I love this camera. I got mine on eBay around the same price and its incredible. Under is a reveiw I watched before I bought the camera
[youtube=8q99J-yeA_8][/youtube]
[MOD EDIT: Imbedded YouTube vid]
can anyone comment on the k-mount adapter, and how well it works with this camera?
As MILCs (mirrorless interchangeable lens camera) go, it’s cute.
I’d be all over it less another $100 or at price but with better (faster) glass. But to be so slow on such a tiny sensor? It’s too toy-niche for me. I’ve got a great point-n-shoot plasticky for goofing. And I’ve got a semi-serious MILC for zoom, wide and prime shooting.
This does look like it’d be fun for in between… but $300 for plastic and such a slow zoom? And how much are the other lenses?
Nah, drop another $100 and I’ll bite, but as is… can’t see it.
People, this is just MHO! YMMV! Please don’t hate me for sharing MY thoughts. Not trying to be a troll. Just figure my points may be what some other wooter needed to hear. Shoot… I may have even sold them on one.
Can anyone comment on shutter lag? That’s a major concern for me, and it’s really hard to find that special on cameras these days.
Why do they not put an optical viewfinder on these cameras?
Because that adds to the cost of the camera, and 95% of consumers will never use it anyway. You’ll generally need to look at “Prosumer” or better cameras with their corresponding prices to get that additional set of optics.
The selling point of this camera is the tiny size, no room for an optical viewfinder. You can buy one as an accessory but it costs almost as much as the camera.
The Pentax Q cameras haven’t been favorably reviewed. That’s not to say that nobody likes them. I’m sure many people love them. But they aren’t great cameras. Image quality is about equal to a typical good brand of compact pocket camera, but you have the added complication and size of interchangeable lenses. A compact camera lens retracts into the body, forming a shape convenient for a pocket or purse. The Q has this big bump of a lens that makes the shape inconvenient, although it’s still a very small camera. So you’re stuck with carrying this tiny camera on a strap hung around your neck. Kind of silly when you’re getting the same quality photos that a regular compact camera would produce. Neither fish nor fowl, they used to say. If you want a small convenient camera, get one of the top rated compacts. If you want an interchangeable lens camera, this is one of the least favored models. A very good small interchangeable lens camera is the Olympus E-PM2, which uses a much larger sensor for better quality photos, and can use a huge selection of micro 4/3rds format lenses from several different companies. More expensive initially, but a much better investment in the long run.
If you don’t mind black instead of silver, Amazon has this Pentax camera/lens for $230.
If you are talking the Pentax branded one that costs as much as the closeout camera, it works very well. It has an electronic shutter built in and has very high build quality.
You gotta keep in mind the crop factor though! Take the focal length of your lens and multiply by 5.5 to get the effective 35mm focal length. Now the fun part of that means you can get a super telephoto lens very cheap if you have any longer K-mount lenses.
It’s a mirrorless camera. Mirrorless means that the camera does away with the optical system that reflects light up into a viewfinder. If you need an optical viewfinder, you’ll want to get an SLR.
It looks like the camera at that price is the Pentax Q, this is the Q10 which cheapest price on amazon is $350. The Q10 had some minor upgrades. The current version is the Q7 which is around $485-$500
The lens alone sells for $175.
Press release + detailed specs & additional photos over at DPReview from Sept last year.
Also, the “Pentax Compact Camera Talk” forum on the same site may have something useful about the Q series cameras.
What does “rangefinder-style” mean though… aren’t the Leica cameras rangefinders? But does the “-style” part mean “not really”?
If you don’t mind a somewhat larger form factor, the Pentax MX-1 that’s been wooted twice in the past few weeks looks like a much better buy at the same $250 price:
>>1/1.7 sensor, vs the Q10’s 1/2.3 (that’s about a 40% bigger sensor–very big difference in quality at higher iso’s)
>>920K pixel lcd, vs 460K
>>f1.8 lens vs f2.8 on the Q10’s kit lens
>>4x zoom vs. 3x.
>>Robust build on the MX-1 with brass top and bottom plates
>>Dedicated movie mode button that makes it easy to quickly launch a video recording.
Granted, the Q10 has interchangeable lenses and the MX-1 doesn’t. I suppose that’s a good feature for those who already have some compatible lenses. That and the small size would appear to be the only advantages of this camera.
I bought the MX-1 and am thrilled with the image quality and feature set at the price. Might be worth waiting to see if it’s offered here again.
If you are deeply invested in K-mount lenses this also makes sense. If you have the DA* 300mm lens and the Pentax K-Q adapter, you get effectively a 1650mm lens at f/4. You can even add a flash thanks to its leaf shutter (though good luck getting one bright enough to illuminate something you’re taking a picture of at 1650mm).
This is a cool little camera but I will have to stick with my Pentax Auto 110 for now. I’m just not ready to get into a whole new set of lenses right now. Between the Pentax Auto 110, the Pentax 6X7 and the Nikon glass that is all over the house I have enough lenses to keep track of already.
I bought a Pentax Q several months ago from Amazon for the same price as the Q10 up for sale now. The Q10 basically a Q with improved specs. I have had a chance to ues it and like it. It is much better than any point and shoot I have owned and I have had many over the years. Is it as good as a digital SLR? No. But its compact size makes it useable it more situations and is more convenient than lugging around a big digital DSLR. Lag is not noticeable. Picture quality is very good and the f 2.8 lens provides good images indoors without a flash. I bought an extra battery but never used it as battery live is good. Video clips are fine but video does drain the battery more than single images. I like this camera and the improvements between the Q and Q10 do not justify me upgrading to this camera, I still highly recommend this.Would I pay the $700 this cost new? No. The $399 it goes for now is a bit high but $250 is a steal. Buy it.