[Mock]

Is your serial number really all ones? Go take some pictures with that thing!

[Blue]

Got the Q today. All I can say it's really cute:





It's really small:







Menu system is almost the same as K5/Kr, I guess we don't need to read the manu to use this little camera.



Haven't really played yet, but one thing for sure, the AF is really fast for such a small camera. First impression is that it's faster than GF1+20/1.7. But I need to do a side by side comparison later on

I would like to see it next to a GF2 or GF3.

[pxpaulx]

I would like to see it next to a GF2 or GF3.

National camera here in minneapolis just got them yesterday apparently, I was just in this morning and barely noticed it on the shelf (it is that small!). It had the 45mm (i think?) equiv f1.8 prime on there, and it was about as tall as the panasonic 20mm lens but probably about 1.5cm carved out of the diameter - extremely tiny for an interchangable lens design. I can handle anything from the m4/3 camera lines (tried everything but the newest Pens) and have pretty big hands, but the Q is definitely not for me - many controls in an extremely compact area, this camera is designed specifically for small hands.

[barondla]

Congratulations Frank on getting a Q so quickly. What a neat serial number. Hadn't expected it to say Hoya on the bottom. Wonder if that will change next month?

Pxpaulx, did the camera store have any of the extra lenses in stock?

Can't wait for my Q to show up!

thanks
barondla

[rawr]

Cool pictures Frank.

What does the Q look like when it has a big flash mounted on it's hotshoe? Since the Q is so tiny, the combination must look funny. Also - is the hot-shoe a normal, regular one?

[snostorm]

What does the Q look like when it has a big flash mounted on it's hotshoe? Since the Q is so tiny, the combination must look funny. Also - is the hot-shoe a normal, regular one?

Hi rawr,

Although some people have had a little laugh by mounting an AF 540 FGZ on a Q, there are much smaller flashes that would be more appropriate. Take a look at the Metz 24 AF 1. It's got a 90° tilting reflector for bounce flash, GN of 24 (so @ 3x the power of the pop up), 2 AAA batteries.Much more scaled to the Q, and probably adequate for most things except freezing action outdoors. Fully PTTL, but has no wireless remote capabilities, and with the leaf shutter lenses, flash sync to 1/250. It's pocketable, so would also be a good basic flash for the DSLRS.

Metz mecablitz 24AF-1 Digital Flash for Pentax MZ 24317PS B&H

The hot shoe is P-TTL compatible, so it's the same as on any of the Pentax DSLRs, and you could use a remote cord to get P-TTL off camera flash if you needed it.

Scott

[rawr]

The hot shoe is P-TTL compatible, so it's the same as on any of the Pentax DSLRs,

Cool. Thanks for all that info.

As its a standard hotshoe, one could also mount video lights and other stuff on it easily too.

[zxaar]

Today went to osaka for touch and try event. (yesterday it got canceled due to typhoon )

Did try k-q adapter with 40mm pancake and 60-250mm lens.

Here are few points:

1. It is like shooting with microscope in place of lenses.
2. Numbers on adapter are for aperture setting.
3. No autofocus with adapter, manual focus only.
4. No image stabilization (This is what i was told by the person there but i think it might be false given that it has in body stalization and if camera knows length then why not??)
5. Did see prints made with photos taken with adapter on. The sizes of prints were around 50cm or so. They all looked very good.
6. I asked about q adapters for other mount lenses say for example sony mount lenses. He said at the moment no plans by his knowledge.
7. I did not feel any problems using the adapter. But camera was mounted on tripod, hand held shooting might be difficult with large lenses.

Other than this. Did see prints with all the lenses offered (most of them were impressive). I did try all the lenses too, including zoom and fisheye. They are all very tiny. Q is real answer to compact system problem.

[zxaar]

You are drinking :koolaid: if you don't think sensor size matters. Interchangeable lenses aren't going to magically make a little sensor perform like a 1/1.63", m4/3 or aps-c sensor.

