Digital Photography Equipment Review—The Pentax Q Camera
- 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.
- Three-inch, 460,000-dot LCD.
- Sensor-shift image stabilization and dust-removal.
- 1080p30 HD movie recording in H.264 format.
- Five-frames-per-second continuous shooting capability.
- Quick-dial control, with 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.
With its series of soon-to-be-available lenses and its small size, the Pentax Q camera can certainly be described as fun; but it also has serious features and capabilities that will attract compact, point-of-shoot, camera users who are ready for a more advanced digital photography experience. In fact, there is no smaller mirror-less, interchangeable-lens camera available, or one that will fit in the larger pocket of a jacket or coat. The lens still projects too far to slip it into your shirt or pants pockets.
Read real customer reviews of the Pentax Q here.
What allows the Pentax Q to be so small is its 1/2.3” sensor. That’s approximately 1/8th the size of the sensor in Micro Four Thirds cameras and 1/13th of the APS-C sensor in Sony NEX models. The benefit of the Pentax Q’s sensor is that the lenses the camera will accept can be much smaller as well; however, smaller lenses translate into compact-camera image quality instead of the high performance of a DSLR.
Despite that, the Pentax Q is loaded with DSLR-type features. It purposely retains many external controls, which other manufacturers remove from cameras of this type because they think buyers will shrink from a slightly longer learning curve. Pentax seems to be saying that if you want to become a more serious photographer, then the Q is an opportunity to learn more camera controls and techniques and to produce better results.
Important Features of the Pentax Q Camera
Although the Pentax Q camera will feel very small in your hands, its design has a certain retro-elegance and class that makes it rather quirky and unconventional. Most buyers should find this a positive characteristic, especially if they want to be shooting with a camera quite different than what their friends or photography buddies are using. The magnesium-alloy body and front-panel rubber facing adds to the camera’s stylishness and its substantial feel. Of course, the smaller size of the Pentax Q requires a proportional reduction in the sizes of various buttons, but they are still very operational. Owners should particularly like the easily accessible control dial that is designed for no-fumbling settings selection.
A highlight feature is the camera’s customizable Quick Dial. Instead of scrolling through a menu to set and access various functions, the Quick Dial brings that control to the exterior of the camera. With the Quick Dial, it’s easy to customize each position on the dial with four of the options of these functions: Smart Effect (image processing filters), Custom Image (JPEG parameters), Digital Filters (more image processing filters), or Aspect Ratio.
The Lens Series
Pentax has announced a series of five lenses that were designed to be coupled with the Q camera model. At the high end will be a 47mm-equivalent “01 Standard Prime” lens and a 28–83mm-equivalent f/2.8–4.5 “02 Standard Zoom” lens ($299 MSRP). Both include a built-in neutral density (ND) filter and lens shutter, so flash sync is available to 1/2,000th of a second.
The other three lenses provide more creativity for the beginner who wants to improve his or her photography as well as a bit of that fun factor that makes the Pentax Q such an attractive camera. All three lenses have manual focus and fixed apertures: “03 Fish-Eye” f/5.6, 35mm-equivalent “04 Toy Lens Wide” and 100mm-equivalent “05 Toy Lens Telephoto.” Each is reported to be priced at less than $100.
The Pentax Q camera and its series of interchangeable lenses is an excellent combination of compact size and DSLR-like features and functions that should appeal to anyone looking for a better digital photography experience than what a simple compact or mobile phone can provide.