My main camera is a K-x with a slew of Pentax "limited" lenses. So I was a bit concern about the small sensor on the Q. However I am more than please with the image quality. Certainly is in not as good as an APC size sensor. But the results are significantly better than anything I expected. Up to 800 iso the results are almost comparable. Above 800 iso the noise is an issue, for me, not usable above that figure. On my K-x I get acceptable results all the way up to 4000 iso.
However the results I am getting are better than anything I have seen with a 4/3 system, which I think is the intended compotition. Given the size of the camera and the build quality I am very happy I bought it. The Kit lens has outstanding optical quality and a classic 50mm lens equivalent (47mm) field of view. The "02 Stand zoom" has some barrel distortion issues but they are correctable with in camera software and the zoom range right in the popular range 28-85mm equivalent.
Overall this is a fantastic camera for street photography. It fits into your coat pocket and you can take it anywhere. I ofter forget it's even in my pocket, it's so tiny. But the quality is still about 90% of my considerable larger Pentax K-x. It has all the same SLR type functions as well and a slew of digital filters.
I would recommend looking through samples in the "Pentax Q" group on Flickr.
I bought this camera on a whim thinking it would be fun to play with. Well, it's that & a whole lot more. It feels like a little brick in your hand. The controls are laid out just right. And most of all the pictures are excellent. After all what is a camera made for? To take pictures,right. So forget all this crap about sensor size, how many lines per inch, and all the so called professional reviews.
If a camera feels good in your hand & the pictures are great & you enjoy taking pictures with it. That's the one for you.
By the way I've been in photography for forty plus years.
John
Buy Pentax Q 12.4 MP CMOS Sensor Kit with 8.5mm 1.9 AL Prime Lens(White) Now
The idea of a compact system camera is to take the important internal bits of a DLSR and pack them into a smaller package. This is a small package. Heck, it's tiny really. With the lens off, it's a small, compact camera. With the lens it's obviously a bit bigger, but should fit just fine in a jacket pocket or small case. It's smaller and lighter than either the competitors (I'm thinking GF3 or NEC-C3) but perhaps not meaningfully since they'll all fit in a jacket pocket, and none of them will go in your pant pocket.
Okay, good enough so far, but the sensor (which of course is THE big deal in a DSLR) is a small 1/2.3 inch unit. Same size as that found in low-end compact cameras. You might have interchangeable lenses, but it's a compact camera sensor that is good for its size but is still very small. That means noticeable noise even at ISO 250 and no real ability to go past ISO 800.
To the Q's credit, it has a very fast f 1.9 lens that lets in twice as much light as the GF3's f 2.5 or the NEX-C3's f 2.8 lenses. And there is sensor-based image stabilization. The combination leads to respectable low-light performance at moderate ISO.
Oh. Performance. Yeah, here the camera falls flat on its face. The autofocus takes forever (multiple seconds), powering on takes an eternity (four seconds at least), and there's a terrible gap between autofocus confirm and the actual shutter. Compact camera performance really. And this is after firmware upgrades. Video looked okay, but I'm not an expert.
Pros:
Really quite small
Interesting lens options, this fast 47mm equivalent, the zoom, fisheye...
Very well built
Different than anything else out there
Good low light performance
With the small sensor, real possibilities of interesting lenses such as a super-ultra-mega-zoom (30x or more)
Menus from the Pentax DSLR line
1080p video with stereo mic built in
Cons:
Tiny image sensor which...
...leads to noise at high ISO
...has locked you into the 1/2.3in world which may or may not be a success
...has a lot of cheap, compact camera heritage seen in...
...slow autofocus and slow operation, delay on shutter
Quite expensive
So, in essence, I kinda like this camera, but it's not for everyone. There are real compromises in its construction and perhaps too much focus on miniaturization. For the money, I'd seriously consider other options before jumping for the Q and would probably recommend waiting for version 2 on the Q on general principle.
Full disclosure: I received this camera free of charge for the purpose of reviewing it.
Read Best Reviews of Pentax Q 12.4 MP CMOS Sensor Kit with 8.5mm 1.9 AL Prime Lens(White) Here
I have read all the reviews of this little Pentax camera I could find before purchasing. Many people are focused on the image sensor size and various other technical aspects but for me the overall experience with the camera interface, capabilities and image quality are the real measure of success.
Overall this is probably best classified a niche camera and not intended to replace your higher end DSLR units.
The camera is physically small but not too small to handle or use. Lens system is tiny but good optically. Camera body is 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.2 inches. I purchased an adapter to use normal sized Sony and Pentax lenses with the Q. The use of the larger dslr lenses extends the cameras usefulness a bit but changes footprint dramatically.
I find the Pentax Q a very small full featured and capable camera. Startup time for my unit is on par with all my other big bodied DSLR cameras. The focus speed is certainly not the fastest but mine will focus within 1.5 seconds max with kit lens. All the normal manual and automatic features are available that I normally use from my Pentax K-r or other.
I restrict the ISO settings to 1250 max for low light photos and have taken excellent pictures. Yes the image sensor size does limit the very high ISO ranges based on noise introduced but most cameras have this limitation. The dual position flash is interesting solution to avoid lens light blockage. The HDR in camera process works well.
Writing speed of images to SD card is acceptable when saving both RAW+JPG images at same time. Just saving RAW or JPG images are as expected much quicker with a decent image burst speed for an inexpensive camera.
Rechargable battery provides me with about 200 continuous use images without flash.
It is not a Pentax K-5,Sony SLT-A77 or Nikon J1. Think more of a Panasonic LX5 with interchangeable lenses. In my opinion, if you are interested in a TINY interchangeable lens camera with dslr like capabilities then this is a good choice.
Want Pentax Q 12.4 MP CMOS Sensor Kit with 8.5mm 1.9 AL Prime Lens(White) Discount?
Don't read the paper specs and do the knee jerk reaction of "oh it's a small 1/2.3'' sensor, so it must not be any good."
The Q is a great little photographer's tool and a lot of fun. The sensor does better than most think and combined with the fast 01 prime lens, it is far more capable than many think. I have the LX5 and in lower light the Q outclasses it (not saying the LX5 is a bad camera, it's also a nice camera).
The other thing that is missed is that the Q has perhaps the best photographer centric controls of any camera in its size and actually, several bigger cameras than it. This may sound silly but when you are doing photography, the more the camera "gets in your way" the less intuitive the workflow from seeing to capture is.
The Q also sports some rather odd characteristics that punch way above its weightlike 1/250th external flash sync (that's in medium semi pro DSLR territory), unibody magnesium-alloy build (like a pro dslr), full photographic controls in an easier to use interface than many other cameras.
The bigger cons of this camera has been its launch price. At $375 USD here at Amazon the price it's more than a share of fair, as you get a nice lens too. If you have a chance to see one in person pick one, it's just not the same as seeing it in pictures.
The Q is quite a capable camera if you are interested in pushing your photography and sticking with it, pros and cons. It's a camera you can "wear" and carry at all times with its prime lens, and other lenses could even fit in your other pocket. And with the latest firmware upgrade Pentax released a while back the speed of operation improved in a notable way (i.e. it no longer takes 4 seconds to bootnot at all).
Think of it as a digital Diana or Holga thanks to its jpeg filters and customization, but with the capability to punch much higher than that when used judiciously with RAW. And it's fun.