About the sensor size the point was that it is not a point & shoot even if it is 1/2.3 sensor, sensor size has no bearing whether camera is point and shoot or not. Sensor size does matter but it does not decide the type of camera. Give more examples, my R1 is APC sensor but it is prosumer camera and not dSLR (but most dslrs are APC sensor). There are point and shoots with large sensors too.

Other than this , feel free to believe whatever you believe in, hardly matters to me

Yaa about the performance of sensor, this sensor is BSI sensor to it does gather more light and it can compete with larger sensors, may be not with m43 or with APC but with other ones.

[barondla]

Great report! What an incredible camera. Going nuts waitimg for mine to arrive.

Does the Q adapter have any electrical contacts on it? IS would require that or the manual focal length input menu. If not, they made add menu later with firmware. Remember, K10D activated wireless flash later with firmware.

Curious about the wide and tele toy lenses. What do the images look like? Sharp center, fuzzy edges or something else?

thanks
barondla

[zxaar]

Great report! What an incredible camera. Going nuts waitimg for mine to arrive.

Does the Q adapter have any electrical contacts on it? IS would require that or the manual focal length input menu. If not, they made add menu later with firmware. Remember, K10D activated wireless flash later with firmware.

Curious about the wide and tele toy lenses. What do the images look like? Sharp center, fuzzy edges or something else?

thanks
barondla

It should have electical connections. The reason to believe it is that i do not think pentax engineers are fool enough leave no room for improvements with new lenses.

There was lot of rain today, and they have to wipe the lenses again and again. For this reason I did not feel right to ask them to take lens out and put my manual focus lens on it. If I did so things would be more clear.

About the toy lenses, their prints were okey. But the images I took were not good enough. Here are the reasons I think for it, (1) I do not have steady hands. (2) light was very low and everything was on auto mode. It is difficult to conclude anything from it.

But one thing that stood out was that prints from zoom were very good. Zoom lens is definitely a high quality lens.

[Blue]

About the sensor size the point was that it is not a point & shoot even if it is 1/2.3 sensor, sensor size has no bearing whether camera is point and shoot or not. Sensor size does matter but it does not decide the type of camera. Give more examples, my R1 is APC sensor but it is prosumer camera and not dSLR (but most dslrs are APC sensor). There are point and shoots with large sensors too.

I made no argument that cameras like the Sigma SP2s or SP1x etc. belonged to a specific category. The problem is that you don't know what the definition of a point and shoot is.

Other than this , feel free to believe whatever you believe in, hardly matters to me[/B]

Pot, Kettle, Black . . .

may be not with m43 or with APC but with other ones.[/I]

That is my point.

Back to the definition of P&S. Here is a definition from The Free Ditctionary point-and-shoot camera definition of point-and-shoot camera in the Free Online Encyclopedia. and most are more simple than this one.

point-and-shoot camera

A film or digital camera in which the focus and exposure is entirely automatic. You aim and press the button; the camera does the rest. Point-and-shoot cameras can range from cheap throw-aways to pocket-sized digitals. Even high-end cameras have a point-and-shoot option, in which the camera makes all settings automatically. Although there may be settings for different lighting conditions such as bright sun vs. dusk, point-and-shoot cameras have no options to manually set the aperture, shutter speed and focus.

The sentence in blue is general what distinguishes a P&S from some other category. However, many compacts have aperture and shutter controls as well as manual operation including the aforementioned Sigma SP1 & 2. Something not mentioned is the capability to shoot raw. Many compacts also have that. My point comes down to the simple fact how people intend to use these compact cameras. Many people that use dSLR often like a compact to fill the point and shoot rolls that give them some controll over Aper, shutter and DNG.

I do not think many people that aren't into photography getting into the Q system. People that are into photography are going to use it in the same way that those of us with dSLR use the E-p1/Ep3, GF1/GF2/GF3, SP1/SP2, or LX3/LX5 (Leica D-Lux-4, D-Lux-5), Lumix ZS-10.

