLRs.
Pentax, to them had certainly missed the point.
My interest in the camera was with its potential for unobtrusive street shots (with plenty of DOF) as well as its unique 5.5x crop capability due to its small sensor when used with adapted lenses which Pentax envisaged and promised a 2012 release of a OEM adapter to use for its DSLR K-mount lenses.
At that time, launch price was too prohibitive to buy one on an unproved 'theory' so I passed on purchasing.
But now that the price has come down to be close to other advanced compacts, I've finally got one.
I'd like to just cover more on what I'd call 'a real world user review', so more of what a user expects and can get from the camera in actual field use.
There are many sites out there which deal with the specs side of cameras and how they perform on paper, so I'd let them deal with those matters.
Photography BLOG did a review : Pentax Q Review | PhotographyBLOG
DPReview did a Preview : Pentax Q Hands-on Preview: Digital Photography Review
Specs :
* 12.4MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor (1/2.3" size - 6.17 x 4.55 mm)
* Q-mount interchangeable lens mount
* 12-bit DNG raw file option
* 3" 460,000 dot LCD
* Sensor-shift image stabilization and dust-removal
* 1080p30 HD movie recording in H.264 format
* 5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability
* Quick-dial control giving access to four image settings
* In-camera HDR option blends three images
* Built-in flash
* Flash hot shoe (also used for mounting optional viewfinder)
* Front and rear IR remote sensors
Looks/Size
Compared to a Samsung Galaxy Note
The first thing that grabs attention is the size. Its very small indeed.
Next thing that strikes me is its very solid feel.
It feels really well made, firm/solid.
Perhaps the best relation I can draw to would be a Ricoh GXR.
The wealth of buttons for fast access is also a welcome feature for the camera.
Dial selector on the front allows custom picture settings to be assigned and switch at an instant
Large 3" LCD and quite a few buttons for fast access to often used features
Top view showing off the mode dial, scroll wheel, play button, etc
Pentax Q with Fisheye (Toy) lens
In Jun2011, Pentax launched a small Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) called the Q.
At that time it had a launch price of ~S$1000 with standard prime lens.
A prohibitive price indeed for a small sensor camera.
The camera is the first to use the company's Q mount and features a compact-camera-sized 1/2.3" image stabilized CMOS sensor.
This is wrapped in a magnesium alloy body no more than 98 x 57.5 x 31 mm.
Being its first foray into the MILC market and without foresight of future MILC products to come, many pundits assumed it was Pentaxs only answer to the growing mirrorless market and compared it unfavorably to existing larger sensor offerings as well as DSLRs.
Pentax, to them had certainly missed the point.
My interest in the camera was with its potential for unobtrusive street shots (with plenty of DOF) as well as its unique 5.5x crop capability due to its small sensor when used with adapted lenses which Pentax envisaged and promised a 2012 release of a OEM adapter to use for its DSLR K-mount lenses.
At that time, launch price was too prohibitive to buy one on an unproved 'theory' so I passed on purchasing.
But now that the price has come down to be close to other advanced compacts, I've finally got one.
I'd like to just cover more on what I'd call 'a real world user review', so more of what a user expects and can get from the camera in actual field use.
There are many sites out there which deal with the specs side of cameras and how they perform on paper, so I'd let them deal with those matters.
Photography BLOG did a review : Pentax Q Review | PhotographyBLOG
DPReview did a Preview : Pentax Q Hands-on Preview: Digital Photography Review
Specs :
* 12.4MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor (1/2.3" size - 6.17 x 4.55 mm)
* Q-mount interchangeable lens mount
* 12-bit DNG raw file option
* 3" 460,000 dot LCD
* Sensor-shift image stabilization and dust-removal
* 1080p30 HD movie recording in H.264 format
* 5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability
* Quick-dial control giving access to four image settings
* In-camera HDR option blends three images
* Built-in flash
* Flash hot shoe (also used for mounting optional viewfinder)
* Front and rear IR remote sensors
Looks/Size
Compared to a Samsung Galaxy Note
The first thing that grabs attention is the size. Its very small indeed.
Next thing that strikes me is its very solid feel.
It feels really well made, firm/solid.
Perhaps the best relation I can draw to would be a Ricoh GXR.
The wealth of buttons for fast access is also a welcome feature for the camera.
Dial selector on the front allows custom picture settings to be assigned and switch at an instant
Large 3" LCD and quite a few buttons for fast access to often used features
Top view showing off the mode dial, scroll wheel, play button, etc