If the Q fits that roll for people, great. However, I still see it as a Q(uirky) lens line for Pentax & Ricoh to have to deal with.

[Mock]

Today went to osaka for touch and try event. (yesterday it got canceled due to typhoon )

Did try k-q adapter with 40mm pancake and 60-250mm lens.

Here are few points:

1. It is like shooting with microscope in place of lenses.
2. Numbers on adapter are for aperture setting.
3. No autofocus with adapter, manual focus only.
4. No image stabilization (This is what i was told by the person there but i think it might be false given that it has in body stalization and if camera knows length then why not??)
5. Did see prints made with photos taken with adapter on. The sizes of prints were around 50cm or so. They all looked very good.
6. I asked about q adapters for other mount lenses say for example sony mount lenses. He said at the moment no plans by his knowledge.
7. I did not feel any problems using the adapter. But camera was mounted on tripod, hand held shooting might be difficult with large lenses.

Other than this. Did see prints with all the lenses offered (most of them were impressive). I did try all the lenses too, including zoom and fisheye. They are all very tiny. Q is real answer to compact system problem.

Thanks for this, zxaar.
I was unsure on Friday whether to order this camera. All that has happened over the weekend has now made the decision easy.

[snostorm]

Thanks for this, zxaar.
I was unsure on Friday whether to order this camera. All that has happened over the weekend has now made the decision easy.

+1 !

Reading the Owner's manual, I still have a few handling and functional questions, but I'm already watching some trusted vendors for pricing.

I'm not sure whether SR will work with the adapter, and the OM doesn't make anything clear -- it would be nice, but I could work around it.

I don't like the fact that you can't turn high ISO NR completely off. This would be my preference, to work in jpeg with no NR, but I can work around this by shooting higher ISO in RAW and doing batch conversions. I doubt if any of those who have posted samples have tweaked the image settings, so I'm not sure how the jpeg output would be with the settings I'd probably use though.

For flash work, I like using remote wireless TTL, and the Q's popup flash won't control this, Again, I can work around this with Auto Thyristor remote slaves, so it's not a deal breaker. The Metz 24 AF 1 is pocketable, so looks to be a good size match for on-camera use, it's @ $90 USD and has a tiltable reflector so can be bounced. It would also be a convenient P-TTL take everywhere flash for use with my DSLRs. At GN 24, ti's not that powerful, but higher ISO can be used to extend the range, and any bounceable external flash is better than the popup IMO..

The K-Q adapter, at this point has not been officially announced, and I'd really like a firm commitment, though their showing it is a very positive indication. Even this could be worked around, as I could make one myself at not too high a cost, even if I had to buy a Toy lens to get the Q lens mount. I'd really only be using this with lenses that have aperture rings, so the aperture control ring on the adapter is not a must. This would tide me over until Pentax releases some lenses that I'd like in Q mount -- a 100mm or longer fast Quality Line prime and a dedicated macro. They could combine them in one lens as far as I'm concerned.

It's not really clear in the manual, but I think that CIF will work with the Q since AF-S is focus priority, but I'm not sure that AF-S is available with MF only lenses, and CIF is not mentioned AFAIK. In any case LV with magnification should be an acceptable work around, even with my iffy eyesight.

So far, I haven't found any deal breakers, so it's pretty much a go for me. I already had money set aside for a possible lens purchase, so that's not even an issue -- and I think the Q will be a lot more fun than just another lens. . .

Scott

[zxaar]

@Blue

We can go on for 100 thousand pages. Based on all the text you have written - Enjoy your point and shoot SLRs, dSLRs and Point and shoot MFs (if you ever buy). If some security personnel ever stop you because you are carrying dSLR , you can show print of what you wrote to him and convince him that it is actually a point and shoot. Enjoy your point and shoots, its not worth arguing with you.